I replaced my glass that was similar at times at no charge to my customers. Lucky for me my market was mostly USA. But I did get burned on some to Australia, sucks to pay for the glass & shipping twice. It was a problem with uv inkjet printing. For me it was about 3 - 5 % that the printer had a failure. Some times you noticed it at the printer, & rarely from storage.

Bad form!

Please correct me if my thinking is wrong, but if it’s Australia that’s the problem, why doesn’t this happen to other back glasses like with Stern, Spooky, or Jersey Jack?

They shipped me a poorly printed playfield that I returned then the next one got damaged as the packaging can’t handle a drop.
Will now look into alternative ways of sorting things.

Seems like a good out on there side, Now they can ship all there shitty back glass's to Aus.

If you do end up sending the replacement one make sure it’s photographed before shipping.

I'm surprised they didn't tell you they were experimenting with different shipping methods, I've heard that twice now getting things broken because of subpar packing.

Not offering you a refund and admitting there's an issue in the same breath is weak sauce

They should offer 100% since you bought before the warning. That's only fair.

The manufacturers use translites and not silk screens like CPR does.

Some Stern LE's with mirroring are clearly backglasses.

Not any skin off their nose just to offer a full refund, especially since it occurred prior to the current warning. If Australia is the problem DO NOT SHIP BACKGLASSES TO AUSTRALIA! That solves the problem and any backlash from customers in Australia.

Happened to me to USA, but the shipping costs are way cheaper than air to Australia. I used a printer so my costs were higher, they use their own uv inkjet printer.

That is some Grade A bullshit from CPR right there.

CPR is full of sh*t. Period. Kevin and others there will say anything, including flat out lies, to make a sale and keep any money they receive regardless of the quality of their goods. I have purchased multiple playfields, plastic sets and backglasses from them and will never purchase anything from them again. Every single thing I have purchased from CPR had issues, some minor, some jaw dropping (unusable). In no instance did Kevin offer to make things right without me shouldering the bulk of the cost.

My take is that the repro playfield, plastics, backglass world is so unreliable that the only way I’ll do a restoration that requires replacing any of those things is if I can do it myself or buy something secondhand that has already stood the test of time. Even then it’s risky since some significant issues do not reveal themselves until installation of components (ink/clear wrinkling or lifting off the substrate).

Back to this particular example, note that CPR says that something is wrong with their products traveling to and/or being in Australia. Bullsh*t. What conditions exist in transit to or in Australia that do not exist elsewhere? None.

CPR is garbage, been seeing tons of crap playfields from them as well

Wish there was another option. They produce hot garbage.

Not as severe but my space mission glass developed a similar problem around a year and I haven’t installed it in my game yet.

I’m pretty particular about my climate control in my house and my glass is in my living room.

Australia isn’t the problem

A year or so ago, I ordered a TZ color and a TAF duo-tone mirrored backglass to Israel.

The TAF glass which arrived was also the colored version, and not duo tone as ordered. After contacting CPR they apologized and were willing to refund me. Here's the catch:

- I was expected to shatter the perfect example I received (just not the version I wanted) and send them proof.

-I would be refunded for the glass. Not for the UPS shipping they charged, and not for the tax which I was charged when it arrived.
That in itself was about 50% extra on top of the CPR invoice.

someone was new at the warehouse was what I was told. So the bottom line....
Id be without a back glass, and lose around $100 for, well....nothing.

It was resolved, I agreed to stay with the wrong version and swallowed the tax and shipping. I was refunded on the glass - I won't take that away from them.

But the experience, for something that was their fault, and the fact that I have something which isn't what I wanted, left a sour taste with me.

Thats unfortunate. Sounds like a printing issue for CPR. If 33% are defective when they hit Australia that is just a bad business proposition for CPR and ultimately bad for customers.

I live in the United States. I have 4 CPR backglasses and 2 of them came to me with what I think is totally unsatisfactory bubbling. CPRs quality control is terrible and their customer service is awful. They know they can get away with it since they are the only game in town.

Well it looks like its not just Australia. This is what is great about a thread like this is you really find out what is going on. Sounds like CPR is the problem here along with their customer service.

Pics of my glass. Again, not major but you can’t unsee it. It was a 10/10 for about a year and went to move it and discovered this.

What’s it going to be in another year?

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I also asked the customer to place the defective glass in a clear bag & destroy it after they received a replacement. To prove that it would not be sold as is, & to prove that the glass was properly tempered at the plant. Also replacement would be described as a warranty replacement to hopefully avoid further tax or other charges.

I do understand the logic behind it, in a way, but that glass wasn't defective one bit, and to me it would be sacrilege to destroy it for no good reason.

I know it takes a while to get the glass but I've had nothing but great results over the years with buying from Steve at BGResto. I have bought 9 from him.

BGResto and Shay both make a very nice product.

that is crap and poor form by CPR,

I could understand if maybe heat was a issue but still not getting hot here yet

Not the JJP CE’s and Stern LE’s.

Still crap, it's no hotter here than other parts of the world, and if i understand it from other postings on facebook etc, the OP is from round your neck of the woods, so not Broome.

CPR will get mirco style publicity now, if they are happy to save a couple dollars by ripping someone off on a defective product, it will bite them 100 times in lost business.

Fucking Australia, we're always the problem, upside down gravity and stuff. Wonder if they are ripping off people in New Zealand and the rest of the Asian Pacific, or if it's just this island that affects their shit product in their skewed little concept of the world.

Haggis seem to do fine with their beautiful backglasses.

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Maybe it because your toilets swirl the opposite way oh wait I shouldn't give more excuse ideas

Been to Thailand? They all look like there's a sewer choke there.

How long did it take before the bubbles appeared, or were they already there when you opened it ? I'm wondering if the shipping temps might be to blame? If it goes from a warm factory, to a cold truck, to a cold airport warehouse, to a cold container loaded onto a pressurized, but cold cargo hold on a jet flight for 20+ hours, and then to a warmer climate where you live - could that be affecting it? At any rate, you should have been refunded fully. The pinball world isn't that big, and bad press like this will spread like wildfire.

Regardless factory backglasses make it 40-50 years if not longer without issue in far worse conditions.

I'll share my most recent experience:

I got an EBDLE glass from CPR. I bought it because it said on their site that it was "mirrored like the original". Turns out that is not the case. Frankly it's a lie. The glass just has silver paint in the mirrored areas. It looks nice, but literally has no mirror effect. I questioned this thinking perhaps I received an incorrect version as other backglasses I have purchased from them have had real mirroring, not silver paint. (like the mirrored version of Twilight Zone or the repro Fathom I purchased). They told me that I was confused, and silver paint was what I should have expected, not actual mirroring. I asked how I should know if I will get silver paint or actual mirroring on future purchases...no response...nothing but crickets. I have always supported CPR, but this experience has soured me at the moment. I experienced the same treatment I had been hearing from others for years...it finally caught up to me. It sucks! In the future, I'll only purchase their items second hand and after visual inspection. I won't be burned again.

A backglass is subject to a lot of temperature shifts sitting in it's carboard box regardless of the destination country. Here in Australia backglasses have endured decades of abuse, humidity, super hot days & still by and large still holding up.

I have had backglasses shipped here from CPR, Mayfair, US Ebay, John's Jukes, & others all packed in foam in cardboard boxes all year round with no issues with any, they were all silkscreened.

So this doesn't happen to silkscreened glasses that I have seen or heard of shipped out here - a problem emerges when new digital printed glasses technique has been used - now 33% shipped have issues.

Australia - land of football, meat pies, kangaroos, Holden cars and now bubbling back glasses

I thought we had enough to deal with, what with man eating crocs and sharks, funnel web spiders, killer jellyfish and drop bears. When will it all end?

A backglass should be able to endure significant temperature fluctuations just sitting in the game.

Indeedy do, turn an incandescent game on in winter.

Inferior process. As others have said, it's all to do with the digital printing process they are using, it's not refined well enough for the chosen application. The disappointing part is the lack of ownership/admission.

There was a really good explanation of the move to digital printing at one of this years Chicago Pinball Expo seminars.

Well worth a listen to what Bruce Westfall has to say about the printing process. Shame others don't have his knowledge & dedication.

Agree they are trash. They sent me a whirlwind playfield with no slot cut for shooter lane switch. And a cyclone playfield with 2 inches of warp when laid flat on the floor.

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Probably took a leaf from JJP, it's the customers fault the playfields are shit.

No surprise.
Once they switched to direct print the product has really went downhill.

Now there's an opinion to be respected, and therefore not given lightly.

Consumer protection statutes in oz?

I mean they basically admit their product failed and are not offering a full refund or suitable replacement

Strong as balls for products here. In theory the same OS, but the companies know it's cost prohibitive for the little guy to chase.

If purchased with a credit card, I would simply call the card company, provide pictures of the defective product and decline payment. I would also file a BBB claim. This is purely an adhesion problem and not different temps in transit. This is why I have been afraid to get anything from CPR. Too many horror stories. I will stick to used glass or Shay. BG takes too long.

So happy I snagged the last ever screened Fathom PF off them. It looks pretty good.

That would only work if he purchased from a local dealership. If it was sent by a US company to him directly, they wouldn't have to abide by any of those oz laws

True - but those were silkscreened. I'm thinking it's possible that the inkjet glasses aren't happy with cold shipping. Who knows. I have three inkjet backglasses and will keep an eye on them in the coming years.