That sucks but it isn't that bad, after a home repair you probably lost around $500 value on resale, at worst. Get some new back box hinges, a couple clamps, T-molding and some touchup paint and you can have it done in a day. It sucks you'd have to put in work but shit happens.

What are you expecting from the seller in this situation? You are not showing your side of the conversation.

I wasn’t worried about that just more of a general statement since I had seen a few people suggest it.
These things come up often on here.
If it were as simple as me just saying “Needs a new game specific cabinet $2000 “
I would do that anytime.
Unfortunately it requires way more than that to get a fair settlement which is part of the wearing you out process these companies use to avoid paying claims.

Did you explicitly ask the seller if they insured the shipment? I'd start with asking that if you haven't yet. Also, how did you pay for it? I don't think that has been mentioned yet. If you paid with a credit card or paypal (not as a gift) then I'd leverage the buyer protection services they offer and start going that route if the seller isn't coming around to covering the damages. A new cabinet is ideal, but I don't think you're going to get that out of the seller or Pilot. That being said, I agree with herbertbsharp that you could get this back to pretty good shape quickly.

This was purchased from a private collector. Would you cover the damages if I shipped a machine from you? Would it be cool if I charged you back?

EDIT: Apparently the seller included shipping in the deal, cheaped out with freight and lost the gamble. Claiming to be an "expert" shipper doesn't help relieve him of responsibility either.

WRONG ->: The buyer cheaped out on shipping by going freight and lost the gamble.

That's a good point but also goes off the assumption I wouldn't want to help the buyer. Given the seller also set up the shipping, not the buyer, Zplumb should explicitly ask about insurance on it (if that hasn't been done yet). I of course wouldn't like if someone charged me back, but if I set up shipping for a game, and it showed up severely damaged then I would do what I can to get it repaired or reimbursed for the buyer. Failing that, I'd set up return shipping and refund them for the game and deal with the shipping company on getting my money back. I sure that sounds crazy, but that's how I would handle it.

Edit: To be clear, OP stated the seller set up shipping as part of the sale, not the buyer.

In my experience the buyer is typically responsible for arranging shipment and buying the insurance in a private sale

Edit: never mind if the seller arranged shipping. Either way this sucks. All you can do is fix it, keep track of your costs, and see what you can get back

Unless I am completely Wrong, the Seller provided and Included shipping in the deal and claimed they did it like a pro?

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/archive/92601

Oh, that does make a big difference.

Since the seller included it in the deal and booked the shipping they should take some responsibility. I would. At least you didn't over pay, $5100 delivered is a great price. You'll still have at least a $4500 game when you are done. But the seller should give you something to help out. $200-$300 sounds fair to me.

Unfortunately shit happens no matter how well something is packed. I don’t see any mention of insurance being included.

As a seller I wouldn’t ship anything without making buyer add insurance... or putting something in writing that they are waiving it and accepting as-is.

Sorry this happened to you it’s a bummer for sure.

And, NOT ship it on its legs with only a light coat of shrink wrap! That game never had a chance! Think about how easy these games are to slid around in a game room. On a truck floor that top heavy beast for Certain fell over by the photos. Preparation is key in my opinion.

Shipping always has risks but I think it’s safer for the game to be shipped on their legs generally. A game on the ground is far more likely to have a fork puncture the cabinet. Granted, a single fork puncture is less catastrophic than what we are seeing here when it falls over, but frequency of the fork punctures is much higher than seeing a machine fall over.

This is why most sellers require the buyer to make all shipping arrangements from setting up the shipping to paying for it...the game will not be returned to seller if seller had no hand in making the arrangements. There would still be a claim against the shipper for the damage of course.

I've only had one used game shipped, and after we cut the deal the topic of conversation was packaging and shipping as I was really nervous (which is why I've never shipped a game). Fortunately my seller was very meticulous in packing. He actually used cardboard on all the edges (entire machine), applied shrink wrap, then installed blankets on the entire game, and shrink wrapped again. He then installed the entire game on a pallet and shipped. After all this we still insured the game for the entire amount. Moral of the story is NEVER ship games on legs, and if the seller isn't willing to package the game correctly then don't buy it...its not worth the risk (IMHO)

Not sure I would agree on the legs on less prone to folk damage. If a game is shipped with legs on the Game now becomes the pallet. Having worked a short stint Years ago at a truck terminal there is No way they would hand carry a game off a truck that had legs on. The game would be Forked! On a pallet however fork or not the Pallet became the lift point with a pallet jack (which is all they carry) or even a fork truck. Games on legs to a trucking company are now just a levitated pallet. 350 pounds floating 2.5' in the air will rarely end well bouncing down the highway.

Totally agree....games were designed to be shipped and stored on their back, which is exactly how they should be shipped. I get that many have shipped on their legs, but the risk of damage seems much higher to me.....I had my game shipped from the east coast to California and it cost $500 with $9K of insurance. The additional cost (higher insurance) was worth potentially eliminating the emotional drama. Unfortunately in life we tend to learn more from mistakes and it appears the buyer made a mistake by not making sure the game was packaged and insured correctly....unfortunately an expensive lesson

High_End_Pins response is for the benefit of everyone who reads the thread.

Fact is the Only person that benefits from shipping with the legs on is the Seller. Its just lazy in my opinion. What percentage of buyers are prepared for a curb delivery with the legs on??? Have 2 brutes to carry it to the house and get it into the gameroom on the legs. Yes, taking the legs off and wrapping the entire game and finding a skid is not easy but its a Small effort to ensure this high $$$$$ sale actually gets to the buyer. Each stop a delivery person has to make they have to move that game and lock it back down typically with one driver. I would much prefer they use the pallet jack they have vs draggin it by the pinball head or strapping the legs.

A thread like this should make a lot of people look towards the small dedicated shippers like Bob Cunningham and Fast Eddie. Those guys do an amazing job.

couldn't agree more....the reality is this game will be moved on and off a truck many, many times so its just way too big a risk to have that happen with the legs in tact. These guys taking machines off and on trucks are all about speed and not caring much about how gentle they are with a pinball machine.

Also research the downside to the little guy- Randy Buffalo.

Everyone has their Bob and Fast Eddie. We have a guy named Chris who does SoCal to NorCal runs at reasonable rates. I would use him in a heartbeat as a buyer purchased a couple games so I saw how he wrapped and shipped the games. He typically ships in an enclosed trailer, wraps with blankets, shrink wraps, removes legs, and ships the games on its back

And this is why i dont ship games. The next person that rudely flies off the handle because I wont ship, is going to a link to this thread.

Can’t find what you’re referring too?
It seems like the OP is not taking a lot of the advice provided, instead getting flustered.

Just take it from people who have done this before. It’s a shitty situation and we’re just trying to help.

The buyer is in a north Chicago suburb. There wasn’t a Batman locally or regionally that could be bought for $5100 and picked up?

It's buried in Usenet archives of rec.games.video.arcade.collecting
The TL:DR version is his vehicle broke down, didn't have the money to fix it, truck full of games was stranded. I don't remember if they all eventually were delivered or not.

Do you think that the seller gets to keep your money if you refuse delivery due to damage?

Yes. Once it's off my property it's between the buyer and the shipping company.

The seller didn't cause the damage. Why would the seller return the money?

So you’re telling us you got ripped off and are demanding either the shipping company or the seller, Mister Shipping Pro to refund some money or pay to have it fixed.
Yet the idea of refusing damaged goods and getting your money back is entirely outlandish and impossible?

Um, I do. He’s not buying from a distributor here, this is a private party sale and generally the money is already safely with the seller (if he’s smart) before the game is shipped. He could hope the seller decides to refund him, or sue and try to recover his money, but it’s not like he automatically gets a refund in this scenario by refusing delivery.

If that was a pro shipping job I'd hate to see what an amateur shipping job looks like.

Man, what a shitty situation. Since you paid via wire transfer, I probably would have accepted delivery as well in this case. Since the seller included shipping, the burden of the shipment is with him. If he didn’t purchase insurance, he took the risk and should be liable to pay you for damages. Sucks all around though.

I suggest taking a deep breath and responding without frustration. I know it’s hard but it helps appearance of credibility. The screenshots you posted (assuming from the seller) state he is looking for different pictures that you haven’t provided. I am assuming your response wasn’t sending those pictures by his wording in the second screenshot. I’d suggest providing everything requested and without frustration to help show the seller the issues and the cost to repair.

Good luck

The fact is he paid cash for the game prior to shipment so the only recourse he has is with the shipping company. If he didn't insure the product for the proper amount than its his bad. If he didn't insure at all than he's SOL. Its really not the responsibility of the seller (although he did a piss pore job of packing the game, but the buyer allowed it). In my opinion its all on the buyer and shipping company.

well at least I know to avoid a add that says free shipping

If the seller is providing the shipping as part of the purchase price it is the sellers problem.

It's a weird situation though, since the seller arranged and paid for the shipping. So it was the seller who made all decisions about shipping company, accepting or declining insurance, and so on. And the seller is the one who has any claim against the shipping company, even though he's got his money and isn't out anything even though the game is smashed up. You'd have to look at the applicable laws in Illinois and/or wherever the seller lives, but I wouldn't be shocked if the law says that when a seller provides and arranges for shipping, they're on the hook to deliver the goods to the buyer in the promised condition unless something else is agreed on.

Now, none of us (other than OP and the seller) knows what conversations were had before the sale, so I wouldn't blame the seller for anything just yet. Other than his ridiculous statement that the game can be restored for less than $200. But I also don't see that the buyer is automatically to blame.

The lesson here is that sellers should never pay for and arrange shipping. "Buyer arranges shipping, at buyer's risk" is the default in pinball sales for a reason. But if a seller insists on providing shipping instead of just reducing the sale price, the parties should have a clear arrangement about what will happen if the game is lost or damaged.

I agree with this. If a seller is including shipping, then he is responsible for the machine until delivery. If the buyer is paying for shipping, then the seller's responsibility ends as soon as the machine is loaded.
I don't care how well a game is packaged and with/without legs on. Crap happens. There are horror stories of things going bad for both ways. And that's why a seller that is including shipping should always purchase insurance and why a buyer that is setting up the shipping should always purchase insurance.
I purchased a TZ a few years back that was in great condition until shipping happened. Insurance was purchased, and I received a $2,000 check from the shipping company within a few weeks.

Question on this: are the horror stories about getting STI to cover damage claims in cases where no insurance was purchased? I've always paid for it and thankfully haven't needed to make a claim. But based on the stories here I just assumed that they'd jerk me around for months and offer pay pennies on the dollar even with the insurance coverage.

Oh I didn't realize the seller took all responsibility for packing and shipping the game....if thats the case than yes the seller should be all over that shipping company for the damage unless he made the mistake of not insuring the game (which is total BS). There is zero chance that game is a $200 fix....

Yikes, this is the stuff of nightmares. Sorry this is happening to you OP. Really made me rethink shipping and how I'll handle it in future transactions. As for cost to repair, take up the guy on his offer of a quote from his vending company. You just need something official that covers getting it back to the condition you bought it in. Best of luck

exactly what I thought

Everyone I know who purchased insurance got money to fix their game. I asked Michelle at Beltman and she said if you buy the insurance they will take care of the damage.

While not Pinshipping related, it is shiping related. We recently had an issue with an LTL shipment, $13,000 item . Upon some investigation, the cost of insurance is really pennies on the dollar, specially with a 6,000 item. Here is a screen shot from my LTL booking system. $20.00 for $6000 of coverage.
Sorry, that is not even .01 per dollar, rather 0.003 per dollar.
So the big question is why NOT get insured shipments?

pasted_image (resized).png

To echo this, I just signed for delivery of my Jurassic Park Premium (via STI). Without insurance shipping was $397, with insurance ($7400) it was $430. There is literally no reason to not have insurance.