Unacceptable

if that's it, and nothing else is wonk.. (looks like it got dropped a little hard) you'll never see it with the head up. who cares. Looks like something else might be busted going by the ripped decal.

Unacceptable. Request a replacement from distro

I’d ask for a replacement - if you are ever going to try and sell it in the future that crack will cost you in the long run. I’d Send pics and the request to your distributor immediately.

Unacceptable

I would return it for another pin. If they dont have what you want then refund, simple.

Agree with many of the others. Unacceptable.

Unacceptable!
I didn't except this two months ago. Told them to leave it on the truck. Distributor said did you evan look at it, I said is that how you shipped it.

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See if you can get a new bottom cabinet from your distro, the. You get to keep and play your game till it arrives, then swap it out. (Or have the disro help swap)

We just rejected a special order front door for our house from Menards THREE times because it was scratched each time it came in. Yes, three different doors came and all three were scratched in a different spot. I told them, I'm not spending $1700 for a door that I have to have someone touch it up or to pretend I didn't see the scratches. It's not about the money, it's about the quality and after the third try we finally got our money back and will look else where's.
I can't imagine spending $5K on a pin and having it come in broken like that and accepting it. Send it back and tell them to get you another or get a refund, period!!

John

Yeah, that is bad. I’d request cash for a bump/dent or a new cabinet. You’d be better off with a used one than a game with that kind of crack.

Have the distributor get you a new one.
I would never accept that.

You can bet that this will not be last back box of this type that Stern manufactures or has at their plant already.
The distributor might be out at his location, but that does not mean a replacement cannot be obtained.

Remove the decal and fix the crack with wood glue and clamps. Then install a new decal that Stern should provide. Pretty easy repair.

It may be the last one, but get your money back. Buy a HUO one without the damage or find a different vendor.

$5k? Pros haven’t been $5k in a loooooooooong time.

I could not live with that! I don’t understand why Stern and JJP don’t use Tip’n tells and drop’n tells. It would take a lot of the stress out of unboxing a game. I think it would also be helpful when a game is delivered to your house, one quick look at the indicators and if they have been activated simply refuse delivery of the game, or have the driver sit there for 45 minutes while you unbox and inspect it. The game could still be damaged if the indicators are not activated, but it would be much less likely.
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Because it would take a couple bucks from their bottom line ...
Lets see if Stern & Distro make this right!

It is a shame but an easy repair. Get stern to cough up a 10% refund and a new decal. Wood glue and clamp like already mentioned and reapply the new decal. Super easy and good as new with $500 in your pocket.

If so, then ask for a refund. I wouldn't even bother to unpack further. Who knows what else is messed up that you don't even see yet.

Not a terrible option, but beware. Cabinet swap is no cake walk. The lower cab on my Metallica split and the swap took me 8 hours, and I know what I'm doing. The replacement cab was totally bare, besides paint and decals. No ground braid, no t-nuts, no coin door, no power supply, nothing. I had to disassemble the whole damn game to accomplish the swap. In hindsight not sure it was worth the time and hassle.

I vote for this option as well. The cabibet is not broken. Just split along a seam and fixable. If you're lucky your distributor may even be willing to help or chip in for the repair. A local tech should be happy to ablige for a few hundo.

My GNR came with a tip n tell on the box.

I stand corrected I didn’t realize JJP was doing tip n tell and drop n tell on their boxes, kudos to them!

Absolutely not. That is major damage, and there might be more issues with the game . To cause that kind of damage, the game took quite a jolt. And you can see the damage pretty easily unless it’s against a wall or tight row of other pins.

Not to disparage the distributor, (and since you didn’t name them, I am not) but maybe it was their last one because it was damaged.

Meh, that kind of damage can happen easier than you think. Happened to my star wars and I don’t even know how. The cabs aren’t built that well. I’d check it out fir other damage really carefully. If nothing else and it seems to play fine, as several others in the minority have said - it’s pretty easily fixable. Bummer though? Definitely! Guess it depends how much you want the game and to play it now. It’s certainly warranted to return it based on this if you wanted to go that route. I’d be annoyed personally but would keep and try to get a new decal / $$ back.

That’s crap advice. If I was buying this game second hand, I would either pass, or else demand at least a $1000 discount.

Tip N Tell and a drop sensor on GNRs

I am GROOT

Shows you how much I pay attention to the new games coming out.

John

No doubt that really sucks. Ordinarily, you would exchange this for a perfect NIB.

These aren't ordinary times, though, considering manufacturing backlog and rarity of available NIBs. So you need to decide whether you're willing to 1) wait 6+months for an exchange that you really want or 2)settle for an exchange that's slightly less exciting for you or 3) get this one fixed. Re-decaling isn't all that easy for someone completely new to pinball or if you're not much of a do-it-your-selfer to begin with; I wouldn't try to tackle the repair yourself unless they give you a very good discount (like $800+). Instead, I'd see if your distro will do the repair for you. If the repair is done well, it won't be noticeable and shouldn't impact resale.

...this assumes that the game is otherwise working fine.

It's a lso worth recognizing that GOTG's seem to have dried up in the marketplace. People seem to be hanging onto them for now.

Good distributors should be at least adding tip and tell indicators on games they reship, and better distributors should be offering to re-palletize on an oversize skid for extra protection with a nominal fee.

Refund. I wouldn’t have any other option if it was me. So what if it will take a while to get another.

When time comes to resell or trade, if I’m a potential buyer and see that crack, you bet I will want a discount.

Not acceptable, but could potentially ask for a significant discount from the distributor, to make up for the loss in resale value.

Absolutely don’t let anyone tell you that because these aren’t ordinary times, that you must put up with this nonsense. Put Sterns’ feet to the fire, and if they don’t make it right come back here and make a stink.

No way.

Accidents happen. These are heavy objects getting transported around by people who don't care about them like we do. And sometimes they get bumped or dropped along the way and break.

And none of that is your problem. Contact your distributor and work with them. They will need to replace that lower cabinet at the very least. If they don't, contact Stern directly and let them know your distributor sent you a machine with a broken cabinet, and they are not working to replace it. Work with them at first, and give them a chance to make it right. They won't replace the whole game, but they need to replace the cabinet. If they don't, scream a bit louder, and then scream very loud.

Flat out, that is beyond the line of being acceptable. Is it a fairly easy repair? Sure, but it would always look like a repair. And if you don't do that type of repair normally, it will end up looking like ass. So have them fix this one. And if they send you an unpopulated cabinet, have them also send someone to do the transfer (unless you know what you are doing). Just give them the chance to make it right before going off the deep end.

Its the back of the cab. Probably won't get worse. I'd get a refund and keep it. If they refuse to give you a discount tell them you don't want it

It’s always disappointing when something like this happens. Your frustration is warranted. It is most likely the fault of the shipping company, but that can be hard to prove once the game is delivered. I recommend reaching out to the distributor before Pinside. In my experience, Stern will replace your cabinet. There is a process, but it does not move at the speed of Pinside keyboard warriors.

Enjoy your game while you can and replace the cabinet when it finally arrives.

All stern games have the same cabinet. And they for sure have tons of cabinet decals left. Just need them to make you a bottom cabinet and ship it to ya. It has happened before with older games that had splitting cabinets.

If it were me I would ask for a new set of decals for potential future buyer and a discount on the machine or credit towards another new machine from Stern. Replacing the cab is a lot of work and I think the damage is minor-I would not want to mess around with that. I would just take a paint pen and touch it up and if it is a concern reinforce the inside with L brackets-then enjoy playing it.
GOTG is a really fun game and I believe they are out of production now? May be the reason the distributor only had one available. You could probably get a refund, but I would keep it.

a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time is 2 years? lol
then i am oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooold !

Step 1 is always talk to your distributor. I've had 3 NIB pins arrive with shipping damage. Every time it was made right by my distributor. Every situation is different and your distributor should be able to discuss your options.

Can you just request a new cabinet and then glue the broken piece? That way you would have a new cabinet if you went to sell it. Would you still lose value on the sale if you did this? Has anyone ever done this before?