Dr.Dude
New Member
Yeah, "dirty" indeed. The average hobbiest collector is easy prey for these scam-artists, since it would never occur to most of us that an apparent fellow-hobbiest would be a thief. I do think Anderson/Uttley is a bit different as he typically does seem to actually have the games he advertises, but he is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to defraud non-local people.
IMO, there's a continuum of fraud in the pinball hobby/business
IMO, there's a continuum of fraud in the pinball hobby/business
- Honest dealer: If not your friend, then someone who treats you as if you were. Prices asked or offered are fair, and any misrepresentation of condition are due to honest oversights/mistakes. Over time, such folk gain a reputation for honestly and fair-dealing, and that reputation is worth more than any number of social-media "likes".
- Amateur used-car salesman: Always tries to squeeze the highest possible price out of a sale and will blatantly low-ball you on a purchase. Condition of a game will be grossly exaggerated ("Works 100%! Fully shopped!"). Will commit to a deal and then break it in a heartbeat if a better offer comes along. In any deal they treat you like the enemy -- to be defeated. No actual fraud, but you will inevitably feel vaguely cheated. These people think they are doing no wrong because, hey, it's a business! Just looking out for #1! If you call them on their deceit they will claim it's your fault and that you should have been more careful. Most times the pinball community will come to recognize these types and the word will spread to stay away from their deals.
- Opportunistic Fraudster: They will commit low-level crime/fraud if they think they can get away with it. On a sale, even though they do actually have the machine, they will take your deposit and sell to someone else, or do a bait-and-switch and deliver a game stripped of valuable parts. Repair service is their way to buy desirable titles for rock-bottom prices ("hey, this thing is toast, not worth repairing, but I will take it away for $200"). If they actually do a repair, will swap-out your "good" boards for crappy ones, or perform temporary/destructive hacks to get a game sort-of working. Probably not going to get caught by the police unless they are really dumb but will eventually be blacklisted by the pinball community since the evidence of their minor theft/fraud eventually piles up.
- Actual Thief: Advertises games they don't have for ridiculously low prices to attract naive/desperate buyers, and harvest their deposits. Since they don't actually have the game, they are only one step up from bogus duct-cleaning services. Possibly offers a repair service where your game never comes back from the shop as they just steal it. Fortunately, these types usually don't last long, as they leave too much of a paper-trail and will eventually end up known to law-enforcement.
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