I have no horse in this race, but I went through this with the original Alien, and as this situation seems very much like the situation back then I wanted to share my opinion.

As I see it these companies always have the best intentions, no way that I am accusing anybody of anything in that regard, but what gets them is often the problem that stuff takes longer than expected due to any number of reasons. That makes that the available money is burning quicker than excpected and at some time they just run out of money.

That is then compensated with the promise that the machines are almost ready and the request to pay the remainder of the amount that has to be paid to get the machine they ordered. Then the company can deliver some machines and everybody gets excited again because machines are being delivered, so everything looks ok and money is being transferred no questions asked.

But the money will run out again before all machines have been made. Often the company will try to announce another machine to gather more money (Jpop and Dutch Pinball did this) in order to fill the hole just to dig another one.

I sincerely hope for all involved that this is not the case, but it sure as hell feels like it (I have been following this for some time now). I felt the need to make these comments as most of the postings are either very positive or very negative and the negative ones get shot down without consideration.

If I were in the position of a buyer, I would now not pay the remainder, but wait until the machine is ready to ship. This is bad for the company but the company should be the one that is responsible for being able to deliver what they sold, not the customer.

If I were the manufacturer and I would be in this kind of situation, I would talk to my customers and be more transparent. Most of us do not mind to pay a bit more to get a nice Pinball machine and the ones that do should be made aware of the situation. That is the only decent way to handle things. I know this might be difficult and even frightening, but maybe also the only way to get out of the problems and be able to fulfill all the obligations made. I firmly believe that is what all these guys want.

Hope the best for Haggis, I LOVE what they do and the machines are oozing of detail and love for pinball. I hope I am very wrong and that everything is ok and the world will be 250 Mermaids richer at some time.