[Comment Removed]. you need to call him what he is and that is a lying thief. if a friend of mine did this I would call him out. unless he has $200k laying around to make things right with people then there will never be a happy ending. sounds like he has been lying for many, many years, even before he started stealing.

**cough cough** what locations does he have equipment at? **cough cough** asking for several friends.

This thread is scary and I hope everyone gets made whole. I have had several positive buying experiences with Jonathon; the last one was for Star Wars Comic. I had hoped to do more business with him the future. After reading this it does make me concerned. I can only hope he makes things right with folks.

THIS is exactly why you only buy from AUTHORIZED distributors who are listed on a MANUFACTURER's website as a distributor. Period end of story.

Guys like this with new games listed on their websites for companies they don't represent are an ongoing problem I've been dealing with for years. If they list games on their website for a MFG and they are not listed on same MFG website as a distributor that right there should tell you something. RUN.

Sorry for anyone who has lost money, hope you get recourse, and hopefully anyone is stealing from our community gets due justice.

Well Joe, sorry to burst your bubble here but he WAS listed as an "AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR" for JJP pinball at the time. Period end of story.

Maybe JJP should have done a little more due diligence on who it allows to represent them

Come on, he's had the OP's $16K for almost two years, that's just total bullshit!

Morale to the story, don’t pre-pay for anything unless it is directly to the manufacturer, which with a few cases can be a risk too (ie big lebowski). I would never give anyone 16k unless the machine was standing right next to me. There are crooks everywhere, including lurking on this site, sadly.....

All right...Who had post # 47?

Step 1: file a complaint with your local police. Doubtful they will do much.

Step 2: file a complaint with your state’s Attorney General’s office. They might do something.

Step 3: file a complaint with the Department of Justice. They might get involved, because of the use of interstate commerce.

Step 4: file a complaint with the FBI. They might get involved, because of the number of other people impacted and the use of interstate commerce.

Step 5: if he used the US Post Office for any of this, file a complaint with them.

KEEP FOLLOWING UP WITH #1 thru #5 on the status of your complaints. Usually quarterly.

Step 6: file a complaint with the BBB. And respond to everything he replies with.

Step 7: file a civil lawsuit. One of your first discovery requests will be for all the documents he created in response to items #1 thru #6.

Finally, I am not your attorney, nor providing your with any specific legal advice. Merely the steps I follow when I deal with shady vendors who try and scam me.

Good luck.

[Comment Removed]. Whatever dude.

Ef ASOA, on our local board in FLA there were two or three suckfish that always said "he's a great guy, he's a great guy" I know a few people he's scammed. Sad. Great post OP spread the news. the guy belongs in jail regardless if restitution is paid or not.

Check the pool to see who won.

I didn't know that part of the story... Not good. I know this guy was out there selling Spooky and he had no connection to Spooky.

Sounds as if he was selling everything, but the truth...

Don't forget that JJP/bumper amusements fiasco in Australia, where the ONLY distributor to buy from turned out to be a crook.

Plenty of criminals on all sides of this business.

Hey Dex. Since you have “broken bread” like biblical times with this guy, it sounds like you have a great relationship with him? Have you tried calling him to see when he’s going to pay these people back? That’s the first thing I would do if it were my friend. I definitely wouldn’t just pop into this thread saying I’ve had great dinner with this guy and he was awesome then peace out and good luck to everyone here. As a friend of his, wouldn’t you want to find out and report back here your findings?

Listen I do speak with Jonathan and have good experiences with him in the past. I have not had a chance to talk to him about this. But I know ASOA is still in business and although times are tough right now I suggest anyone having an issue with this company should reach out to them. I know ASOA is no longer on Pinside so they would not be able to respond directly to this. I am not associated with this business - I just personally have had good experience with ASOA and Jonathan - I know others have too. That's all I have to say about this.

if you have any sort of connection to him, you owe it those that he's robbed to try to reach him and i would help those he victimized if what is posted here turn out to be true (looks pretty damning so far). otherwise you are appearing pretty guilty with your comments. Imagine if you were one of those victimized, and someone says they have broken bread with him, he's cool, good luck? If it were a couple months maybe that comment could be justified, but not 2 years later.

Times are not “rough,” at least in the pinball business. Not sure where you got that idea.

Also, sounds like he’s been stealing money since well before 2020.

Have you read the thread? Lack of people “reaching out to ASOA” is not the problem.

Post his home address..........I am almost positive Batman reads Pinside.

Then call him and let us know what’s going on? Can we count on you to do this?

We have reached out to ASOA “Jonathan “numerous times and all we got back was stalling tactics and lies

I was always confused by his business name, since we have a local store called "Amusement Sales and Service" that sells darts and pool tables, and routes games, but obviously not related.

His web site still advertises new/used pins and has images of Stern/JJP/ChicagoGaming/AmericanPinball and all sorts of arcade games and equipment for sale:
http://www.asoaonline.com/game-sales.html

The phone number listed 786-601-4263 googles back to an address of 10097 Cleary Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33324. That appears to be a Pac-n-Ship in a strip mall where he probably has a postal box. One more red flag.

The stolen images on his web page are a another red flag. I doubt Disney gave him permission use Fix-it Felix animations, and that would not normally be seen on a business web page.
http://www.asoaonline.com/service---repair.html

Hope you get your cash back OP.

WTF???

You’re selling crazy and no ones buying your cool aid.

Tough times is not a reason to steal people's money

Everyone relax. All you gotta do is reach out to them.

Oh wait.

They already tried that.

Only reason this guy might be in”great distress” is he’s looking at real time if this moves forward. He’s probably busy scamming someone else to pay you the money he owes. He needs to learn a lesson and have time to reflect on his mistakes.

What about the other people he’s scammed wonder how their families feel?

Exactly. And now the OP is drinking the cool-aid again. I wouldn’t defend this guy until he’s made good on EVERYONE he’s cheated. This guy is gonna bolt, mark my words. So if you are reading this Jonathan, best advice, even if you can’t pay it back rn now contact each person and send them all the money you can that you’ve taken and sign an iou to repay the rest. Otherwise I do know this will be your next 5-10 years. Once DOJ gets an indictment, and they will, there’s no negotiating anything. You will go to prison for 5+ years and then you will have to pay back all the money plus interest, lawyers fees, etc. which will be 10 fold. This is a fact. They will also extradite you anywhere in the world. So best you just man up and quit making this worse on yourself. What’s your freedom worth?

I just dropped and broke my phone reading aboot this shitbag...that's another 269 he owes!

I ordered and paid for a Jurassic Park premium from him in October 2019. Nothing but lies, excuses, and stall tactics from him since then. And a refusal to refund my money. Still waiting on my game. He’s a con-man, no question.

The money is long gone (a drug dealer, bookie, or loan shark is enjoying it) and the games you ordered don’t exist.

Just a hunch!

Anybody wanna buy a bridge?
I have several for sale.

Only if it’s all cash and all the money up front

Can i get it delivered

Scammers capitalize on this sentiment.

Get this through your head: SCAMMERS ARE NOT HONORABLE!!!

You’re being presented with a variation of The Prisoner’s Dilemma. If YOU cooperate with the scammer YOU might come out ahead. The scammer will scam someone else if they repay you.

Better to cooperate with L/E and other victims to make the scammer pay for his crimes.

Thank you Bill

Nicely said.

Beautiful sentiment.

Expensive, though.

I had one conversation with him maybe two years ago where he said he had a NIB game "in stock" that had been out of production for years.

Price was stupid low of course.

Of course he didnt have one.. even after checking "his many warehouses" and tried to bait and switch me on to something else.

So he's been at this type of scammy shit for years... its not a recent Covid related issue he is having, its just more bullshit.

No offense meant, but this kind of sentiment is what makes you an easy mark for the grifters and con men of the world.

Why should other people he's scammed stop trying to make contact, just because YOU managed to make contact?

If Jonathan doesn't want people hunting him down, maybe he should proactively contact every person he owes money to, right now, and make arrangements.

Otherwise it's pretty apparent that your threats got his attention, so why should others back off?