This petition affects anyone who has purchased a NIB (New in Box) pinball machine from Stern Pinball Inc. who was sold a machine with a defective playfield.

Gary Stern, President of Stern Pinball Inc., has publicly and privately said that there are many cases of customers receiving Stern Pinball manufactured pinball machines with playfields that had defects right out of the box.

These defects include, but are not limited to:

1) "Ghosting" Inserts.  The term "Ghosting" refers to a haziness or fogginess within the clear coat of the playfield itself that worsens over time.  This can lead to premature failure of the playfield itself, rapidly diminishing the playfield surface, causing inserts to separate from the playfield, and causing unnecessary diminished value of the product. 

2) Chipping of playfield clear coat.  The clear coat is a protective layer that is placed on the playfield to protect the playfield from thousands and thousands of plays, and allows the playfield artwork to stay protected over time.  Clear coat finishes have remained intact for decades of use on older machines, and if maintained properly, can last a lifetime and is not expected to prematurely fail.  This chipping and flaking of clear coat on certain Stern Pinball machines rapidly diminish the longevity and market value of these collector items.

Stern has promised to offer a "Playfield Replacement Program" to customers who have purchased these pinball machines - ranging from $5,000 to over $8,000 - but has not delivered on this promise.  Gary Stern, President of Stern Pinball, has personally promised to replace customers playfields with populated playfield replacements, and has not delivered on that promise, nor specified a concrete timeline.

We (all affected purchasers of Stern Pinball machines with playfield defects) demand, in writing, a firm date and information as to when Stern Pinball Inc. will replace our playfields with fully populated replacement playfields, or offer a buyback on the products affected at FULL RETAIL price, plus refunding of shipping costs.

For more information, please read the lengthy thread on Pinside.com regarding the manufacturing defects from Stern Pinball Inc:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hey-stern-are-you-serious