Crystal Lake, IL
You have got to try the credit card dispute! The worse that can happen is the credit card denies your claim. Don't waste anymore time and do it!
(Topic ID: 16521)
This topic is closed.
Toronto, ON
Wow, pointless thread without a company name.. Sucks that it happened, but how does this help anyone avoid them if they don't know who you're referring to?
About the title.....How could this help anyone if you won't tell who it is. Stupid thread with this entire story. Either a troll or no balls to stand up for yourself. If you wanted to help others you would just say the company and see if anyone has any info to help you. 
Quoted from Jgel:About the title.....How could this help anyone if you won't tell who it is. Stupid thread with this entire story. Either a troll or no balls to stand up for yourself. If you wanted to help others you would just say the company and see if anyone has any info to help you.
Maybe both. A troll with no balls would certainly have an easier time walking back under the bridge when the water was cold. 
.
Quoted from RustyLizard:Maybe both. A troll with no balls would certainly have an easier time walking back under the bridge when the water was cold.
Now that's funny.
Quoted from Pinballer22:KD Amusements out of Ames, IA. They have a website if you want to do some further investigation
I didn't want to be the one to throw their name out there since it was not my issue
Yeah, KD Amusement is a pretty good operator in that Ames is chocked full of pins on location and from what I've seen, they're usually working pretty well... but as a retail place, forget it. I won't go into my story with them as it was just your typical overpriced retail pin.
This is why you learn to do this stuff yourself or ask other fellow Iowa pinheads *cough cough* to help you.
The only thing I will send out is boards, and that's after I've tried my best and messed them up even worse. For that, you just send them to Chris Hibler, Rob Anthony, or Chris Munson, depending on the board.
Easy as that.
After the amount of key strokes, on the original post, I would say (believe) most of it is true Sure he/she could have been more careful....but...and we all could be in this mess...he/she bought a pin, it needed work,the idea was to throw a little business to a pin pro, get it back...show it off...play it in great working order....hopefully hold value down the road in order to justify the initial up front cost +repair cost. Any person reading this thread could have ended up in this situation
Heck...if my boss told me tomorrow that I am going on 65 hours a week and I already, the night before, won a auction for a pin, or had a deal I entered into, I would have easily said to myself,"Ok,...let's get through this....get the pin in one piece...spend a lil and make sure it plays/shows well...ok, spend a lil $$$...it will all be ok...it is all good"! Lol...could have been almost anyone in this thread and/or Pinside forum!
GL friend. I wish you well. You did nothing wrong. I do agree with other members though...reveal the business name. I am not a legal pro but I am thinking you will be ok if your speaking the truth! The best benefit of this thread would be if others could know in advance who to stay away from...or at least who to keep thier business "Guard" up against so they are not taken adavantage of!!!!!
Peace!!!!!!!!!
Quoted from Pinballdad:After the amount of key strokes, on the original post, I would say (believe) most of it is true
GL friend. I wish you well. You did nothing wrong. I do agree with other members though...reveal the business name. I am not a legal pro but I am thinking you will be ok if your speaking the truth! The best benefit of this thread would be if others could know in advance who to stay away from...or at least who to keep thier business "Guard" up against so they are not taken adavantage of!!!!!
Peace!!!!!!!!!
Sorry.. There is no way in hell I would ever get banged in the "A" as hard as this poor guy. First off, most of us here do our own work. Second, those that don't, generally inquire here or elsewhere first before risking putting themselves through this kind of abuse.
Quoted from Honch:Pinballdad said:After the amount of key strokes, on the original post, I would say (believe) most of it is true
GL friend. I wish you well. You did nothing wrong. I do agree with other members though...reveal the business name. I am not a legal pro but I am thinking you will be ok if your speaking the truth! The best benefit of this thread would be if others could know in advance who to stay away from...or at least who to keep thier business "Guard" up against so they are not taken adavantage of!!!!!
Peace!!!!!!!!!
Sorry.. There is no way in hell I would ever get banged in the "A" as hard as this poor guy. First off, most of us here do our own work. Second, those that don't, generally inquire here or elsewhere first, before risking putting themselves through this kind of abuse.
Yes, I can confidently say there is no way in Hell this would happen to me
what I've learned from reading this is get an opinion from fellow pinheads before you have your machine repaired from someone you don't know and... learn how to do your own repairs!!! working on them is half the fun. IMO good luck in court.
Quoted from MNpinballplayer:The only time, I signed anything. Is regarding the repairs and new parts was during the first cost estimate.
Small claims is most likely going to look at this the same way as an auto repair estimate.
What was your original quoted price vs what was the final price of parts/labor and repair.
For auto there are guidelines and if they stay within there percentage of est. you have no recourse.
Hopefully cost or not you get a beautiful TZ out the other side.
Best of luck sorry you seem to be getting the ringer.
That's really too bad. I encourage you to start learning about fixing your own machines asap. Trust me if I can learn some of the basics then ANYONE can. I am not even close to being a "fix it" type. It is nice to know that when things come up now. I have the gang on pinside to lend a message of help
What possible retaliation can be expected by giving an honest review of the services you received, with the name of the company? There's hundreds of web sites devoted to that. You've got your game, they can no longer blackmail you.
Okay, so even though the guy claims he's telling the truth about this situation, he would rather put other people in harm's way of potentially dealing with these scumbags, than to risk some imaginary litigation that has no claim in reality if he's NOT lying?
Uh...thanks for the head's up?
I think you got taken, and your demeanor clearly shows why. You let these people walk all over you the first time, and did not put your foot down. You let them walk on you a second time, and still went along with it. It's not like you didn't have ample opportunity to consult with the many collector's communities or other professional shops (if there are any in your area..) to see if it seemed reasonable.
Here's a tip for the future: Anything worth putting that much money and effort into, was worth waiting a few extra days to ask around about the situation. The first time they changed course on you, you should have demanded that they stop all further work until they can provide a price, in writing without jacking you around. No reason to take that kind of BS from these retail pigs that largely exist to feed off the ignorant or lazy. You WILL have problems with the machine at some point, problems that can likely be fixed for 15 bucks instead of paying someone 150. It's worth your time to learn this stuff.
Don't potentially let other people get screwed over by this place because you don't want to say. They hit you for the price of a high end B-list pin, or a low end A-list pin if you got a good deal. That's a lot of money man!
Quoted from smassa:I'd contact the BBB
Unfortunately, or should I say ironically, anyone who would be reported to the BBB probably could care less about their reputation with the BBB. Nobody checks that stuff anyway. For the most part, the BBB is a sham. Any organization that is subsidized by the very same companies it is supposed to regulate cannot be effective.
If you want to complain, do so on Yelp.com, Angie's list, and Google Places, or report the issue to the local attorney general.
Quoted from MNpinballplayer:The truth is I am scared. To give the Pinball Co name because of liable and legal issues. I can tell you it's a company in the state of Iowa. I am hoping to tell the owner of this company about this posting and to please review this posting and please give me my money back. Please my fellow pinside community be honest. I can handle the loses because of my stupidity.
Call their credit card processing company. They will be pissed! Credit card companies do not want any businesses making it difficult for customers to use their credit cards. In fact, they actually instruct people not to check ids, so the customer is not hasseled. Charging a 5% fee to a customer could actually get the credit card processing company to drop them.
Quoted from wizzardz:As others have mentioned, I would dispute the charges. I would also note the additional charge for using a credit card as this is generally against terms (perhaps law). Its a bit of splitting hairs, but a merchant cannot charge extra for using a credit card - i.e., that cannot pass the credit processing fee to the customer. This is different than charging a lesser price for paying with cash. Certainly if there is a notation on a receipt for a 5% credit card fee, the cc company will want to know that as well.
There is no liability in either offering your experience with a company or expressing your (dis)satisfaction with the company. You can't tell untruths - but naming names of one you've had legitimate business dealings with is in no way liable or slander.
^^^^THIS! Plus, just by disputing the charges, the company will be charged a "chargeback fee" whether you are successful or not. It is usually around $25, so that is something. Definitely follow up with this.
There's allot of talk regarding this post about not being important without naming the commercial company. This isn't true.
What I have learned in during this whole process.
1 . Never buy a pinball machine without looking at it first no matter how many photo's you receive. This doesn't only apply to E Bay but other places like Pinball Classified and Craigslist.
2. As pointed out in this thread many times.. Learn how to shop your own pinball machines or find fellow pinball hobbies to help you. After posting my story I have received couple nice e mails from people in my area willing to help fix's or maintenance my machines when I need their help.
I recommend buying a fixer upper to learn how to fix and maintenance your own pin before buying a expensive pin. I have found out most people in the hobbies start out with a low rated pin before buying something on the high end side.
My-self made a deal to buy a Taxi pinball Machine with nice amount of wear on the playing field but everything works meaning the electronic and ramp parts. The pin also comes with a extra play field with very little wear. I am going to take apart everything and place it on the new play field for the experience.
3. When it comes to dealing with commercial companies about maintenance your pin never agree to drop it off and have them work on it without properly counting for their hours. I had this company do a service call once before prior ( In My Home) and the person was vary nice and friendly and worked every minute on total amount of time billed. If you drop of your machine you will be at their mercy on reporting correct amount of time repairing the pin and also your machine will be held hostage if the pin prices get's out of hand.
4. When making a post on pinside or other places.. Point more clearly what your true attention is regarding your post.
Sorry, for getting people upset regarding my posting.
Take Care MNpinballplayer
BTW I did move from Minnesota to Iowa.
Quoted from MNpinballplayer:it's a company in the state of Iowa
Anything Iowa now gets avoided, pinball related.
Quoted from the_pin_family:I'm done caring about this or even reading about this without a name. At this point its a pointless thread about a guy that got ripped off. Happens all the time. Useless info without a name so there can be a real.discussion. The question is a no brainer. If you got ripped off then dispute it. If you want.to talk about it give us the whole story(a name) so it can be discussed. Otherwise were talking about nothing.
Yes i agree! How can this help others( as you mentioned) if your not saying what business to avoid?
Quoted from MNpinballplayer:There's allot of talk regarding this post about not being important without naming the commercial company. This isn't true.
What I have learned in during this whole process.
1 . Never buy a pinball machine without looking at it first no matter how many photo's you receive. This doesn't only apply to E Bay but other places like Pinball Classified and Craigslist.
2. As pointed out in this thread many times.. Learn how to shop your own pinball machines or find fellow pinball hobbies to help you. After posting my story I have received couple nice e mails from people in my area willing to help fix's or maintenance my machines when I need their help.
I recommend buying a fixer upper to learn how to fix and maintenance your own pin before buying a expensive pin. I have found out most people in the hobbies start out with a low rated pin before buying something on the high end side.
My-self made a deal to buy a Taxi pinball Machine with nice amount of wear on the playing field but everything works meaning the electronic and ramp parts. The pin also comes with a extra play field with very little wear. I am going to take apart everything and place it on the new play field for the experience.
3. When it comes to dealing with commercial companies about maintenance your pin never agree to drop it off and have them work on it without properly counting for their hours. I had this company do a service call once before prior ( In My Home) and the person was vary nice and friendly and worked every minute on total amount of time billed. If you drop of your machine you will be at their mercy on reporting correct amount of time repairing the pin and also your machine will be held hostage if the pin prices get's out of hand.
4. When making a post on pinside or other places.. Point more clearly what your true attention is regarding your post.
Sorry, for getting people upset regarding my posting.
Take Care MNpinballplayer
BTW I did move from Minnesota to Iowa.
Please, name the company that did this to you.
Quoted from Pinballer22:KD Amusements out of Ames, IA. They have a website if you want to do some further investigation
I didn't want to be the one to throw their name out there since it was not my issue
am I missing something or has the name already been dropped.
In one post, he managed to destroy the confidence of anyone even THINKING of dealing with anyone in Iowa. Impressive!
Thank God it wasn't Michigan.
Pete
i live hours and hours from this place (i'm in canada) and i still wanna know who the f... did this.
this thread is supposed to help others, but nooooooooooooooooooooooo he can't give us the name!
That's the funny part...not only is it completely unhelpful in every way....it KILLS everyone in Iowa!
Thats impressive!
Pete
Quoted from decktard:Hope this doesn't sound too offensive... but I think the moral of the story could be: Learn to DIY.
I'm sorry to hear about you being victimized by this unscrupulous individual; but as Decktard suggested, you really must learn to do your own repairs (or your cumulative maintenance costs could quickly equal the price of another entire machine).
It may seem daunting, but you'd be surprised about how relatively easy pinball repair really is (compared to say automotive repair/restoration).
The tool investment is minimal by comparison, the lifting is light, and the great pin-repair minds here like LTG and others are always happy to walk you through every step of the process.
You may ultimately find as much satisfication in working on games/restoring them as you do playing them--as many of us have.
Best of luck to you on whatever recourse you pursue concerning monetary compensation.
This thread has nothing to do with pinball............This has everything to do with people who need to grow a pair. This guy screwed you because he knew he could. You sound like the biggest wimp to ever buy a pinball machine. When people screw me and I confront them, I inform them that they may want to reconsider their position as the world can be a cruel place............When they decline, I simply walk away. Then I ask myself, "What would Batman do?" This world has gone to $hit and we live in a place where crooks walk the planet protected by the law...............This guy screwed you out of $800, it's time to take the law into your own hands. You know where he lives, go take care of business and stop complaining. Your welcome for the advice. I know I am gong to take a lot of $hit for this post.
Quoted from MNpinballplayer:This is a very clean Twilight Zone with nothing wrong with it.
You said in your first paragraph that it had 'two dot errors'. So there was something wrong with it. So many red flags here.
1. Buying a game like TZ long distance based on pics.
2. Buying any used game over $4k based on pics.
3. Non-technical buyer buying a very technical game.
4. Way, way too much concern about value. (under water)
5. Using credit to pay $1k+ for repairs/ mods.
That local shop may have taken advantage of you, but you rolled out the red carpet (and your wallet) for them. If you don't/ can't work on games, don't buy 20 year old games. No matter how nice they look. Just buy new or nearly new games. That's what I did before I learned how to fix them. And if you're spending more than $2k on a game, don't do it based on pics unless it's NIB or you have a reference. Lastly, as mentioned above, pinball machines in your home is a luxury. It shouldn't be considered an investment. All the talk here about skyrocketing prices is just that, talk. Don't get caught up in the hype. Buy pins that you enjoy playing.
Without the name, this thread is nothing but garbage.
He has accused a shop of improprieties and won't name it. He states it's in Iowa. I have no idea how many repair shops are in Iowa but I will assume it's more than one. So now every shop in Iowa is suspect. That's just not fair at all.
as far as many stating that He should take Credit Card action or small claims, etc and He should learn to fix, repair and maintain both electrically and mechanically his pins, that is fine and good but it is not the crux of the story.
The crux is as I stated above , Making an accusation and then not naming the shop.
It just is not fair to all the other shops and repair Guys.
Damn, im doing a Tz Now for a customer.....Doing all the mods, leds, strip and rebuild, sanding the insdie of the cab......etc.....Maybe im wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too cheap for the work....lol
So funny, the OP's personality in this thread shows why the retailer had such an easy time screwing him over!
Not only does he allow himself to get screwed....repeatedly......by this retailer because of not having a pair, he still doesn't learn to grow a pair now as seen by the fact that he is afraid to name the retailer!
I'm sorry to say it, but this thread is pitiful.
Yes...Cedit Card or Small Claims...You DO have a written estimate. They can only charge a certain amount over that...same with % on credit card. Don't let them get away with it.
I don't know what the hell all the rumbling is about as the name of the company has been mentioned 5 times! Go get em'. 
Quoted from spfxted:I don't know what the hell all the rumbling is about as the name of the company has been mentioned 5 times!
Only speculated by others.
The original poster has not named any business, only accusations.
Quoted from pdman:I'm starting to think his story is BS.
+1
I do love the comment talking about skipping all things pinball in Iowa...that wont take you long. 
just do not skip the gorilla pinvitational ok?
The best recourse a customer has in todays world is to post and talk about a business. Wether its forums or Facebook. A business knows this.
Its todays number one marketing tool. Its just foolish not to mention to them that in the small world of pinball that you will be posting the situation for all to know. If the shop is too dumb to not know that will hurt then they will probably be out of business soon anyway.
Of course if you wont use the tools that could help you its also hard to feel concern.
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