It would be great if Stern offered a choice to all users affected:

1) buyback at purchase price
2) ship populated playfield back, get new populated playfield (with NEW pf, not one of the old ones)
3) ship new playfield, user can install in x number of years or whatever.

Would be hard not to be satisfied by one of these options.

@kpg, happy you got resolution, but all users with affected playfields need resolution... I hope they get it! I would like to get details on your resolution... who is doing the buyback, is it a one off, distributor dependent, etc.?

the guy frankly is useless... he showed a similar lack of empathy with other MMr owners that were forced to own a game with faded inserts (that will bring less value if you need to sell). He got lucky so his response to everyone else was essentially "f*ck you".

Great guy.

You are like a F ing Mule my man! lol. Striking that head with a ball peen hammer has no effect.

Gotta love it.

Btw, code is awesome, new update today.

Are you employed by the federal government, by chance?

Yeah "update's awesome" dude! And don't you DARE loudly complain and actually GET RESULTS about that box of fail that Stern sent you. lol

I like Stern games but that was unreal... CC chipping off the shooter lane, outhole, etc...majority of inserts ghosting...all in the first WEEK or two...truly the worst one I'd ever seen.

Stern prepare the ground to sell us PP.

You know...this frankly really sits wrong with me. It totally changes your tone from being a crusader to be made right on a product you felt was defective to "I didn't really like the game anyway, so this just worked out as a good excuse to return it"

It sounds like Trent is buying the game and will be swapping out the playfield and then reselling it on second market. I expect we will see a for sale ad from someone we know in Ohio soon. I can see it now, Ghostbusters LE with new un-ghosted playfield-$9000 or trade towards a HEP. Smart move Ghostbusters LE is a fantastic game, and worth every penny.

Further confirmation that Trent is a great distributor.

Tiltamusements.com

Kind of the opposite of a pump-and-dump, eh?

Well that was 100% off topic.....LOL

Take a drink every time Rarehero types this phrase.

I sorta like it... has a certain "biblical" feel to it

First, thank you for the downvote. I dig that you downvote everyone who says something you don't like.

It is pretty straightforward. You make a huge stink about playfield quality. And that's not something I disagree with. And if you had said "I'm glad, that playfield just was really substandard, and since they couldn't fix that issue in a timely manner, it's the right thing to do to take the game back" that's fine.

But when you said "they are taking the game back, that's great, the code sucked" undermines your entire crusade.

Let me go with the "car" analogy..
I get a brand new luxury car. I pay a lot for it...and after a month the paint starts to flake off. I make a concerted effort to campaign to get the paint fixed for me and everyone else who is impacted by that issue. Very noble thing to do, and respectable.

Then the dealer calls me, tells me that they will just take the car back, and I turn around and say "glad to be rid of it, I drove the hell out of it for 6 months, and it really just wasn't for me"

So forget the original issue that I campaigned to get resolved, I really just didn't like the car, and now I don't have to worry about selling it since I didn't like it.

EDIT: Let me sum up what your comment comes off as..."I made a ton of noise to just get Stern to take the game back because I didn't like it"

The entire situation now comes off very "I got mine, suck it everyone else". It's surprising the OP doesn't realize that.

Edit: And continues to not realize that XD downvoted by KPG in 45 seconds. Itchy trigger finger there.

kpg, the best thing to do is ask for the Thread to be killed. You got resolution and this will now just go in circles forever. JMO

That's kind of the point though, right? What about the other 100-ish people that signed but who haven't gotten a resolution? That's what a few people are saying now.

From the start it was "Stern is crooked" and "all bad playfields need to be replaced in a timely manner". People agreed and joined in on that thinking everyone would get help... together.

Now KPG got his money, and it feels like the crusade is over. He says there was "POSITIVE resolution" which really sounds like "it's done everyone go back to business". So it seems it was never about "holding Stern's hand to the fire". KPG was mad he had an $8000 paperweight and used about 100 other people to get his cash back after playing his game for 6 months.

No it doesn't.

It's irrelevant if he liked the code or not. The game was defective. It was defective if he loved it. It was defective if he hated it. It was also defective if he was indifferent.

Defective products should be remediated.

Sorry, but this makes absolutely no sense at all.

How in the world does the fact that he doesn't like the code in any way undermine his "entire crusade?" He isn't entitled to demand resolution to a bad playfield because he doesn't like the code? WTF?

Your car analogy makes no sense at all either. Who cares whether you liked the car or not? If it's defective, it's defective. And let's face it, when you have a product that is defective in some way, it is going to have a negative connotation on how you feel about the product as a whole anyway, and this also applies to your car analogy.

I just can't believe that people like you now suddenly somehow lose respect for something that you say was a "very noble think to do, and respectable" to being completely undermined....because he didn't like the code!?

Yeah, I can't believe that he actually admitted to that! An obvious slip of the tongue, and now he's lost all credibility!

I simply cannot comprehend the people on this site sometimes.

How do people not understand this? Unbelievable.

Because it sounds like he was using the playfield problems, which is an issue a lot of people are affected by and are really passionate about, as a way to get over one hundred people to back his case. When it may have really just been a way to return a game he simply didn't like.

There is a difference between wanting to help all the people affected and demand accountability, and wanting to better your own position.

Altruism vs Personal Gain.

I wish a miserable little play field defect was the worst thing I had to deal with.

"How do people not understand this?"

A good excuse to return it?

Are you kidding me? You obviously haven't seen his PF. "Excuse?" Again, WTF?!!?

Quoted from GotAQuestion:
Because it sounds like he was using the playfield heat to get over one hundred people to back his case, when it really was to return a game he simply didn't like.
"How do people not understand this?"

Yeah!...he also sounds like a communist...and a wife beater. I would guess he hates small children as well...

Try to pay attention. Please.

His PF is FUCKED UP! PERIOD!

He could have sold this pin easily and quickly, probably for a profit, if it didn't have a FUCKED UP PF!

Don't bother....

Glad to hear you are going to get a refund. These types of problems are simply unacceptable at these prices. Stern needs to realize that as they (and all manufactures) continue to raise prices that customers expectations go up for build quality, playfield features, and code support.

I'm not saying any of these things about KPG and I actually respected you so I have NO idea why you're putting words in my mouth.

All I've said is there is a clear difference between Altruism (what this all seemed to start as) and using 100 people to make a LOT of noise to put money back into your own pocket, and then not caring about what happens to those other 100 people.

What happens to the 100 people who will not have their problems addressed now? That's what I'm asking. That's what the difference is here.

You are right Ted!

I just can't understand people sometimes. Crazy.

KPG, you do intent to continue to lead the fight against Stern, am I right? You're not going to simply wash your hands of this now that you're getting your money back? There's 100+ people on your petition that still need resolution. Surely, all the noise around here wasn't just to serve your purposes was it? I have faith that that's not the case.

I was making a sarcastic joke...hence the wink...

I'll come up with some new ones. "The playfield looks like cottage cheese!" "The playfield looks like a teenager's face!" "The playfield looks like old lady cellulite!"

you know a thread is good when Davewtf comes out of the shadows

What do you expect him to do, pay out a bunch of money in attorney fees to fight for the other people on the petition? lol

Hi, I'm one of Jody Dankberg's alias accounts. I even went as far as to create an alternate residence/family/career/identity as the artist ZombieYeti so that I could create an inside-outsider's perspective! Ever notice how we're never seen in the same room at the same time?

Hell, I had even spent many years working with JPOP to expedite my rise in the pinball art world so that I could spend a handful of days at the Stern offices and switch wigs/clothing/beards, in the lavatories like a classic tv sitcom, when in meetings with myself and others. (Let's just say ZombieYeti has chronic diarrhea!)

Now, with that highly plausible conspiratorial intro, as ZombieYeti, and as a strictly 'for-hire' non-member of Stern, I just want to say that personally attacking Jody Dankberg, that handsome and intelligent man (wink wink - because I'm Jody! Get it?) makes very little sense and turns your argument into something aside from the real issue.

Seriously though - I don't pop in here often (since I actually like to do work and be happy) but I saw this and had to comment... Ghostbusters was an amazing experience for me & I hold all of the Stern team in high regard. Not a rat among them,

Now keep in mind anyone who knows my history knows I'm not exactly a fan of any business that doesn't focus on their consumers... So I can say, honestly - I've never seen evidence that tells me Stern is trying to make shitty products. (Cottonell? Scott's? Of course! As I've learned with my chronic diarrhea *wink *wink)

In fact, I think it's fair to logically conclude that Stern has no desire to cheapen their brand and destroy their livelihood. So, the fact's remain that a) Obviously, there was a real issue with playfields on GB from particular runs (probably) due to vendor's issues & b) I think they're being addressed, albeit not fast enough for most folks on pinside?

Now admittedly I'm not privy to each persons experience with this issue - I have a PRO from an early run that has had zero issues - but I can assure you the goal would be to fix the problems.

Keep in mind, if I'm ZombieYeti and not an alias of that handsome devil, Jody Dankberg, then I can assure you that I'll push to get some info from the source - but I KNOW it's been worked on since it was discovered and I know it was a very small number compared to epic sales of the greatest pinball machine I've ever done art for that was released.

Also note that these types of posts make me second guess if I want a future in pinball. I (as well as the team I work with) try to do nothing but make something new and amazing for months and months only to have it get shit all over in a second by a vocal segment of folks who appear to hate everything - this really makes the effort questionable at times, quite honestly. But that's a conversation for another time...

As my greatest mentor often told me "Making pinball is hard, man"

But all joking aside, I'm Jody Dankberg!*

*NOTE: I'm not jody dankberg, I'm ZombieYeti! I have gotten to know Jody and he's one of the reasons I chose to do another project with Stern - he's a good guy with a great family (with kids that will soon be on here seeing unfair & evils shit written about their father) - he's not a 1 dimensional straw man who seeks to gain the moniker of 'biggest prick' so cut the guy some slack?

So... Let's sing kumbaya and eat s'mores together soon?!

I asked the same question in almost the same manner...... I did not get a response. The sad thing is im sure every post is being read on this thread.

Lets hope he does as he had intended and not only to make it right for himself. PINSIDERS don't forget to easy, and if he drops the ball on all his supporters................ Well Karma's a b@#*h.

Funny stuff

I never said that but good job moving the goal posts.

thanks! more communication is good!

If you have not realized by now, that is the root of the majority of complaints.

Which is it?

Patience is a funny thing...people wait years to track down a specific title on the secondary market, years for a CPR playfield to be run, years for a preordered game to arrive. Pinball is a hobby that requires "real" patience - bags of it. True patience seems to be lacking here.

Most would agree that Gary and Stern were always going to make this situation right. They most certainly could (and should) have communicated more throughout the process. Any reasonable person would understand that a root cause analysis and solution definition would take time as this was a complex, difficult to troubleshoot problem. A replacement program couldn't even launch until those two activities had concluded. All these activities would not be able to be done independent of also having to care for the day to day activities of the plant and its staff.

No argument here that degrading cosmetics were an issue, but the game was always able to perform the task for which it was desgined and purchased - playing pinball. This was not a broken down car stuck in the driveway. It seems like it would have been reasonable to let the manufacturer truly resolve the issue - for every one of its impacted customers.

Tilt stood up and is taking the temporary "hit". I wonder why that is happening now - and not several months ago. As a distributor, Trent's done the right thing and it's good to know that KPG's concerns have been satisfactorily addressed. I hope that he now continues to "champion his cause" as tirelessly for all those who rallied behind him over the last several days.

More importantly, I hope that the remaining impacted customers give Stern a fair chance to truly remedy the issues causing the defects and that they are satisfied soon. It would be wonderful if Stern could determine who are those truly impacted and provide them with monthly updates of substance.

There is zero doubt here that Stern is proud of its heritage and brand and would like nothing more than for the issues to be resolved and its most passionate customers delighted.

Perhaps you could pen an open-letter to KPG in order to expedite a reply?

Of course not but he should have said clearly, please sign my petition to help me get my money back....if that was in fact the case. Don't make it seem as though you are trying to help the community.

If movies and TV have taught me anything - and I've learned everything I know from them - it's that communication is the root of all problems

Thx for some perspective on what should be F ing obvious.

Stern is working in the issues. Like you said never fast enough.

And they aren't trying to cheapen the brand and ruin their livelihood.

I know that's a hard concept for some people to get.

Patience is always in short supply.

Tee it up. Stern is going to crush it in 2017

That's a fact