Give us way more detailed info on this person, thanks!

30 hours to fix a coil problem...sounds like the guy needs an education into pin repair....

Ask for an itemized repair bill. I would go out and get 3 other estimates (maybe some techs here can help you with that). Call and say that you have 3 estimates which say $xxx.xx and that is what you'll pay. If he refuses tell him you will be there with the local PD. If he still does not budge, call the local PD. Tell them the value of the machines are in excess of $500 dollars. Anything over that amount usually gets the PD's attention.

As your attorney, I would recommend any and all of these solutions.

Jayhawkai in the flesh....

1367922260_benicio_del_toro.jpg

That guy sounds like a big shit sack. I would go with kicking his ass and gettin your games back. Why should you have to pay because he is extremely incompetent. Whats the location of this dildo so othere pinsider's don't go to him.

Why not get some of your mates to abduct him and while he is undergoing probing you teleport in and whisk your stuff back, he'll think it was all a dream.

Alien Heavy.jpg

Agree with Jayhawkai and in that order 'cause justice can be slow.

You didn't get an estimate before dropping off the games?

Not defending the labor put into it, but $25 an hour (if we're talking US) is super cheap.

What did you agree on, verbally and/or in writing prior to him repairing the game?

bogus

Where are you located so the rest of Pinside can avoid him? The biggest benefit to this website is Pinheads helping other Pinheads. Let the folks know so no one else crosses paths with this guy.

17 hours is way too many. If I was the repair man I would have run some tests / diagnostics - and then told you it would take approx xx hours to fix with a rough cost and ask if you wanted to proceed. If the repair exceeded the value of the pin I would mentioned that as well. What a low life.

It sounds bogus.

Suzy Bogguss?

gasoline and a match. J/K.

Location? This sounds like the guy is trying to scam you. As others have stated before, pinball is full of all kinds of people. Why would any tech put 30 hours at $25 per hour ($750) when a replacement board could be had for at least 1/2 that number.

Don't kick the guy's butt. Right now, you have done nothing wrong. Don't go messing that up.

You should have asked for an up front estimate. The other guy kind of made a mistake when he said it to 30 hours, but I'm only going to charge you $452.50. In doing that, he is kind of admitting that 30 hours is an unreasonable time to repair a game.

Getting something fixed (car,home repair,pin,etc.) rule #1: Get an estimate(s)!

Not to be an ass, as I've learned the hard way also, but I always ask about how much this is going to cost for parts and labor on anything I'm paying for. Even with good friends, It's good to talk about right up front.

Ok, enough of my drinking wisdom, I would at least mention to the guy you're thinking of filing a complaint, that might be enough to make him *reassess the bill*.

Dont kick his ass. Just one punch. Show him how constitutional you are being by letting him pick the spot.

If you suspected the 40 pin connector, why not send to one of the forum guys here? I've used 2 so far and both have done excellent work.

Nothing in writing? That is going to be a huge issue in court. Your word against his.

That's a ridiculous amount for going through a game. Maybe if it was a full shop out with flipper rebuilds and some parts, but just to go through the boards? CPU and driver should be about $100, not $450... and that includes the interconnect!

Ya $25 an hour is cheap but something is very wrong with 17 hours to fix.

25 is very cheap.
Maybe he meant $100 per hour and it took 4.25 hours!

Yes I agree you should have had an understanding of how long it may take. Or said this is my max budget that I have to work with. If you are like me you expect people to treat you like you treat them. Always ends in dissapointment

Well, there can't be too many places in Fort Smith that repair games.

bottom line. it's highway robbery. for the price I'd rather have all new kohout boards.and by the hours claimed, I suspect the job was done.... poorly

Sadly I think you're going to end up having to pay him; however, if it didn't work perfectly, I would take him to civil court and get my money back that way.

Seriously, if you guys know each other and are somewhat friends, you have to work this out. One thing you could do is take him right to this thread so he can see what others think and are saying. He wants $500, maybe you meet in the middle, get your games and move on? You don't want to go to court. Even if you win, he won't pay. Then you gotta go back again. it's just an awful and aggravating process.

I hope it all works out for ya UFO. GL.

I'm thinking since no estimate was written up, you're gonna have to pay him if you want to see your machines again.

I paid $900 ($60 per hour x 15 hours) to get an EM working that was worth half of that. I realized I messed up but since the tech put the time in, I paid.

I say avoid the drama, pay the guy before he messes with your pins, and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

With only 412 Warlok machines made its very rare. It's probably worth more than you think. Plus he has your HG.

I would pay the money and get them back then file a small claims action on the shoddy repair work, thats the way to get your machines back and get your day in court. Bring a witness or two when picking up. Pay by check if possible or at least get a receipt for the payment. If you don't get charged sales Tax then don't forget to let your state know that he didn't collect it and you would like to pay your obligation.

If he never worked on your HG, can he keep that?

Maybe he is getting even for the time you stuffed him in his gym locker.

17 hours to replace a coil is criminal.

Anytime I've ever dropped off a pin for repair, I've had the company go over it, then call me with an estimate.
Just saying.

Lot's of "woulda coulda shoulda" help here, and of course, poor advice. Sure you could go punch the guy, but he might then just justifiably shoot you on his property. Kind of a rough ending over a pinball game.

Calmly, in person, get a detailed bill of repair. Get all bad parts that were replaced (you have the right to the dead parts in 42 States).

Most legitimate pin techs are $75 an hour and DO NOT want you to bring any games to them.

Pins were meant to be serviced on site, never carried back to the shop.

A bad coil, plus related transistor(s) replacement, and parts would run $85. I think you could find that price is pretty standard.

What was that quote that always sounded wise out of context? "Possession is 9/10's of the law"?

It applies here, doesn't it? If he's got the pins in his house, it's hard to say that they're yours anymore. It's not like a car that is registered and has a vin number stamped on the engine block or anything.

This is a rough situation for the OP.

The joy of random legal recommendations.

How about another "I am not an attorney" idea.

Try to pay him with a credit card to get your games back and then dispute the credit card charges per what I think it was the truth in lending act and force him to take you to court and verify his bill. Just say he did not do the work you agreed to have done. Nothing like being in court and having two people pointing the finger at each other and saying the other one is lying.

If neither of you have anything in writing. I think the winner is normally the one with the better suit/shoes or the one that uses the least number of profanities.

About 4 years ago or so I've left a JP in a strangers garage for repair without an estimate.

But he wasn't a doucher, he was a Hibler

OP just write the dude a check & cancel it when you get home.

For 700$ he could drive it to Dallas, I could fix it, and he could drive it back for less.

It sounds like the issue was ALL coils except flippers were dead, not just "a" coil. Either way, 17 hours...I'm a total amateur when it comes to diagnosis and it wouldn't have taken me 17 hours. Lord.

you're going to have to pay him since there is no estimate or paperwork. It sucks but chalk it up to experience. get your machines back, then proceed to blast him every way possible, angies list, better business bureau, any social media. Pinball lovers are a small,tightknit community and once word gets out, his business is done. Not to mention any friendship that was there. Get your machines back and he'll pay in one way or another down the line.

This is odd to me, you have known the guy for years? How friendly are you? I cant see how two people that have known each other years could come to this point.

Good call

So 17 hours to replace a coil sounds ridiculous. But with no other info, we can't judge the repair time. He says he had 30 hours into it. Not 17. I've repair hundreds of machines. Sometimes simple stuff is intermittent or problematic to track down. Without more detail, you can't claim its a scam. Perhaps it did take 30 hours and he cut you a break knocking it to 17 because he felt bad. Perhaps the were odd circumstances. I don't work on EMs so its hard to say.

Here's an example. A friend and I were working on a Harley. It had bad optos. After replacing them, I would play test. After a couple games, the optos would be bad again. So the repair might say "replaced optos". Someone might think, "oh easy 20 minutes" based off just that. But replacing them, play testing until they died, making some changes, doing further detailed analysis of why they died, I probably sunk a good 10 hours into that silly problem and 3/4 of it was play testing a game that wasn't particularly fun for me.

I would never blindly drop off games for an hourly rate tech. I'd charge per job vs per hour myself. But I am not doing repairs for a living either. I would have expected an estimate. And if would be courteous for a call when things were looking like they're going to exceed the value of the machine. But it may not be a scam.