Here is my ASOA story...

Jonathan Demare (aka ASOA on Pinside) had 20 glowing reviews from 1/17/18-5/16/19 (https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/asoa/feedback/1) before "signing off" Pinside.

During this time period, I was an ASOA customer and purchased 4 Stern machines (IMDN Premium, Beatles Gold, Munsters Pro, & JP Premium). All fairly smooth transactions. He was loved and trusted on the local Florida Pinball site "The Village".

On 12/16/19, I purchased a Rick & Morty from ASOA. I paid in full, since he claimed I would have my game in Jan/Feb (and noted that on the invoice). I was shocked he could get the game in that timeframe, but Jonathan claimed to have a long-standing relationship with Norbert @ KingPin Games, who was a Spooky Distributor (https://www.kingpingames.net/). Since Jonathan delivered on 4 previous Stern games and seemed to be "connected", I trusted him.

In May, I asked Jonathan for my R&M game #, which he was unable to disclose. Considering I paid in full on 12/16/19, this was a big “red flag". I contacted both Norbert & Chris @ KingPin and they claimed to never have sold a machine to Jonathan (and didn’t even know who Jonathan was!). I also contact Kayte Emery @ Spooky. None of them were able to “find” the game I paid $7,250 for!

In June, I gave Jonathan the opportunity to "save face" and “make things right” (after bugging him almost daily). Since he successfully obtained 4 Stern games for me, I asked him to simply get me the latest Stern Premium going into production (TMNT Premium). He agreed and wrote up a new invoice (which gave me some hope I would finally get a game for my money he was holding hostage). This gesture gave me hope.

Almost 4 months later, still no TMNT Premium. Over the course of the 4 months, he had been telling me different stories about what Stern distributors he would be obtaining the game from.

Jonathan held my $7,250 hostage for over 10 months! At this point, I proposed simply getting me an AIQ Pro. I decided to "sympathize" with his business woes and offered him a compromise, with the goal of actually getting a game (and eating the 2k difference between a Premium & Pro).

Fortunately, the Pinball Gods were smiling on me and on 10/13/20, Jonathan delivered me a NIB AIQ Pro. To document my "loss", I asked him to generate a new invoice that showed I received an AIQ Pro instead of the R&M I paid for almost 1 year ago. Despite bugging Jonathan on many occasions, he failed to produce this invoice/documentation.

So, add me to the list of victims. My loss ended up being ~2k. Fortunately, it was the ONLY scam I've ever been suckered into (as a result of the 4 successful transactions). I typically don't deal with sweet talkers like Jonathan, however so many respected collectors vouched for him, I thought I was safe. Another reminder to always go with your "gut".

Absolutely, but having lived through this (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/beware-of-jonathan-demare-asoa#post-6132804), I can tell you it's very tiring and stressful. At this point, I'm just thankful I received a game after "squeaking" for 10 months.

At this point, eating the 2k loss is worth not squeaking anymore...life is too short!

During my R&M drama with ASOA (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/beware-of-jonathan-demare-asoa#post-6132804), it was shocking to me how many times he would blame & berate me! Yelling and screaming at me when I called KingPin and Spooky to try and determine where my game was! Shit, I had a paid invoice for a game to be delivered in Jan/Feb and when I started getting nervous in May he freaks out? If I didn't do some of this detective work and confront him with it, I'd be out the entire $7,250...no doubt.

Since I'm not a push over and have no problem butting heads with the best of them, eventually he would calm down and go into his best buddy schtick. The transition from "I'm the bad guy" to "I'm his buddy" was really something to behold (and it happened on many occasions last year).

Again, I did 4 very successful transactions with him and he was a rock star for a period of time on The Village and Pinside. Glowing reviews. Really tough to know if he simply got in over his head OR he was scamming from the beginning. From where I sit, it's hard to call.

This is the last message I sent to Jonathan on 1/5/21, requesting he pay me the $1,750 owed.

Prior to this, I messaged JD 5 times (10/12, 10/22, 10/27, 11/19, 11/26), asking for an invoice to document that he delivered me an AIQ Pro (on 10/13/20) instead of the Rick and Morty purchased for $7,250 (on 12/16/2019).

Talk is especially cheap. The only thing that matters is paying people the money stolen from them. When my Rick and Morty invoice/sale was made, it was months before COVID. Based on my discussions with Spooky and their distributors, my machine never existed. This was fraud, plain and simple. Nothing to do with COVID.

Jonathan, since I know you are reading this thread, please contact me to make plans for paying me the $1,750 owed. I've arguably been patient.

Image 2-14-21 at 4.29 PM (resized).jpeg

You are wildly off base and really have no direct knowledge of what Bill is doing. I just talked to Bill. He is very interested in the bigger picture and isn't doing this just for himself. In fact, there are folks in the community that were hit harder and Bill is looking out for them. Bill is a right-minded person and doesn't deserve your negative vibe.

I realize some folks get a thrill out of piling on, but please don't "shoot the messenger" (especially if you haven't been hurt by ASOA). If someone has been financially hurt and is close to this fiasco, they are more welcome to chime in.

Good luck with that emotive approach if you are ever in a situation like this (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/beware-of-jonathan-demare-asoa#post-6132804).

You (and others) fail to mention the obvious public service of this crwjumper led thread. Moving forward, Pinsiders are now on alert, which will reduce the likelihood of *new* people being taken advantage of. Progress is being made for folks already hurt. At the moment, it's unclear how this will unfold, however Bill's fact based thread is clearly having an impact.

Trust me, I/we understand the game. I suspect most of the people involved are not naive/stupid. Nevertheless, I appreciate your concern. I've been in this hobby since 2004 and this is the first fraudulent transaction I've had to work through. Stressing out over shit like this isn't the answer.

I knew I could depend on someone to call this out. You are wrong. Were people hurt by Bernie Madoff all naive/stupid? Of course not.

People transact business based on reputation. As I said in my first post (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/beware-of-jonathan-demare-asoa#post-6132804),

"Jonathan Demare (aka ASOA on Pinside) had 20 glowing reviews from 1/17/18-5/16/19 (https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/asoa/feedback/1)".

Like many Pinsiders, I use the reviews to help make sure I'm dealing with a reputable person. At the time, ASOA seemed reputable. For years, Bernie was also reputable. I didn't invest with Bernie, but many smart people did. If you don't understand this, your opinion means little to me.

Absolutely. It's called trying to make the best out of a really bad situation! I got an AIQ Pro that I enjoyed instead of NOTHING! It's called negotiating...ever heard of that term? Apparently not. Here ya go: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/negotiation.asp

Thank you for the intelligent post! Very helpful.

And you probably don't have a pot to piss in with that attitude. Ever buy/sell stocks? You win some, you lose some. Same true for pinball transactions. The goal isn't perfection. Again, I received a fun game instead of receiving nothing. Please go assault someone else with your clueless BS.

Exactly. Wise words.

Jonathan texted me this morning. Clearly, no remorse or mea culpa. Jonathan simply guilted me just as hard as ever...for example:

"I have helped you personally sell games, fix games and acquire games all at a great price".

This is a true statement. Unfortunately, it doesn't give him the right to scam me on a Rick and Morty that he never delivered OR came clean on (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/beware-of-jonathan-demare-asoa#post-6132804). He disclosed this morning that he eventually received "my" Rick and Morty, but cannot back up this assertion with any hard data (or even game #!). This is denial, folks. If he did receive my R&M, he undoubtedly cashed in big time, since it is worth a lot more than $7,250! In fact, I "paid up" to get one locally, which if I was being a stickler, is a related loss from ASOA not delivering the game I purchased in December 2019.

I'm glad Bill is having some success getting his money back, but based on my text messages with Jonathan, I have no hope. Life is too short for me to stress out over a $1,750 loss! I'm going to back away from this thread, since it opens old wounds. I have nothing more to add. I've told my story and said my peace.

Of course I got scammed! Duh. As I said in my first post in this thread, I also had 4 perfect transactions with JD, so it's not like I was scammed by a stranger! I was scammed by someone who was considered a rockstar based on the Pinside reviews (which were 100% wildly positive).

EVERY pinball transaction has the opportunity of being imperfect.

Years ago, I bought a NIB AC/DC that had an awful PF. Little Shop of Games stood by me, and got Stern to send us a populated PF which LSOG replaced. An example of an imperfect transaction made perfect.

Years ago, I bought a CQ CV and it was damaged in transit. Imperfect transaction. The shipping company and seller both helped pay for the damage IIRC. Again, an imperfect transaction made more perfect.

The R&M transaction was extreme imperfection I paid in full for a game in December that was promised for January/February...in writing! After 10 months of bickering with JD, I convinced him to at least deliver me a game (AIQ Pro). For folks close to the situation, they were really shocked that I was able to get ANYTHING out of JD given his woe-is-me story. So while some of you can criticize me for compromising, you really have no idea what it's like to deal with a situation like this. Sure...I could have been more adamant about a FULL cash settlement. I don't believe that would have been the right path FOR ME. Getting a machine to enjoy and putting this to rest was far more important. My fucking monthly healthcare cost more than $1,750, just to put the loss into perspective. It's not a big deal. Getting something to play was a bigger deal for me. It's a hobby after all, and when I look at all my good fortune in this hobby, this was small time shit.

Bottom line: Of the 60+ machines I've purchased over the years, only ~6 transactions have been "imperfect"...this being the worst, obviously.

Thank you. No doubt in my mind it was the best solution given the cards I was dealt. After talking to nearly everyone connected with Spooky, I was convinced he didn't have a game (though he disputes that to this day).

After waiting 4 months for JD to deliver a Stern Premium, it became clear he was only able to obtain Pro's, so I lowered the bar yet again. When I received the AIQ Pro, I was relieved to finally put this saga behind me. Sure, it wasn't R&M, but it was a fun game that allowed me to recoup ~80% of my money.

IMG_2491 (resized).jpeg

Yep. Here is a JP2 I bought from ASOA that arrived in Pasadena on 12/3/19. At the time, JP2 Premiums were in short supply. Shipper was Stern Pinball. No distributor markings. No mention of ASOA. The consignee was an unfamiliar name at my California address. Other than the name not being mine, nothing unusual about the box/game.

No doubt that ASOA coming through on JP2 led me to ordering a Rick & Morty on 12/16. I wanted to order it directly from Spooky, but they sold out really quickly and I missed the boat. When JD said he had 2 on order and would sell me one for $7,250 and estimated delivery was Jan/Feb, I jumped on it (invoice below). The price was below market and the estimated delivery was crazy fast. Since I never purchased a Spooky game, but know they are a low volume producer, I should have done more investigative work to see if this was legit. Since JP2 was the 4th game purchased through ASOA, it inspired confidence that JD was plugged into all the manufacturers/distributors.

Image 2-15-21 at 8.18 PM (resized).jpeg