I wish Steve were half as cranky as his reputation and spiteful enough to spot threads like this so he could black ball dumbasses.

For Christ sakes.... Western Union the money to him put the invoice number on it and your parts will ship ...
not rocket science.... thread going down the drain !

Gloria was Steve’s girlfriend of many years. She helped him open and run the business until she passed last year. Very nice lady from what I’ve heard. Jimmy is Steve and Gloria’s son and he handles all of the internet orders.

Steve manufactures 95% of all the pop bumper caps and drop targets that you can buy in the market using the original factory equipment; his site, Marcos, EBay, etc. Companies like Marcos buy parts from Steve at his retail price and add a steep markup.

Still bitter, Otaku?

I drive by Ephrata many times a year on the PA turnpike and never knew your arcade existed. I will just keep driving by now.

Marco's method is not so customer based for non US customers.
I have USD account in Paypal, but I live in Europe.
A $100 part means $120 finally, thanks to their extra profit. How?
First, Marco is converting the $100 to my local currency, with crazy exchange rate. I can't pay with my USD. Then, Paypal converts my local currency to USD.

I can use my USD everywhere, except at Marco's webshop. Nice move for extra profit, without any service behind.

Remember when Otaku used to post as Gameseum and claim that it was his wife posting? Those were the days...Oh wait he’s back doing the same thing...

When you send cash in the mail, always put it in a colorful envelope with "Happy Birthday to Timmy from his rich Grandma" scribbled on the back. The poor kid'll never see it. XD

I missed that. That must be why Gameseum has made 106 posts with 111 upvotes and 568 down for a stellar 16.3% positive rate.

A few years ago I sent a US$55 money order and returned some parts in the same package to PBR. Sent it USPS First Class and it had a tracking number. About a month later, Jimmy sends an email wanting to know where my payment was for the previous parts order. I checked the tracking number and it said the package had been delivered. Filed a lost package report with USPS. Two weeks later USPS said the package was lost and basically, tough luck. Lost the US$55 money order and the value of the returned parts. Western Union wanted a US$18 lost money order fee. Wasn't worth my time, so about US$80 down the drain... Jimmy said packages and payments sent to PBR are commonly lost by USPS... So, never send cash to PBR...

Apparently so

I was hoping during his absence that he'd matured a bit and developed a bit of self reflection on how he comes off to other people.

Guess I was wrong.

Dead wrong.

You'd think one small business owner who does things the way he wants to and doesn't want to hear suggestions would respect another small business owner with the same philosophy, but you'd be wrong. Pretty ironic really.

I'm sure Steve Young has long forgotten about the time he told Steve Gameseum to stop obnoxiously changing the address he wanted his cheap parts order sent. Steve Gameseum should let it go too, it's been like 5 years.

Now that he's a mature adult and all.

I missed this last part. Can you provide a link?

Steve is great. If you don't like it, lump it. I mailed him a check last week. I was waiting for an email order confirmation for a couple of days and the parts just showed up in the mailbox. There is an honor amongst men that some can't seem to wrap their minds around... It has to do with respect.

The thread was long ago deleted to protect the guilty. The mods at one time thought they needed to protect/coddle Steven since he was "just a kid" and constantly reminded us of this (18!?) and most of that stuff has been erased.

It was Just a dumb skirmish about how PBR conducts its business that really should be bygone and I really don’t want to get steven started as it always gets ridiculous when he gets wound up.

Let’s just say steven and steve actually have an awful lot in common, and i think steven would realize that if he actually thought about it a little. Steven deserves some respect for what he's accomplished in Ephrata, and he should learn to give a little respect to Steve, who has beyond earned the respect (if not affection) he's been deservedly accorded by - as Steven says - "90 percent of the hobby."

It is hard for me to believe with your track record here on pinside and with fellow pinsiders in person that you still feel it necessary to come to this site and bash people. Steven, really!!!

If you’re not able to figure out that PBR has done so much to help this hobby of ours than you are seriously out of touch Steven. Steve Young does not NEED to do what he does, he chooses to. Most of us who have spent time talking to Steve know this.

I would think that you would keep your head down and avoid the incoming. Oh well guess I’m the one in left field!

Everybody's bank is different with respect to how much you can send in a day, so call yours and check what their limits are(daily, weekly, etc.). No limits on receiving money, though, as far as I know.

I think Zelle skirted those new regulations because they're the app the banks all use and promote, which probably just means they've got a great lobby in DC.

Steven at Gameseum giving his opinion on how to run a business.....that's rich.

That 1099k thing doesn’t apply to personal transfers. Ie, not done with a business account, no 1099k. But if you’re doing business with a personal account, you open yourself up to possible audit.

This includes Zelle.

Does PBR sell Escalaras or repair parts?

Steve Young and PBR is one of the best I have dealt with. Very sorry some do not like the way he runs his business. Go start your own or do not use PBR. Why do some complain about the way he runs it only to cry when he is not here anymore. Long live PBR.

I always find it funny when people bitch about prices/shipping/payment options when they're trying to buy niche products FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY.

Gee, who'da thunk it might be a little different than buying a gallon of milk on the corner?

You don't go to the store to buy a gallon of milk in Canada. Most Canadian milk is sold in bags. Bag sizes range from half a litre to 4 litres. I couldn't believe when a Canadian farm owner told me that. I was like... Milk is sold in bags there!? Lol

Cool if it was sold in the shape of a big tit.

Then she is the one who took my first PBR order. In 2012, before I bought my first pin, I built a visual pinball machine. Somehow, I wound up at PBR website in need of parts and was advised about the PBR way of doing business by establishing a bit of credit. I expressed my surprise at this old school way of doing business.

She/Gloria said Steve has XXXXX of customers all over the globe. I won't give the figure I was told, but it was a number followed by five zeros. I'll put it this way: It will take a whole lot of people quitting Steve before he is going to change his business model.

You could probably count on one hand the number of companies that will package up and send you a big stack of cool shit on only the promise that you will then mail them back a small piece of paper with their payment.

When I get that box of cool shit, I get that invoice and I write that check and send it, stat.

wrong .....

Email Zach over at Flip N Out. I needed some parts and he got them out within a few days.

Edit: Oh wait I get it...yeesh took me long enough. Well still, Zach rules.

Christ, they can't even get milk right.........

it's always canadians complaining about how US businesses do business with Canada. Maybe it's time for someone in Canada to jump in and fill the gap for Canadians. Till then, stop complaining Canada isn't the same as domestic.

Damn right!

NAFTA was replaced with the USMCA, and he's not your buddy, guy!

Just closed, not deleted.

There's a point at which just dogpiling onto a situation just isn't really isn't productive for anyone.

When I was school, I remember milk bags were introduced once for about a week before they switched back to small cartons. I can't say I recall anyone saying anything positive about switching to the bags. I do recall a lot of kids had trouble stabbing them with a straw, especially the younger kids, so that could be one reason why they switched back to the cartons.

Evander Holyfield? canadian? No way

it's a little bit of jealousy I think.

Congrats on citing stuff that has no relevance.

Yes, NAFTA made things a trade-free zone - that doesn't mean squat to things like shipping, payments, currency, transit time, etc.

Canada is not the same as domestic. Let's keep repeating that until people stop acting like they should be able to order from Texas the same as they do from Queebec. These are not the same things. If you don't like it... stop ordering international. If you are stuck doing it, face the reality that international business is not the same as domestic. Repeat this until it sinks in.

CC transactions would certainly be easier than sending a check via snail mail, and filling out an order request form and transcribing part numbers is a bear. I agree.
Still, for a little extra effort, TPR is another source for pinball parts that you can add to your other, bigger sources like Marco and Pinball Life. It's nice to have multiple sources.

Note: the parts at TPR are interesting. They seem to come from large lots of parts - perhaps closeouts - bought from distributors or manufacturers in the past. Some appear old, some just different. For instance, I bought some sling switches, and, while they seem to work fine, they don't resemble any sling switch I have ever bought from either Marco or Pinball Life. I have also bought stage-style flipper switches from him and the quality was remarkable - like nothing I'd seen from other sources. It's kind of hit or miss is all. If you dig around on TPR you will in many cases find the same parts available elsewhere, sometimes at a slight discount, and sometimes for slightly more, so it pays to dig/compare.

The most important thing I can add is that Steve is very helpful when you get him on the phone. He will counsel you out of a part request if he thinks it won't actually meet your needs. He listens well and sounds like he's sincerely interested in helping you get your game sorted. He's had some good ideas for me that, in other circumstances, would have come from a true tech or from, say, Lloyd of Ask LTG. His counterpart Terry at Pinball Life is also very helpful, but he seems to be far too busy to offer anything more than a cursory email reply. Steve will talk to you on the phone for fifteen minutes and (seem to) be happy. Jimmy, who used to handle email orders, is also helpful, although I don't know what he's doing at this point if one can't submit orders via email. I now submit them via FAX.

Canada has the big bags of milk you cut a little corner off. In my area we use mostly cartons. I believe the bag popularity is a central Canada thing. As for Steve & Jimmy, they are great guys to deal with.