Seems odd when someone with a deposit date of 4/7 already got their invoice... I assume the Stary Apron would not make a difference?

Mine invoice is 5/31/22 - so with these two data points, it's very hard to predict when I may see an invoice.

Yup, I was having the same problem rationalizing and was a bit confused to see others who ordered after me get theirs. I suppose the stary apron install could have been delayed due to parts or whatever.

Very strange. I ordered 2/1/22, invoiced and paid 12/15/22. Also lighted apron, so who knows what's up.

Its probably a scrabble bag with all our orders on tiles and they pull out a few every month.

Scotty_K - Has yours shipped yet?

My invoice arrived today as well. Mine has the Stary Apron.

Deposit - 1/25/22
Invoice Received/Paid - 2/7/2023
Shipping - Invoice says 60-90 days

10/12/22 I received/paid invoice
01/19/23 TBL arrived

So I'd say it is still a good 3 months from paid to receive.

No, not yet. Will be 2 months from paid-in-full next week, so hoping to hear something soon.
(My invoice said 6-8 weeks, rather than 60-90 days).

I’m a week out from 3 months since I paid the invoice. And it took 13 months to get the invoice from initial deposit. So it’s safe to say it takes a while.

Yes, the wait is a killer. Paid invoice 12/4/22. I emailed Melissa a couple days ago just to try and follow up. No reply as yet.
Torture.

Well, if you hear anything, please let us know here. I paid around the same time as you, so we should be close together.

I paid my invoice on 12/12/22 and there was a message games would ship at the end of January. Haven't heard anything...

I would say mid to late March is more likely, based on past performance.

It's funny. I'm now in a race to see which will come first, EHOH or TBL.
Technically I've been waiting LONGER for Elvira.... it'll be funny if it manages to show up first. But I have hope that TBL will be here this month.

Sadly, I bailed on my EHoH. Really wanted it, but the price creep got old. 2 price changes while waiting, despite them magically finding enough parts for an expensive 40th run...nah, just a bad taste in my mouth.

Hopefully you get both soon!

Hi folks,

After more than six years, I am going to leave the TBL Preorder Club.
My Archiever Edition 111 is finally home !!

111 (resized).JPG

Congratulations!! If I could pick one number to have for this pin that would be it! Not sure if this is a universal bowling thing or just a local PA thing but if someone would score 111 for their score then my mom would draw a roof over it and call your score the shit house! Ha Ha!! As soon as I saw your post I thought of my mom. I have GNR LE number 715 in memory of her. That's her Birthday and the last song my brother and I danced with her was to Sweet Child O Mine at his wedding.

I love my Lebowski and hope you have fun with
/ \ !!
111

Latest update from cointaker today is that more should be arriving this week and when they do they'll ship them out.

Congratulations to your "long breath" !!!
A pleasute to see that your very unique number made it to you !!!
Lets hope that there is enough demand that also all the waiting achiver will get their games !

Well done so far DP !

Just got my invoice today.

Preorder - 3/29/22
Invoice - 2/22/23

Preorder 3/2/2022
Invoiced today 2/22/2023

Not bad!

Invoice paid 7/14/22 (including $600 for starry apron)
Game arrived 10/18/22 (no starry apron)

Multiple emails to Melissa and Lisa without replies. Multiple phone calls saying parts haven’t come in or promising to look into it without ever getting answers or updates.

Looks to me, like as of today, TBL got another $500 increase, to $13,500 total.

pasted_image (resized).png

Sounds about right.
Great communication, ordering timing, paying in full months in advance is all common place.

That’s the problem with a single source distributor - they have you by the b@lz!

Preorder 3/8/22
invoice 2/22/23

Come on @cointaker, help this guy out.

4+ months on a $600 part is too long without any update.

I feel like asking Cointaker when my TBL will ship is like Tom Hanks asking when his house will be ready in The Money Pit.

2 weeks

"It has been 3 months and 1 week since I paid my invoice."

My TBL buying experience with Melissa and CoinTaker was nothing but positive. Always answered my emails. Sometimes it took a bit but she’s dealing with alot of unforeseens with parts delays and international shipping. Went to their facility and picked it up. They were very accommodating and great people to deal with. Had a warranty issue with the upper playfield ramp. My new ramp arrived within weeks of reaching out.Patience is the name of the game with this title. It’s well worth it.

Re: the price increase - it says "orders placed prior to the 10/11/2021 are held at the 12,500 price" [sic]

Does this mean orders prior to the Feb. 2023 increase are also held to the prior price level which I believe was $13k? The site doesn't make that clear.

There is no excuse for their lack of communication. This is not a unique experience but how they operate. Unfortunately they are the only option for TBL and Alien (they are seeking new distributors) and I don’t feel it’s a benefit to either manufacturer. I’ve bought two games though cointaker because I had to. If I had a different route to take to obtain those games I would’ve taken it.

There’s is no excuse.

If not for Cointaker, would you have gotten either games, to now complain about the sole distro after the fact? I have no dog in the fight, but this seems harsh. I don't think the disto is the bottleneck when dealing with overseas manufacturers. Havent both manufacturers been hampered by various issues, outside of cointakers control?

You need to go back and READ previous posts. Not unique, distro has monopoly with these 2 companies so mediocre responses are standard. Here is hoping both companies get additional US distributors.

To many examples to type….

If you have followed this thread or the Alien thread at all, this is par for the course. I am not unique. This is a pattern and not a new one. Not everyone does their due diligence and reads up on a distributor experience before ordering. Or some may think like you do and that it's just one overly critical person picking apart their experience and finding fault where no fault lies. Again, you haven't been reading the thread. Or the other option, which I think may be the most common is that their is no other option to purchase from and some of us wanted the game bad enough to risk it. I think this is the only reason that the pattern continues is because there is no where else to turn to. That doesn't negate me or anyone else's right to call out the truth.

Truth is, the communication is horrible. No excuse, no temporary problem due to weather or unavoidable circumstances, it's just horrible. There is no excuse for poor communication. There is no defending it. Not when the majority of people are afflicted.

The greater problem is the damage potentially done to the manufacturer. Dutch is incredible, communicates with the community, goes out of their way to solve problems. Pinball brothers is very much the same. I couldn't be more impressed with a manufacturer. They have better customer service than some companies that I share a state with. The problem is Cointaker. Hopefully both Dutch and Pinball Brothers figure it out and quit letting the distributor tarnish their brand.

No excuse.

Whats keeping DP from getting other distros? What comms do you expect to hear from Cointaker? I doubt they are holding machines, paying for storage just to piss you off.

Is DP and Cointaker saying different things, such as your game has been delivered to CT and they say it hasnt? Talk to DP for info....

Another happy camper here!

Ordered: 2014-09-29
Paid Fully: 2015-03-06
Delivered: 2023-02-14

So, the beauty arrived a couple days ago and got finally set up

I may need to address the EA number here to avoid any confusion - as originally my game would have been #81
But due to unfortunate events, that game seems to have ended up in a container and got shipped to CoinTaker by mistake
As I don't really care for numbers that much, except maybe for the ones in a bank account or under the hood of a car, Barry and I decided that shipping this game back to Europe would be a waste of time, ressources and money.
So we agreed on that I would get a new game with a still free/unused EA number, and that was #193

tbl_193-81 (resized).jpg

Man 8 years I couldn't imagine waiting that long.

Congrats! That’s fantastic.
Makes my paid invoice wait of 3 months seem trivial.

Yes, you nailed it!

CT gave me 1 story and I chatted with Barry (Owner of DP) and said no we are not the ones holding up the order it is CT (they-CT wanted to combined shipping to save money). Then I call CT and they confess “oh yeah”.

Don’t get me started on I paid in the first ten people and I am the 60th person to get my machine. I asked why was this…we decided to ship in order of serial number versus when your order was placed.

Would you like me to publicly post the emails?

How about a “oh shit - sorry” I had no idea or experience with this?!

BTW, I do give CT high props for making these games happen. But common, we suggested simple ideas like a list where we are in the order process. How hard is this? They are the single distributor? And it would cut down nagging calls to them.

Placed a deposit today! Now I will settle in for the long wait!

I gotta admit, sending out pins by serial # and not by ordered date is completely wrong.

I always try to stay out of discussions in regard to delivery time but am confused by the remark serialno versus time of order

The only place where a serialno is applicable (eg owners know which number they will get) are the so-called EA numbers which were ordered in 2014. For the rest nobody is promised a certain serial number on moment of ordering as far as I am aware. Or, am I missing something?

Yes. We are taking about both DP and Alien. Serial number is in reference to Alien.

You're not alone. EAs haven't had a choice though. And the wait goes on for many yet.

It sucks, but credit to DP for continuing to work to make all EAs whole yet when they could have called it quits after losing their lengthy legal battle with ARA.

My experience through the RAZA escapade makes waiting on Lebowski not so difficult.
All these folks receiving games is a beautiful thing.

Now that I at least received an invoice, and paid it, makes me think I've got to be coming up soon.

Ha! You and me both!

Paid invoice 12.3.22. Invoice stated game will ship end of January
Still no call, no game. Anyone else in this situation? I thought paying the full invoice meant the game was shipping out.

I'll call tomorrow. But a little concerned

Yep; I paid on 12/15/22, and the invoice said 6-8 weeks, which has come and gone. From what I have seen in the experience of others, it takes somewhere between 3-4 months from payment, but it couldn't hurt to call.

3 months and 3 days for me, after paying the invoice. So I would think ya'll should be getting some shipping information within the next 2 weeks.

The end of this week will be my 4 month mark since paying my invoice.
Getting pretty ridiculous, tbh.

Been told some outright whoppers along the way as well. Like, my game is on the dock and will get picked up in the morning -- that one was like a month ago.

Everyone will understand shipping delays and other things. Just keep us informed truthfully when we ask.

This is so bizarre. What is going on at Cointaker? If you take 10 payments and 10 games come in you ship 10 games. If only 9 games come in you apologize to one person and tell them what’s up.

What am I missing here? Are games being sold out from under people who fully paid or are games coming in damaged?

:shrug:

If that happened, then why not just say so? We would all understand. I'd rather have a game not damaged and know I had to wait on the next shipment than sit in wonder at the wait.

Frankly baffling to me.