(Topic ID: 323486)

What happens if the location goes out of business?

By CTDnEUG

1 year ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    #1 1 year ago

    Veteran operators: What happens if a bar where I'm operating several pins should go under? Specifically if they close and break their lease, owing back rent. How difficult should I expect it to be, getting my machines back? Anything I can do now to make that easier/more likely?

    I have a signed agreement, etc. showing that I own the pins, but am not carrying any insurance on them currently.

    The bar might be okay, it's just looking a little financially shaky and I'm trying to be ready for any eventuality. Thanks!

    #2 1 year ago

    Take pictures of the serial numbers of the pins. If the bar closed and you weren’t given an opportunity to collect the pins, you can bring the contract and pictures of the serial numbers to the landlord. If the landlord won’t give back the pins, present the contract and pictures to the police and press felony grand theft charges.

    #3 1 year ago

    I would staple something inside each game with the game name, serial number, your contact info, and that you are the owner of the piece of equipment.

    Keep your records of purchase, etc. with the same in formation.

    There may be a legal process and you might need an attorney to reclaim your equipment.

    Quoted from CTDnEUG:

    but am not carrying any insurance on them currently.

    Big mistake. Might be a long shot. But if someone gets hurt. You'll be the first one sued.

    LTG : )

    #4 1 year ago
    Quoted from CTDnEUG:

    Veteran operators: What happens if a bar where I'm operating several pins should go under? Specifically if they close and break their lease, owing back rent. How difficult should I expect it to be, getting my machines back? Anything I can do now to make that easier/more likely?
    I have a signed agreement, etc. showing that I own the pins, but am not carrying any insurance on them currently.
    The bar might be okay, it's just looking a little financially shaky and I'm trying to be ready for any eventuality. Thanks!

    Ask for a spare key?
    If the place goes under, maybe pay a lively chap in the alley to get the doors open for you!

    Seriously, best defense is to be in the know. Befriend an employee who gives you the inside scoop. Then once you hear that it’s going down, grab your stuff and claim “it’s for unforeseen maintenance”

    Rescued a vending machine from a location a week before the landlord locked the doors using this method. Saved me a huge headache.

    #5 1 year ago

    Once the LL puts the big lock on the doors it's going to be really tough. If you sense it now, get them out.

    #6 1 year ago

    And its not just that landlord that might put locks on the doors. Once a business has trouble making payroll or other expenses, they might stop paying taxes and the government (city, county, state, etc.) might put locks on the doors and sell equipment at auction to recoup unpaid taxes. Seen it happen . . .

    #7 1 year ago

    I’ve had it happen to me twice
    About 10 years ago I had a TZ at a card shop that went under. I got a call from the landlord that my pin is the only thing left in the building and if I want to pick it up I have to get it in the next 3 days or it would be going in the trash…
    About 4 years ago I had a DE GNR, Spider-Man, and a WW in a booming restaurant that went under because the owner went to jail.
    I had to wait about a week to pick it up and I had to deal w the new owner who put a “ransom” on my equipment… let’s just say I only deal w locations that has business owners that like pinball after that

    1 month later
    #8 1 year ago

    Just read these stories and I would hope that the landlord would know it’s your property. The most they could ask for is all the cash in the machine you would hope.

    #9 1 year ago
    Quoted from DK:

    I’ve had it happen to me twice
    About 10 years ago I had a TZ at a card shop that went under. I got a call from the landlord that my pin is the only thing left in the building and if I want to pick it up I have to get it in the next 3 days or it would be going in the trash…
    About 4 years ago I had a DE GNR, Spider-Man, and a WW in a booming restaurant that went under because the owner went to jail.
    I had to wait about a week to pick it up and I had to deal w the new owner who put a “ransom” on my equipment… let’s just say I only deal w locations that has business owners that like pinball after that

    The 1st one if there is a law after 72 hours it's considered abandoned equipment or something like that. The 2nd one is Illegal to ask for money and you could have pressed charges.

    #10 1 year ago

    I worked for operators of amusement equipment for twenty years.

    We had our equipment sold (illegally) by the landlords dozens of times. About half of the time it was sold to the new person in the same space, so we were able to explain the situation and start operating at the same location again. Frequently this required us paying the new person in the space for what he paid the landlord for our equipment!

    Lots of times we never got our equipment back.

    Dozens of times it was locked up by the landlord, and it took weeks, months, and occasionally more than a year to get into the building to retrieve our equipment.

    We didn't have insurance, we just absorbed the cost.

    As for making it easier - having written contracts was a big improvement in recovering our equipment. Having written documentation showing the equipment names and item numbers on the same page as the location address helps. (Our collection ticket software did this).

    Mostly, each case was different, and sometimes we got burned.

    "Become an amusement operator, all you do is collect the money!" - Yeah, right.

    #11 1 year ago

    I had one spot I collected monthly 25 years ago when i was a kid lol.. It was a laundromat and had a Chase HQ driver. This was a spot collected once every month or so. Went to collect and the whole building was gone. Just a mud parking lot never able to get ahold of owner or find out anything.
    Do not operate with out insurance! Too risky with today's climate of frivolous lawsuits.

    #12 1 year ago

    I had a location many years ago this thread reminded me of. I usually collected just over 6 weeks each visit.

    Got lazy and went closer to 12 weeks one time. The business was in a strip mall. Showed up the place was locked up. Paper on the windows and I could barely see inside and everything I could see was gone, games were never in sight.

    Got ahold of the key holder and got in. Everything was gone except my equipment and a few garbage cans. Even a door to a safe was just laying in the middle of the room. They must have liked me enough to keep my stuff there. Got it all loaded up without incident.

    I don’t miss that part of pinball at all.

    Pinball wasn’t worth as much back then so I never thought to register serial numbers or tag the equipment with my information.

    #13 1 year ago
    Quoted from pinballplusMN:

    whole building was gone.

    Happened to my favorite bar too.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/what-happens-if-the-location-goes-out-of-business?hl=jeffswack and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.