I was under the assumption that show machines still came with warranty....

I would have thought the same thing. But is seems in this day and age everyone is trying to get out of doing the right thing. Sadly customer service has because a thing of the past in most cases. I think that is what has impressed me the most when reading about JJP.

I'll never own a new pin but I know if I were to be buying a new pin it wouldn't be a Stern. Nothing against Gary or the company he has built but their customer service doesn't seem to come anywhere close to JJP and some of the other smaller companies. Yes they can crank out a lot more machines but without support what is the point of buying from the "big guy"?

This is disappointing. Being able to offer a show discount to our guests and having them available for play is a big draw. I hope Marco follows through and gets this right for you (and doesn't take another 8 months to do it.)

All of us who offer this program to our guests are going to be watching this closely

Wow, 23 pins? that's what, like a 100 thousand Dollars worth of pins and they can't cover a $500 replacement pf? That's not good business.

Can we see pics of the PF? That's a big piece of the puzzle missing out. No offense intended but some people have demanded new PF's for very minor PF imperfections while others have had major issues. Just curious how bad it is and if that is playing into the factor here.

Doesn't matter if we see it or not. Marcos has seen it and they said they were going to take care of it, unless you are able to get him a replacement?

hoping to make Arcade Expo but cant do indisc this year

He bought 1/2 a pin, not 23 pins.

I bought a demo from Marco last year, discovered an issue a week or so later, Marco went above and beyond to help resolve it. It involved parts from Stern that weren’t available at the time so it took some waiting but I did get my parts and was completely satisfied.
Keep a few things in mind. The person(s) you have been dealing with is probably part of the show team and could be out of town a lot so patience (at least on my part) and some phone calls was key. And, also in my case, the part wasn’t available from Stern for months. Perhaps that’s the case with your playfield?
I, too, would love to see the inserts in question. I had not heard of lifting inserts, only ghosting.

So, basically your patience runs out and you take it upon yourself to smear Marco on social media after agreeing not to? Real classy.

Unfortunately, getting a replacement pf from Stern does take a long time. I know from experience. You'll get one eventually.

Let's not discourage Marco from continuing to travel to nearly every major North American show to offer this discount program. No one else is doing it. It's the only way left to get a good deal on a Stern.

Also, from my experience and observation, I think the majority of pins bought this way from Marco are NIB pins at the start of the show, not used Demo pins, but there are some used Demo pins mixed in.

I'd be very surprised if Marco didn't take care of this (well, at least until you torched them here). Part of the problem is that Stern moves at their own pace, but I've had good luck with customer service form both Stern and Marco.

I didn't think the "demo pin" discount was even that great. I inquired once and it was like $300 off.

Did Marco come out a say you weren't going to get anything or do you think they are just dragging their feet? I put in a warranty claim for a Game of Thrones Mech the day I bought it NiB. I just received it 2 days ago almost a year to the date I put the claim in.

Another commenter inferred that you were a $100k+ customer, which if true I agree would merit "special" treatment, but that's not the case. Sounds like a bunch of show attendees bought a combined 23 pins in lots of separate transactions.

To respond to your question, when you buy a pin 50/50 with another guy you're both in it for better or worse. Same goes with buying anything 50/50. Fairness doesn't factor in. You're dealing with the "or worse" scenario.

Sorry I'm not being as supportive of the rest here, but framing the narrative like you're a volume customer when you're not, and smearing Marco when you promised not to, isn't winning my sympathy at all.

Regardless, if Marco promised you a replacement pf then you should get one. And your wait is not unusual. Like I said, getting a replacement pf from Stern can take a long time. Marco is likely waiting on Stern.

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Best way to buy one is through the Stern rewards program through IFPA. I was really surprised on how good that program is.

I don't think the severity of the issue makes any difference in this situation at this point. But I would be curious to see pics, just to see how bad it is. No judgement either way intended, just curious now that it's being discussed.

Is that the one where you have to be ranked in IFPA's Top 1000?

ive bought a show machine before. Never once has it been said that there is no warranty, and I bought it through Marco. Also, the show price is still abouve the distributor price, so Marco is still making money on them, plus if I have been told correctly, they get a discount from stern on the machines that are taken to the show.

I almost bought my Iron Maiden through their show program, but my local distro matched their pricing and I got a truly NIB game with full warranty and no plays on it and he brought it over to my house

Marco is awesome and they open their games right there on site. I don't see how any of this makes them a demo machine with no warranty right? Seems no different than throwing it out on route. I'm a bit surprised stern isn't helping MArco make it right asap because Marco is literally a traveling sales force for Stern!

go on.

It’s like 500-600 off normal pricing. I think you can get one per year.

as far as I know, marco never has company owned games at the shows for people to play, only presold games. Not trying to be negative towards Marco on that statement, but from what they have voiced to me, it is not cost effective for them to pay to have a game shipped to a show, and then pay shipping again to return it to the warehouse

my met pro had a new pf and the distributor helped, and it took stern months to get a new pf. I'd say call marco if you have only been in touch via email. People usually help faster and better via a nice phone call.

yes. Top 1000 or biggest mover for the month (or week, can't remember). Can't quote pricing but below normal dist price and below what most want for used machine as well. One a year. I would buy Demo games from TPF for a couple years but now this is my new go to. Good opportunity for those that can do it.

That sounds great, but I'm way down in the 3000s.

I need to play better.

Cue Steve Ritchie "play better"!

Sorry but I don’t have time to read all the post at this moment.

First off, everyone should read the Stern warranty. It’s within nearly every manual. You can look them up online or within your own manual.

It appears to be up to the distributor you buy from how they help you with the warranty. As you see, the Stern warranty doesn’t cover as much as you may think therefore abnormal situation could lay on the distributor to resolve if not explicitly listed in the Stern warranty.

There are many many dealers out there, most with excellent reputations.

And Marcos is one of those with a great reputation.

This sounds like an anomaly and I hope it gets worked out.

Interested to see how this plays out. I've only bought parts from them and they are very responsive. I would expect this gets taken care of.

OP did you call them directly?

I bought a NIB Deadpool from Tilt Amusements. It had a very basic playfield issue. I wrote a very nice note to the Stern Team who in turn asked me for my serial number, distributor and to describe the issue. They sent me a fully populated playfield within two weeks and I returned the old playfield (I feel like I could have kept it but after a few phone calls begging to return it because I didn't want to be "that guy" after what they did for me). I never contacted Tilt Amusements. This was NOT a DEMO however I have bought 4 DEMOs with Marco and have not had one issue besides the infant-mortality failures which the onsite Marco staff remedied. Also, as the Curator of the Museum of Pinball, we buy all our parts thru Marco and have never had one issue.

let me add, my first two DEMOs (Met Pro and GB Prem) were about $1500 off retail. Next one was about $800 off and most recently Star Was pro was only about $500 below retail. This is NOT Marco padding their pockets because Stern controls the DEMO program and prices. The "rules" for DEMOs have also changed over time as the program has become more popular (as seen by how many are being purchased during shows). If you don't have access to wholesale dealer pricing, don't have a good relationship with a dealer and don't get IFPA pricing then the DEMO program (via Marco or any other distributor) is the way to go. Even thought the popularity is diminishing I suspect the DEMO program will march forward with less machines at each show.

NOTE:
OC Pinball in Fullerton, CA also does DEMOs but they do them a little different where the pre-purchase all the games and then sell them from their showroom afterward. I've heard nothing but good things about these DEMOs. I believe OC Pinball does Twitch Con, ComicCon San Deigo, and other West Coast shows.

All the Demos/prepurchased Games at the 2018 TPF through Marco/FuN! got Stern's standard factory warranty.

Is all of this still relevant? I feel like by now stern has changed their approach when selling discounted floor games at trade shows. Was considering buying one at upcoming show, anyone have any updated info on this? Thanks.

I recently took home a Foo Fighters Premium from TPF and have been very happy with it. I was able to pick out my machine from the 10 premiums available as they were being set up (thank you Stern and Marco) and got my exact machine when I picked it up from FUN! amusements and billiards here in D/FW. I went through the game when I got home, cleaned it, swapped out the balls for new ones and replaced the rubbers (my preference, it wasn't needed at that point). My machine plays great, no issues. It needed a small amount of adjustment (raising the drop targets about a millimeter to keep the ball from hanging there) but once leveled and set at the proper pitch it has been great. My machine got around 450 plays at TPF. For that I got $500 off MSRP and a shaker motor installed. I would definitely do the same next year if it is offered.