Just curious if anyone ordered a premium from Flip N' Out and heard anything at all, even if it was a simple notification that their deposit was even received.

In for Foo …. looks like third run….. what!? Fall!!! Who want to trade back through Tilt Amusements?

Should’ve gotten a payment confirmation to your email when you paid your deposit. Also, the money should have cleared your bank.

The money cleared. Not my game, but at the moment I'm somewhat regretting the suggestion I gave the buyer to try that distributor.

Strike that "somewhat regretting" part. I probably should have waited a few more minutes before deciding if that's how I really felt when I typed that. It wasn't really fair to Zach or Flip N' Out. I tried deleting it, but ChuckWurt quoted me on it, so I put it back and decided I might as well own the mistake.

Did you reach out for an update? Communication is a two way street.

No, they have not inquired about an update. I agree that communication is a 2 way street, however, communication was initiated by the buyer when the transaction commenced. And there was additional communication about going direct bank transfer and etc. Then crickets and tumbleweeds ever since those details were worked out and the deposit was received.

Not trying to ruffle feathers either. Really just curious if anyone else has heard anything. I see people posting they got their notices to pay the balance on their premiums, so I was mostly just interested if any of them were dealing with the same distributor. Nobody here is angry with them. It's a first time buyer just genuinely curious, who doesn't want to be too "needy" with what, when, how and other questions.

I get it.
My LE came from Flip N Out and I got a same-day (within a couple hours) response from him every single time I reached out. When I paid my deposit, he didn't reach out to tell me he got it, but I didn't ask for a confirmation either.
I think that Zach will reach out to your friend the moment the game is ready to ship. He's got a good reputation for that. He's also a pinball fan at heart and totally understood when I sent him a gif of a cartoon guy checking his phone, setting it down, checking again, setting it down on a loop. I tried not to bug him and be the needy customer, but yeah I poked a couple of times trying to get a closer idea on when my game was coming.

Keep in mind that they built some Premiums while waiting on LE parts, so they'll pause on Premiums to wrap up the LE run. Your friend might not even be on the initial Premium run....that's something they should ask just to get a good idea on expectations.

Thank you for that, and everything else you wrote that I didn't quote.

This is what I was looking for. It seems this buyer thinks in a similar way as you did about the transaction process, not wanting to bug him & etc. We know he's a busy guy and dedicated to the hobby. I think a lot of it was first time NIB buyer, not sure what to expect, also didn't want to bother them, etc.

Thank you again!!! I'll sleep better now. Pretty excited for them, and this game!

Zach is super nice. He’s not going to be upset when his customers reach out for an update. That’s what I would recommend your friend do. I’m sure Zach will respond asap.

And your friend’s experience is typically how it goes. Not much coming from the distributor until there is something to report.

Also, distributors when they order games don’t necessarily get their orders all at once. So if stern is running premiums now, Zach might have 100 of them on order. Maybe in this run he only gets 50. So while some FNO customers will report getting their premium now, if you’re 51 on Zach’s list, you may have to wait till next run. Another reason why following when curious, especially when you’re a new buyer, is perfectly reasonable.

Thanks Chuck. This is all new territory for me as well since I've never dealt with a distributor myself yet. My NIB's have all been direct with JJP.

I tried to delete the "somewhat regretting" comment I made, but you had already quoted me, so I just edited it and decided to own my mistake.

I should probably get some sleep. Been a heck of a long, exhausting 2 weeks and I'm seeing the damage it's done to my brain.

Hope I didn't derail the thread too bad. It's been a good read. Learned a good bit of strategy already, haven't even seen one of these face to face yet. There's one not far at all from me at Cointaker, and Allentown is coming up, but I was trying to save the surprise and reveal for when my family member receives theirs.

But it's only Tuesday.
You're a good dude. Everybody knows it. Don't sweat it. Get some ZZZZZs ... it's pinball.

I fully paid for a pro when first announced, got confirmation about the deposit only even though I paid in full. Had a couple back and forths making sure they gave me the $100 off for bank transfer. I recently reached out to inquire making sure they got my full payment and any updates about when pros are arriving as I heard people receiving theirs. Crickets.....I called and got voice-mail saying text is fastest....I texted and crickets....have heard zilch from Zach

Hmm, definitely sounds familiar. Now I'm wondering, was this the first time you went through them? I guess what I'm trying to ascertain now would be if this is what first time customers can expect, and maybe repeat customers get better communication and higher priority?

Is it possible that a first time customer who ordered a game before a repeat customer could get bumped to the end of the line so the repeat customer could move up higher on the list?

Yup, first time with flip n out as my local distro upped their pros $400 over msrp!!!! I wanted to go with someone everyone knows and spoke highly of, so flip n out got my money. But yeah, comms has been shaky at best with Zach and no idea on getting bumped or whatnot or even if anyone got first run pros at all from them.

Will try and reach out again tomorrow

Just my experience, Zack had never seen my email address before when I inquired about a foo LE a while back and he got back to me in a matter of hours saying he was all out.

Maybe it is just a busy time and things are slipping for some distributors. 7 games were just released, I'm sure these guys have never seen anything like this before. Pretty sure this in not a first time buyer thing.

I get it can be frustrating, but I'm sure it's rough on both sides.

He's got a new policy , you have to pay 10 bucks for extra info

Don't worry... Zach will post up in 3.....2......1.......

Hey guys, catching up on this thread and thought I could offer some assistance. You should certainly poke/message/email/text/call/whatever myself or Nicole ([email protected]) or even Greg ([email protected]) when you have questions or concerns or interest or whatever. Me not responding is typically either in the queue to respond or I overseen it (shit happens haha), but regardless, anyone buying an expensive product like a pinball machine should ask any and every question they have. I encourage people to ask and to never feel like they are bugging me. That's silly. Sure I may get 20-30 people daily asking me where they fall in the line of Game X, but that's kind of my job, and it's a job I love and that I take more seriously than anyone I know. And my fullest apologies if I ever make a mistake and miss someone's message. Nethawk86 I believe I was able to track down your lost message and replied this morning, let me know if there is anything else I can do for ya. And sevenrites please message me here or text me the names of your friends so I can reach out the them as well.

Thanks again for the support everyone and remember, never feel like you are bugging your pinball distributor, that is our job to provide info that you request. I would be messaging my dealer as well with info, especially on a game that I am waiting FOREVER TO GET!!!! (Why does Godzilla, Foo Fighters, Jurassic Park, Deadpool, Iron Maiden, and Elvira have to be so damn good! haha)

Zach Meny
Flip N Out Pinball
[email protected]

You forgot RUSH
Just poking you because I saw that video where you guys were at odds on that title and your eye roll snarl everytime your better half Greg mentioned it. Lol.

Yeah I mean to be fair, you're right, Rush has been a great seller over the past 6 months, so much so that we are sold out of new units We have a couple preowned machines for sale, but current Stern Pinball production schedule does not have it on the line this year (gulp). Looks like a certain Modern-Day Warrior will be increasing in value on the secondary market throughout the rest of 2023, especially once those toppers and expression lighting kits start to ship.

I’m not a fan of upper pfs in general, but Jack did a great job with the FF upper. Like several have said, often times a player will mail the right ramp and before you even have a chance to flip the upper the ball is already back to the right flipper. It’s a ton of fun to try to make two or three loops up top before the ball escapes. Definitely glad I went LE. Prem owners will not be disappointed. Also I don’t see the upper having the same issue as other uppers were really good players can just live up there.

FWIW, I placed my Foo Prem order with another large distributor I thought had a decent rep. Trying to call them, I could only get ahold of a couple unprofessional staffers who could not answer my question. Also tried email, and finally received a single word response in return a few weeks later. Not even a signature line. Just a single word. Unless something drastically changes, I will be sticking to small distributors from now on. I am not asking for anything special here, just put at least a slight modicum of effort into interacting with your customers who are dropping 5 figures with you.

I've heard negative things about ALL major distros from various folks. I think it's an eyes wide open situation and you go with the one you are most comfortable with, knowing they all have flaws in various aspects of how they do business.

I have ordered a few machines from Zach with no issues whatsoever. Speaking of which, FedEx just called me this morning and is delivering my Foo Fighters Premium tomorrow! Zach told me on Monday to pay and it could ship as early as Tuesday. While he didn't let me know it shipped, he definitely made it happen. He has always been responsive to my emails. I may have had one or two over the years that required a follow up but I attribute that to being busy. I know for certain that I sometimes miss a work email here or there. It happens.

Oh you're gonna hear from them when it's time to collect the money, count on that.

Jason from Classic Game Rooms is a fairly large distributor and he communicates/treats his customers great. JMHO. He is my go to Large distributor. Jarrett at Gulf Coast Pinball is also a very responsive and professional with his customers. He is my go-to small distributor.

What movies are the Clips in the Match sequence from? I think Santa Clause conquers the Martians is one, what are the others?

Jason is amazing

All this talk of distributors, I feel you. I've had a similar experience.

It sucks when you don't have great communication from them, but I also know that a lot of these places are just one or two people, and from running a small business before, it's that communication bit that can fail the easiest. Big companies have people who's this is their only job, but for a small company, it's whenever you can fit the time in. There's also a difference in perspective, this is YOUR machines that you're paying thousands of dollars for, but to the distributor, it's just one of dozens of machines they're currently working on moving through. In my experience, it takes a conscious effort to remember that the customer has a very different perspective and waiting until you "get around to it" will feel like you're blowing them off, instead of just being busy.

Some distributors are better at this than others, but I do try to cut them some slack and follow up.

Always set expectations too. Some customers don’t care to hear anything until the game ships. Others might want more frequent communication. Just set those expectations with the distributor from jump. If they blow you off at that point, find a better distributor

Pinball Pirate is very good at responding to my calls or emails.
Im impatiently waiting for my LE.Darn spellcheck I said Patiently.

IMG_7700.gif

Waiting is the hard part. LE 372 inbound in less than 24 hours. Going to be a low productive day (work that is) the rest of the week.

I echo this about Jason. First time working with him on a recommendation of a forum member scrambling to secure a LE. Charlie at Joystix is great but he was sold out, never heard back from Gap and GameExchange started to charge tax to Texas. Refered Robodog to Jason as well. This will be his first pin.

you and me both

…

Just got invoiced for my premium! No word on shipping yet, but that usually means it is at least on the way to the distro so maybe next week!

My premium will arrive next week! Going to take me days to install all of the stuff I bought for it!

Did anyone using Classic Game Rooms get a notification about a premium yet?

I have always had great luck with Automated. They are extremely fast to respond, and always give me accurate information. They are the only distributor I use for Stern for the last 7 years.

Yeah, thanks for the follow up text this morning. Glad we're on track.

Premium arriving tomorrow! Crazy lineup shuffle last 2 weeks for me. In my modest 4 game collection Elvira HoH & Baywatch just added with FF tomorrow. Veteran OG xmen le has stayed to oversee things.

Premium in the house! Well, the garage anyway. Will have to wait til this evening to get her set up. Thanks Zach and FedEx. Probably the most perfect box I have ever received.

IMG_7476 (resized).jpeg

Good to see premiums landing, I have 1 claimed at Game Room Guys.... Anyone that ordered with them heard any updates?

I got notification from them yesterday that my LE shipped yesterday, and is being delivered on Monday.

I think guys (and I've been guilty of it too) just want to make excuses for buying the pro over the premium. It feels good to save the money. But if you got the extra money, the Premium is definitely the way to go on this one. The pro with the flat printed plastics not only plays different, it FEELS different to me and puts out a different vibe. I'll save money on other things (IE, making dinner at home for a few months, etc.) to make up for it if I have to.

The funny thing with pinball- the less you have on the playfield, of course it's going to be faster lol. But I need substance and the feeling that the package is complete and loaded like it should be.

Now the price point we are at now... that's a whole different thing IMO. I hate that we now are expected to pay almost $10K to get a premium. But I can't just go to a pro on some titles, and I can either accept it or not, right?

I'm not posting this to crap all over Pro owners, I've a pro owner on several games too, just giving my perspective

Usually I agree. I have the pro deadpool but acknowledge that the premium is better. I simply couldn't justify the price. Not the case with this one. I literly prefer the pro. But I don't wanna hash this out s 20th time.