Quoted from Beatnik-Filmstar:My wife and I were driving home from Chicago the first time I had ever heard of pinball life. Didn't own any machines at the time so was unaware of who/what the were. But I had seen an entry for them on pinball map or something of the sort - hey, there's a place with lots of machines right off the highway! We stopped by thinking it would be a standard location to maybe have lunch and play a few games.
Confusion grows as we get closer and it's just an industrial park. Moreso as we locate their door. We go in anyway and realize it's "just" a parts warehouse. I explain the situation and confusion, mention that I don't actually have any machines and thank them for their time.
Nonsense. You came here to play - you're gonna play. Didn't know who they were, never done business with them, came unnanounced? No problem. Wife and I were let into the back room and told to play to our heart's content.
Instant customer for life. Marcos is great, but if there's a part I need and PBL has it - that's who I order from every time.
Similar experience here. I was in town on business a few days before pinball expo, but I had to fly out before any festivities started.
I thought “what better way to save a few bucks on shipping than to drive on over to Pinball Life and pickup some parts in person and fly back with them”. I didn’t understand that they’re not really setup to have customers drop by and start rambling a list of random parts they need.
I roll in and quickly realize I should have placed my order ahead of time and given them a heads up that I’d be picking them up. However, I was greeted warmly and given the “grand tour” of the place. (I even got to pet a dog)
I was then invited to play on the pins that had been setup in the back. They had some of the nicest/cleanest examples I’ve ever seen. Still have dreams about that Indiana Jones (looked liked it was unboxed yesterday).
Long story short: Pinball Life has some terrific people running it. Will go out of my way and would even pay a few $ more if it means getting it from them.
