(Topic ID: 319214)

Beware Pinball Basement! The thread I didn't want to start..

By Butch2099

1 year ago


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  • Latest reply 64 days ago by FatPanda
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    Post #60 . Posted by dmacy (1 year ago)

    Post #119 The OP's bank issued a refund Posted by Butch2099 (1 year ago)

    Post #137 Response from pinball basement Posted by lordloss (1 year ago)

    Post #167 Accounts closed Posted by ForceFlow (1 year ago)


    Topic indices are generated from key posts and maintained by Pinside Editors. For more information, or to become an editor yourself read this post!

    There are 213 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 5.
    51
    #1 1 year ago

    Let me start by saying I did everything I could to avoid starting this thread but I've been backed into a corner.

    Some background: About a year or so ago I saw that pinball basement was making boards that were supposed to mimic original factory boards. I thought this was a great idea and ordered a few to have on hand as I buy and sell a lot of games and like to have boards on hand.

    Fast forward a couple of months, a friend of mine needed a board so I gave him one of those boards. It didn't work correctly and he ended up sending it back to Charlie at pinball basement where it was repaired and sent back to him pretty quickly. I didn't think anything of it at the time but was happy it was taken care of.

    I then met Charlie at the Texas show back in March and placed an order for a bunch of boards. He told me they would get out in a couple of weeks once he got back from the show. After 3 months I still never received them. A lot of messages back and forth along with excuses.

    Finally I ran across this thread about him announcing that he was making the boards and realized what a debacle it was, between empty promises and poor quality product. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/grand-opening-of-the-pinball-basement-check-it-out.

    Being that it was over 3 months and I still haven't received products and saw the poor quality of what he was sending, remembering that one of the boards I had received from him earlier didn't work, I sent him a message saying please don't send me anything that I was going to initiate a charge back. He apologized and said that he would ok the refund.

    Now he's fighting me on the chargeback saying he's going to yet again ship this week (now 2 weeks ago). It was day 28 of the 30 days before they issue me my money.

    I sent him a message through Pinside and he told me flat out he didn't like the way I initiated the charge back and too bad, that I was going to get his product. (Still not shipped).

    I tried to get Robin involved as to not start a shit show publicly, because I don't want to blow up a business that could potentially be good for the hobby and I've been on pinside long enough to know how these things go. I don't know exactly what was said to Robin but Robin said that he tried and couldn't talk any sense into him.

    Please see attached screenshots of conversation which are unedited except for my address and phone number.

    I've never seen a successful business force people to take product that they do not want. I'm still fairly confident in my bank refunding me all of my money being that he has admitted to them that he still has not sent me anything. Now 4 months later.

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    16
    #2 1 year ago

    Sounds like he doesn't have the money to pay you back.

    #3 1 year ago

    He's a piece of shit. I won't do business with him

    13
    #4 1 year ago

    Knowing Butch from the shows and having done a little business with him in the past I know this isn't a post he wanted to make. Butch is a great guy and nothing but a class act so I am sure it was a hard decision for him to go ahead starting this topic. Just in case this becomes a "shit show" I wanted to support Butch right away on this. Sadly sometimes small vendors are not good at delivering product or with money management. I don't know any of the details and have never done business Pinball Basement but this surely isn't advertising he needs.

    #5 1 year ago

    I was impressed with their product and booth but will not do business if this is the customer experience.
    Hope this gets resolved quickly.

    #6 1 year ago
    Quoted from finman2000:

    Sounds like he doesn't have the money to pay you back.

    Possibly... Screwing customers over isn't going to make it better for him. My bank made it sound like they were holding my $1240 until they resolved the claim.

    #7 1 year ago
    Quoted from Vino:

    I was impressed with their product and booth but will not do business if this is the customer experience.
    Hope this gets resolved quickly.

    It is and it won't...sitting on about the same amount (around $1200.00) worth of crap boards for months and months and months w broken promises, replacements which were shit, etc.

    Chaulk it up to "buyer beware" category in this hobby......alot of great products, people in the business......sadly, he's not one of them.....

    14
    #8 1 year ago

    I don’t know what’s happen to this hobby the past few years, but it seems to not be as enjoyable as it was.

    #9 1 year ago

    Butch2099 - You are experiencing exactly what happened to me. He lied to me continually. He strung me along on delivery as well as replacing a non-working Power board. Months later, after confronting him at the Allentown show 2021, he promised again to replace my board. Almost a month later, I got a crappy replacement with parts literally falling off the board from poor soldering skills. I had another tech fix that board. He makes promises he cannot keep. his customer service is non-existent. He claims to have a medical condition and that is why his business suffers. On his Facebook page, he is constantly boasting about his great products. Lately, he is showing his game room full of machines that he is restoring. Buyer Beware is a correct name for this business. I am out about $600 on his crappy boards. Wish I had not waited so long, that I was outside the window for a charge back.

    #10 1 year ago
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    #11 1 year ago
    Quoted from Tophervette:

    Butch2099 - You are experiencing exactly what happened to me. He lied to me continually. He strung me along on delivery as well as replacing a non-working Power board. Months later, after confronting him at the Allentown show 2021, he promised again to replace my board. Almost a month later, I got a crappy replacement with parts literally falling off the board from poor soldering skills. I had another tech fix that board. He makes promises he cannot keep. his customer service is non-existent. He claims to have a medical condition and that is why his business suffers. On his Facebook page, he is constantly boasting about his great products. Lately, he is showing his game room full of machines that he is restoring. Buyer Beware is a correct name for this business. I am out about $600 on his crappy boards. Wish I had not waited so long, that I was outside the window for a charge back.

    Sorry to hear he got you also. At what point is he not allowed to sell here?

    #12 1 year ago
    Quoted from Tophervette:

    Butch2099 - You are experiencing exactly what happened to me. He lied to me continually. He strung me along on delivery as well as replacing a non-working Power board. Months later, after confronting him at the Allentown show 2021, he promised again to replace my board. Almost a month later, I got a crappy replacement with parts literally falling off the board from poor soldering skills. I had another tech fix that board. He makes promises he cannot keep. his customer service is non-existent. He claims to have a medical condition and that is why his business suffers. On his Facebook page, he is constantly boasting about his great products. Lately, he is showing his game room full of machines that he is restoring. Buyer Beware is a correct name for this business. I am out about $600 on his crappy boards. Wish I had not waited so long, that I was outside the window for a charge back.

    Can you point me to the best tech who would be willing to take these and (hopefully) repair them properly? Simply don't have the time to go through the schematic and troubleshoot repair them all....much appreciated....(pm if you'd like).....mark

    #13 1 year ago

    Terribly sad to hear this.
    It was truly an excellent idea with a lot of promise.

    14
    #14 1 year ago

    Three people on this thread in just the last 2 hours say they were screwed over by him and I've gotten a couple of texts privately and on Facebook about others. robin how long do we allow this guy to continue to screw people over?

    #15 1 year ago


    Hope this gets resolved for you. Good luck getting help from them on here.

    10
    #16 1 year ago
    Quoted from MK6PIN:

    Can you point me to the best tech who would be willing to take these and (hopefully) repair them properly? Simply don't have the time to go through the schematic and troubleshoot repair them all....much appreciated....(pm if you'd like).....mark

    Try Jerry Clause or Chris Hibler.

    #17 1 year ago
    Quoted from chuckwurt:

    Try Jerry Clause or Chris Hibler.

    Good choices along with Rob Anthony and Clive from The Coin-Op Cauldron.

    26
    #18 1 year ago

    Butch is a standup guy - period end of story.

    Beyond the boards I’m mesmerized you have a friend named Nestor.

    #19 1 year ago

    Charlie shouldn’t be offering any product to the public. He has proven that he is incapable of communicating or fulfilling orders and is still allowed to do business on pinside for some reason.

    I have had issues with him as well and there are many more documented incidents as well.

    #20 1 year ago
    Quoted from jdoz2:

    Charlie shouldn’t be offering any product to the public. He has proven that he is incapable of communicated or fulfilling orders and is still allowed to do business on pinside.

    Couldn't agree more, with all of this Robin really needs to scratch him of this site along with the dude begging for $100k for a "one of a kind pin"

    Quoted from Butch2099:

    Three people on this thread in just the last 2 hours say they were screwed over by him and I've gotten a couple of texts privately and on Facebook about others. robin how long do we allow this guy to continue to screw people over?

    #21 1 year ago

    Latest message from Charlie:

    "Good luck with your clout and your pinside threat. I mean, thread."

    I know he's seen this thread. Waiting for his rebuttal (more excuses) If he will even show his face here...

    #22 1 year ago

    Wow, this guy is a piece…

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    #23 1 year ago
    Quoted from jellikit:

    Good choices along with Rob Anthony and Clive from The Coin-Op Cauldron.

    I second Rob Anthony. He repaired 3 boards for me that were in bad shape.

    #24 1 year ago
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    #25 1 year ago
    Quoted from chuckwurt:

    Try Jerry Clause or Chris Hibler.

    Was definitely going to hit Chris up....great guy and knows his stuff....wasn't sure if he wanted to screw w these or not....

    #26 1 year ago

    Since I believe these are OEM to spec, I think they can easily work on these. Worth a shot for sure.

    #27 1 year ago

    Purchased games from Butch before and he is real.

    Chargeback is a slam dunk refund for the buyer with no delivery confirmation so seller is SOL.

    Why screw over your target audience and buyers of replacement boards?

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    #28 1 year ago
    Quoted from Butch2099:

    Let me start by saying I did everything I could to avoid starting this thread but I've been backed into a corner.

    Sorry you had to go through this. Thank you for writing this thoughtful and informative post which will undoubtedly help others avoid the same nightmare.

    15
    #29 1 year ago

    I have no skin in the game but I just want to say: there is NO WAY I would ever even think about doing business with this Charlie guy or Pinball Basement. I’ll bet I’m not the only one who feels this way, it would be in his best interest to straighten himself and this mess out.

    22
    #30 1 year ago
    Quoted from Tophervette:

    He claims to have a medical condition and that is why his business suffers.

    Quoted from Butch2099:

    Good luck with your clout and your pinside threat. I mean, thread

    I am not a doctor, but I don’t think being an asshole is a medical condition.

    #31 1 year ago

    I’m sure he’s going through some shit (poor form to tease that), but he needs to just shut things down until he can get through whatever is going on. I know he means well, but just shut it down and get better.

    #32 1 year ago

    Sorry the op is going thru this. I have seen pinball basements online store and wonder if he is shipping boards ordered through the site. I have thought about ordering a couple boards through him but was able to find something better everytime I needed one.
    I can recommend Chris Hibler or Rob Anthony. Rob is my go to guy and he has been able to repair some pretty bad boards. Good luck to the op

    #33 1 year ago

    Thanks for posting Butch2099 I will for sure avoid this seller. He makes himself look like a piece of crap. He may as well just be a wanna be scam artist with his poor attitude.

    #34 1 year ago

    I got one of his boards early on I think through planetarypinball supply(?)and tehy would sell out quick! Like he was the official supplier of old boards for WMS product. Sorry I can't remember. The board worked great and saved my machine, unlike the endless headaches I had with rottendog boards that came defective several times. The one I have from the basement is still going strong.
    I didn't know about any of the issues or other thread! Got me a little worried about it down the line. Maybe I should send off the OEM one to get de-hacked...

    Sorry to hear about all this. I was super excited someone besides rottendog was making the power driver baord for WPC-89.

    17
    #35 1 year ago

    Amazing, Robin and the mods allow this guy to post and be a member on this website. Why not a stickey for this scammer?

    Go with Victor / Dumbass instead.

    #36 1 year ago

    I’ve brought this up before. When should someone be pulled from selling on this site? 3-5-10 complaints? Prob liability issues.

    #37 1 year ago

    I’ve purchased more then a dozen machines or so from Rob over the years. We have developed a friendship in and outside this hobby and I can honestly say Rob is the first person to try every option to make something right. With that being said for Rob to post this he must have exhausted every means possible before going public about this, and besides his funds being tied up which he will get reversed he genuinely cares about this hobby and the people in it so thank you for being this to the front burner so others don’t follow suit and experience the same.

    I can’t say enough positive things about Rob but I will add this for thought, when you have other highly respected dealers saying “Rob is a great stand up guy period” well that speaks volumes.

    Shame on Charlie and shame on any platform that allows people to make victims of their community when there has been known issue posted about him time after time, horses don’t change colors.

    #38 1 year ago

    I purchased a WPC89 driver board from him over a month ago. After a week I emailed to check on shipping. I then got a shipping notification but the tracking just shows label created. Still has not shipped. I’ve tried to email him 2 more times with no response. I started a chargeback with my credit card company yesterday. I would rather just get the product I paid for.

    #39 1 year ago

    This is a shame. I ordered a driver board from Charlie on 5/21 and received it about three weeks later.

    The board was an excellent reproduction and has been on our floor in our Indy 500 ever since.

    #40 1 year ago
    Quoted from Jayg1981:

    I purchased a WPC89 driver board from him over a month ago. After a week I emailed to check on shipping. I then got a shipping notification but the tracking just shows label created. Still has not shipped. I’ve tried to email him 2 more times with no response. I started a chargeback with my credit card company yesterday. I would rather just get the product I paid for.

    Sounds like you probably WILL get it, in the end.. if he goes the save route as the OP.

    That is insane to force the buyer to purchase the boards after months of not sending them. Lotta bad experiences with Charlie and then a few happy customers.. wonder what the ratio is?

    #41 1 year ago

    I’m betting this how things go down in the basement.

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    #42 1 year ago

    Done business with Butch, he has an outstanding reputation.

    Charlie also has an outstanding reputation... in the other direction.

    My only surprise is people are surprised when they get rooked by this character and that he is still allowed on Pinside.

    #43 1 year ago

    Appreciate the heads up! Been dragging my feet on ordering a few boards to get some workshop games finally running.

    Glad I procrastinated, sounds like it saved me money and hassle.

    #44 1 year ago

    Butch is the man, I have bought a lot of machines from him over the years, he’s an awesome person.

    Sorry you are going through this, sounds like an awful experience…I went through it with an arcade cab build I did years ago, it’s such a horrible feeling to get taken, makes you appreciate the good people in this hobby that much more.

    Hope you get the chargeback to go through asap.

    #45 1 year ago

    Sorry to hear. I will stay away and let everyone i know in the hobby to stay away from Pinball Basement.

    #46 1 year ago
    Quoted from Pinphila:

    Amazing, Robin and the mods allow this guy to post and be a member on this website. Why not a stickey for this scammer?

    I wonder what the Pinside policy is in a case like this, where multiple people have been screwed over?

    Still waiting for Charlie to chime in with some excuse. He knows the thread exists.

    Does he think if he comes on here and says boards are shipped everything is going to be better? I DON'T WANT YOUR BOARDS! It's not like I can resell them with confidence & get my money back, or put them away for future use (disappointment). They will be refused if shipped and sent back in the same timely manner that you shipped them to me after I get my chargeback.

    #47 1 year ago

    Not saying you’re right, or wrong but you should have asked him for a refund before you initiated the charge back. If he would have said no, then imitate the charge back. The charge back will result in more fees than he originally received…just an fyi. Now you’re at this point, good luck and I hope you get your money back!!

    15
    #48 1 year ago
    Quoted from Yesh23:

    Not saying you’re right, or wrong but you should have asked him for a refund before you initiated the charge back. If he would have said no, then imitate the charge back. The charge back will result in more fees than he originally received…just an fyi. Now you’re at this point, good luck and I hope you get your money back!!

    Nah, then he'd be strung along for a refund until a chargeback is too late.

    #49 1 year ago
    Quoted from Yesh23:

    Not saying you’re right, or wrong but you should have asked him for a refund before you initiated the charge back. If he would have said no, then imitate the charge back. The charge back will result in more fees than he originally received…just an fyi. Now you’re at this point, good luck and I hope you get your money back!!

    My Friend asked for a refund after I did my charge back and Charlie told him to do the charge back, that he couldn't find the transaction. He never got his boards either. I'm not sure if Charlie is fighting that charge back or not.

    #50 1 year ago

    I totally support the OP and his approach.

    We need a sticky thread that lists and praises the awesome suppliers/repair techs and a list of the deadbeats/scammers that jerk us around. Pinball Basement has proven he should be on the deadbeat/scammer list.

    Pinball Basement you're way out of line here. Treat those as you would want to be treated. Clearly you don't get this.

    There are 213 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 5.

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