There are many, many similar reports on this website. I was under the impression that they were no longer in business.

From reading pinside, I'd never buy any of their crappy products.

pinballpimp is the way to go for stencils.

Still wish they'd 8 ball deluxe LE

Define "in business". They are still taking money. Just not delivering the product. See the Whitewater Topper thread for another failed delivery by this great "business".

No doubt. His stencils are awesome and he is very reliable.

Yeah, I'm in for an MMR with them since July 14 and all I hear are crickets when I reach out to them. I'm very, very worried right now.

Damn, at least they came through on the spinout ramp. I hope you get your stencils you ordered, pretty crazy to take so long and have to go back and forth like that.

It sucks you didn't come here first. You could have found out about Twisted Pins and Pinball Pimp before spending your money. I guess lesson learned the hard way but I feel for you.

They are authorized distributors aren't they? Surely Chicago Gaming will take care of you if there are any problems right? Let's hope so...

I would hope so, I would be paying a visit if I did not get some sort of reponse.

I'd call Chicago Gaming and see if they got the money.

Rick has said it's not their problem. They have attempted to contact Twisted Pins but anything more than that, they can't do.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-ideas-for-white-water-topper/page/2#post-2736645

So they tell you who to send the money to but that is as far as it goes? Not their problem? I'd be pissed!!

Ditto

Not their problem? Twisted Pins is listed as an official MMr re-seller right on their site ...

http://www.planetarypinball.com/category/mmr-resell/

I guess if you could buy directly from the source it might be different. But they were very strict on who they wanted to distribute their product.

While you're there, please ask them for my Whitewater topper and 2x clear covers I paid for 2 years ago.

rd

Problems with Travis go back 3 years now. I guess he is still having personal issues?
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bad-pinside-member-cardfelon-aka-travis-of-boise-id

The fact that Planetary Pinball STILL has Twisted Pins listed on his website is a bit negligent. Rick knows full well Twisted Pins is just bad.

To be clear that's Rick saying it's not his problem (or at least not his liability) when a licensee messes up its business. If he made that same claim as to MMR distributors that's a much bigger problem (he made a big deal up front of the fact that all preorder money would be collected from the distributors to avoid an Australian WOZ type situation, so I doubt he'd play it otherwise and if he did, he'd have some legal exposure IMO based on his prior statements).

Lol

I ordered a Gorgar stencil set on Jan 7. I had my reservations, but couldn't find anyone else that has them. About a year ago I had a problem with one backbox side of the Bally Eight Ball stencil (it was backwards). Travis took my call and worked it out with me pretty quickly. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt on this order. But so far I've not gotten any response yet by email nor voicemail.
I'm on a tight deadline to get this restoration finished (and this delay may have blown it out for me). So, last voicemail is that I need a response by tonight or I start the chargeback process.
I found some available that I might order. (Although it is Travis' stencils. They just have it in stock.)
Is this his full-time job or a part-time hobby/job?

Jeez, no personal expierence but all I hear is how bad theirs are and how good Pimps are. Thanks for letting us know.

Perhaps twisted pins and mad amusements are off on an extended cruise together.

With Kevin Kulek acting as the ship's captain.

Actually, you could buy from the source, Planetary Pinball took a direct orders. Just sayin'!

You can find them down at the lottery store scratching furiously!

rd

Just got an email response from Travis about my order. My email was from 10 days ago. Makes me think that he's just working on this job/hobby on weekends. Who knows. I hope I get my stencils next week. I picked up some contact paper this morning to start making my own stencils, as I had given up hope on Travis. I'm going to start on the backbox stencils and go ahead and sand/bondo/prep for painting. I'm not proceeding with the credit card charge back for now, pending his stencils arriving next week.
BTW the Gorgar stencil is pretty easy. Have you noticed that the cabinet stencil for left and right side is the same stencil? You could make one stencil and use it on both sides of the cabinet. Verified by examining my cabinet and the one on IPDB. Pretty interesting, huh?

Cheers.

You shouldn't delay starting the charge back process, don't put up with his bullshit

Buyers beware. Travis simply cannot do the job!

December 2015 - I sent an email via the website to see if he had capacity to create Gorgar stencils for me - He never responded

January 7, 2016 - placed order via website - Received the thank you automated email response

January 15, 2016 - multiple phone voicemails and email requesting status updates

January 23, 2016 - multiple voicemails. Travis responded to email from January 15 saying that stencils would ship this week and he would provide a tracking number. I responded that if he didn't deliver within the week I would cancel the order and initiate credit card chargeback.

January 30, 2016 - In the interim I have created my own stencils and am carrying on by myself. Emailed Travis to inform him the order is cancelled. Left voicemail for Travis to inform him the order is cancelled. Called my credit card company and initiated a chargeback.

Long story short: Don't waste your time with Twisted Pins. Travis either doesn't care or is in over his head. Either way, look elsewhere for your stencils.

Dittos. I initiated a credit card chargeback and never heard word from Travis. I created my own stencils (a pain, but what else can you do) and I finished my Gorgar! It's beautiful!!!!
Long story short, run do not walk away from Twisted Pins.

Ugh feel bad for people in on a MMr with him.. Sounds like the Australia situation with a JJP distributor all over again.

If the MMR preorder folks end up getting screwed somehow, I'd recommend taking a close look back at Rick's early posts about how cash would be handled. My recollection is he said he (or CGC, though I don't think the full extent of their role was advertised early on) would be collecting all the preorder money to avoid precisely this problem. If that didn't end up happening, and Twisted Pins cannot account for the money, I think you'd have a pretty good argument that PPS/CGC should cover the loss of your deposit.

Bump

Bump

Same situation here. I deposited $1000 with Twisted Pins back in December, 2013 for an MMr LE.

I reached out to them by e-mail several times (7/14, 1/15, 5/15, 7/15, 9/15, 11/15 and 1/16) for status. I've only ever heard back twice. On 5/15 I was told my deposit was safe and that they had only received one of their allocated units at that point. On 7/15 I was told there was still no new information.

Rick suggested contacting Chicago Gaming about this but I've had trouble connecting with them too.

Because it is difficult to know how many MMr LEs have shipped, what Twisted Pins' allocation was and how many people are on their list, it's difficult to know whether the continued delay is legitimate or not. There's certainly no excuse for lack of communication when you've taken someone's money -- personal problems or not. I understand the delays are not Twisted Pins' fault, but they were ultimately the recipient of the money and should be accountable for answering questions.

I'm definitely worried whether I'll ever see my machine (or my deposit back). I really feel for the folks that have paid in full.

Rick needs to fix that for you. That is unacceptable IMO.

Wow... never thought.. Twisted Pins<Mad Amusements

I thought that kevin was taking on the role of issac, but offering weed instead of drinks

issac_kulek_(resized).jpg

Who else is in the same boat with Twisted Pins and MMr? Please PM me.

I purchased mine from TP and received my MMR in Dec. There was no communication from Travis and in the end I dealt with Doug from CGC directly and he was very helpful. In fact, without him I'd probably be still waiting. Mine was manufactured in Sep so it took a while to sort things out.

I think it's fair to assume that Travis is MIA for now since it seems nobody's heard from him, I'd recommend getting in touch with CGC directly. Who knows, maybe your MMR is just waiting to be shipped like mine was

Thanks for sharing your experience, Kkuoppamaki. It gives me hope that this might all get sorted out.

I do have a phone call in with Doug so I'm just waiting to hear back.

Interestingly, I don't see them listed on that page. Maybe they've been pulled down in the past month?

Yes, they pulled them off their reseller list. But they were definitely listed on their before.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150816053752/http://www.planetarypinball.com/category/mmr-resell

Rick has unfortunately made it clear that there's not much he can do. Thus far, I've been unable to get in touch with anyone at Chicago Gaming but will keep trying on that front.

I'm also pulling together as many Twisted Pins customers as I can (I have a few so far) that have money in on MMr so we can take action as a group if it turns out we've been swindled. I'm hoping it won't come to that but it's always good to be prepared. Let's pray the only thing Travis is guilty of is atrocious communication.

I'm fully paid with Twisted Pins for MMr, since about July 2014. Like everyone else, radio silence. I also talked to Doug at Chicago Gaming about 2 months ago, but never heard back. Every time I see that new posts are in this thread it scares the crap out of me that it's going to be even worse news.

Bump for others who have PPS MMR money missing

Sorry to hear you're in the same boat as us. I'll PM you to get your contact info.

I would seriously recommend taking a look back at Rick's early assurances here at Pinside about how money would be handled. If PPS/CGC have changed their tune and are trying to palm it off on the distributors they should be held to account for the promises they made that led people to feel safe buying through distributors in the first place.

You can put mine to the list also!