Looking for a "better than broken" backglass for NIGHT RIDER (SS).

PMHUO
Pretty Much Home Use Only

Anyone here ever heard of or used California Amusements located in San Jose for repair work? Technician named Sam??

What a jerk the seller is. I responded to his CL ad and asked for pics (there is only one on the CL site). He sent a link to pics. Three hours later he sends me an email and asks "Did you get the pics, or were you just trolling me?"

That didn't even deserve a response. What a red flag. A seller to stay away from.

I guess things have changed in 10 years.

Called California Amusements early June to come service my Firepower II. Sam Underwood (technician or owner, not sure which) came out and poked around and eventually removed the MPU and Driver boards to take to his shop for repair. Charged $100 for the service call (which I paid cash) and off he went with my circuit boards. Been over a month and haven't seen him since. A few times I have called to ask for an update and he tells me he's still working on them. It's been over a month now, and I have left messages last few days that I want to come pick up my unrepaired boards, but he doesn't return my phone calls.

I thought keeping my business local would be a good thing. Not so in this case. What would you do now?

That's exactly what I did this morning. Found his home address and drove out there....with the camera rolling I knocked on his door. Wasn't sure what to expect. He wasn't expecting me. Told him I came for my circuit boards. He said yeah, ok and went and got them. That simple. Can't tell you how relieved I feel to get two non-working boards back!

The guy is nice enough, but I wouldn't recommend him to anyone. He had my boards over a month and didn't fix them. And he wouldn't even return my phone calls. No excuses. No apologies.

In the future I will be using the repair guys recommended on this site who are proven successful and timely.

He said he replaced a lot of chips but wasn't sure what else it needed. He didn't say he was waiting on anything.

Yes, call him and ask what happened. I'd be interested to hear what his excuse is/was....sort of. In a way, I don't care. I'd never use him again. I didn't want to stand at his door and have any discussion about what was going on and why he didn't return any of my phone calls. I was a little nervous to go there in the first place, and wanted to get out as soon as I got my boards back in my hands.

Maybe the first red flag was when I initially called for a service request. I left my phone message on his answering machine several times over several days before he ever returned my calls. I was about to send my boards off in the mail to one of several service guys recommended here on Pinside, but found California Amusements to be local to me here in San Jose, and according to their website, looked to be competent. And I figured I would be saving the shipping costs that I would otherwise need to pay for service out of state.

After several days of me leaving phone messages he did return my call then came to do the service call on Friday, June 5. As he was leaving with my boards (the MPU and Driver board), and $100 cash, he said he would work on them on the weekend. I expected to get a call on Monday saying they were repaired.

I didn't hear from him after the weekend, so mid week I called leaving a message asking for a repair status. I left several more calls over several more days leaving messages asking for a repair status. He eventually returned my calls, much to my relief, saying he was swamped with commercial jobs but he was working a little on my job too. Just the fact that he finally returned a call led me to believe I wasn't getting ripped off, but the expectation I had based on what he said when he left my home on June 5 was he would have them turned around in a couple days.

After a few more weeks I started calling again, leaving messages asking for a repair status. Several calls over several days and no returned calls. Finally, I got a return call and he stated he had worked on the boards, got the dead board to power up, but still wasn't fixed and wasn't sure what the problem was. I guess about a week later I started calling and leaving messages that I wanted my unrepaired boards back, and I would come get them. No return calls. Again, I am feeling sick to my stomach that this was all a scam and I was ripped off. He had my money and my boards, for a month, and wasn't returning anymore phone calls.

I think I left 3 phone call messages in the week preceding me knocking on his door asking for my boards back. By this time it had been over a month. Not really knowing who this guy was and what his real intentions were, I was afraid to go knock on his door. So it worked out I guess. I'm out $100 but at least I got my boards back. They ship out today Fedex to Chris Hibler. Everything I have read about Chris is good.

One final note: From what I have learned doing some research, if you have the test ROM's you can easily diagnose the Williams MPU board problems. Sounds simple enough. I could attempt that, but don't want to start desoldering chips on the board. Leaving that to the experts. I'm guessing Sam doesn't have the proper test ROM's, test equipment, or knowledge. I don't think he's that busy, just unqualified to do these boards as advertised. Honest? Can't say. Grade for returning phone calls? "F"

Agree with you, it's all about having the right tools. But in this case, it's more than just a desoldering gun, and in fact, I do already own a desoldering gun!

I've done a few board repairs to my own games, early Bally and Gottlieb SS. I've found lots of help here on Pinside for that and found it immensely satisfying to DIY. But with this System 7 board, after some basic troubleshooting, it was evident that advanced skills and additional tools were necessary. I would need a better logic probe, perhaps an oscilloscope, and maybe even a ROM burner, and for sure some test ROM/ROMs.

I was skeptical I'd find the tech support I needed, found the test ROM instructions incomplete or lacking explanations for a newbie, and I guess doubted in the end it would be cost effective for me to DIY. This time I'm leaving it to the expert, albeit he's half way across the country. Just looking forward to getting my game up and running again.

I think this is more telling...go read the reviews for "Mallory". Nobody likes this guy!!!
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I'll take it.

I asked PDI the best way to ship a backglass, and all I got was a sarcastic reply. "very carefully".
Thanks for the advice, Joey.

Really? How do you know what my next post would be???

As a matter of fact, I find Pinside to be a wealth of information, and mostly PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE. Such is your advice that Steve at BGResto could help me. Thank you.

I found it repulsive when I asked PDI a question and got a sarcastic response. All Joey had to do was provide a disclaimer like...."We pack back glasses this way, or that way, but that doesn't guarantee yours will survive shipping"....or "ship at your own risk" or something like that. But regardless, I'm not going to blame someone else for damage to a backglass that I pack myself. I was just looking for best practices. Guess he didn't want to help a fellow Pinsider.

Totally disagree. That's all some businesses do....offer advice. For example, Lawyers, Engineers, Doctors. If they were reluctant to offer their advice then they would be out of business.

I bought a project like that once!

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Work in progress and all done pics. I guess I'll take the Playboy!
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try local craigslist....
sfbay.craigslist.org link

Anyone in this neck of the woods have a Centigrade 37 backglass to sell?

PM Sent.

Missing paint, bubbling places. Here a pic.

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I have a lockdown bar. $10

I would not accept a Cashier's Check for pin payment, and would advise my friends here not to accept a Cashier's Check either. Too many scams involving fake cashiers checks. Easy to print your own....just google it.

Correction...I would accept a Cashier's Check ONLY if I could take it to the bank it was drawn on and get the cash in hand before handing over the pin.

PM's sent.

Looking for someone who could transport a pin from Fallon (1 hour east of Reno) to San Jose. Anyone interested can PM me with info or referrals. Thanks.

Anyone here interested in delivering a wood rail pin to Rancho Cordova from San Jose? PM me.

Looking for a Mata Hari for a friend. Anyone close by selling one, working or not?

You're welcome. Thanks for the praises! That's a beautiful game, plays like new, and going to make its new owner very happy.

I've got a Middle Earth project for sale. $400. Looks great, just isn't working.

I am in San Jose and repair EM and newer machines both. PM me if interested in servicing your machine(s).

A guy I recently met is looking for his first pinball machine. Wants to spend around $2,000 (or less). Prefers early SS. PM me if you have or know of anything fitting this description and I will pass along the info. Thanks.

Need to get one of these frequency converters....probably the 200 watt unit just to be safe.

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Looking for a friend...new to pinball....wants a Bally Game Show. PM me if you have one to sell.

That is awesome! Can't wait to come see it. Even the bare building looks cool!