Good luck/best wishes in moving on from your past. Everybody that receives punishment deserves a second chance. It is on you how you proceed and that will dictate how we pinsiders and others view you.
One thing for sure, us pinheads are not going to hesitate to call you or anyone else out if you do wrong by us.

Dude, why do you still continue down your old path?
I can't count the amount of lies you told me during our attempted transaction.
It's not just me either there are multiple very creditable people coming forth and they are saying very similar stories.
A 300 word post will not undo your bs.

Thank you for taking the time to write your story. Everyone makes mistakes. I truly hope you have learned from your mistakes and make the most of your second chance in life.

All you can now is move forward and continue to do the best you can.

You'll never change the minds of those that have already made up their minds about you. So do not waste your time worrying about them. Just focus on your business and your customers.

I wish you all the best and I hope you succeed in the future.

God Bless.

Marcus

I should add to what I wrote above by stating the best start from here would be to rectify any outstanding issues ASAP as step 1.

I gotta give ya credit for posting that, that took some balls...

I have been thinking about everything that has been said about you in the last couple of days, and if you really have any integrity, then i'm sure is bothering you a lot..

Taking a better path is what your post is eluding to, and I hope you can and will..

your the only one that can make all of this right in your life...

I hope you can make things straight with everyone you need to, and that things can change for the better....

I know GOOD people with bad past's that were able to change things around and get their heads above water and make a great go of it...

Good luck if that's what your really trying to do...

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WOW !

I would buy an OJ Simpson pin

The guy didn't say he killed anybody.

MJ didn't say he diddled anybody either, but we all know he did

diddled.... ROFL

But in all honesty I will always side with PDXMonkey (and others) on their specific situations, however I do want to echo what Gerry said above....

Everyone makes mistakes and changing for the better is never negative a thing. Best of luck to you.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life... Make each day count!
good luck & thank you for your service

There's a huge elephant in the room here. The whole idea of buying multi-thousand dollar machines long distance, sending off funds and *TRUSTING* the other party to come through with what they've agreed to, is very, very fragile. You can't earn people's trust by writing things on a website. It can only be earned through action. You've admitted you've screwed people over but are trying to change. Very recent reports indicate that you haven't quite done that yet.

So how is anyone (in their right mind) going to feel comfortable giving you thousands of dollars towards an out-of-sight transaction?

I must be too cynical because I've added you to a list of people I will never in a million years do long distance business with. You've joined the ranks with BarryNJ and others. Maybe if we were in the same city and could try a transaction in person, that would be different, but when it comes to trusting someone long distance, I have to have at least a little evidence of their credibility.

Gary could you please pm me that list! Would be most helpful as im buying frequently now Cheers!

Actually I kinda want that list too.

I only have experience with a few dealers, but I think that's a good thread to start for one of you guys (i.e. Here is a list of reputable dealers).

It would definitely help separate the wheat from the chaff.

There was a mistake made even before a distributor was picked. From what I gather, three guys got together to try to get a discount on a bulk purchase. Bad idea. Find a distributor you can trust and deal only with that distributor. No bulk buys unless they're all for you. Simple as that. Any small discount you might get by buying in bulk significantly increases the chances of the deal going south. I've been asked numerous times to get in on bulk purchases. No way. Won't do it.

Pinball machines in the home are luxury items. If you need a discount to afford one, you probably shouldn't be buying one.

I wish you the best and thank you for your military service. Every dealing I've had with you has been positive, but honestly after that other thread, I would be a little leary about a pre-order from you. Hope all gets resolved and your name gets cleared, too little pinball too much drama! Best of luck marty.

Well instead of putting out a blacklist, I'd much rather we worked on putting together a whitelist of reputable vendors, who lots of people have purchased from and had excellent customer service with.

I'll even help start that:

Trent Augenstein, [email protected] Purchased a NIB Stern from him. Great price, great service.

Michael Pupo, [email protected] Bought two NIB Stern from him. Great price, Great service

Troy North, [email protected] Bought a nice BSD from him. Excellent price, great service.

Those three above are all Stern resellers that I've had direct, great experiences with.

My son was in the gulf and Iraq....so you get a pass there. But, you need to make it right with pdxmonkey anyway you can and start handling business with some ethics.

I'm glad you mentioned barrynj, I was thinking of making an offer on one of his project machines, now I won't.

He offered the lower rate to compete with JJ at Game Exchange price of $7200 who I already had an existing order.
Big mistake giving that up quality service that Game Exchange provides.
my 1% savings is quite minimal in my buying decision. My decision was based on supporting a new and local distributor.

You mean like Namco's Pacman images on your website. Your web designer got written permission from them for that ?

If not, when they find it, you'll understand about bad choices.

LTG : )

I don't have a dog in this fight, however, I would say that starting off with Stern on Metallica LE was a stroke of ill luck and many Stern reps took damage on that shortage/oversell issue. A rough way to start out.

On the other hand, that rip off report stuff looks terrible. How does one separate themselves from that kind of track record (even assuming some of it is BS, 2 sides to every story, etc.)?

Good. That's a much better reason than just wanting the discount. Your intentions were good.

Based on what happened with this deal, do you think you will ever try a bulk, multiple-party purchase again? If yes, what will you do differently?

I would think that it would be safe to order from an AUTHORIZED STERN DISTRIBUTOR. If it isn't, there's a problem with the system. Thus the need for threads like this, sadly.

And I see nothing wrong with trying to arrange bulk discounts. Why spend more than you have to? Especially when buying fro a real distributor, and not some stranger on the street. Do you walk into an automobile dealership and just agree to pay sticker price? Most people don't, and any upscale car/vehicle is also a 'luxury' item when there are cheaper base models out there.

I have done 2 "group-buys" in the past with a local pinball group (SacPinballGroup) and never had a problem. We ordered through JJ @ Gex.

Did I "NEED" a discount to make the purchase happen, No.
Did it essentially make the shaker motor and cabinet protectors a free add-on for me, Yes.

As an reader of this and the other thread, (I have no dog in this fight, as well) since I am a retired AF E7, I do want to add to this and thank you for your Military service. Hope you're able to overcome, and continue to strive to be better. That's all we can do.

Not to split hairs or bust your balls but...

You blew your first chance with shady deals in the automitive business.
Then after serving your sentence you blew your second chance by screwing pdx and others.
Sounds to me like your asking for a third chance...

That being said I appreciate your service to our country and wish you nothing but the best

Hopefully third time is a charm

how does the old saying go? fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. at least I understand how you got a pinball franchise and I didn't. you used the "veterans" card. Shame on you. how many people are you going to have to screw over before either a) you get some class (or a conscience) or b) you end up in prison or just go missing. get your life together or better yet get some class.

Using the veteran card is a crutch.

We all had to come from somewhere to be the person we are today. I'm sure there are things that we all did in our past that we are not proud of. I do have to say that it takes guts to admit those things on a public forum. Since I have had no dealings with anyone involved in these transactions, and I do not know all the facts, I cannot make a comment about any of it. All I can say is that I personally appreciate your service to this country.

I'm sure most of the people appreciate his service to his country including the 30-50 people he stole from and assaulted and... his service to his country and his crooked business activities are unrelated.

I don't think anyone is giving him a pass because of his service. They are just giving thanks where thanks is due. The things that many service men and women have to endure are beyond comprehension for most of us. There are vets taking their own lives every single day because they can't cope with those experiences. They deserve our gratitude.

That being said, I don't think service to our country excuses anyone for bad behavior or poor business practices. Everyone is accountable for their own actions.

Digging one's self out from under an (earned) bad reputation is a tough task. I don't envy him. Like any broken relationship, whether it's personal or in business, earning trust back takes a lot of time and effort, and there's little to no room for error.

OP, it sounds like you are still having trouble avoiding the missteps. I hope you can get things turned around. Best of luck...

If you haven't changed the crowd you hand around, you will have a difficult time changing your ways. "I did my time" may be true, but if you continue(d) to rip people off, then you didn't learn your lesson.

This is paramount IMO too.

It's good to admit the wrong you did and you should be commended for taking that first step. You've said all you can. You will earn credibility by what others say positively about you going forward.

Surviving cancer... Yay!

Serving our county... Yay!

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Boo this man.

Wow, this thread will be taken down soon I'm sure.

Not going to comment on this mess except this...
Considering the lies that have been told and the history of this guy, why is everyone so quick to believe the first post of this thread? :/

I've known people who have lied to such extents. Yes even cancer.

If your story is true stryker I wish you the best in your attempt to walk the straight and narrow path. One thing that might be worth considering is to choose an endeavor that doesn't involve you handling thousands upon thousands of dollars of other people's money. People tend to get upset when $7K is on the line and things don't go well. It seems like a tough way to work out the demons if that really is your goal.

Pdxmonkey is a friend of mine but putting that aside He is a very honest and trustworthy person who I would do a deal with any day. He was trying to support a local new guy and you totally screwed him over. I have no remorse for your post and I cant stand people who post things like look what happened to me and look what I did to boost their Intergrity, If you had any morals you would have never screwed him over in the first place. Life is all about choices we make and the consequences that result from those choices, You made the bed now you get to sleep in it. I would NEVER buy a game from you and I hope others read what you did and follow suit. Sorry for the rant but people who take advantage of good people who work hard for a dollar are just garbage in my book. You screwed people over in the past and you say in your OP that you learned from your mistakes but then you turned around and pulled this crap.....Who are you trying to fool?

Joe(acejedi)

Be prepared, Portlanders!

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Actions.

Looks to me like he screwed a bunch of people in his auto biz then moved to another state, opened a pinball biz and continues with the same business model.
The rest is just smoke and mirrors.
The anger issue needs to be dealt with, it is just a matter of time before you go off on the wrong person and they will just shoot you in the head.
Happened to a friend of mine's brother and the guy got off on self defense because of his long record of violent attacks on others.
The pinball community is a small group and your rep is everything, once it is gone you can't come back.

Happens a lot. Burn all their bridges in one industry and then move to another set of victims who don't know their past.

I've found it rare that these people change and always have some sob story to tell when called out. Would be shocked if any of what the OP said is true.