Mike is right. Damn close. Some tiny stress fractures are nothing. Completely cracked ramp is something else.

Your missing the bigger picture...2-3 weeks waiting for a reply that could of easily kept the customer happy by sending a new 50 dollar ramp. Now you have an entire thread about customer service and communication and other people chiming in about their experiences. It does get resolved, but it would have been a lot better if it was resolved when the initial problem started.

Expectations change when people are spending 9k plus on a new collectors item. Remember these pins were originally 6500 when they came out, so for that extra 2500 they could have spent it on a replacement ramp and still came out ahead.

That's the point your missing, I buy a $40000 car and yes it has flaws, I take it back to the dealership and they replace it. I buy a $9000 pinball machine and it shows up with cracks in the ramps, flaws in the playfield, light boards that don't work, I don't need flak when trying to get repairs. Also keeping in mind, 99% of said repairs we have to do ourselves.

Actually Mike is agreeing with most of us, "at 9 grand it better be close to perfect ".

Too anal. Live life like that and you'll die of a heart attack by 50. More important things like health and family to worry about. But that's just me. And by the way, if it was only those tiny hairlines in original pic and everything else is good, that is near perfect.

Your right, we should all just let the little things slide. That way we don't have heart attacks and the companies can continue to make sub-par items and offer horrible service.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Everyone has a different tolerance for these type of aesthetic defects. Some folks wouldn't even notice. Others lose sleep of it. Can't imagine trying to tell someone to conform to MY aesthetic sense. You probably need apply your "don't sweat the small stuff" to attempting to convince everyone that you have the key to a longer life It's clear the lack of timely service was more stressful than the hairline cracks. Given the price, the owner clearly had the right to question it and get a more thoughtful service call without elevating it to the CEO of the company.

Live your life like you want. I don't give a crap. Companies still going to put out shit cuz people like you. You want what you buy to be excellent/perfect but go to work and spend all day on pinside resulting in a lesser product than the consumer deserves that's output. Face it, you are the problem as well as everyone else expecting perfection. Ask yourself I'd you are all being hypocrites.

Live your life like you want. I don't give a crap. Companies are still going to put out flawed products because of people like some of you guys. You want what you buy to be excellent/perfect but go to work and spend all day on pinside resulting in a lesser product output/produced or sevice rendered than the consumer deserves. Face it, some of you are the problem as well as everyone else expecting perfection but not doing their own job /work perfect. Ask yourself if you are being hypocritical. This is what America is turning into unfortunately. I buy products that aren't perfect, my contractors aren't perfect, services rendered aren't perfect. I'm not going to fight anyone anymore. Too consuming. I have learned to tolerate the little things or else I'd be up to my head with all this nonsense of these unattainable expectations of perfection. Economies, especially the U.S., are now built for everything to be less to far less than perfect so the the consumer can buy and buy again.

Welcome to the new and improved, friendlier Pinside.

I'm not as picky as most. I've sold my pins over the years to some seriously anal buyers, almost never a bad sale ( almost cuz of some buyers trying to pull a fast one; you know who you are! )...

I've just talked to them as people regardless of their individual pickiness, which always results in a fun time for both and some stories to tell their friends later. It's lack of interaction that leaves the buyer regretting his purchase or changing his mind.

Lol. Only things that come out perfect are the things I do myself. No one else is going to pay attention to detail if they aren't the one ending up with said product/sevice

Not the way it works with JJP. I had a problem with a motherboard DVI output, and we swapped boards. But it was clearly on the ticket, that I had to return the old part or get a charge for the 2nd motherboard - which is totally fine, you shouldn't get to keep the old part, b/c of just that, the scamming.

Even on a ramp, it should be a new part, with a pending charge if the old one isn't returned in x days.

That said, Stern went above and beyond on a couple parts for me over the years. One was a coupling for a trough fix and the other was a rather expensive motor, neither of which did I have to send back the old part. To me, that's a much better goodwill approach.

Spooky is just insanely good at customer service. Charlie answered my call. He specifically said what my issue was caused by and how to fix it., and in one case it was just a design flaw, but we worked out a good solution together. You don't get (can't get?) collaborative fixes from Gary or Jack, and with 1000's of games, its understandable. One of the advantages of Spooky being small, its that they act like a small business, where every customer is pretty much known by name and appreciated, included personal help, if needed.

You had better run those things by me before you make the perfect statement!

My take on this is companies need to get a clue about how people are connected these days. It is no longer word of mouth, so companies can't get away with bad service because that person they didn't help doesn't talk to people. Now we are all connected globally by a simple internet connection. Bad service gets broadcasted like never before.

What the hell are you talking about? I go to work everyday and bust my ass to be 200% or more efficient. When I spend my money I expect a A+ product and A+ service, especially on a $9k fun hobby machine. Just because you have decided the world isn't perfect, doesn't mean we all have to fall in line.

Yeah - go change the world my friend. It's not happening. Fall in line or live life with a ton of stress and disappointment. Good for you that you go above and beyond. I wish I could buy your services or products. Unfortunately the vast majority of workers don't fall into your category and therefore we get what we get, imperfect products/services. You think some kid working at JJP or stern cares? They make 10 bucks an hour. Poverty level wages. I live in NJ and have seen the crew at JJP. Reminds me of what we called the burnouts back in HS. Folks need to get a grip on reality. Your euphoria doesn't exist.

Sounds like the lazy leading the lazier.

I think this statement is really uncalled for. Have you considered that these "burnouts" might be reading your post? Did you speak to any of them? What exactly is it that qualifies someone to be called a burnout?

I think it's really poor taste to post such a comment in an online forum - especially when it concerns the people working in a factory all day. Do you expect them to smile all day long? Do you smile at work all day long? Sorry but this kind of superior attitude really bugs me.

well don't you just seem like a bowl full of sunshine and rainbows.

This is why Robin likes me. I know I'm no better than anybody else...and in most cases, probably worse.

People won't do quality work unless they are vested. Simple fact. Some of you guys are really delusional. Not trying to put anyone down. Just stating facts. There are a million parts of a pinball machine. Like I said, some tiny hairlines in few screw locations is nothing. So therefore I am essentially saying the machine is/was fine. I consider that pretty good considering the workers are probably clearing $16,000 bucks a year after taxes and trying to live in NJ which is one of the most expensive states in the country.

Man, you continue to miss the point. If a company chooses to employ less-than-motivated workers doing substandard work, then they just have to prepare themselves for more support.

I just bought a new/expensive home and it had many "quality" issues. After 6 months, the "punch list" is finally complete. Was it stressful? Sure, but it was necessary. Fortunately, the builder was very responsive to my issues. If the builder wasn't responsive, it would have been a lot more stressful.

Nevertheless, I do agree with you that finding quality workmanship is harder and harder. For me, letting a company "get away" with subpar work is more stressful than ignoring it (as you advise).

Yes happening. I went over my NIB Mustang Pro for 20 minutes and looked at every sq inch and it was PERFECT! Not one tiny blemish or fault ANYWHERE on the ENTIRE game. That was over a year ago and NOTHING has gone wrong with it since the first game. So Stern did something right with my game anyway. I feel for the OP especially about the scratches.

Jack is not one of those 16k employees, and obviously has enough income to create a million dollar company. He has told customers at a seminar he is so flush with money he is turning away investors, he has raised the price on the same machine 2500 within a 2 year time period, bragged about his customer service, and decided to cross market to the non-Pinball collectibles market that is picky because that is a trait in collecting.

With all that, after admitting the cracked ramp was a manufacturing defect on their end, it would not have been better and just send out a new ramp in an orderly fashion? I am sure if JJP would have just taken care of it promptly by shipping a 50 part to the OP he wouldn't be sweating the small stuff as there would be NO small stuff to sweat. It is the same thing he ended up doing anyways.

It was not being overly picky because there was a problem, it was being upset because the simple solution to the problem was being ignored. Compound that with bravado by the company president, and the cost of the machine, you get a 6 page thread.

Jim I agree with your posts regarding how JJP could've handled the situation but that's not my point. with the exception of the mustang above that was mechanically and cosmetically flawless out the box ( ) , I'm sure every pin has needed a tweak or had a cosmetic flaw when removed from box. I know mine all did. Only thing that can be physically perfect in this world is a diamond and that perfection costs a bundle. Way more than $9,000. I know $9,000 is a lot to some but in reality it is nothing. And by the way, I would love to know how that flawed $40,000 car was exchanged for a new one.

Pinball discussion aside, I am not sure how many people even in the upper financial echelon consider $9000 "nothing".

300 posts latter and it all boils down to:

Jack could have simply mailed out $20 worth of ramps and not only won a customer for life, but avoided losing 50 more to all the ill-will this thread generated.

Yes, but that was exactly the POINT of this thread!

Not that a small stress fracture is the end of the world
Not that pinball should be perfect
Not about the increase in shark attacks off the NC coast, and
Not about the relative happiness of factory workers or where-ever else you took this off course

It was about customer service on a $9K purchase.

Thank Jesus

I'm sure the guy who designed this concurs with your assessment mr leaning tower...images (1).jpg

We just need some martians to straighten that thing.

Dude..first thing that came to mind when he sold the game after the 2 days (or whatever it was) that he had it!

You want a Hobbit? Sorry, you aleady said "Spite" lol

Can't believe this thread is still alive.

Go BILLS!!!

"we're gonna build a bully" lol. first incognito now kromer punching kids in the face. rex wasn't kidding. GO BILLS

Yep. And sadly we need that OL coaching spot badly. Not good. Hopefully they can find a way to keep him on board.

And that's it. Time to put this one to rest.

(full post here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/im-absolutely-livid-over-this-experienceam-i-over-reacting?tu=sparechange1974#post-2557406)