I recently acquired a few "BARn Find" pinball machines that were in a bar here in AZ. Let me tell you my situation. Addams Family was made in 1992. We are almost in 2015. So the game has been around for approx. 23 years. The bar was closed by the owners family when he passed away unexpectedly. The games that were in there sat untouched for 15-16 years since the family also owned the building. The game was completely stock with no mods. The rubbers were in bad shape, but the game looked very nice with minimal wear.
Here is what I did to the game.
Replaced the rubbers.
Cleaned the playfield.
Added a remote battery module.
Added the Color DMD display.
Added the Uncle Fester lighted mod.
Added the Bear Ramp lighted mod.
Added the glass doorknob mod.
Added the Addams Family Gold chips.
Added cabinet protectors.
Included New Manual and Schematic.

I have sold a few pins through Pinside over the years. I have never had any issues in the past. I sold the game to a guy in Canada. I had sold a Buccaneer a few years ago and had no issues selling it to a nice guy in Canada.

I had the game listed at $6100 originally and then reduced it to $5500 because I needed my garage back for other projects that were ramping up. The game sold for $5500. I had turned down two offers of $5000. The buyer first offered $4700 then $5100 and then finally accepted my price of $5500. We spoke on the phone and I asked if the buyer if he had an iphone or ipad because I said I could better show him the game. I have wifi at home so we could have used facetime or Skype. He declined my offer.

Since this was his first pinball purchase, I assisted with shipping and contacted NAVL and helped him through the process. I took photos of the NAVL guys preparing it for shipping. The game played great.
He now contends that he was deceived and wants his $5500 plus his freight fees refunded. I am at a complete loss. I never said the game was HUO. He said the game was abused and "had straw dirt and sand inside the box". I said I would refund his purchase price, however I would not refund any of his shipping fees. It was his responsibility to be comfortable with the purchase. I offered more he declined.

He then says that he wants to return it because he found the "perfect" Addams Family for $5995 at Pinball Universe. I looked at the game online and the cabinet looks like new decals were applied and the cabinet looks very nice. However it does NOT have a single upgrade that mine had. I tried to explain to the buyer that the games are not the same because of the upgrades that mine has that the other does not. I do not think he really knows anything about pinball in general and specifically this game and its mods. I explain that he is willing to pay $500 more for a game that has $880 (my cost) in upgrades and that includes nothing for installation.

The game traveled almost 2500 miles. That could account for some level of dust maybe, but I doubt even this because NAVL are amazing and I have pictures of them preparing it for shipment. I called NAVL and there are no notes in the NAVL file regarding any issues at time of delivery. He could have refused delivery and/or called NAVL but never did. The game was delivered on Dec 3rd.

The game played perfectly and booted with no errors. He now says it has flipper errors and that the game "makes a noise and thinks the power supply might need replacing"

He now threatens suing me. In the buyers defense (odd I know) he sent me pictures of one thing that I completely forgot. I remembered that the thing hand needed to be cleaned. I added the Thing box upgrade decals and totally forgot to clean the hand and inside the thing box. I would be more than happy to send a bottle of fantastic and some paper towels, but really. Sorry some pictures are rotated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bally Addams Family.JPG

Bear-Ramp.JPG

Cabinet1.JPG

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Color DMD w Game chip upgrade.JPG

Head1.JPG

Head2.JPG

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Playfield.JPG

Shooter-Mod.jpg

Thing Box.jpg

Uncle-Fester2.JPG

Ship1.JPG

Ship2.JPG

Ship3.JPG

Ship4.JPG

Here are the pictures he sent with his complaint email. Game had clean boot at startup. As I stated the thing hand was my bad and I totally missed that. Nothing a squirt of Windex and a paper towel couldn't fix.

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Personally, I prefer the remote battery holder to use the clips because it is easier to reset for new owners. He said that looked cheap. Some people you just can't please. I never stated that I took the playfield components to board level. You can see that the playfield has minimal wear.

The other red flag I over looked was that he joined Pinside a few days before contacting me. I looked at it as a cool way to get a pinball machine to a newbie and welcome to the hobby. Lessons learned. I am concerned because in his email today he stated ...

"So I don't have choice to sue you in court to be compensate for this abuse. So if I don't have news from you today and you didn't take back the pin with all the fees, it mean 5500$ for the machine and 1400$ for the freight fees, I will have to sue you in court. I already have my lawyer here in Canada and in your state In Arizona, we have our lawyer ready to act again you. For sure I will have to be there so it will mean more expensive for you because I have to pay for my fees and the lawyer fees. We will meet together in Arizona."

I can't even imagine being able to pay $1400 for shipping a pin they have not seen in real time. (He declined my facetime or Skype offer.

I initially had him use Paypal but he did it wrong "for goods/services" so I didn't want the $300 fee. I then researched what was best and he did a wire transfer.

The game played perfectly with no start errors. The rubbers were replaced a month prior to sale. Almost all 44 type bulbs were replaced with type 47's. It did get a bunch of play on Halloween because I opened my garage and let kids play the game. They loved it. Nothing better than hearing a teenager say "This is cool, I like it better than my playstation".

Today I received a letter from the buyers lawyer demanding that I immediately send him a check for $2500. The funny thing that actually caused a laugh out loud moment was when in the lawyers letter he states ( I can't make this stuff up, and no offense meant for the wonderful Canadian folks that have responded to this thread)....

The lawyer writes in somewhat broken English the following:
"On the website www.pinside.com, you advertised your machine as being stored in your incredible barn for 14 years."

That is why the guy said there was Hay inside. Oh my goodness! My initial ad was titled "Incredible BARn find" It was a play on words. Is that saying (Barn find) only used in the States? It was in a BAR (all caps) where you go for a drink (which I could use after this headache) stored for 15 years actually after the owner passed away. the lower case "n" was in reference to a "Barn Find" It was a simple (although clever play on words). In his reply he said it had HAY inside... as in when it was stored in my BARN, ya know next to the cows. This reinforces the fact that he is grasping at straws (pun intended) and making this up for one of a million reasons.

I am at a loss to the individual that states mods add no value to the game. I found that quite profound.

I even replied to the buyer in a way he might better understand since he is a president of a toyota dealership. I tried to educate the guy in an email...

"Here, let me put it into perspective that you may better understand. It is like comparing a fleet Toyota Camry versus a fully loaded edition of the same car. Which would YOU rather own and drive.

Not only is it an obvious decision, but in our case you are actually willing to pay more for the fleet car with no upgrades."

To the individual that stated mods add no value I ask the question. If upgrading the obnoxious orange DMD to a color DMD adds no value. How do you explain the success of www.colordmd.com and their demand for more titles (currently at around 13) and in case you want to try one now, they are "SOLD OUT". People actually are just throwing money away? Lipstick on a pig? I didn't say that I mounted a pair of Texas longhorn to the head like a 80's Cadillac. All of the mods are professionally manufactured and distributed and are found on many TAF examples. I am in total support of the color DMD products. I tried one in my own Whitewater and was sold ever since. Any game I have if it is offered with be upgraded with the color DMD. It is a no-brainer. It entirely changes the appeal of the game.

I added the mods to maximize the experience playing the game as well as improving its value. A few people indicated that is sat on local CL. It was advertised on both places. I also was offered $4700 and two other offers at $5000. There is also currently a nice TAF (with no mods) for $5500. This is a hobby I enjoy. I love hearing about stories of why people want one specific game and no others.

I have learned from this in several ways. I am very grateful for the wisdom shared by others that buy and sell pins on Pinside. I will NOT sell unless a remote buyer accepts my offer to face time or Skype and see in detail and real-time gameplay, exactly what he is buying. I will also include the wording that was shared by someone and include declining real-time video review nullifies the transaction. This WAS offered to the buyer and HE DECLINED. In my opinion I may owe him somewhat of an apology for forgetting to clean the inside of the thing box and the hand. I would have been much more understanding and would have gladly sent a roll of paper towels and a bottle of Windex. However this individual is in a class entirely by himself.