Wouldn't the shipping company be liable for the damage done? I would just buy a new set of legs, a shippable playfield glass, a ball etc. from Pinballife and send the bill to the trucking company. They would probably owe you more than that. Cleaning up those million glass shards should be worth something. You never get it all.

Was it a tempered glass? They're pretty tough to break in the game.

I can guarantee there's more tempered glass dust and tiny shards on and under that playfield. It's not coming out with a quick vacuuming. It's under all the plastics, it's under the arch and it's in the cabinet, as it falls through any openings in the playfield. Just when you think you have it all, you find more. The playfield will need to have all the plastics and posts removed and be thoroughly re-cleaned with a damp rag or tack cloth that the glass dust will stick to, or it will stay behind and over time will get ground into the playfield.

I also had a game delivered this week and it showed up with bent legs. 27” as well, I have filed a claim and am waiting for a response. First time I have had anything damaged during shipping.

I don’t have any solutions, but OP you are a class act going the extra mile for your buyer. Hope you get treated fairly by the shipper.

The OP in good faith is looking to have the game set up and playing as quickly as possible but I think given the wisdom shared by edednedy the shipper STI needs to pay for a professional to restore and clean that machine to the condition before it was damaged and replace the glass and cards and any parts required. Less visible glass dust can be under the pf and on the motorboard.

I've used STI in the past with good and bad results. On the last shipment to me the shrinkwrap packaged by STI opened and the legs were exposed with some minor damage but fortunately no damage to cabinet so consider myself lucky.

Hi, everyone, I'm the buyer, and you all are right, tomdrum has been amazing!

I'm trying to figure out how to make the optimal claim, but I'm scratching my head at how to claim "for a professional to restore and clean that machine to the condition before it was damaged and replace the glass and cards and any parts required," as I agree makes sense and Flipsteen suggests. Is there anyone in the Indianapolis metro area who could quote and do that? Also, while the cabinet shows signs of age as expected, it's more damaged now both structurally and cosmetically. I couldn't believe the lack of care the delivery guys took, and they even set their own things right on the now exposed playfield.

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Might be a bit of a stretch, but Matt Ogden is the technician guru up north at Fort Wayne Pinball (aka Wizards World), ~ 2 hr. away.

Maybe he can write up a repair estimate so you can at least submit some paper work to the shippers. He used to have a pinball repair business, but with ~140 pins to maintain at Wizards World, he might be full time at WW. Perhaps they have some spare legs and glass to sell.

If nothing else, he might know of a qualified tech down near Indy that can assist.

Kudos for being proactive, helping the buyer.

https://www.facebook.com/FWAPinball/

Go team Pinside !

nice to see the buyer and seller working together to resolve the issue on the upside this could have been much worse !

Sorry to hear about the dropped Gridiron, such a shame. Tomdum had it in very nice looking condition too. Fear not, all can be fixed. I got my Gridiron in January and was hobbled back together after it had been dropped and broke the glass and coners at some point in it's life. Those corners are going to need to be repaired.

You'll have to clean out the corner, use filler where needed, lots of wood glue get some big cargo straps. Put in new bracing/brakets and your good to go.
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Sorry Tom!

I know some people disagree, but my motto has always been "Friends don't let friends ship pinball machines on their legs!"
Much safer wrapped up standing on end on a pallet. JMHO.

I had STI transport several games I've sold; many clear across the country. Never had anything damaged. Now I've jinxed myself, right?

I have had two issues with STI. The one they covered the other they did not. Both times it was the company picking the game didn’t wrap until the main facility. I have had at least 30 safe shippings of games by them.

My experience as it relates to estimates for repair FWIW, never again
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/shipping-damage-sti-beltman-advice-and-opinions#post-6348578

I recommend Nate with Indianapolis Pinball.

https://www.indianapolispinball.com/

https://m.facebook.com/IndianapolisPinball/

Sent you a PM on FB

I'd also recommend Nate, I'm sure he would take great care of you.

Mega thanks to @heaterguy, who came out to help get it all set back up and adjust a few things, we're up and running! I was able to clamp and glue the damaged corner, and while it's probably not perfect, I think it'll do. Many thinks to everyone who helped on this, including Fort Wayne Pinball who made recommendations, Arcade Rescue in Indianapolis and of course tomdrum for walking me through things we needed and making this overall possible! We ended up using Pinball Resource and Marco Pinball to source legs, glass, the game cards, etc. None of this would be possible without this great community!

We do have some bugs that need to be worked through unfortunately, especially on the head unit where the illumination of varying things aren't working right likely due to the disc on the back just not making contact. Today we ran it and the playfield lights all went out for a bit and then came back on during the game, and yesterday we had some times where a couple of relays needed to be manually pushed to finish the reset procedure.

Here are some pictures!

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Glad to hear it's almost back up and running. It does sound like a few relays in the cabinet and player unit need to be tweaked a bit. Plenty of people here that can help walk you through the process too.

It's probably one of the best overall art packages on any EM I've owned. The game play can get surprisingly fast on this table too. I put in some colored LED's under the playfield.

Can't quite find the best way to set it up for home use yet. The extra ball option is very cool when set up for 3 ball play. It's not too hard to rip touchdowns pretty often if patient due to the four flipper set up, ball anticipation is key. When you select 3 ball the vari-targets also move the ball forward towards a touchdown but in 5 ball only gives you points.

The four flippers are out of the norm but it works on this table. The vari-targets are a tough shot but when it lines up is very cool.

Interested to hear your opinion when you get it fully running again.
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I don't see how anyone could disagree...