Machine I sold has a problem in the first week in its new home

[genebopp]

I sold a double diamond to a guy about a week ago.  I bought the machine on craigslist.  The power connector to the mother board was burnt and the former owner tried to "fix" it by bending and breaking off some of the SP legs.  I soldered new legs on to the game chip and soldered the the power wires to the mother board.  I used a clear chip and the machine worked perfectly.  I left in on for a week and played it every time I walked though the room and then turned it on an off a few times a day to make sure it started up normally every single time.  I had no issues at all. 

The guy I sold it to called me after he had it for a week.  He said that he turned the machine on and it had a 61 error, so he pushed the test button and the displays went dark and the candle is not flashing.  He says the machine only lights up. but the game doesnt ever do the first spin.  No matter what he has done the machine doesn't do anything but light up and BV cycles.  I had him reseat the MPU.  No change.  The denomination sticker is lit and the reels are stiff.  He lives 45 minutes away from me.  He has offered to bring it back and pay me to fix it.  I dont want him to pay me and I really want the guy to be happy.  But it took 25 frustrating (speaker phone/ with wife repeating) minutes to explain how to get a stuck dollar bill out of the DBV and which point he stuck the same bill back in and it got stuck again.  So helping solve this on the phone is not really gonna be possible.

I feel really bad that the machine got error in the first week he bought it.  How would you deal with this?  Do machines just get 61 errors when you turn them on?

[slotsteve]

been there done that   , some homeowners want to be slot techs, We sold a s2000 i have in my shop for month that people always played , sold it to a guy 1 day later is was messed  up , if they are local 30 miles or so i always give 1 free service call ,  but what ever this guy did   we  swaped him another slot i could not fix it at his home , as of last week i changed every part in that slot except wire and monther board, and it still don,t work,soon as you put in hopper game dies and even lights go off  pull out hopper and there a click and its back on , Its nice making a few hundred on a game but  we rather sell to dealers as/is and make less and have no headaches

[ROCKET]

We all have "WAR STORIES" of selling a machine to a idiot home owner or what i nicknamed them 20 years ago was  "button pressers "

Just explain in simple terms --

 one its a used piece of equipment .
 
explain to customer that you cannot predict electronic life expectantcy  ??

 
home owners who press buttons or turn screws with power on or power off VOID ALL WARRANTY'S

explain my little white lie as the seller that i can retrieve any and all info from the machine how it was handled -what buttons pressed or power offs & ons etc and even a blow to cabinet from a fist from anger .. from the in cabinet sensors lol

I sold a MIDWAY 8000 TOUCH SCREEN COUNTER TOP GAME TO A CUSTOMER . early design with EPROM BASED BOARD .
HE purchased it for his mother ..after his father died to keep her occupied playing SOLITARE ETC .
NEVER A PROBLEM .

He came back 2 weeks later -- purchased a MIDWAY INFINITY -PLAYBOY EDITION -For himself  "HARD DRIVE MACHINE "
HE PLACED IT ON THE CENTER CONSOLE OF A FORD  CUBE VAN -For the 50 mile ride home ..

i demonstrated all features of machine and gave a simple manual for programing games thats it .
 the machine was in front of him and his buddy before cash went from hand to hand .

I said i dont like where you have that machine for the trip home . if you hit brakes it could fall forward and brake the touch screen etc
 its just not a safe spot ..
he said its fine etc .. he called me that night said machine works grerat very happy ..

24 hours later he calls says machine wont come on ?? that he pressed every button he could find ??
AFTER I TOLD HIM IF ANY TROUBLE CALL ME --DONT PRESS ANY BUTTONS ETC ..

so i dont hear from him again until 60 days later he says can i bring the machine down and swap it out with a working model ??

i said sure keep the old machine and bring me another 275.00 cash and i will give you another working model that i will demo test in front of you and one of my guys ..
he said why cant you repair the one you sold me .?? i said you call 24 hrs after initial sale say it works fine then within same 24 hrs call and say it does not power up -
then you wait 60 days to bring it back and want a swap   
i said 30 days parts & labor or even home visit within 50 miles to fix machine .you never got back to me at all until 60 days later ..

I knew he was pulling a fasty .

I said  bring the machine I sold you. BACK TO MY SHOP -

I said  you stay there for only 10 minutes to watch what the trouble shoot screen says .. .
he said what trouble shoot screen . ??I SAID I HAVE A SPECIAL KEY TO GET INTO HIDDEN FILES .  i said a TINY WHITE LIE !! ---


I SAID THE SOFTWARE IN THIS MACHINE WILL TELL ME IF IT WAS DROPPED !! WHAT BUTTONS PRESSED !! IF IT TOOK A ELECTRIC SURGE HIT ! IF ANY OF THE DIP SWITCHES WERE TURNED OFF OR ON THEN BACK TO WHERE THEY WERE ..

I said it has software that tells the tech if the machine has been abused or tampered with even down to hitting the cabinet with a fist because you lost a game .. 

FUNNY I NEVER HAD CONTACT FROM THE GUY AGAIN & THAT WAS 5 YEARS AGO LOL

you can be the greatest tech and repair and sell any machine ..but if a home owner plays with it ..and does not tell you ..
after being told call me FIRST BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT ANYTHING .. SORRY I SHOW NO MERCY TO THOSE CUSTOMERS . 

Just my two cents use common sense when selling a machine .. ask if any kids in house ?? who will be playing it etc ..
it saves alot of agravation .

Rocket 

[knagl]

I'd consider making one free service visit to his house, explaining up front that you're not a mobile slot tech and that this is a one-time courtesy. Bring as many spare parts as you can in your car so you can hopefully get the machine back up and running.

[ROCKET]

I'd consider making one free service visit to his house, explaining up front that you're not a mobile slot tech and that this is a onetime courtesy. Bring as many spare parts as you can in your car so you can hopefully get the machine back up and running.

Kevin i agree if it was a regular  customer . but I am not pointing fingers at any dealer including myself .................the public always wants the "FREE RIDE" does a machine all of a sudden get a code 61   sure it can happen .. in transit . the MPU could have been bumped loose .. a battery could of been close to being dead and if cold weather got to it over night if left in vehicle it could of died ..

 many customers i found WHO ARE REGULAR GUYS & GALS THAT LISTEN----- are honest if it did work at the sales shop ..then 24 -48 hours later its dead -that normally indicates a shipping problem where a wire fell off or plug came undone ..

 ITS THE CUSTOMERS THAT WANT YOU TO GO OVER AND ABOVE THE CALL OF DUTY TO GET THE MACHINE WORKING AGAIN --WITHOUT TELLING YOU THE ENTIRE TRUTH OF WHAT THEY   DID TO IT AFTER IT ARRIVED AT THERE HOME .. ..

THE little white lie i told that customer that time that i can turn a key and find out how many times it was turned on and turned off etc it not far from total truth . on many machines . ITS THE GUYS WHO PRESS BUTTONS LIKE CRAZY ..SCREW UP SETTINGS ETC ..THAT YOU KNOW JUST LIED TO YOU RIGHT TO YOUR FACE ..
THEN EXPECT THE WORLD .. OH BUT  THE KIDS LOVE IT ..
WELL IF DADDY DID NOT MESS WITH THE MACHINES SETTINGS AFTER IT ARRIVED HOME --IT STILL WOULD BE WORKING ..
WE ALL KNOW THE PROFIT MARGIN IS NOT THE POT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW ..

BUT I DO STAND BEHIND ALL MY PRODUCTS I SELL  JUST TO KEEP MY GOOD NAME AND REFERALS .

BAD WORD SPREADS QUICKER THAN GOOD WORD ..    

in closing some customers you can never make happy and some you toss in 6 extra light bulbs in case one goes out think your great ..

Rocket

[genebopp]

I really just tinker with these things.  I have only gotten one to have a 61 by stuff that I did, like change the reel chip or try one mpu in an other machine.  So I dont know what is wrong with this one.   I would eventually get anything to work, but I would just change parts till I narrowed it down.  Since I am not a dealer, just  a guy that sold a slot machine on craigslist.   I would have a either take parts out of my machine or buy them just to experiment.  Any quick guess as to why a machine could have a 61 error when you turned it on?  I would have thought that it would take some kind of "event" to show that.

[CVslots]

Does the new owner seem like one to get inside the machine at all? Some buyers are very curious (ok, TOO curious) and have a problem keeping their paws out of the machine, especially when it's there first one.

[genebopp]

Yea, he does seem like he might be the kind to snoop inside.  He had asked me how to change the odds when he bought it.  After he called me with the error< i told him to reseat the MPU.  I didnt think about pulliing the hopper or the coin tray and he didnt ask.    He pulled the resat the MPU faster than I could  have ifI removed the hopper and he didnt ask any question about it.  He knew that the error 61 is a cmos error and that pushing the test button was step 1.  He didnt know what was supposed happen after that.  I would really like the machine to work for the guy, even if it cost me some money.  I know I (with NLG) help could fix anything the machine broke on its own.   But I dont know if I could find things that were damaged.

[ROCKET]

Yea, he does seem like he might be the kind to snoop inside.  He had asked me how to change the odds when he bought it.  After he called me with the error< i told him to reseat the MPU.  I didnt think about pulliing the hopper or the coin tray and he didnt ask.    He pulled the resat the MPU faster than I could  have ifI removed the hopper and he didnt ask any question about it.  He knew that the error 61 is a cmos error and that pushing the test button was step 1.  He didnt know what was supposed happen after that.  I would really like the machine to work for the guy, even if it cost me some money.  I know I (with NLG) help could fix anything the machine broke on its own.   But I dont know if I could find things that were damaged.

IM NOTORRIOUS FOR TYPING IN CAPS SORRY YOU FOLKS WHO THINK IM YELLING .. IM NOT YELLING JUST A LONG WAYS BACK FROM A 36 INCH DISPLAY .

WHEN YOU SOLD THE GUY THE MACHINE DID YOU HAVE ANY TYPE OF WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED ON THE SALE ??
OR MACHINE >>>AS IS << CONDITIUON . ?? OR OTHER ??

I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU FEEL .. HONESTLY DO .. ..YOUR A HONEST MAN .. TO MANY THERE WERE NOT MORE OUT THERE ..  

[genebopp]

no, i dont think I am under any sort of obligation at all.  i  just feel bad that it broke for him.  I know i could fix it, but how long it would take and how many wrong guesses is an other issue all together.

[cowboygames]

If you're dead set on helping him, tell him you're sorry and will be glad to help if he wants to bring it to you. Simply inform him that there are several possibilities and it may take a day or two to narrow it down. Being honest and wanting to help is great, but don't let it eat your lunch either. There is no telling what, if anything, he may have done to cause this

[startek2]

hmmm look really close at those socketted chips.....it is always possible you have a bent leg that was touching enough to work for a while but not now.  Also they might have tried pulling the chips themselves....

[genebopp]

I told him I would help him figure out what was wrong after I got home from a week end away about a month ago and never heard back from him. 

[AnDaLe!]

Maybe he found NLG and fixed it himself!!!  That is how most of us got here!

[CVslots]

More often than not, that it is the fix..."Oh, I have a problem....wait, never mind...."