Too much information.

If the shop and parts area was clean and organized to your expectations, would you have offered more money for the game (game in identical condition)?

What was your expectation?

I've been to dozens of places that meet this description.

What was the title of the game?

Those are the best places to find oddball stuff. At least you got to see exactly what you are getting. Some bum off Craigslist could have very well did the same thing. As long as the game works to your satisfaction, what does it matter? You think more than 50% of the 20+ year old games for sale are "numbers matching"? Lolol

Sounds like the OP doesn't get out much in this hobby, this is the kind of place I like to visit also. And after all that you STILL made them an offer and walked away over $100? Seems like your post is just revenge for them not making a deal with you?

Some of the fancier shops I've visited are the most expensive (mostly with crazy pricing) also. Sorry you had a bad experience, but your post just seems a little over the top for what happened.

I have to completely disagree with anything negative about Dave. I had great dealings and couldn’t recommend him more. The guy will go out of his way to help his customers and has always been a pleasure to deal with. I can’t tell you how many phone calls/texts I shared with Dave when buying pins from him with him keeping me updated and checking to see how I liked the games. I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but I would do business with him again in a heart beat.

All of the "bad" details in this story mean nothing. A business with lots of parts may look messy to someone but perhaps it's actually organized and you just don't realize it. Taking boards from a working game to sell something someone is on site to buy is not a bad thing so long as those boards are coming out of a game he owns and is not a customers game. He probably had other boards he could repair to replace those. I once bought a game from an op and as we were completing the deal he dumped a handful of DMD-89 boards he had on hand since he no longer had a use for them. They all needed repair.

I definitely wouldn't consider a missing piece of glass a deal breaker if the translite was being provided. This post is seriously devoid of key details. What was the title? What was your offer? The state of the machine you describe does really sound that bad. Sounds like a typical players condition machine from the early 00's. I've had my fair share. Back when basically every part on a game was unobtainium. Those were dark dark days for pinball.

Paragraphs are your friend...

Honestly, it sounds like you're overreacting and making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Anyone who repairs games typically has a stockpile of parts, and not everyone's shop is going to look like a Lamborghini showroom. Grabbing a few common items from nearby games out of convenience doesn't sound like a big deal to me.

It sounds like you didn't buy the game since it didn't meet what you were looking for, so are you out any money? What is the actual problem?

If anybody had any idea what on earth the original poster is trying to say please let me know as I only speak English and a little bit of Spanish.

Actually don’t tell me I’m sure it’s pointless.

You should have gone last Saturday. You could have played in a great IFPA tournament with 45 people and eaten some pizza and drank some mountain dew on the house. It was a fun day. One of the owners Eric bought out a storage unit a while back so they have tons of parts and machines jammed into the back. It might look like a mess until you need a hard to find part or an old lock bar or something. Then it is a gold mine.

This is a new business that is just getting up and running. Personally I was kind of impressed. It is always nice to be able to kick the tires on an older game. If its too much of a project or overpriced, I walk away. No harm no foul.

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They use parts from games to fix other games? The shop is messy?
Dude who cares. Sounds like you are butthurt because you didnt get the deal you wanted.
BTW What difference does it make where he lives or also works? Dave and Eric have always done me right, sounds like you need to shop somewhere else.

Clearly the OP has never seen a TNT YouTube video.

I have business with Dave and have nothing but positive things to say. He does a ton of trade volume and is very fair.

It’s all good until he steals parts for another game and then sells the game with missing parts to you. I get this isn’t a big deal, but this is a supposed legitimate business with a business address. I would expect much more from that situation than a three stooges comedy so to speak (which this clearly sounds like). Now a guy selling something out of a garage for a deal I would expect that from.

Dude, I don't know what to tell you. Put on your favorite Morrissey album and cry.

sounds like every dealer I have bought from for the last 30 years

Ive purchased both new in box games as well as used games from the Pinball Dudes . No issues whatsoever. Will buy from again. Daves doors are open to inspect , and play all pins before purchasing. Hell, you can go there and just play pins, not to mention watching one of the best pinball techs (Fred), working on all sorts of cool stuff.
This post wouldnt even exist if he had gotten the pin for the price he wanted. Need to go, I cant seem to get the sound of crying babies out of my ears.

Please tell us the game with the missing parts he sold to you.

W T F ???

I bought a TSPP from Dave and wouldn't hesitate to buy again. Great to deal with and the pin exceeded expectations.

This all seem normal to me. If you wanted to pay a premium, then shop on eBay. What is the game and what was the price? Swapping out working boards is not a big deal.

are you....William Shatner...

What? He might not...... accept a lowball offer......on a game he has for sale? Thanks for.....warning us.

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Get out of the hobby buddy. Pinball Dudes has always had an open door policy to play games and ask questions. Eric is great. I have driven from Palm Beach to Melbourne for a car that turned up not to be as expected. I drove back...not a big deal. Get a LIFE.

If I ever sell you a game remind me not to put good working boards in it since you think that's some sort of crime.

hey nova nut. come back to the shop. and get your story straight.

i'm chris. not cris. i told you, first question...there is a translite, no backglass. i told you this 3 times in our discussion live about the game. yes, 3 times.

i also told you, you've never spoken to me, so i have no idea "you're a man of your words". that's straight out of your mouth. there was no verification you were going to come to the shop. the boards were placed on mousin' around, and i was instructed to plug them in if you made it in. that was it for me. there's quite a few games i was working on.

and this is for both sides of this slamfest, and EVERYBODY that might drive to look at a machine...have someone text you pics before you drive. day one crap.

3rd of all. and i'll be blunt: you were an absolute azz on the phone talking to dave, when you had him on speaker phone. night and day with how you and i were communicating in person.

now let me tell pinside the WHOLE story:

you spoke to dave and eric. i will not assume they didn't tell you it was a project mousin' around. because i wasn't privy to that discussion.

you came in. i plugged the 2 boards in, that were sitting on the game, on the coffin mover.

the game powered up, booted fine. even i was surprised. it was not a game i had touched in that shop, ever.

you asked where the backglass was. i said "there is no glass, the translite is in the office" and i went and got it.

the game went into ball search. of course...it was missing 2 pinballs. i plopped the other 2 in for testing. wow. slam a shop for needing to source some balls.

so, the game booted, and it played. yes, dammit, it worked. we suck because of that. the balls ended up getting caught in the wrap around ramp behind the backboard. took me 3 minutes to find the shop magnet...and another 20 seconds to fish them out with that magnet. game wasn't level, of course.

after you left, i fixed that coil issue. 1st time i have worked on that game. it took me 3 minutes...it was binding up.

the ramps are epoxied at some screw holes. the center ramp is held in place by tape, a metal/plexi bracket will fix that pretty simply.

the game was offered to you at $1000.00. that's not my price. you offered $500 after dave left. i said, "i know he won't take that, he has more into it, but i can call him"

so you called dave on the phone. and you flipped a switch. wow...what a conversation. i'm glad it was on speakerphone. "i'll give you 500 bucks." "you ripped me off, i think, on that taxi game" "ok, i will load this turd in my truck and i will slap 700 cash on the table and load it up." it was craigslist live if i've ever seen such a situation.

dave offered you the game at $800. i know he's losing a bit of money at that price. i know you're upset with whatever the hell was/is going on.

as i said before, i'm Switzerland. i don't care. i will tell both sides of whatever and to whoever, how i see stuff going down.

it's a hobby. and i don't know any of the backstory.

but this thread? well, look at the downvotes....kind of sums up what people have seen in the average american pinball store location.

oh, this might hurt, but it's not meant to...i sold that exact piece of crap garbage, hack job, cris had to hunt for legs, no-board housing junk paint dog pooping disaster missing leg bolts mousin' around for $1400 locally, about 10 minutes after you walked out of the store. ya...that POS went for double your offer, with little effort from me...remember again...i don't care. i took clear pics, sent to the buyer and the whole 9 yards. as much as i personally hate it, it's not 2008ish pricing anymore.

and we have 300-ish leg bolts onhand. so don't fabricate issues that aren't there. i also showed you chrome bally legs. you were fine with them. why is our storage area such an issue now? now you'll make me keep every customer on the curb, instead of allowing them to follow me to see which leg set they would prefer.

so yes, please don't come back to the "crappy" shop. you know...one where games are repaired. one where the owner purchases games as described, and i get to come in on Fridays and tell Dave how badly he was lied to about issues.

and i'll post some more things you spoke to me about, concerning how Chattanooga pinball is such a beautiful shop to walk into, that will make people cringe on this website. sad panda emoji insert here.

you were nice in person. but on the phone and obviously on the internet, you're a different breed.

seriously dude. prozac. it's just f@@#&^%$ pinball. where i, personally, have met the best people on earth.

get pictures texted next time. if that didn't happen, i'm the first person that will apologize for that. i'm there every friday.

and don't be a keyboard warrior. it's just plain off putting.

Did some research on OP and found out he sells used motorcycles and anything else he can get his hands on to flip. I know the guys that work at Dudes except Dave, and they are great guys, and the main tech has been working on machines for more than 40 years { Fred } is one of the best in the country. Offering $500 was a complete insult and douchebag move on your part.

I'll have a room full of pins if I keep dealing with him...?

I can't wait to sell a game in Florida Mr Nut and you show up at my door like this... Remind me to never sell you anything

This whole thread =

Can you imagine a pinball store that has parts machines to repair other machines? Oh the horror of it all

I can't believe you walked away from an $800 Mousin' Around.

Chris

OP, you're bitching about small condition issues on a $1000 Mousin' Around? And you walked away from an $800 sell price?

What difference does that make?

He wasn't happy just bitchin about it here he put it up on CL too with his phone number the price was $500...lmao

I’m waiting for a flight at the airport. Pinside always serves up a good thread to spend my time on!

Pinball dudes next time give me a call, Sounds like a fair price on a working project.

I have done a number of transactions with pinball dudes, buy, sell, trade, and just got my first nib from them this weekend. They are the most straight forward no b.s. people ive ever dealt with. Im glad to see 99.9% of people here acknowledge that.

Basically what I read from the 1st post is that you’re pissed because the game wasn’t prepped and waiting for you when you got there.

If the boards were installed, translight in place, and balls in the game running before you got there then you would have nothing to say. Nothing...Except, maybe that you lowballed for a game, that you drove to pickup, and you were unsuccessful.

In my local market, it would be tough to find ANYTHING for $800 working or not. Project EM games are always $500 or more, maybe you just don’t realize how good you’ve got it and should be happy to even have pinball shops around.

I have Faith in The Pinball Dudes / just like any shop or dealership . You can't please everyone.
They do try and i give respect for that .
NovaNut ,Do not expect any pinball machine up for sale used will disclose all the issues of said pinball machine.
The owner can miss things on a game that has over 10 thousand parts and miles of wire in it .
With The square footage of cabinets and playfields it is easy to miss a few items . Better to drive and see stuff for what it is . Even pictures are a bad idea as pictures lie sometimes !
An 1 hr 45 minutes ride is nothing for a used pin purchase and in the end it seems you wouldn't have been happy even at 800 so it was a good lesson learned and the Pinball dudes didn't charge you for it

Sounds like the op is just trying to slander Pinball Dudes any way he can. Starting to think hes a competitor or something.

I see a few people on here using .... as opposed to sentences, punctuation, and grammar. So annoying. Is this a young person thing or an old person thing I just don’t understand?

Alright can we get a thumbs up for this statement alone

OP is out of place, his only legitimate criticism may be that if I was selling a machine, it'd be in as close to playable condition as possible when potential buyers arrived, particularly if they're coming from out of town.

Don't start fixing it when I get there.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Robin for having the 'unvisit this topic' and 'drain this topic' feature on this website....

PM me next time you have a $1000 mousin around. I'll take it!!
And I'm in PA!!!