I had to call Stern the other day for a problem with my machine. I was surprised to hear after being told by a Stern tech that the warranty on a NIB machine is 60 days. Thinking it would be 6 months at least. Curious on other opinions.
60 days is fair with a toy that has steel balls hitting plastic and metal. I would be glad Stern is making games...
I've called with broken parts long after 60 days and Stern has taken care of it.
But in print:
STERN PINBALL INC. FACTORY LIMITED WARRANTY :
STERN PINBALL INC. SELLER WARRANTS ONLY TO THE INITIAL PURCHASER OF ITS
PRODUCTS THAT THE ITEMS LISTED BELOW ARE FREE FROM DEFECTS IN MATERIAL
AND WORKMANSHIP UNDER NORMAL USE AND SERVICE FOR THE WARRANTY PERIOD
SPECIFIED; WARRANTY PERIODS ARE EFFECTIVE FROM THE INITIAL DATE OF SHIPMENT
FROM SELLER TO DISTRIBUTOR.
1. PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS AND GAME LOGIC : TWO (2) MONTHS (60 DAYS)
2. DOT MATRIX DISPLAY BOARDS: NINE (9) MONTHS
NO OTHER PARTS OF SELLER'S PRODUCT ARE WARRANTED. SELLER'S SOLE LIABILITY
SHALL BE AT ITS OPTION TO REPAIR OR REPLACE PRODUCTS WHICH ARE RETURNED
TO SELLER DURING THE WARRANTY PERIODS SPECIFIED PROVIDED:
1. SELLER IS NOTIFIED PROMPTLY UPON DISCOVERY BY PURCHASER THAT STATED
PRODUCTS ARE DEFECTIVE.
2. SUCH PRODUCTS ARE PROPERLY PACKAGED AND THEN RETURNED FREIGHT
PREPAID TO SELLER'S PLANT.
THIS WARRANTY DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY PARTS DAMAGED DURING SHIPMENT AND
OR DUE TO IMPROPER HANDLING OR DUE TO IMPROPER INSTALLATION OR USAGE
OR ALTERATION.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE SELLER BE LIABLE FOR ANY ANTICIPATED PROFITS LOSS OF
PROFITS LOSS OF USE ACCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY OTHER
LOSSES INCURRED BY THE CUSTOMER IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OF A
STERN PINBALL INC. PRODUCT.
WARRANTY DISCLAIMER : EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED IN A WRITTEN CONTRACT
BETWEEN SELLER AND PURCHASER THERE ARE NO OTHER WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THANK YOU - STERN ? PINBALL INC
I bought a Met 3 weeks ago and had a display issue. I spoke with Chas regarding the warranty and he confirmed it is general 60 days (Longer for display) however he said that they do consider warranty replacements for several months. Given that the defective part was a display, the RMS needed to be processed by my distributor. I have purchased 5 NIB Sterns and will say that I have been fortunate to only have this one issue requiring an RMA. I have had a couple of minor mechanical issues which I worked out myself but with EXCELLENT support from Stern even a year or more after purchase. If I asked him to, he would have sent out any of the inexpensive parts but it was not necessary.
In summary, I feel confident that you could buy a NIB Stern and get warranty parts replacement for at up to 6 months. They seem very fair!
For comparison...
Planetary Pinball- One year
Jersey Jack Pinball- One year
Spooky Pinball- One year
Zidware Pinball- ?
--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com
I do think the warranty on the boards (or just board now with SPIKE) should be longer than 2 months. BUT in most situations I believe Stern will honor the warranty behind that 2 months. It gives them a little extra room for generosity, customer satisfaction, "going the extra mile" while not obligating themselves to more. I think it's better than the over-promise and under-deliver approach you often find elsewhere. But not ideal of course.
Ironically I sell used pins (Stern/Bally-Williams/Data East) with a 3 month warranty on all boards. And even then I get people asking for a longer warranty, on 20+ year old boards no less.
Quoted from ReplayRyan:I do think the warranty on the boards (or just board now with SPIKE) should be longer than 2 months. BUT in most situations I believe Stern will honor the warranty behind that 2 months. It gives them a little extra room for generosity, customer satisfaction, "going the extra mile" while not obligating themselves to more. I think it's better than the over-promise and under-deliver approach you often find elsewhere. But not ideal of course.
Ironically I sell used pins (Stern/Bally-Williams/Data East) with a 3 month warranty on all boards. And even then I get people asking for a longer warranty, on 20+ year old boards no less.
TWD manual states 9 months on DMD
They went the extra mile with me on my Star Trek LE.
Pat went above and beyond to the point, that I hand wrote a letter to Gary praising Pat.
Quoted from capguntrooper:2. DOT MATRIX DISPLAY BOARDS: NINE (9) MONTHS
on my second one for TWD. First one was shipped like this.IMG_1369.jpg IMG_1370.jpg
My Metallica still looks like that! The 'replacement' DMD my distributor came up with was worse, it looked like it had been left in the sun and had warped. I gave up on them. Comes down to local support which unfortunately was lacking here. The good thing about not having a JJP distributor here is I deal direct with JJP and they have been great.
Quoted from Trekkie1978:Pat went above and beyond to the point, that I hand wrote a letter to Gary praising Pat.
Hope you did not get Pat in trouble.....
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