You paid full retail w/o getting retail service . You could’ve managed the transaction better ( deposit until games cleaned , repaired , inspected , & and accepted by you prior to full payment ) but you shouldn’t have to from a retail business . I’d tell the guy he needs to make it right or you’ll make your story and his name public on all social / review media you can think of . If the repairs and shop job were agreed to prior he needs to perform or suffer the hit to his reputation .

Let me guess.....Automated Services?

Why did you think this? Did they say they were going to do this work to the games before delivery?

Good idea.

Problem with the Stern PB drop target decal is that you have to buy a complete decal set just to get the one drop target decal or that's how it was when I had one.

You could have gotten an additional 1-2 games from a collector for what you overpaid on BOP and Playboy.

And $5000 for Playboy? How did you talk yourself into that?

Can you return the games and just get a new Stern Pro instead?

Well unfortunately that is a crazy assumption with dealers. Be absolutely clear on what you’re getting before you buy it. Even if they say they are going to shop it, ask them exactly what they mean by that, so you can hold them accountable.

Also, please post their name here so others know to tread lightly when considering them for a purchase.

That’s too bad. I’ve had a great experience with automated. Mike is great. Sorry you didn’t get what you were expecting.

Yeah, the BOP price seemed a lot more reasonable. Most of the Stern Playboys in Midwest have been high 2000s to low 3000s, but I would not be surprised to see someone tack another $1000 on that just because of the current market.

I have no experience with “Automated” but “Games We Play” in Michigan expects you to pay full MSRP for a routed game that is still in production rather than selling you a NIB for the same price.

Pay them a visit with your profile picture. Problem solved.

I have never been impressed with Automated. I remember when I was dying for a BSD, and they wanted $3500, which 4 years ago was a crazy amount for one, and i asked for pictures.

Never got back to me. They seemed so "ho hum" speaking to me on the phone, almost like they couldn't be bothered to even consider my business.

Double down with people paying absolutely insane prices and check writers entering this hobby more and more, willing and stating that they're ready to overpay as long as they get the game NOW, and welcome to how some distributors feel they can treat people.

Deal with Tilt Amusements in Ohio or Games Exchange in Colorado. They actually value their customers.

They're great for new pins. Stern's largest dealer, so you have a good chance of getting what you want.

For used, I've been told they mash parts pins together, so unless you get a nice one thru them, you never know, unless you inspect them yourself first.

Well I never thought I would chime in here. I have a Jurassic Premium with playfield issues that I bought from Automated one year ago this month. I emailed him several times with pictures and he never replied or sent to Stern. Finally I got through by calling and got a ticket going and was approved for an unpopulated replacement. He absolutely apologized about it. It’s now about 8 months since I initially tried to get a ticket started without the replacement still. Fast forward I still was going to purchase another game a year later two weekends ago. I called to buy a tmnt pro, he answered and had an attitude because he probably knew it was me the playfield issues guy, put me on hold for twenty minutes then I gave up. I emailed after about purchasing and no reply. So I shelved the purchase for now.

Wow I sold a HUO Stern playboy a few years ago for about $3000 it’s not even that fun of a game.

Automated is great for NIB pins. I would never buy a used pin from any dealer. Too much mark up on top of already crazy prices we have been experiencing.

That said, did you contact Mike and ask him why the issues you brought up were not addressed? Because he could of forgot. Were you expecting to have all the issues resolved? Because you seem like you wanted complete shop jobs, lights replaced, and a few other things but then you say this.

Seeing that, I would imagine he said he would take care of the PB issue....not everything else. I suppose it doesn't really matter since nothing was done at all but you definitely need to be absolutely clear on what you wanted done. I wouldn't have paid in full before any of it was fixed.

Ditto here but I've only bought NIB from them. They even helped me load the pin into my vehicle.

Not fun? Stern playboy is great. It’s Johnny mnemonic with titties.

Unless you've got that in writing, you bought those games as-is (and *way* overpaid, especially for the Stern). Yes, it would be nice if they shopped it out and replaced the burned out bulbs, but unless it's in the contract, they are under no obligation to do so. Let's be honest here... to fully strip the topside of a playfield, clean everything, add a couple of coats of wax to the playfield, etc, then reassemble is many hours of labor. Businesses don't want to spend the hundreds of dollars on labor that it costs to do all of this correctly, so they do the bare minimum to make the game functional, and move it along to its new home.

You didn't indicate it in your initial post-- have you reached out to them to give them the opportunity to make it right, or did you come straight here to complain?

I have purchased 2 NIB from them and they where the 2 best NIB transactions I have ever had. My experience with them has been amazing.

I have never dealt with Mike personally but work with close associates of his. He’s the largest pinball seller in the world and everyone is right that he vastly prefers NIB. Some delivery guys have told me crazy stories of who buys these and how much money they throw at it to get it ASAP.

As for used games, I’ve heard mixed bags. Get it in writing, or pay big bucks for A list titles otherwise YRMV

That's what I am thinking. If they were going to shop the games they would of done it before having them out on display. These games are pretty much sold as-is. Some retailers may offer some kind of warranty but a lot can go wrong with a pin. Like others said, shopping a pin can turn into a big job if a lot of repairs are needed. Call the owner and mention your verbal agreement. If he is not a man of his word then don't do business with him again.

Yet the white knights come out in droves when I make fun of the ridiculous prices retail shops charge for games and most of the time they aren't even shopped well.

I’ve also had great experiences with Mike from automated when I lived in NY. He held a NIB game for me for over a year as I had paid ahead of time but was moving so after I moved he shipped it down for me. I’ve also brought a few other NIB from him but never a used so can’t comment there only that service & price on NIB were great. Always let him know you’re a Pinsider as well his price actually lowered when I mentioned that believe it or not

Sorry to hear about your experience. Purchased two NIB from Mike but had great service. But that's NIB. He always was helpful and answered his emails.
Always spoke directly to him on phone as I even did last week. As far as used games they do have many on display but clearly at retail. I only looked maybe once back in the day for a used pin. Good idea to get in writing what you expect as far as shopped before pickup/delivery imo. A lot what I once looked at were all as-is with being trade ins and all.

He wasn’t hinting. As far as I know you just modified his post. When I originally read it earlier it didn’t have those quotations just as it doesn’t now.

I've bought several NIB pins from Mike at Automated. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

The pins I bought were harder to find at the time and Mike had them in stock and sold them competitively.

Sorry you had issues...

there is so much info out there now about pricing and who to buy from its hard to feel bad for people when they have these issues.

If you buy from a big shop like that you should know that you are just a blip on the radar and will likley be treated as such. You are probably one of the 50 games that went out the door that day.

I would always buy from a smaller dealer... they are more likley to need your biz and they will cover you better if problems.

Well yah because its all about volume... how hard is it to ship a NIB and just flip it when you have 75 sitting there.

On the used or older stuff the same volume rule applies.... so much stuff goes through there that the attenton to detail is probably not what it should be.

You still haven't answered the question of whether you called back Automated to discuss or if you just came to Pinside to let everyone know.

You know as everyone else knows that there is a difference between wiping down the playfield, replacing a handful of LEDs and an actual shop job. One requires a few minutes, the other a few hours.

Did you contact Mike/Automated to see what he said? They will likely send someone out to fix the bulbs and stuff. They sell a lot of games so its not surprising things get overlooked, but they should(and probably will) remedy it.

Bitching about a couple of burned out bulbs and a game not meeting your standards of cleanliness when you didn't even notify the vendor of your dissatisfaction and give him an opportunity to address your perceived problem says more about you than it does about him. Again, unless you got it in writing, you bought a machine as-is, where-is, and shouldn't have expected anything above and beyond that.

As we all know even NIB is not always a treat when things have fallen off playfield and are in bottom of cab upon unboxing.

Maybe change the thread title to just buying used games? As far as NIB transactions, I have had good experience with them, albeit my last transaction was 4 years ago. Sorry for bumping this thread.

Understood, but I'm talking NIB experiences. I haven't bought a used pin from a retail outlet since I bought Pin Bot & Time Machine from World Wide Distributors in Chicago and that was close to 30 years ago and they were both good.

You said you pointed out the issues with the games (or only the missing dt decal?) at time of purchase and he (MIKE?) said he would take care of it. You should call and tell them the problem(s) were NOT taken care of and you would like someone to come out to do it. If they do, I'd chalk it up to being too busy or maybe miscommunication at Automated. If they don't, you got shafted and that stinks. You also paid way more for those games than I would have paid, but if you are happy, who am I to object?

All that being said, you should know what a particular game roughly sells for before purchase. Look on Pinside sold listings, check out Craigslist, search (and mostly ignore) Ebay prices, and see what local collectors have for sale. You will pay more for something fully shopped out, delivered, and guaranteed than you will from a local collector who sells as-is, where-is, but that is to be expected. By the way, did your dealer offer a guarantee along with his full retail prices? Most do. Even many collectors will at least help out after the sale if not actually guarantee a game for a short period of time.

What made it great? That would help the reader.

I've bought 2 pins NIB from Automated and had no problems at all. 'Sorry if your experience wasn't satisfactory. They found me a hard to get EHOH and reserved a LZle for me though I changed that order to a premium.