Quoted from pinnyheadhead:Don’t listen to Pinside BS that Stern doesn’t give good customer service and not even try for a new PF. Stern sent me a new PF on my SMVE that had ghosting a year and a half later after unboxing and I was not the original purchaser. They didn’t ask for any proof of purchase or anything. Distro never got involved.
Call Chas and say your PF on IMDN looks kind of messed up. Say your TWD, ACDC and other sterns you own never had a problem. Say who the game was purchased from also. They will give you an email to send pics and see what they say. They have great customer service from my experience. Good people
I wish it were as simple as you imagine, but it isn't. Stern does give good customer service...no argument on that.
The issue is Chas/Pat don't have the authority to replace all PF's with imperfections...so it becomes a judgement call involving Stern management. I've owned many NIB Stern games and on this issue, I decided not to "fight" for a new PF. I can safely say that neither Pat or Chas would simply send me a new PF...that's for sure. And to really fix the issue, they would have to send me a populated PF, since swapping isn't trivial. So...it is a big deal. On one occasion, Stern send me a new populated PF for a defective AC/DC years ago. My distributor did the PF swap, and I can tell you that getting Stern to send/install the populated PF was time consuming (and involved a lot of folks).
If my clear coat was as wavy as the visible wood grain, I have no doubt Stern would take care of me (and Maken). In this instance, since the clear is smooth, I decided to live with the visible wood grain (but obviously wish that Stern's PF supplier would take more care sanding these PF's).
From the players perspective (with Pinstadium lights installed), my PF looks awesome.
snaroff