yes sad that has happened, maybe next time get a local pinhead to get the parts and ship to you.

as for the shooter lane, nice work, you made short work of it - and was only trying to be helpful - which I am sure you saw it from that angle.

look forward to the next fun update and really looking forward to seeing the art.

I'm offended by this

No we want them to charge what it actually costs to ship not profiteer and charge 10X. you are aware that you pay duty on goods AND shipping, right?

Just to clarify……

The package in question weighed 3 pounds and the shipping option that was chosen at check out from our web site was USPS Priority Mail Express International™. The actual shipping cost for this parcel was $67.75, and that is the same amount Bas was charged.

There is a less expensive shipping option offered at checkout (USPS Priority Mail International®) - $47.85. However, this option was not chosen.

As an FYI; when we charge the actual cost of shipping to our customers we actually lose money due to CC/Paypal fees and, in the case of international orders, currency conversion fees that have to be paid not only on the value of the order, but also the shipping cost. The total cost of these fees we paid for the shipping cost of this specific parcel was $2.03. Taken individually this is not a big number, but multiplied by 1000’s and 1000’s of parcels shipped annually it becomes quite large. I’m not complaining as I understand this as a cost of doing business. I just want people to know that when any business charges the actual price of the cost of shipping a parcel they are losing money. The perception of everyone *getting ripped off* with international shipping fees is wrong, at least when it comes to Pinball Life and our shipping practices.

All Pinball Life international orders ship with a commercial invoice attached to the outside of the parcel. This commercial invoice matches the customs paperwork. When documentation is mismatched, incomplete, or missing, parcels tend to get returned, lost, or seriously delayed. These reasons, more than fraud charges being leveled against Pinball Life, are why we ship orders in compliance with what customs offices around the world want to see. It is our responsibility to get our customers’ orders delivered to them, so we follow what we have found to be the best practices to get the job done.

The Minions project is great. I’ve been following it since the beginning. I’d love to see it done and everyone be happy with the result. I understand the cost of a project like this is very high and pennies that can be saved must be saved. If we sell no more parts to this project because of our business practices that isn’t going to damper my enthusiasm for this project one bit.

Terry.
Pinball Life

Mic Drop

As expected, Pinball Life was just following the customs rules so he could provide the most reliable service to customers while also not getting fined (or far worse). As expected, there was a second side to the story that was previously unrepresented.

Now that that's all open why doesn't the OP just get back to the actual subject that everyone is here for instead of dragging this down into a mudslinging thread. The pinball machine is cool. Your petty requests for special treatment are not. Stick to what's good.

Stand up dude and comment.

Fixed.

giphy.gif

Looks great guys.

My question is how did this thread become so serious. Hey guys lets get back to the fun minions project.
No muddying the waters here.

Way more than 7 readers. I put a link onto our biggest pinball site here I Australia a while ago as I thought this thread deserves a look. Great stuff happening and all born out of the Jpoop shitstorm. From a stinker into a positive place. Go Amigos.

Note to self. Don't criticise site that cannot be named.

Now back to NOT messing up that playfield.

Maybe they are the shy type because at current, your thread has been favorited by 223 Pinsiders. I know I check it every time there is a new post. Super pumped about this project, and excited to see the progress/results.

Is it Friday yet? Cannot wait for our weekly updates!

I'm in from the start! always a great way to start the weekend!
Lou
PS: Canadians have the same shipping problem as you. Cost a fortune to get 5$ of stuff. Marco Spec is the cost shipping king. Now back to fun stuff!

I have better things to do, I told you lots of folks read this thread, including guys who work at pinball life. I believe they actively monitor pinside so they can respond to questions or issues that get raised regarding pinball life.

I follow every post with excitement, but rarely chime in.

You guys rock and beers on me if you are ever stateside!

yeah, i think there are a lot of lurkers who dont post, but your machine is a joy to watch its progression, keep up the great work!

One of the silent majority here as well.

I love Pinball Life, I have ordered all the parts for my project form them so far. They ship accurate quality product quickly. Always easy to work with and a very professional comment makes me like and trust them with my business even more! keep up the good work!

Now, it will be nice to return to our regularly scheduled program in a couple days!

-Jim

One of your silent followers here....
Really Impressive work, this is -The- thread of Pinside.
Very good design ideas and also very nicely executed! Keep up the good work.
/Peter @ Sweden

IMG_0489 (resized).JPG

When the topic gets derailed...

gif.gif

As a matter of fact, that gif would make an awesome match sequence on the display. The green "fog" would instead be a number, but would be kind of wavy to show the resemblance of gas.

I don't come in regularly... but do when the topic exceeds 100ish posts. That way I see the progress is a bing-watchy-manner.
Keep it on the rails guys!

Awesome work guys. I'm very impressed with how you get stuff done. I can't wait to see the artwork on the playfield, then it will start looking from a hobby project to a real pin really fast. I don't mean anything negative by that either, it was already great the way it was!

See you on tomorrow!

I don't always write stuff but this is my favourite Pinside topic and always the one I read first. Really hope you
guys get this beauty done in time for the DPO in November!

I'm another invisible follower of this topic ! You're my favorite thread I'm going also to build my own pinball (humm, I will try!), and you're a great source of inspiration and motivation !

GO GO GO !!!!

8 months since I was on Pinside ... this has moved on nicely
Does the above say "it has to withstand DPO 2017 abuse" ?

I keep hearing these horror stories about international shipping costs. I ship internationally quite a bit (ramps) and USPS works great for me, however I avoid all the "Priority" modes and just ship regular mail. Provided the sum of the length, width and height of the package do not exceed 36", the package can be sent regular mail. For small packages where no dimension is greater than 12", a package weighing 8 oz or less, the postage to the UK is $13.50. Weighing around 1 lb goes for $22.50. The mail system has yet to lose one.

Looking forward to your next update. The work you guys have done on the backbox is truly creative and innovative and "outside the box." The playfield looks interesting as well - can't wait to see how you tie the artwork and theme into the shots and layout.

I'm one of the lucky ones that gets to pickup parts in person at pinball life, and no joke nearly every time I check out I say "Are you sure you're charging me enough?". Shipping sucks in the US because of the demand from amazon, it's even worse overseas. It's the biggest reason why I tend to not sell on ebay internationally. Online shipping prices are less than in-store prices, and then if you're off on the weight and it jumps to the next tier, you could easily be out a few bucks, maybe even $20 (and there's already thin margins on the product you're selling).

I have friends that live in Australia, and they'll use a service in florida somewhere that's like a PO box, but it's really a crate. They shop online and have it sent there, and when it's full it ships out. That way they pay to ship multiple things all at once, and get a break on the tariff.

well it's friday late afternoon here, looking forward to the art reveal......

were all looking forward to that! MOVE ALONG PLEASE- ENOUGH WITH THE CHIT CHAT.

a cousin who lives in Zevenbergen just sent me a pic of the conditions there - hopefully this doesn't slow you up tonight your time

holland (resized).jpg

My Mediëval Castle played 436 !!!! games on the nfv clubhouse cw 2016 weekend.
I had to rescrew the castle gate on the playfield with stronger bolds and 1 right flipper fuse has blow.
It did play extremly wel.
So its going to be a real stress test on the Dutch EXPO 2017 for the Minions pinball.

Can't wait to play it.
Keep on the good works and don't drink to mutch hahahaha.

man that is bad..... then we have the opposite of estimate 40 deg C today