Just FYI, I put in my deposit at the beginning of September, saying 10-11m ETA. Set myself a reminder to check in every three months on status. Reached out to Melissa a couple weeks ago and she said they been coming pretty steady so as of right now, presuming things continue as they have been, I should still be on target for Mar/Apr.

So, sounds like things are going according to plan for now at least.

Nice, when did you put your order in? I'm closing in on a year out and hoping to get a payment notice soon.

Sounds like they're holding out to get a good batch before shipping..anyone know offhand when the last batch arrived? Sounds like I might be in the next round if April orders are shipping, though by those timelines would look like maybe another container in June or July?

Anyone been invoiced lately? About 11m out, figuring I oughta hear something soon

Alrighty then. Deposit 6/8/22, so presume I'll hear from them pretty soon...

Props on coming by and providing some knowledge to the peanut gallery here. Too bad I'm not in Canada or the Pacific Northwest. I'm sure I'll get mine from CT eventually, but they really need to take some of that money they are making and invest in more people to handle customer service. I run a biz, and I get it - growth outpaces resources sometimes. Pretty reasonable to expect some occasional communication from someone sitting on 1k for months on end, let alone 13k.

Hmm, have to wonder why they aren't billing by date. One of you order the apron vs. not by chance? Or maybe CT just doesn't have their ducks in a row? Odd regardless if those dates are right.

Yeah, probably a rational explanation...maybe something to do with location. Or a processing thing with the deposit. Hope so at least, kinda not cool with putting a grand down, waiting patiently for a year, little to no communication, and maybe when you ponied the deposit doesn't matter anyway. I'd be inclined to call and see if an email was missed if you don't hear soon... though I guess it's questionable to rush to pony another 12.6k to continue waiting indefinitely too, lol

True story. I still think it's pretty legit to be frustrated with CTs communication and lack of clarity regardless given the kind of cash we're talking here. No doubt it'll show up eventually, just doesn't seem like too much to ask for them to invest in the resources to manage things a bit better. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect some proactive communication and transparency from CT once they start sitting in a grand of people's money. Definitely at 13k. Given that I cannot imagine they aren't making a nice tidy profit on each sale, there seems to be little excuse for not investing in the resources to do so.

Props to DP/Rensh and Nitro for being communicative. At the end of the day, I'll stifle my grumbling and wait like we all are, as I'm confident it WILL show up eventually and I'm stoked for the thing. Not sure I see myself ordering from CT again if there are other options though.

Can anyone clarify the differences with the EA edition? It does have the lit apron, right...anything else other than the plaque set it apart? There's one a pretty reasonable drive from me listed at a fair price, tempting to just pick that up and see about unloading my year old deposit

Grats man, great weekend in your future. New playfield with the art back from the posts I presume?

Hah, the Jackie treehorn is a nice touch. What is that?

Kinda wonder if something strange happened with yours, eh? Haven't seen anyone else getting there's right now too. I mean, I can kinda see cointaker losing a 400lb pin for a couple months at this point,.lol. Bet it was under a pile of invoices somewhere.

Woke up to an anniversary present from CT today. Invoice for the remaining balance one year to the day.

Deposit: 6/8/23
Invoiced: 6/8/23, paid this afternoon
Shipped: ...lotta ins, lotta outs man...

Time to start figuring out something to get rid of to make room.

Yup. And looks like I'm the second one invoiced a year to the day recently, which suggests CT is billing based on arbitrary time rather than "we got notice of this many coming in the next shipment, and are billing that number of people in order of deposit." The later would make a hell of a lot more sense, but I guess you don't have to put too much thought into how you run your biz and customer service when you're the only game in town and people are willing to put up with whatever to get the game...

Whatever. I do trust CT and Dutch will get it here eventually. And I clearly want it enough to put up with whatever :p

True story. Now that the supply chain is clearing and NIB stuff is piling up again, we're gonna see a thinning of the distro herd I think. A monthly email update for all pending orders wouldn't make things any faster, but it would be easy to make happen semi-auto, buy a lot of goodwill, and probably ultimately save time by cutting back emails and phone calls while catching a few problems up front like invoicing issues too.

Solid advice. You could also decide you don't want one bad enough to deal with the nonsense. Totally legit option too, and probably the smart one. Hoping to see mine in the next couple months though.

I laughed out loud.

Then I realized it was entirely possible.

Then I realized you were likely serious, not joking.

Then I felt kinda like a jerk for laughing.

Then I laughed out loud again.

And I'm sure everyone else would approve too. Props. And props for the transparency too.

As for the missing apron, that's absurd. Shit happens, but shit gets fixed or else. If I ran my business that poorly I'd be out of business in minutes. I guess it pales next to sitting on EA money for a decade, but it's also a much easier fix that building and shipping an entire machine.

My question would be if DP is even aware that someone's been missing the apron they paid for a year ago?

We are not the smartest consumers.

Still looking forward to it, whenever it finally shows up. Worst part is gonna be worrying about it getting damaged in transit. Who knows how long that would take to straighten out

Speak for yourself. I fully intend to use it daily.

I forget which stage denial is, but I know it comes before acceptance.

Watching this thread for the last year or so, it really ses to vary a lot. Which does make sense if they're sending groups of machines at a time to make shipping more practical. Lotta ins, lotta outs.

LMAO. Seriously. Pin that post as "How to Order TBL."

Gotta say, after all the past drama and the genuine frustrations in this thread, I put down my money for three reasons:

1. There was good evidence Dutch had made their way outta a bad start and were doing their best to do right by people.

2. You (Rensh) were on here keeping people informed as best you could, and looking for feedback.

3. My wife said ok.

They're all equally important

I feel like kalhua or tia maria would be more theme appropriate. And a better coping strategy would probably be a shot for every month you've been waiting. 14 shots should make a delivery date the least of my concerns.

No one feels sorry for you, lol.

Not holding my breath, but I paid just a couple days later, so if true hopefully that'll land mine as well.

Here's hoping a bunch of folks are moving to the owners club soon. I need to figure out where I'm gonna put the thing...

Yup. I like you guys, but I kinda wish you'd all be quiet until you're saying your game shipped so I'd stop getting excited every time I see a new post float it to the top of my feed :p

Yeah, there are so many ways this whole process could very easily be made less frustrating. Testament to the quality of the game that folks are willing to begrudgingly deal with it. If CT just sent everyone a brief "here's what we know" update monthly, they'd save a ton of frustration and get a lot fewer emails/calls I bet.

When did you two get invoiced? I was at the beginning of June, thought maybe I'd catch the next batch but haven't heard anything, so prolly still waiting. Patiently.

Reached out again today since lots seem to be shipping (making sure I didn't miss an email more than anything). Told I'm in the upcoming batch, shipping 10 days at the most. We'll see, but cool beans if I get to go bowling soon too.

FYI, I called Friday as Melissa had told me shipping inside of 10 days two weeks prior. Was told the next batch, with mine, is in country waiting to clear customs and I should expect to see a shipping notice in the next week or so. Deposit early June of last year.

200 days? At 5% interest on 13k, which is what basic money market funds are running currently, that's about $350.

I think from here on I'm gonna just keep mouth shut until I see my pin or it's been long enough since I paid I can't anymore. G'luck and godspeed.

Just got my ship notice. Woot.

I'm assuming tracking will follow? Anyone know who they usually ship with? Asked Melissa the other day, but did not hear back (she's been pretty good about getting back to me lately, though).

Had to go dig it up, see above. Invoiced a year to the day from deposit.

Graduation day. Really impressed with the build quality, even if the ordering experience leaves much (much) to be desired. Little touches like this go a long way.

See ya all on the other side, soon I hope.

PXL_20231006_203553941.MP (resized).jpg

This is the way.

However: the big issue is overpromising and under delivering. I'm a big fan of Hanlon's razor, and I genuinely think Cointaker/Melissa means well...this is likely naive optimism and overwork on her part leading to always promising a bit more than can be delivered. But it destroys goodwill when you never, ever do what you say when you say it. Tell me it'll be six months and then call me with good news in four.

And hire some people and come up with systems to proactively communicate with the people who've been willing to risk handing you thousands of dollars. That's how you build and keep goodwill while you grow. I wish Melissa no ill will, but this was an exceptionally poor experience compared to every other company I've ordered from. PBL, Marco, Comet - they're exceptional. Most of the machine only guys are great too. I would not order a lightbulb from Cointaker at this point if I had any alternative. And I do. I would absolutely buy another Dutch machine, but not if I have to go through Cointaker.

TO BE FAIR: It's worth going back to the begining of the Dutch story and remembering they did a bang-up job of overpromising, failing to deliver, and communicating poorly for a LONG time. They are STILL making games that they took money for EIGHT YEARS AGO. Starting a tiny pinball company is a crazy undertaking; the fact that they've figured out a way to make good on the physical promise they made to those people IS impressive, but let's not pretend they haven't failed on the temporal promises on a MASSIVE scale. In a way, they set a standard Cointaker is just fulfilling. And, I think they probation owe a little loyalty to Melissa for being the front man for a bunch of justifiably pissed and skeptical people for years.

However, CURRENTLY they seem to really have their shit together. I went ahead and ordered largely because I saw Rensh consistently communicating and providing customer service here. That buys a ton of goodwill in my book. I fully intend to look ya up and give you props in person at expo next week.

Though...There may well be more to the 8 month since deposit story than I know from hearing one side, but I WILL say knowing Dutch is spending time here and therefore knows it's an issue...well, I hope they are looking into it and say so. If not, that's a hard strike against them. Yes, it's kind of the point of the distribution model, but no, it's not cool to leave your PAID customers to the mercurial whims of your sole distributor, at least not if they are failing THAT hard. I'm stoked to have the game I paid for 1 Jun 23, but if someone else paid in January this one should be in their house and I should still be waiting.

Anyway, it's an impressively built gem. I've had the glass off a lot so far, but it's all been adjusting switches and tightening up a few things, totally expected after shipping halfway around the world. Another nice touch I noted - in addition to the art now being cut back from the posts, they also installed silicone washers under star posts and such from the factory. Don't recall seeing that mentioned post playfield-gate, but definitely an appreciated touch.

At this point, I'd buy almost ANY theme Dutch makes next - from PBL, Marco, Mad pinball, or another company I trust and enjoy dealing with. There are maybe two themes I'd suck it up and deal with Cointaker again...and since I doubt anyone will make an Adventure Time or Wes Anderson pin, I'm probably out unless they add a distro or two.

My 2 cents (maybe more like 50 cents). Gonna go get a couple games in now.

Yeah, that's my suspicion too. I don't think anyone deserves a free pass, but I get the situation is complicated and I'm glad it worked out so we could all enjoy a really stellar game.

It's silly for any of us to act like we didn't know what we were signing up for at this point. But it's just dumb to minimize standards and expectations like

Nice, lol

Look, flaming at CT isn't warranted, but giving them a big old pass isn't either. Yes, if you're smart you read this thread first and have low expectations that will be well met. Yes, it will take about a year and a half, and you'll have zero proactive communication after giving them $1k or eventually 13k, and if you reach out they will most likely over promise on timelines and under deliver. None of this to my mind is Malice or even incompetence, it's just apathy and optimism gone wrong.

I don't hate CT or anything, and I at least knew exactly what I was signing up for and trusted it would get here, eventually, and it did. But it was a singularly sub-optimal customer experience, and I don't think anyone should be faulted for expecting some pro-active and more accurate info from them when we're talking about this kind of money. Where on earth else do you hand a company 13k on faith and then just trust them completely? Frustration is reasonable.

Did appreciate the sausage though! They aren't bad people, but I can get a better experience when buying pins elsewhere.