Then your subject line is incorrect.

If he's hesitant to raise a playfield, he shouldn't be buying the first game from a new manufacturer. Some of his concerns are no doubt legit, but he made the first mistake. Without seeing pics, I would say he either needs to work through the problems with JJP or sell the game.

You could change it. Not a big deal, but it's wrong.

He bought a commercial pinball machine. Regular maintenance and repair is to be expected. Small out of box problems are to be expected. If he wants precision machinery, he should buy a Swiss watch or a German car.

The attitude that I spent this much, so it should work doesn't wash. Not with JJP and not with Stern. Expensive things break too. Do your homework before buying luxury items for your home.

No, you're not. You lost all credibility when you claimed that in your original post, then took a side in a huge way with your first reply. Sorry I couldn't tell you what you wanted to hear.

Yes, it is. A noob shouldn't buy the first game from a new manufacturer.

Good for you. Did you ever feel like you didn't want to raise the playfield? Or that you shouldn't need to raise the playfield?

Jack is a salesman. He also said he'd never sell a game with unfinished software. So should we believe everything Jack says? Or should we just selectively choose which things he should be held accountable for?

When you're buying $7k+ toys for the home, it's up the buyer to do their homework. George Carlin once had some very wise words about the buyer being aware:

****CONTAINS NOT SAFE FOR WORK LANGUAGE*****

Because of what I do in pinball, which includes playing on location regularly (over 40 years now), operating games, participating in a league, running a pin repair business, bringing games to shows and tournaments and competing in tournaments, I get asked my opinion a lot about games folks are thinking about buying for their first home game. Really, I get the question a lot. I don't mind though and I'm always willing to help if I can. The first thing I consider before making any suggestions is the technical ability of the person asking about the game. I ask them if they can solder and use a DMM. If they say no to both, I typically recommend only a new (or newish) Stern. Problems will still pop up on those, but not nearly as often as say a 20+ year old TZ.

In the case of the original poster's friend, I probably would've also recommended a new Stern. I wouldn't have stopped there though. I would've also pointed out that there are currently three OZ's on location nearby and probably offered to meet him at one of the places to play. This advise doesn't help my repair business btw. Am I doing it wrong?

Home buyers will never bring this hobby back to the prominence it once had. I'm out there recruiting new location players regularly. If you think you're doing more to promote the hobby than I am, I'd love to hear about it.