It was a nice one. Put alot of work into it. Owed me alot more but sold for the 2k asking price. Was a shame the price had to be bumped up so much by a dealer.
Pinball info
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Dealers Covertly Prowling the Forum
- Thread starter DRD
- Start date
i once donated my old retro Garfield Phone to a charity shop in Warwick (it only used pulses, not tones, useless!) - turned up in a shop round the corner for £35 the following day. Happens every day, in all areas.
On a related note; I've recently dealt with HLD, so will be writing up my experience truthfully once it has come to a conclusion.
On a related note; I've recently dealt with HLD, so will be writing up my experience truthfully once it has come to a conclusion.
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But according to HLD it's £200 below RRP. Not sure how they've worked out the RRP for a 2nd hand item, but surely they know what they are doing and not being dishonest about it.... right?
Apparently there are 33 different definitions for RRP though...
You can pre-order an Alien via HLD for £4900, which apparently saves you £297 off the RRP, despite the fact you can pre-order them direct from Heighway for £4700 
How I'm pretty sure they're coming up with their RRP prices at this point.
Crazy price that and it probably will sell. At least you got your asking price.
Do they sell at those crazy prices?
I have never dealt with HLD. But I looked at the site today.
https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/p...erminator-2-pinball-machine-led-upgraded.html
The "warranty" referred to did not really impress me. It appears to be "parts only", which might come as a shock to noobs with no experience of repair work. So what happens when a coil locks on and fries, damaging the board ? are you mailed a coil, a TIP102, some solder and a diode ?. Or are you mailed a new coil, some solder and a solenoid driver board ? ......
"All parts that are faulty will be replaced .... for the customer to fit. Please call us for a call out quotation"
But hey, there is the "Price Promise" .........
"Price Promise. We check our prices against major retailers every day".
The more I hear. The more I read. The less inclined I am to deal with this lot
I hope @Monkeyboypaul 's review shows these guys in a favourable light
https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/p...erminator-2-pinball-machine-led-upgraded.html
The "warranty" referred to did not really impress me. It appears to be "parts only", which might come as a shock to noobs with no experience of repair work. So what happens when a coil locks on and fries, damaging the board ? are you mailed a coil, a TIP102, some solder and a diode ?. Or are you mailed a new coil, some solder and a solenoid driver board ? ......
"All parts that are faulty will be replaced .... for the customer to fit. Please call us for a call out quotation"
But hey, there is the "Price Promise" .........
"Price Promise. We check our prices against major retailers every day".
The more I hear. The more I read. The less inclined I am to deal with this lot
I hope @Monkeyboypaul 's review shows these guys in a favourable light
The more i read on HLD, the more i think they are a front for money washing purposes.
They make a ton of loot out of game room contracts and selling pool, snooker, table football, dukeboxes & arcade cabinets to go in them. Presumably pinball adds to that ... but even totally green in the hobby, visiting at the end of last summer, it was immediately apparent to me that pinball part of the operation was a massive noob trap. No-one, I repeat no-one, with any time or knowledge in the hobby (and many without the benefit of that) would ever fall for it.
The T2, if their collection now is similar to how it was then, would be by far and away their best condition game - and although good, is not a fully restored collector's piece as their prices for it and other games would have you believe.
When I visited, despite being told through gritted teeth that most of their machines were world class and some you'd never find better in a lifetime of trying, were in obviously very poor cosmetic condition, and 2/3rds weren't functioning properly. This despite the pricing exceeding Pinball Dreams' ...
Their engineer / restoration guy was 'working' on a machine in the showroom when I was there ... he was as much of a joke as the sales guys. I gather he's been replaced with someone completely unqualified and on a derisory salary, and expected to buy his own tools for the job on said salary. No-one at the company is (edit: was) capable of fixing, restoring or servicing machines.
Their 'restored' machines are to vintage pinball what Stern '16 builds are to modern machines. Immensely overpriced train wrecks that will likely fall to pieces.
On the topic of selling to dealers, you can't eliminate it and I'm not sure it's desirable to either, but if you can possibly avoid selling to HLD, please please please do ... what they do is awful, re: old pinball machines.
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Apparently the owner of the company likes American muscle cars and insisted they got one for the show room (he also has either an LE or Premium at home). Sales guy said they hadn't sold any a year ago.
Re: work being done on the T2 or not, I guarantee the most it has had done is a bit of a shine of the playfield (unlikely if it looked respectable already).
I'd already given the playfield a good clean and a wax before it was picked up. I can tell you that it is in exactly the same condition as when it left. Even down to the tiny strand of fluff that has fallen between the dot matrix and the red perspex filter i put on.
The coin door was also missing the coin flap which i couldn't source. Still missing this flap. The cabinet was okay but i wouldn't say it was anything near the quality of a redecalled cab. I definitely wouldn't of listed it as that myself.
In all fairness they've taken some good high definition photos of it and that adds anout £2000 ontop of a machine right?
D
Deleted member 2463
They are a business and there to make money - if people are silly enough to buy from them (or anyone else for that matter) without doing research then they deserve all they get but they aren't doing anything wrong. The T2 looks like they've used an existing webpage for a different T2 and expect that's the reason for some of the discrepancies (not good though irrespective) however with HLD I bought two things from them - one was a pool table that they were very competitive on and the service to install it was fantastic, one was a retro multi arcade machine that I needed Ina a big hurry for an event and they got it half way across the country in one day.
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Hld bought our rebuilt ebd a while back , but they were totally straight with me from the start about who they were. Very professional and turned up when they said they would. Prompt payment by bacs. Nothing unpleasant about the transaction at all. We got the price we wanted for it. What they do with it next is their business......FYI. It was one of the best ebd I have seen for a generation!
Here it is........
https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/p...chines/eight-ball-deluxe-pinball-machine.html
Here it is........https://www.homeleisuredirect.com/p...chines/eight-ball-deluxe-pinball-machine.html
I'd label deliberate misdescription of goods offered for sale, and misleading statements on services available, as fraud, personally. That seems wrong to me ... evidently not to you, as long as they're making a buck.
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No, but the guy who was their so called engineer / restorer when I visited was so obviously not up to the job, just from seeing him work for a couple of minutes, and the smell of bull**** so pervasive with their sales guys and pricing / quality of machines, I spoke to a couple of people who are in the industry, about them. They echoed what I said and conveyed details about their new guy. None of which surprises me in the least.
Things may have changed again since then, but I somehow doubt they're suddenly going to employ someone qualified at least to work on the electrics and service the machines properly (a restorations guy is completely out of the question). This simply because that would require paying someone way, way more money.
D
Deleted member 2463
Well if we are putting on our "I'm a condescending dick" badge... got mine on now too!
I've been down there a few times in the last year and seen the pinball machines and I don't agree with the condition that you are stating they are in (are they worth the prices they are selling them at? - no not to me) and no I don't condone anyone deliberately misleading anyone but I stand by my view in that in the two transactions I've had with them they provided outstanding service and I would use them again. I also know one of their former engineers who has done work to repair three of my machines and he did an outstanding job on all occasions. I'd also say that it seems wrong to me to make comments about the salary or competence of staff working the when I guarantee you don't have the facts, I think they call that libel and if you are really unlucky defamation, which is clearly ok for you! I've taken my condescending dick badge off but can put it back on if we want a rematch!
Neil.
The deliberate misdescription of goods is not debatable, and something that you, they, I and everyone here are all aware of. The T2 is absolutely blatant. You just sound very defensive and like you might have a hat in the ring, rather than being a 'dick'. As to the language used, I was rather more careful than you ...
Check out the feefo ratings for HLD. Seems most people are very happy with their service. And why wouldn't they be? Seems to me, if they are getting a fortune anyway, its less of a problem to them to go above and beyond for the customer.
Personally speaking i could easily replicate the feeling i would get using HLD by simply buying a game from a trusted collector then setting fire to 3K in my garden when i got home. In front of the wife.
Personally speaking i could easily replicate the feeling i would get using HLD by simply buying a game from a trusted collector then setting fire to 3K in my garden when i got home. In front of the wife.