IMO and I'm a Bumper pin cushion sorry I mean purchaser... That my money and everyone else's is gone. It's gone to Bumper A, B or C or all of the above... I've written it off as gone. If something happens where it is no longer gone ill be surprised but as I stand now ill be $8k in the hole and nothing to be able to sell for it

This is unfortunate, but it is the way things go with these types of bankruptcies.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am struggling as an un-secured creditor to collect money from a bankrupt client. I am just standing in a long line of people who are owed and will probably never see more than a few pennies on the dollars as a settlement. I stopped dealing with the owner of the business, as he was just spinning stories, and now just deal directly with his attorney. His lawyer has put me on an e-mail communication chain informing me of filings, critical vendor motions, etc.

I really feel bad for people who have dealt with Bumpers in this situation. Just an ugly event.

jjp is a joke, bumper are joke........no one will get anything by the sounds of it.

does anyone know who PPS is, he likes to send people a personal inbox message with the word libel and the definition........check him out.

http://www.planetarypinball.com/ (must be him?)

I think he must really be "Captain Dictionary" saving the world one word at a time, this weeks word is libel.....cant wait for next weeks thrilling instalment

_{Post edited by absocountry2 : Ban Vote sent, just because you spell it Dic, the context was your were calling him a dick. Not on Pinside}

Self Edit: wasn't meant as a personnel attack, trying to lighten the situation. See your point though and duly noted.

makes sense now he is a jjp supplier.......well PPS why don't you ask the question there that some one posted under my name.........don't know what's libel about saying people are broke.

be careful you calling him a dic might make you libel........can you be libel if you agree with the other person.......hahaha

If I was one of the woz buyers in OZ, I'd personally go to the guys house who sold it to me.. DS and take his off him.

hmmm libel by proxy eh, if its possible I'm sure I will find out via a PM shortly...maybe his friends know him as Captain Richinary who knows. Lets start up a bunch of threads about it and take the average then divide it by 42 and round it up to the nearest 17 decimal points and bingo the truth will be known.......but where would the fun in that be eh, chaos theory wins every time for me?

maybe it's not jjp and bumper.......just maybe it was PPs all along......I think I have cracked the case! it's all making sense wow......hahaha

Sheesh, how long can this thread go on?

I am guessing you would like discussion to continue if someone had possibly thrown $9k of your cash in the dumpster? - Not lookin to start a fight just saying this thread has to continue to roll along....

I guess until we get the truth.

The machines or cash back would also be nice.

Well that's a few hours of my life i'm not getting back. Thought i would get on here to find out some more facts but hard to see the the facts for the bullshit. First post and probably the last.

Question... Would this have happened if JJP had sent machines to Australia when HE first promised them....and would Bumper have sent more money as THEY (the old or is that mid bumper version?) had always said that they would?

I guess we will never know. We have been screwed by both parties in my opinion. This should have been the early solution. More games supplied = more cash released for more games supplied = more cash released. You get the idea.

I don't know it to be fact but was informed that JJP did agree to deposits being sent and balance upon delivery. I for one liked the idea of my money being protected from a fledgling start up company on the other side of the world. Don't get me wrong I am a believer in what Jack is trying and succeeding in doing but thought it good risk management to have my money in a trust fund.
Hmmm what trust now?

Yes I have a vested interest...A Hobbit would you believe. Guess that makes me a true believer but not anymore. A shame for all concerned and one that will take some time to play out. There are some heavyweights in the background still trying to sort out this mess and I for one would be only to pleased to see a favourable outcome for ALL.

For what it's worth this should be one of the most exciting times in Pinball over the last 15 years
but PINBALL is also a big loser here and the smell from this debacle will linger for a long time to come. What a shame as it's pinball....... and meant to be fun!

I won't be back.

yeah feel sorry for the woz peeps with no machines, there's a few here where I live that are waiting, don't like there chances.

Just win the comp here tonight Joker Poker and you might feel a touch better

Please keep the discussion civil. It was going fine until this page and has turned bad. Stop bashing each other.

sad for pinside to hear that .. its good here.

Agreed, and I will not comment further in this thread after this post.

My interest in this thread is to see what happens and that hopefully things get resolved so that monies and or machines are are received by the right owners. Also IF there has been any dodgy dealings by anyone (note the IF) that justice is served as well.

I have no skin in the game as such but I do share similar risks as the Aussie guys in having to deal with a limited amount of distys and major overseas hurdles such as shipping and local laws etc on pretty much everything Pinball related. That is the pleasure and pain of living down here in the Southern Hemisphere so that is why it is important to us that things are resolved ultimately.

Cheers.

well said, I just want to see what happens as this makes me decide if I order a hobbit.......not sure now that it seems to risky, might just stick with the local stern dealer and give jjp a miss, or wait till one comes for sale in Australia

After this WOZ shitfight, I think that there will be practically zero Hobbit machines make it to Australia.

I was heavily looking into the Hobbit machine. Found bumper, contacted bumper, received nothing, found this thread and others. Its on the backburner now, far far far back on the back burner.

Threw down some cash for an AC/DC premium instead.

To my knowledge no distributor in NZ has ever ripped anyone off or behaved improperly.

I have dealt with both Stern distributors here - Coin Cascade and Phil Ward - and have never had an issue with either.

Even better, when I order a game they don't even ask for a deposit, let alone demand payment in full before the thing is even made. If they did that ... I would not buy anything. Easy as that.

Also, I have no issue dealing with overseas folks and haven't really encountered any "major hurdles" from anyone either. I have imported around 100 pins from Europe and haven't had an issue yet.

Mind you, I am careful with who I deal with and employ basic common sense with my business dealings.

Also, to my knowledge there are no "local laws" affecting pinball machines. Pinball machines don't even attract import duty when they are bought into NZ (only GST) Shipping a pinball machine to NZ from say the UK is cheaper than shipping a pinball on a truck across America.

rd

As I have told others,
Your best bet is to wait till JJ's machines are in Australia (if they ever are)
and pick one up on the second hand market or someone off selling their NIB once they have it in hand..
You will always see any title for sale at some stage sooner or later.

We apparently only got 12 Tron LE's in Australia.
I was barely looking for one and got mine not too long ago.

Patience is needed and totally risk free shopping this way.

Giving small companies tons of money up front for a loooong time has great risks. I am sad but not shocked.

so true especially when there all the way over the other side of the world or in bumpers case it's a 4 hour plane ride from where I live in perth to Melbourne so yeah risky

Interesting to know why jack or one of his team was not at the liquidator meeting. Since he had so 150k of bumper money and was owed 400k, why was he not there?
Was he just too lazy to hop on a plane and see first hand what his exclusive distributor was up to?

He had a duty of care to his distributor, the customers and his own business to be there.

_{Post edited by absocountry2 : Ban vote sent for multiple accounts. kaplan = Lukex}

According to the new Bumper, they have taken the burden of the machines and money. That means JJP has no interest in the old Bumper. That is the company that had the meeting.

Do you have a machine ordered?

What did they say about those machines at the meeting?

How do you know he did not have representation there?

I do not know those answers, but pretty sure JJP has no interest in old Bumper according to details we know.

This is getting out of hand. Lukex - out....

There's a very good chance of that I think. Or the numbers could be lower than they previously would've been.
70+ pins in the worldwide scheme of things isn't much but how many of us who've put money up for WOZ will buy a Hobbit now? Assuming we don't get our WOZs or even a refund, of course.
And how many of those mixed up with all this will say enough and not buy any new machines, whether from JJP or Stern?
In my opinion, pinball needs as many new manufacturers as it can get. Who doesn't want more new pins? As we all know, the classic pins weren't made by just one manufacturer.
I hope this whole problem doesn't have a negative impact on JJP. We know the new Bumper is legally responsibly for all this. Hopefully Jack will help us sort it out.

And you didn't think it would.......................

hmmm wonder why the ask for full payments on the Hobbit, they wouldn't have to if the had the dosh to make the machine.......for example you don't see activision asking for full paid deposits on call of duty then make the game and release it..........just a thought

Hi all. Received an email and thought I'd share:

"Have you noticed who the new director/investor of the new Bumper Amusements Pty Ltd is? It's Kris Petersen from the band Syndicate. His music is in the Pimp My Pin section on Bumper's website. He's now a director along with Rob Farrell. As you know, Rob Farrell isn't returning calls or emails, maybe this new director/investor will be more helpful in getting our WOZs or refunding our money. Try calling him on 0438901248, emailing him at [email protected] or via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thelickfactory

I hear he is very supportive of our cause."

Attached to the email was proof he is a new director.

Not sure why someone would become a director of a new company that is legally responsible for all this. That's his business. Maybe he doesn't know. Maybe he's bringing in money or expertise, or both, to help.

_{Post edited by wmw : For clarity}

I wonder why Rob Farrell's name and photo have been taken off Bumper's ads on eBay...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Twilight-Zone-Pinball-Machine-Top-Quality-Fully-reconditioned-Warranty-/261270494075?pt=AU_CoinOp&hash=item3cd4ef5b7b
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Flintstones-Pinball-Machine-in-Top-cond-Fully-reconditioned-/290833571977?pt=AU_CoinOp&hash=item43b7082089&_uhb=1

Yeah, playing with those colour swatches really did his head in...He just couldn't handle it anymore.

They should put this up on their ebay ads instead

Open letter to Jersey Jack...

Dear Jack,

It has been a week since we received a communication from Rob at Bumper advising they were no longer your distributor.

It has been a long week!

It is almost a year to the day that I walked into the Bumper offices to buy a Stern Simpsons Pinball machine for my kids, and walked out with a deposit for a Wizard of Oz machine.

It has been a long year!

What I would like now is to hear from you in detail. Not a little snippet or a quick grab. But an explanation. A good one. I think I am owed it. I think we all are.

We have lots of questions and few answers. Why did you decide to switch distributors given new Bumpers apparent willingness to resolve this for us? Now the change is in, how will it work going forward? Who is the new distributor? Why did you switch a deposit on 70+ machines to a full payment for 25? Are you really reselling machines pledged to Aussie customers in the US? What is the limited edition Aussie edition we hear about? Ultimately, can we expect our machines?

I know you might not have all the answers straight away. However I don’t think that is any reason not to speak up. We have only heard one side of the story, I am sure there is another. However at the moment the silence is deafening.

I'd like to hear your plan. You are obviously upset at Bumper. We all are. But thats not enough to cut it. What are you doing to help? How do we get out of this mess? What can we do to help you? We are looking to you to be a leader here. We are trying to stay on your side, but we need to know the plan.

We expect you to step forward, stand up and start to take control. We are YOUR customers. We bought a Jersey Jack machine!

You need to look after the customers that bought the dream early and then put up their cash to prove it.

I know you haven’t been paid everything you are owed, but you haven’t delivered much either.

Facts are you have $150,000 of our money in the bank. However I understand you need to be paid. Why not tell us what the gap you are owed is likely to be after the whatever you have already been paid, the retail margin and balances still due are deducted, so we can understand what we might be up for. I am open to reasonable solutions. I think most of us are. Its better than sitting in the dark

I am not giving up on my money or my machine. Call me an optimist but I still see my kids playing their LE 833 machine this Christmas.

You wanted to change this industry. The way you handle this issue sends a massive message. It says you are in it for the long term. Or not.

In the movie, the Wizard turns out to be a fake. I refuse to believe in this case that life is going to imitate art.

Please Jack, speak to us.

Regards,
Nick

great letter, I hope it helps yours and everyone's cause.......good luck!

thanks Nick,
pretty sure jack will see this, he gets on this place often.

I would send it to him personally as well. Tell him it is here however.

I can't see a public letter to Jack getting the results you desire. I hope I'm wrong.

Good luck to all those waiting on machines.

Seems to me the only way out of this is:

-JJP credits the buyers for the money he has received.

-Up to the buyers to pay the difference to get their machines, or maybe get a refund of that partial payment and walk away.

-The buyers are left with pursuing legal channels for getting the balance of their money from whomever has/had it in Australia.

Not a great situation, but right now it appears some people might get NO machine, and NO money.

Well, I definitely feel for everyone affected.