Pinball Machine Purchase from Fun Billiards of Texas

Wiggy07

New member
Mar 22, 2013
2
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I bought a Monster Bash pinball machine from Fun Game Room located in Mesquite Texas about two months ago. I called Fun in reference to a Monster Bash pinball machine that I saw on Ebay listed at a fairly high price. I know Monster Bash has become quite expensive in the last few years and it happens to be one of my favorite pinball machines. I spoke with the manager of the business and we agreed on a price. I asked him about the quality of the machine and he replied by saying that the machine was 95% perfect. That leaves 5% of work that needed to be taken care of. In my mind I can live with that. I asked him some questions about the playfield quality, the playability of the machine, side art, etc. Everything I mentioned was supposedly perfect and in great shape. He also mentioned that the machine was looked over by his tech and he is the best in the country according to the manager, everything was replaced and repaired. Also the receptionist told me that the tech is very meticulous and holds shipment of machines longer so the machines can be inspected and repaired. This made me feel very comfortable and reassured that the machine will come to me nearly perfect with what I was being told by the staff at Fun Game Room. Buying a machine sight unseen is very scary because honestly you don’t know what you are receiving at your doorstep. In this day of the Internet, sometimes you need to take the persons word for it unfortunately. That is why I bought this machine from a reputable company thinking the proper steps and care were taken for my machine.

The shipment and sales went flawlessly. Received the machine 5-7 days later, unwrapped it from its plastic and plugged it in. First I noticed a bunch of bulbs out. 5-10 bulbs to be exact. Next I noticed the slingshots were in horrible shape and had no action. They needed adjusting and cleaning badly. The one pop bumper did not work, the Frankenstein table didn’t work, the targets under the Frankenstein table didn’t go up and down, the plastic next to the ball release was cracked in three places, the Dracula figure feet were worn out, the blue covers over the bulbs were brittle and cracked, none of the rubbers were replaced on the machine, the flippers were not adjusted at all because one flipper was higher than the other and the bolts holding the flipper on were not adjustable anymore, the table and underside needed a full cleaning, etc. All these things can be replaced and all of them were by me. The one last thing that wasn’t mentioned at purchase was damage of the playfield. Near the top of the playfield near the pop bumpers has a lot of wearing. Also under the plastic piece that has a Sphinx located on it, the playfield was drilled with three holes and the wood is planking and actually coming apart. A person cannot see this damage until the plastic piece is removed . I reached out to the manager who is named Gideon on three separate occasions about these issues and have gotten no response at all. Very poor customer service on Gideon’s part and also the company Fun Game Room. http://www.pinballandmore.com/

The table had no love in its makeover. It looks like the table was purchased by Fun Game Room and just flipped to be sold. For the price I paid near $12,000, you would think more love and care would have been put into the table before being sold. I'm not asking for a perfect machine, but the little things mentioned about should be addressed, never mind cracking and planking of the playfield. If I knew that in advance, I wouldn't have purchased the machine. Gideon wanted to sell me a Medieval Madness for $15,200. I recently bought a Medieval Madness for $12,000 in excellent condition and full WORKING ORDER. I also bought two more tables after the Monster Bash purchase from private collectors and they look great. My Monster Bash table looks great after the money and care I put into it. I wouldn’t sell it for the world now. I personally would never buy another product from Fun Game Room again because of the quality of the product and also the withholding of information by the staff. Fun Game Room missed out on three more purchases from me.

This rant of mine is not to bash the company or Gideon for the lack of quality or support after the purchase of my Monster Bash. Some of the people on this forum may have bought a table from the company and had no complaints. It is just to inform everyone else about being more cautious about buying a table from a reputable company. I had better luck buying from private owners than from a company who should do the right thing when selling a product.
Good luck with your purchases.
 

Kevlar

New member
Feb 20, 2012
2,631
0
Good post Wiggy and good advice. I too made the same mistake buying my pin last year. I'll buy privately next time and never without seeing/playing it first.
 

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