Quoted from Chambahz:

What exactly has Stern done that could be seen as “sweeping this under the rug”?

Quoted from cooked71:

They removed the artwork not to hide the damage, but to allow the clear to adhere to the wood. The problem with the pooling is coming from the artwork not adhering to the wood. The clear is doing its job - the art isn’t.

Quoted from Doctor6:

Yeah.... based on the pic it looks like a pro version. I wonder if premiums are better?

Quoted from John_I:

That's just poor mechanical design having a metal rail tightened against the clear. Bad and inexcusable as this is, I would not lump it in with the current Stern and JJP playfield issues from the digital art/new clear issue. There should be a factory washer, flange or something similar to hold the rail slightly raised. Looking at the nearby post, the clear is just fine; no pooling.

Quoted from snaroff:

Axe to grind or not, everything he is saying is true.

Quoted from Lermods:

Thanks for posting, some points are valid and I have my own concerns about the spike system related to ability to diagnose and fix, cost of repair parts and short warranty, but some claims aren’t so valid or are half truths.
For example, he claims the internet is awash with claims of failing spike components, more than other manufacturers. I’d like to see the data on that. The fact is that stern makes multiples of any other manufacturer so of course they will have more reported problems. The true data showing stern has a higher percentage of problems is what’s needed to support that claim. I have owned many games over the years and found spike games to be no less reliable.
He says jjp makes a higher quality game , but I’m not sure that is entirely true. It’s true jjp puts more into their games and some things are better (power supply, for example), but jjp games have many issues too, just look at the potc and woz threads.
Schematics are available, contrary to his claim, though maybe only partially.
Onboard diagnostics do need to be improved. Node board X not found is not helpful.
Warranty is too short, would be great to have something along the lines what CGC has.
Resale value of a new spike game vs a bw game is not relevant. Games still being produced will not climb in value compared to games that are becoming rarer, ridiculous point. Spike games have held their value, but supply is a factor.
Laptop parts cost vs pinball parts cost, not valid. Laptops components are produced by the millions, stern parts by the thousands. economies of scale needs to be considered. That said, it is concerning that node boards are not compatible across games and the cost of the node boards is pretty high, including the CPU.
Personally, I do think stern cares about issues with their games, just like any other manufacturer., and would take steps to correct any that were widespread...how could they not. They have good people working there, but they are running a business and need to do things that makes them money and allows them to grow. Some things do need to be improved.