That means no then, unfortunately.

That's what I'm worried about also, it will take a long time to shop from UK to US and back. Customs costs etc...
I'm betting stern will offer the program knowing that many won't be bothered to dismantle their table and sent the play field back.

They will only be fixing LEs, not pros. This is practically confirmed.

he said he was hard at work with kiss code and hasnt been able to come up with a plan for the defective playfields they knowingly put on le's and only they wont be replacing just ghosting and thats normal nowadays with epa and govt regulations. he said if there was an obvious issue he wouldnt have sold out batman 66 le's in an hour. we have no issues.

Hmmm. Should Stern switch their company tag line from "Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball machines" to "Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's oldest and laziest producer of semi arcade-quality pinball machines".

I expect better from them. Raising prices yet quality and value is going down. As a company shouldn't they expect better from themselves and want to produce high quality titles that offer value for these insane prices?
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yup exactly , but regardless of the issues , Stern has to keep the factory running churning out new titles for the people spending stupid money.

Not this person

Now you are just spreading rumors to stir %#*^ up. Stern won't be making distinctions based on model.

I'm getting a pro Wednesday and was told I would be convered by my distributor

Ridiculous and negligent if true.

Arrogant POS, if true

Or you could tell us the content of the conversation. But no, instead you make vague statements and give no actual information or dialogue. Purposely being obtuse. Way to cover Gary and not be helpful to fellow pinheads. Sheep.

Robotron was being factious... he wasn't part of the conversation. This is how stuff becomes a runaway train..

I figured as much.
I think I got trolled

What does "covered"'mean in this scenario?

Did your distro tell you exactly what would happen if you have issues?

extraballingtmc smells to me like a

Okay, tell that to who told me. The largest stern distributor.

Why so secretive? Who said it? Much easier to understand what's going on if you reveal what the source is.

Yeah seriously, the ambiguity in this thread is ridiculous.

Doucher - "Oh Gary called me and now I have a boner"
Pinside - "What did he say??"
Doucher - "He was coy. Did I mention my boner?"

Who is your distributor? Playdium/starburst?

i was just making a joke about what he would say. i have never spoken to gary.
btw i was playing gb just now. i am pretty much blown away. the pin is awesome. playfield issues really suck though. really sorry though. i know i can be more mature.

Do you know they won't? Did someone tell you that?

Well the person who told me is Canada's largest distributor so for me as long as I have it in writing that's all that matters.

(edited) In my post on last page I said exactly what he told me the program would be and that it started in October. Others have confirmed the program.

I didn't record the phone call so no I don't remember exact words when I asked him if problem was fixed yet. Like I said he was coy, so basically a non answer, take it for what you will. I forgot to mention he did partially blame the ghosts on gb being the most active game they have produced. Active maybe meaning airballs lol.

I wanted more info so I called stern instead of my distributor. I guess I could sit on the internet all day and do nothing but be a whiny bitch instead like the few people who thumbs downed me and called me a douche and lier. A big fuck you to those select few internet tough guys. Smd

Either way I'm pretty excited for my premium and pretty confident that I will be able to get a replacement play field down the road if necessary.

LOL!

dude, we don't need to learn to read, but you need to look at your posts again... you left us no reason to think otherwise.... so keep calm

Pretty sure post 3923 was clear...

Even if there would be a swap program I'd be happier to just receive a new empty playfield and swap it out my self, Stern is not going to ship boxes all around the world I think, so I would have to make something to ship a populated playfield?? That would mean a complete custom designed wooden box with velvet inside?? Shipping would probably be at least 300 euro, I would be without a pin for at least 1 or 2 months I guess, and when I get the new populated playfield back, customs will surely ask me for a lot of money for import and taxes, last time for receiving only a new guide rail already cost me 40 euro on customs...
Swapping the playfield myself would cost me probably a day, and I'd be playing the nect day again. Surely not everybody would like to do a swap, but would be nice to at least have it offered that way...

You're right it was but you never tied that and post 3934 together. And when people repeatedly asked for specifics you ignored them. All you had to do was add verbiage to 3923 saying you talked to Gary and this is what he told you or refer people asking for details to 3923. You had multiple opportunities to do so, but you chose to be obtuse.

I understood him. See post 3942.

In post 3940 I quoted myself for those who only read the last 2-3 posts then try and join the conversation.

If people would read back more than few posts before posting themselves that would be great.

Still, evasive and subjective posture afterwards.... whatever, let's move on...

I'm curious... Did Gary give you an indication of what a "bad playfield" is? Stern says they'll handle on a case by case basis...this certainly keeps the door open for them to reject a claim.

As a customer that has bought 3 NIB stern machines (no, not currently in on a GB), I'd still be hesitant to buy now. What if you have one insert with Ghosting and Stern says "no" to a swap? That one insert may very well mean nothing when it comes to the longevity of the game... But we all know it dings collectibility value.

Not taking shots at you... Just wondering if you were able to get a sense of Sterns definition of what the problem is.

I haven't had a single machine in the last 8 years have ghosting from Stern. I think you guys either smoke pot in the house, cigarettes, or some other crap ghosting your games. With the exception of that one example where the guy clearly deserved a new machine.

Don't let a few negative Nellies ruin it for you here. It's good that Gary Stern reached out you and I appreciate you sharing it. I don't think it's the best way to reach the customer base at large, but that's already been said here in every possible permutation.

As a potential customer who was just about to buy my first NIB Stern, yes, I'm very negative towards them...

He didn't give a specific number of ghosts per say unfortunately. Also tried to get a specific warranty period too but again he would put an exact number on it.

Most of what he said was vague and guarded answers which is mainly why I didn't post it all as it wasn't concrete info.

We get it.

Go buy an older game then if nib problems are too much stress for you.

If they're doing this, they should just give you the playfield with no requirement to return the old one. Saves them labor and lots of shipping. Actually, a replacement playfield and a voucher for a few hundred off the next Stern would still be a better deal for Stern for the end users willing to do the swap themselves. If I had one with this problem and this was offered, I'd probably take this since it's like what they did (minus the voucher) when I had a NIB Simpsons from the first run that had bad ink on the playfield.

No pot or cigarettes here...

Just chop'n up fat hogger rails from the daily 8balls of toot on the scratched up glass of my EM

So I should be safe?

So you an post ad naseum but others can't? There are certainly things/issues to be expected when buying NIB, but what we've seen from Stern lately goes waaaay beyond that. That's great that a call from Gary eased your concerns. That's one person in a sea of many.

Yes, that actually grows Bermuda Hybrid #1 on all of the inserts. Amazon sells a riding mower for your playfield.

For that amount of money? You can be sure it is too much stress for me!

Btw, thanks for the advise.... I hadn't think about that yet...

So, bottom line is: despite the allegedly call from gary, we still got no concrete info from stern!

I don't think he's lying about Gary calling him. Pretty sure we won't see any actual release from Stern regarding "The Program" tho. Your concerns are more than valid especially since you're not in the States. Some people will continue to purchase NIB and other won't. And that's okay.

I'm just a fan of full disclosure and helping those on the fence to make an educated decision.

I think that's why, for, I dont know, about the hundredth time, call your distributor. Ask the questions. Get an answer. If they don't answer, don't know and refuse to follow up with Stern, find a new distributor. Many in this thread have done just that, and gotten answers, including myself.

It's a pretty simple really. I'm not sure where all the confusion comes in.

What sickens me is the complete lack of communication from stern... As far as I know, this so-called program is still just rumours...

And yes, for me it's much more difficult to get support for any after-sales issue... The sole distributor for South America is located in Chile.... Now you can imagine the headaches....

Did you tell Stern you were robbed then change your story?

Have you reached out to him to get specifics?

Dude, quit whining, you might as well wait at this point, wouldn't want you to wet your panties