If this is true than it sounds like a distributor problem and not a Stern problem....zero chance Stern sold a used machine without communicating it first to the distributor...
(Topic ID: 248510)
Linked Games
Deadpool (Limited Edition)
Stern, 2018
Topic Gallery
Sellersburg, IN
If the game drop shipped from Stern, it is not a distributor problem. Most of my NIB purchases drop shipped from Stern's factory to my door. Distributor never had hands on them. The distributor will be the one going to bat for the customer, but they didn't cause the problem.
I will say this, I've had a issue or 2 with Stern in the past. I did not make these public, they took time and a few phone calls to sort out and they came thru in the end. One of them my Distubutor went above and beyond to get me a fully populated playfield swap out, cooler heads prevail 
Quoted from barakandl:I will say i think they may reuse PCBs. A friend's Metallica had a flipper transistor go out. When the driver board was removed from the NIB purchased game for the first time ever there was obvious rework already done to the board. A couple of parts had been replaced in the past already as there was flux residue and different date codes on a few things. So either Stern reused a board that had been sent back for service or the game needed things fixed around the time of assembly / initial testing.
I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. The rework was done pretty well besides they didn't clean up flux residue.
I don't believe manufactures are allowed by law, to put used parts into a product being sold as "new".
(I remember this from the huge lawsuits/fines that Packard Bell/NEC got into, for installing used hard drives into their new computers.)
They can definitely substitute replacement parts with refurbished/used parts, for a repair. But not in something going out the door as new.
Now, I'm not sure about "on-the-assembly-line" fixes. I would hope not. If I buy anything new... all components better be new.
(Unless laws have changed back, in the past 20 years since I was a bench tech.)
(as to the OP's story/situation... who knows)
Quoted from CLEllison:If you used a credit card you can file a charge back. Tell Stern (or the vender you refuse to name) that they either send a new one or you'll file a charge back. That simple.
Smart, but too many of these guys prefer to give up any protection in order to save 3-4%.
This seems like it could have been a misunderstanding. A used machine/demo versus a brand new machine was delivered.
But what I find curious is that the OP did not post pictures or offer any information on whom the distributor was. It comes off as a trolling thread.
If this is legit, it should be handled quickly by a call to the CC company.
Quoted from Atari_Daze:Umpteen hours and no pics yet, what evs.
First post, new member, may have life.
Quoted from IdahoRealtor:Has Stern ever used LEs as demo games? I've only seem Premiums and Pros at shows.And the thing is now,supposedly,all the LEs are sold out!! Have been for some time now!!
Sydney
Quoted from Timerider:I don't believe manufactures are allowed by law, to put used parts into a product being sold as "new".
Not every part that has been reworked is used. If something didn't work during assembly it probably gets sent to the repair area, then back on the shelf after it's fixed. I doubt they are building their own PCBs, there is bound to be the occasional defect that has to be addressed.
Quoted from DavidCPA:Here is one.....[quoted image]
I saw that....pretty funny if he thinks he's gonna get $12K
Quoted from cooked71:Soon to be Top 10 pinball in the WORLD!!! THE WORLD!!!!!
who knows? my point was he's smoking crack if he thinks he's gonna get $12K (even in the Bay Area)
Quoted from PtownPin:I saw that....pretty funny if he thinks he's gonna get $12K
It is only $9,999 on OfferUp if you want to save a couple bucks.
Same seller
Alright WoodpilePin time to show us some pics. We want to be sympathetic but need more details and facts to fill-in holes in your story. The pics will answer those concerns. Show the box with damage, game pics and audits, invoice with amount paid and to whom and packing slip. We’ll help get to the bottom of this.
Pat Powers is the man! He helped me within minutes on the phone of my distributor (Hemispheres) contacting him in a group email when I had a small problem with a NIB. Communication was outstanding and like the other respondents on this thread, something sounds fishy..lets see the pics, BoL and distributor
Quoted from barakandl:I will say i think they may reuse PCBs. A friend's Metallica had a flipper transistor go out. When the driver board was removed from the NIB purchased game for the first time ever there was obvious rework already done to the board. A couple of parts had been replaced in the past already as there was flux residue and different date codes on a few things. So either Stern reused a board that had been sent back for service or the game needed things fixed around the time of assembly / initial testing.
I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. The rework was done pretty well besides they didn't clean up flux residue.
I had a bad driver board out of the box on Metallica, with obvious rework on the back. Talked to Chaz, he said that sometimes the boards come off the assembly line with inadequate solder, and that they put it on by hand after visual inspection. I believe him.
Back to this Deadpool..... LE’s are still available new from stern, very few, despite the game being over a year old. I do find it hard to believe that a used LE was drop shipped direct from stern and sold as new, but arrived used with 1200 plays. I don’t think stern would intentionally do this, so either this was a weird mistake by stern, or your distributor had one kicked back to him and he’s trying to dump it on you.
Or, this whole thread is bull crap.
OP donates to pinside on his 1 day old account, yet won't respond to the dumpster fire he created. Seems legit...and monkeys might fly out of my ass, too.
Surely everyone knows if this actually happened to someone:
1. They would take pictures upon discovering issues.
2. If it became so bad that you specially join a forum, the photos would be the first thing to be posted.
Quoted from WoodpilePin:they are telling our distributor that we should use a black sharpie to fill in the damage to the box
By box damage I think he means the actual cabinet.
This would be an odd, ineffective hoax if it is one.
Quoted from Jediturtle:<snip>A quick glance at the playfield should tell you if there were actually that many games on it, or if it was an old board reused without being wiped.
I agree. A old board seems like the most plausible explanation for the lifetime plays. I also agree that the distributor should be handling all of this.
Quoted from WoodpilePin:Stern Pinball promotes themselves as a global lifestyle brand. Based on my recent experience with them it seems their brand is only concerned with their bottom line. Their customer service experience is horrendous.
I was so excited to learn there were some new Deadpool LE remaining at Stern to complete our collection. We have an AC/DC Luci, Batman 66, Beatles Gold from Stern and a Pirates of the Caribbean CE and WoZ yellow brick road from JJP.
The Deadpool Pin arrived with wear on the legs, slight damage to the box, and 1200 balls already played on the machine. I reached out to Stern and it took them a week and multiple emails from me for them to just acknowledge they received my several emails.
The folks from Stern that finally responded did not apologize or make any attempt to connect besides asking for pictures of the playfield. I don’t think it is too much to ask for a brand new $9,000 machine to arrive and be brand new.
Still zero response from Stern! I come to find out that instead of communicating with me they are telling our distributor that we should use a black sharpie to fill in the damage to the box. Unbelievable! This is an expensive machine and your suggestion is to use a sharpie to fill in the damage??? It is incomprehensible to me that this global lifestyle brand company is now so disconnected from its customers.
I give a lot of credit to our local distributor for being responsive and thank them for their superior customer service. Stern could learn from them.
How in the heck is this Stern's fault? Your distro sold you a demo machine.
Clearly this was all BS....zero chance Stern would sell a used machine without disclosing to the distributor.
Quoted from woody76:How in the heck is this Stern's fault? Your distro sold you a demo machine.
If the game drop shipped from Stern, it can't be the disto's fault. We really don't know all the facts yet, but the OP claims it was shipped from Stern which is a common practice.
Quoted from Atari_Daze:meanwhile ... 24 hours later
Life happens...maybe the angry mob dissuaded him from becoming part of pinside? Who knows? If it’s true, hope he got it straightened out.
And another one bites the dust! Scared away by grumpy pinsiders after only 4 posts, is that a record? He even made a donation!
Ok I'll chime in on this one... I've had only 2 people ever post on my social media circle-jerk about supposed bad 'Stern Customer Service'. This gentleman was the number 2, in fact. (no pun intended)
In the first case it turned out to be a bit of an impatient individual with a known issue (*cough* *cough* ghosting *cough*) and was looking to get me to help him get it resolved. Now there was def some passive-aggressive intention by posting to me on socials to advertise his disdain for Stern in hopes of some type of payback, I suppose... in the end, he was taken care of, and not because of me, but because of going through the proper channels and waiting out the process...
I ONLY bring this up, because the OP here did things differently and I was instantly suspicious.... the seemingly 'detailed-but-not-detailed-enough' smears on my socials (multiple Deadpool posts) were made at the EXACT same time he did his post here. But in them he didn't ask for help in getting it resolved or seem to care about resolution at all - he instead railed attacks on Stern as factual information with zero communication.
I'd also like to add that he didn't respond to my asking him for additional info or pics to pass along. He then disappeared, as he did here.
Now, every scenario here is plausible - but his actions and inaction currently appear like guerilla-marketing-trolling...
(let's see if this post motivates some pics lol)
Quoted from zombieyeti:but his actions and inaction currently appear like guerilla-marketing-trolling...
(let's see if this post motivates some pics lol)
If that is true. Pics will take some time. Buy a machine. Put 1200 plays on it. Box it up. Take pictures of second unboxing. Take pictures of wear and tear on game. Pictures of wife and kids crying over the used new machine he bought. etc. etc. The dog lifting his leg on the empty box for the canine opinion would seal the deal.
LTG : )
Quoted from LTG:If that is true. Pics will take some time. Buy a machine. Put 1200 plays on it. Box it up. Take pictures of second unboxing. Take pictures of wear and tear on game. Pictures of wife and kids crying over the used new machine he bought. etc. etc. The dog lifting his leg on the empty box for the canine opinion would seal the deal.
LTG : )
Well, now I feel bad.... just got this pic.... 
(It's a joke)
stern_unbox_yeti (resized).jpg
You guys are tough on the OP. Poor guy can't afford a camera to take pics with and he's grilled for it.
At least zombieyeti has some heart for all the disappointment felt by the guy's wife and three kids...
...better make that four kids, since I just noticed the toddler crying by the empty Stern carton.
Quoted from littlecammi:...better make that four kids, since I just noticed the toddler crying by the empty Stern carton.
Toddler comes with the LE model!
Quoted from meSz:Toddler comes with the LE model!
They are like cats, prefer the empty box to what is inside.
The pictures were already posted:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tech-tom-issues-1/page/22#post-5127017
Did nobody notice he said "1200 balls" not "plays" like everyone is following up. I'm assuming he didn't misspeak, so that is a pretty big difference. Still, you can tell if a playfield has actually had 400 real games played by the amount of dimpling.
Stern should really reset counts if they're reusing PCBs.
Quoted from zombieyeti:Well, now I feel bad.... just got this pic.... (It's a joke)Holy shit, this is golden!! Thank you @zombieyeti for making my day!!
Quoted from zombieyeti:Well, now I feel bad.... just got this pic.... (It's a joke)
[quoted image]
Now I want a pinball machine done entirely with your dank photoshop skills. I thought the watermarks were my favorite part until I saw that poor busted pinball leg. 
Man, you guys all claim to want Pinball to grow and more people to get into it. Then when someone new posts a "someone new" thread/complaint you jump all over them and accuse them of trolling.
Very weird behavior to tell the OP to be patient and wait on Stern while at the same time claiming BS because he hasn't posted photos quickly enough.
People may lurk on Pineside for months or years before opening an account and posting. You don't have to have an account to view so why the suspicion of a new account? It makes sense to open an account WHEN you have something to say.
Quoted from littlecammi:You guys are tough on the OP. Poor guy can't afford a camera to take pics with and he's grilled for it.
At least zombieyeti has some heart for all the disappointment felt by the guy's wife and three kids...
...better make that four kids, since I just noticed the toddler crying by the empty Stern carton.
Make that six kids, two are in the box.
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