I live in New Zealand, have had only good experiences with the likes of PinbAll Life, Marco etc.
I have ordered from Mad Amusements once and was fine, now my account doesn't work.
I received an email back when I inquired he stated he has had trouble with overseas orders and so is not accepting international orders at this time.
He didn't elaborate ?
He doesn't seem to have very good communication skills,
There are better people out there dealing in the same parts.

That is great news!

The best thing he could do is to simply not take international orders.

In this business, like many others, reputation is everything. The world of pinball is very small. I placed an order last week with two different vendors when mad showed everything I needed in stock. I'm in the US and probably would have had no problems but I just don't want the headache. There's many vendors out there doing business the right way. No point in dealing with someone whose not.

At the time he took my order early Jan he stated he wasnt taken paypal over $250 for International customers but would take Wire Transfer [what a mistake on my behalf]

I wouldn't say that. Here is a very unhappy domestic customer that I personally know and know as an honest and knowledgeable person.:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_thread/thread/5ca187c62eef2725/9c3f5a6028bffdca?q=mad+amusments&lnk=ol&;

The more acurate conclusion to draw is that the people that seem to have the most problems are people that pay in a methind that can't be disputed (checks, money transfers).

I have ordered from Mad Amusmants a couple of times. They were small orders and I used PayPal to pay with them. There was no problem at all or any reason for any comunication about the order.

It just seems really suspicious that most of these problem orders are usually large (price wise) and also payed in a way that can't be disputed. Someone mentioned them not accepting large PayPal payments....that sounds strange also. I would personally feel intentionally screwed if I had ordered before with PayPal and had no problems...then asked on a big order to pay with another method and then the order doesn't show up or is damaged. The owner of Mad Amusments not addressing these complaints or explaining the situation is also consistant with the complaints and comments about his poor communication.

As it stands now I would definatly not order through them without using PayPal or a Credit Card.

I just found this from another ANTI MAD AMUSEMENTS threat on Pinside
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.pinball/browse_thread/thread/5ca187c62eef2725/9c3f5a6028bffdca?q=mad+amusments&lnk=ol&&pli=1

Why doesnt anyone just say it... the guys an as***hole!!

I used to think they were pretty good. took them 2.5 weeks to get me 1 switch and optos due to "technical difficulties". I will probably still order from them but thats if I HAVE to or if they have a drastically better price.

They always seem to have the stuff I need, and haven't had a problem with them yet, so I will continue to use them when Pinball Life and Marco Spec don't have what I need.

I just received a DMD today that I ordered Tuesday morning at 10:30 am it was sitting on my porch when I got home at 5:30 pm. Excellent service here!

I order from mad amusements 2-3 times a week often several hundred per order. He ships fast and has a lot of hard to find parts. Regarding attitude, I don't place an order to have a friendly conversation. I just want the parts. Who cares if he is friendly or not? His service has been great here.

Recent first-time owner here and I placed my first order for parts from MAD. They were not only cheaper on my parts than anyone else by a substantial amount, I got my order in two and a half days. Will definitely use them again.

Does he pack the hell out of the DMD's or what? Ordered two days ago, cheap and fast. Just like me.

I got my DMD the same day. Hell yes he packs them well. I've never seen anything packed like that. It looks like a team of packing engineers packed it. I've had great luck with mad. Cheap, lots of hard to find parts, fast delivery. But I don't go there unless necessary. I don't like to do business with people who are shady. It he's willing to screw the guy next to me I have no reason to believe he wouldn't do the same to me.

Been trying to get hold of Mad Mike since November 2011, sent 40 emails, no reply. Even tried phoning on three occasions. This company/person is the worst possible ambassador of USA business practice. Ive spoken to pin people in Australia and France, who have the same problems with this guy. Mad Amusements should put a banner on his site "INTERNATIONAL BUYERS GET LOST" ... that way it saves a lot of frustration. Mad Mike = Middle finger!!

I live about 15 minutes from Mad Amusements, if the Brick address can be believed. I talked with Mike once about stopping by and picking up my order instead of being charged $15 and he said he didn't like that since he doesn't have a storefront and he stated "people never stop by when they say they will". That being said, I got my order quickly and even with the extra shipping it was less than buying elsewhere.

SCREW THE BBB. They wont do shit. You need to contact ic3.gov all you people do. Then you need to call Interpol. If he is scamming foreign buyers then file a report with ic3.gov The fbi WILL investigate. If a crime has been committed he WILL go to federal Prison. Interpol will also investigate.

BBB will do nothing zero notta he is not a accredited business with them.

....?

Mike has always been good to me.

He has with me as well. But if indeed these people have paid and nothing has been received then they need to contact the authorities. If Mike can furnish proof he shipped he has nothing to worry about.

But judging by the common lack of emails or contact i would have to say he is taking advantage. He probably does not realize if two three people file reports with ic3.gov the FBI will be at his door in short order. This is not 1999 they take internet crime very serious these days.

If he has taken money and not delivered goods it is a federal and international crime as it crosses state lines Country boarders and uses the internet as the contact. All 3 add to separate charges if indeed he has not delivered. 18 USC § 1343 includes the internet. I have personally sent a scammer to prison my self for the same thing. So i am aware of the process.

Now mike has always been good to me. But if indeed what these people say is true then i have put the steps out there to get there money back as well as get the Justice system involved.

Could somebody tell Mike i will never give up!

Thank for comments and I try Intepol!

Any news from the other who has been stolen?

Can't somebody from here that has delt with him or knows him, get him on the phone and find out what is really happening here?

I just ordered a set of led displays. I haven't had a problem with him in the past. I wonder what the deal with Liti's order is though. Has it never shipped, is it in Customs? this is not the norm for sure.

Yes that is what i need! (he is not replying calls from Hungary, i tried it many times from different numbers)

I got some reply... Intresting isnt it?

"Complaint ID#: 80229411
Business Name: Pinball Arcade Store

BBB has made several attempts to contact the business regarding the above referenced complaint. We regret to inform you that we have not received a response from the company.

BBB develops and maintains Reliability Reports on companies in our service area. This information is available to the public and is frequently used by potential customers. In the case of your complaint, the company's failure to promptly give attention to the matter will be reflected in the report we give to consumers about them.

With any complaint, you have the option of pursuing the matter legally.

To pursue your complaint, please contact: Ocean County Consumer Affairs, PO Box 2191, Toms River, NJ, 08754-2191, phone:7329292105

If the company has contacted you in the interim, please notify BBB immediately.

Very truly yours,

Rain Ferrara
Service Representative
609 588-0808 ext 11"

Good job Liti...keep on it.

Let this be a lesson to you and everyone else who reads this:

THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU IS A JOKE AND COMPLETELY USELESS.

I ordered a board on line last week from Mad Amusements. It shipped the same day and arrived a couple days later. I paid with paypal. I even recieved a $3 or $4 refund because I guess the shipping was less. I would have only thought good things of this company until I read this thread.

I did e-mail them before ordering as I had a question about the board but never received a reply. I was in a hurry to get the board so I didn't let the non response stop me. I have to say, if I read this thread then I would have never ordered.

There are a few things I hate more than anything, one of them is someone ripping someone off! Mike should be on here defending his reputation. This all does sound bad for him but maybe he is innocent. I just don't understand why he does not answer these peoples phone calls or e-mails. Maybe he has a lawyer advising him not to.

Whatever the case may be, I had to state the facts about my experience with Mad Amusements, it was nothing but the best I could ask for. There was even a piece of candy in with the order.LOL I hope he is innocent and I hope the people who lost money get it back. If he is guilty then I hope he gets the Max!!!

Semper Fi!

Sadly, Mike has great stock and usually good pricing but something just isn't right as he seems great with US orders but completely not there with anything international, even Canada?

I recently got an FT that needed a lot of plastics and MAD was the only one that had NOS full sets in stock. I had to place the order using my friend's US address for the user profile and I payed with PayPal (with his address also previously added to my PayPal account).

As far as Mike knew, I was ordering from upstate NY. The order was filled and delivered within 4 days. This is the only way I dare do any business with MAD and it's really too bad.

Good luck with your claim Liti

Going to throw my $.02 in.

I ordered from Mike a few weeks ago. Needed a motor for my Cyclone Ferris Wheel. Spoke to him on the phone on Friday afternoon around 4:30. He was a bit gruff when I asked him if there was a way he could get it shipped out yet that afternoon so I could have it the beginning of next week. Said there was no way that was going to happen, but it would go out tomorrow (Saturday).

Who ships on Saturday! Wow! It went out and was at my home on Monday.

Unfortunately, got a bad motor.

Didn't want to wait for the whole turnaround so I bought a new one with the understanding that I could return the old one and be refunded the cost. Again, went out on Saturday and arrived on Monday.

He has always taken my phone calls and responded to my emails. I did let him know about this discussion and he wasn't really interested in responding.

My sympathies to those of you who are having trouble. It does, indeed, seem to be a problem with international shipping - not so much domestic.

Ive never had an issue either and should be getting my second package in the last week and a half from him today.

This is an old debate. There is no question that Mike is great with domestic orders.
There is also no question that he obviously does not look after his international clients.
The only question that remains (and that nobody has been able to asnwer to anyone's satisfaction), is why does he continue to take international orders in the first place?

The main problem I can see is that he has taken the international customers money and failed to ship their orders. I would be pissed too if my money were taken and nothing sent.

Placed order for T2 plastics, fast shipping, no problems. This time ordered plastics for Fish Tales. Mike emailed about shipping, I replied, he refunded no problems. The order got lost in a printer snafuu (I think he said), but he emailed about it and I got the order today (took about 9-10 days). So no worries here, even with a slight hiccup, he kept me up to date and got me the parts I wanted at a good price. I will do business again.

+1

I am again surprised some of Your reply. I dont would be so proud if somebody would deal with pinball part here in Hungary will nice with Hungarians and will stolen money from foreign costumers... I would never say great, fair etc. I would say this is disgrace for my country an try to stop them.

This is not about domestic or international orders, this is about ORDERS where people PAY money for sommeting.

Yes! I need help all of you. Especially people, forum member in the USA. Maybe some phone calls to this "great" man can help to solve the situation...

I have told you time and time again contact Interpol ic3.gov and the FBI if you want help. Have you done any of these?

I agree! There seems to be little sympathy on here as long as 'YOUR' order is okay. I have always lived by the motto of putting myself in the other guy's shoes. We should be HELPING these people instead of boasting about how great Mike's service is HERE, and here ONLY!

I agree! In some stretch of my imagination I feel like Mad Mike makes a bad impression on ME and my country! He's simply an A#1 prick!!!

If what I'm reading here is true, Mike needs a jail term.

If he's stolen money from you, report it.

Been saying since the start that there's more than enough evidence against them. If I knew him/was close to him I'd go talk about it. I'm neither though, so all i can do is agree to boycott him, which I do.

Thanks Firebaall and TheLaw! At last, some people with the balls enough to be supportive for these poor guys!!!

As I have posted previously on here, I tried to help two other guys in Europe starting back in November when their money was taken and two months went by with no answers.

Long story short, I spent a lot of time and managed to trace the money wires, talk to Mike's bank, and some local government agencies. They told me things that I cannot divulge on a public forum, mainly for my OWN liability. Let me just say there APPEARS to be some very shady business activities going on. The money is there. He refuses to communicate with these customers, and when he does he uses harsh language and is extremely impolite. I have read his email replies. If I had received such nasty-grams from him, (and filled with double-talk and evasiveness) I would drive all the way to New Jersey and stay until I found him! If he didn't have obvious mental issues, I would love to pound his ass!

I have stopped buying from mad mike because of threads like this. There's just been to many for my taste. Where there's smoke there's fire. I see members have no problem taking 5 min out of their day to vote for members in contests. How about everyone taking 5 min out of their day to start a letter writing compain to mad. If he got about 100 emails a day from the pin community maybe he will realize this is effecting more than his international business and maybe we can help these guys out.

The last order I put in with Mike was April 3rd, next day he sent me a refund for shipping charges and got the order two days later. Never had trouble with him and am really bummed to hear how our international pin-brothers are getting screwed.

I can't believe that no law enforcement agencies have contacted Mike at this point.

Mike should be prosecuted if he is going to do these people in such a manner. Perhaps WE as members should start a boycott of his business here in the states. As a PINBALL COMMUNITY we most certainly will get his attention............Members here, RPG and elsewhere can have a huge effect on his bottom line and in doing so show our support for fellow pinheads around the world.

What do you think about this? I think it could be enough if Pinball Friens helping... Please check the link and share it....

I NEVER GIVE UP!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/152152311577224/

Actually, I have spoken to Mike about it in an email. His reply was that there are two sides to every story. Unfortunately, he chooses not to give his side.

Speaking for myself, and only myself, I would get pretty frustrated with international buyers that started hounding me after two weeks wondering where their shipments are, knowing what a pita it can be to get things through customs in some countries.

I am not saying that is necessarily the case here, nor that it makes it right, but if you have enough people that just keep calling and calling (with no regard to time zone) and there is nothing that you can do about it, you would eventually get to the point that you aren't going to bother responding any more.

I certainly agree though, that if he doesn't want to do International orders that he should not do international orders.

Ohhh. Is my English so bad, or you dont read the story......

Two weeks? I happend more than 3 month ago! I dont asked about SHIPMENT. I just ask polite about SHIPPING DOCUMENT in the first month!

He never wrotte me back after i sent the money!