Ship time is one thing, customer service is another.

Man, no disrespect, but those of you complaining about their lack of customer service must not be trying very hard.

I had some issues with CT - so you know what I did - I called - again, and again, and again. I spoke to both Chris and Melissa multiple times on both technical ratings of the bulbs and shipping/returns.

They flat out sent me multiple bulbs that I didn't pay for (Say I ordered 10 of a frosted white LED, they'd put in 12), paid for shipping if they had to send something out a second time on behalf of their mistake, and sent me completely free bulbs if I told them I wanted to experiment. They even sent me color-changers, which last I recalled were a good $4 a pop.

Emails are the answering machine of the internet - no one gets back to them. In such an age where we have so much technology to keep us all closer and more in touch, we continue to be out of touch and farther away.

I promise, that rant was directed at no one in particular. If you want good service - DEMAND IT. Don't expect it to just be given to you.

The customer is NOT always right - that mentality died with the 50's ....

I disagree - I loath the phone - it is distracting and people gabble and don't get to the point.

Emails I can respond to IN MY OWN TIME and when I have the chance.

And text messages are .....?

Let me make a bit more detail to my original post- emails work when you're not in a hurry/pressing for an answer.

So your good with higher prices because someones service is superior but then you claim you had to call multiple times and demand the unmatched service?

What if what I dealt with was 1 out of 1000 orders. Would you call that poor service?

I thought most people preferred both sides of a story.

Really? Care to back that up? Where?

Maybe that was your first mistake......Zing, haha just mess in

Yes please do tell where I can find the light bulbs.

I am working on a website at the moment and should be complete this week. I have been selling LEDs locally to distributors already. I plan to sell the same style as cointakers and for a lower cost.

If you have any questions of course email me. I will share the link with you there, I don't want to steal the thread here and post my site here.

I answer my emails so quickly. All go to my phone and am quite fast to reply. Also, I always expect quality service as that is what I provide and other companies I have worked for.

anyways, if you have to DEMAND service then the business model is not the best.

Ok maybe I over spoke there, I can buy fluorescent bulbs for the price of some LED inserts, can buy an LED light bulb for less than some of the LED flashers. That better. Point being I can still light my house for less than I can light a pinball machine with high end LEDs, something just isn't right there. I don't know what kind of markup is on these things but I am sure it is enough that more mainstream sources can produce them equally and cheaper.

.

You are on the right track using Teal/Cyan under the four stand-up targets (Snack Bar). I used Teal/Cyan and my CFTBL came out great. I just found my invoice from BC's Pinball what you need is called (Cyan)basicly teal. Cyan 44 SWHF 4XLED. I also used BC's Ceatrure swirl ramp & whirlpool LEDs in Cool White. Looks amazimg!! go to www.LEDsPinball.com 100_0043.JPG

I know this is late but I have to say dealing with cointaker all these years has been a great experience for me, to call them out on a thread such as this as it was is not only distasteful, but amateur. That's all I have to say on this.

This thread was 2 years long forgotten but thanks to you, their loyal fan, it's back on top.
Bump!

I have used Cointaker Leds in over 70 pins, Melissa has always been great to work with and fair!

Tried everybody else's stuff and it is like comparing a lexus to a kia

2 years is a long time. Things have changed. I hate people who say this but this tread needs a lock so it can go back where it belongs.

Some things never change...this guy was wrong 2 years ago and is still wrong...

I Have used Cointaker for the past 5 years and can't complain. Yes the Leds have changed a bunch! When I first got my LOTR almost 5 years ago I thought Leds looked amazing in it. Well the leds back then ghosted way too much and weren't nearly as bright as the recent models. It sucked having to buy a modern kit for Rings but the technology has changed for the better.

Back 4 or 5 years ago there was almost no competition so most people bought Cointaker products. Now there are 3 or 4 competitive companies to choose from with good prices. I have tried other products from Comet and Pinball life and was still happy with CT. If anything there is more demand for LEDS so it's good there are other companies offering variety and keeping the cost down. If indeed CT has a big mark up then the competitive market should make their prices go back down.

It wasn't that long ago that pinside had non stop postings about how much people hated Leds in games! There used to be as many post about hating leds as there are now about people complaining how high prices are or bitching about Sterns code issues. I think it's cool that the majority of people have embraced Leds and are here to stay...or until something cooler or better is developed

2 years ago there were over 200 factories in China making LEDs... Heaven knows how many now.
The Germans make an LED that will last a hell of a long time.. the Chinese try to copy that. Some come close.. most fall way way short.
But... my incandescents in my 1937 Stoner Ricochet ALL still work.. now that's 78 years and counting. The push for a cheaper product led to the incandescent being made cheaper and cheaper... you push for a cheaper LED and you have the same problem.
Go buy a German one for $10 a pop and never replace it... buy cheap and buy again.. buy cheaper and expect to buy again sooner.
Then when all there is to buy is cheap LED because an incandescent 6V bulb is ludicrously considered a power sucker and they are all crapping out... what you going to do?
Oh yeh... buy more crappy LEDs and continue bitchin

Just keep an eye out too for when cointaker runs their special for %off for pinsiders

Yeah, the last time I ordered it was 15% off anyway. They have done 20% on special occasions too!

You do realize that the shift away from incandescent is because of 60w+ bulbs for residential lighting, not because of pinball bulbs, yeah? All the other markets are because people like bright, and bling, and yes, in some rare cases, lower power consumption. When you replace 70+ incadescent 6v lamps in a single pin, and you have 5+ games, that crap adds up fast.

LOl- yes, im aware of that but they haven't been available in Australia for years.. the switch to CCFL was made moons ago.
I have 40+ games here but the change from incandescent 6V to LED will make on the power bill is diddly squat.. you do realize that yeah?

The failure remarks with CT is a little nuts. I have likely done 40+ machines with CT bulbs, and have had maybe 12-15 failures in that, most when new, just factory defect. The only other ones that were problematic where the clear HP's, as they would burn out, and CT discontinued those because of that issue, but replace any that fail, along with any bulb.

No question their service is top notch, Melissa is great to deal with, great person.

I don't know about that. Lights consume a lot of the power of a machine while on. Someone did a clamp reading test on RGP one time, and the avg draw was drastically reduced with LED's, I believe it was on F14, which is I believe the highest peaking watt machine made.

Maybe... but look at your fuse ratings. 10A @6V ( I only really collect EMS).. that's 60W at full rating. Considering the fuse never blows then the draw on your TRANSFORMER is UNDER 60W. Now take into account that not all bulbs are on at once and you are arguing over sheckles my friend

Uhh, no. Saying that Comets LEDs are like Kias compared to CT's bulbs is a complete joke.

True dat. IMO, if You're not buying from Comet you are 1) over paying and 2) not getting the latest greatest bulb style varieties available.

Michele has always replied and or called me back within a few hours. I have bought 8 kits all at discount from there normal price, have requested multiple additional lights (never charged ) and always end up with about 10-15 extra color bulbs and flashers in each kit. Also out of 8 kits I've only had 1 bad bulb which was ordinary white and the kit came with extra's. I know this is old thread but I started buying fron CT 2 years ago when this thread was relevent. 2 Thumbs Way up customer for life here. Plus I like the kits I am not that artistic and it's a good way to get a base feel for lighting, I can always mix and match after

Melissa's kinda hot though. Makes the transaction easier!

Disagree... So would Art

My buddy bought some of comets bulbs and I tried them out and they are nto as good as cointaker's just saying even the the two wives agreed when asked

FWIW, the minute I get a pin that's 'LED'd" out, I start swapping them out for incandescents. God I can't stand LED's....tacky tacky tacky.

Depends on the pin, Norm. On a Funhouse and (your) Congo, they look terrific. (I used all warm whites on my IJ, and it's not too bad...but not sure if I like it yet.) On LOTR, not so much. That being said, Herg's LED OCD is an absolute MUST - smooths everything out and makes them act like the incandescents. A machine without that card running things does look really tacky, I agree with you.

On that (Congo)I do agree....man that Congo was nice-but I know it's in good hands! It's just that I 've seen SO many bad LED jobs that it's kind of soured me on the whole thing. I picked up another BSD and it has the worst, most annoying LED treatment in it. I don't know-maybe because it is meant to be a 'dark' machine the LED's just don't cut it. YMMV though...

I always support my Distributor, & Coin Taker supports me, and the machine they sold me... What else can you ask for...

Yeah, Cointaker always has the best New in Box Game prices!

But when you take into account how many extra led strips and double spot lights and toy mods that have leds in them and extra scoop leds they all really add up. And when you multiply that by 16 games like in my case WOW does it add up.

I'm not concerned with that.. I don't leave my games on anyways. Hence I said "in a minority of cases"....location games, for example.

What *I* am concerned with is the amp draw out of the power supply, and for when I run tournaments in my 950 sq. ft. condo. Anything that reduces amp pull out of the wall is a lifesaver for us. We only have two circuits for 5-6 games, and those circuits are shared with other things. If they were all running incandescent, the first time someone hit a multiball while all game are being played, the entire bank would get dropped because the circuit breaker would trip. As it is, I make it a point to turn off unnecessary stuff like my computer when we have friends over.

If you think it's negligible, then you're either using LEDs that I consider to be way too bright for a pinball machine anyways, or you've never actually looked at the power consumption with a meter. It does make a marked difference.

That's where I got my Mustang from.

Locked per request from OP.