$0
I would do it myself
I would do it for others for $1500

LOTR is a bitch to shop. But honestly I’m thinking 1000-1300. That’s what I would do it for. Hoping it was dimpled and drilled.

So what did they quote you after finding that information out? Thanks.

Sell the machine with the new playfield and buy another with a decent playfield. I’m sure the difference will be less than 1500.
Good luck
Al

Not sure I understand the purpose of this thread? You state you were quoted a high price and they didn’t really want to do it yet you started 2 Other threads offering a Playfield swap paid service? For more as it seems. Just trying to figure out if this is another complaint thread or a solicitation.

Do the prices in your poll reflect just the work to do the swap, or do they include the playfield too? Because playfields alone are around $1k USD.

If you bought a new machine and the play field was damaged, I would think Stern should also pay for the labor to replace it. If you buy a car with a defective motor, the car company doesn’t give you a new motor and leave you to install it. I know I’m dreaming given how the pin industry handles these things. But I’m also right.

Stern hasn’t sold NIB LOTRs for a long, long time. I don’t think this one was going to be covered by warranty regardless of the circumstances.

On modern Stern's you're always going to be better off selling your game and buying one with a better playfield. There isn't a market for this service.

That’s why I’m confused, did you get stern to warranty a 13 year old playfield?!? Or did you
Buy a LOTR playfield made by someone else and wanted to swap it?

Depends on the game, the new playfield and other factors. Newer pins are eaiser bc of the way the gi and light boards are. So many factors but usually between 750-1500 just to do a basic swap.

At 30 hours of time to do it yourself, 1k would be worth it to me. Thats $30 an hour plus aggravation. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to mess with something like this. With my luck I’d probably make more work for myself when the machine doesn’t work correctly anyways. Time is too valuable at this point, maybe when I’m retired I would think differently.

I called around and was quoted $1500 by most and a two to three month lead time. One guy said, "yeah I'll do it but it won't be cheap". When I asked how much he said, "$800".
Needless to say I asked, "when and where can I bring it to?" He up sold me on a few things for the cabinet and then I also tipped him an extra $50. Total bill was $1150.
This poor guy, he went through absolute hell dealing with the shitastic Mirco playfield only for us to eventually decide to pull the plug and I bought a NOS pf cleared by Kruzman. So all the prep work he did on the Mirco he graciously offered to eat.

Over the years, I’ve had six Wade Krause playfields swapped out for me. Average cost, about $1200. At least, it was done correctly. Many thanks to Brady! PinballShark

1,500 sounds like a fair price. Lot of work and time goes into changing those, taking everything appart in the right order and re-assembling everything correctly. It looks like something that can be done in 3 or 4 hours but it never seems to go that way for me. Once I start, I decide to tumble or polish stuff while Its in pieces. And if it has those stapled in lamp sockets, I need to limit how much time I work before I go insane.

Completely matters on what PF/game.
LOTR has much more wiring and is a more complicated swap than a new Stern with Spike.
I would almost say a NEW game swap would be twice as easy as a Playfield swap/shop job on an older game.