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New Heighway Owner

robertlucas1970 said:
So reading all this have people just paid a deposit or have some people paid in full ?
If they have paid in full why would you do that ?
I read about the problems they had with FT and I think one pin was almost going to get set on fire after months and months of not getting sorted out, that alone is enough to proceed with caution.
I know people can claim the funds back on a credit card, but a debit card is a different kettle of fish and I would not leave it any longer, I would be on the phone trying to get my funds back.
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So Andrew told people 2 years ago if they paid for Alien in full, that would bump them to the front of the line. Many that loved Alien were excited by the chance to get one of the first games and did just this. What ended up happening is the Aliens that shipped recently did not go to those early adopters that were fully paid. They went to new customers that waved cash and cut the line.

I agree that paying in full for Alien was always a dumb idea. Why? The LE's NEVER sold out. So why pay in full? Why even send in a deposit? Just wait to a distributor has a game and buy one. But people in pinball are dumb. The fear of missing out led so many to be foolish with their money. It's one thing to chase the next Stern LE because you know there's a 100% chance you'll get your game. But HP? Man...
 
Helmut Langenbruch said:
Does it really matter how many investors? No it doesn't. The only thing what matters is, they are there. These people know about Pinball and run a business. Stop f...g speculating things and gossiping and let the investors and us employees do our job which we couldn't do in the past. More information will come shortly from the investors. Thanks
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Helmut, you don't get it. You are one of the reasons people kept sending money in when **** was going south fast. Alien owners appreciate your support of their games, but every Alien that has shipped has had A LOT of problems and issues. Your company lied to consumers time and time again, shipped out beta games disguised as production units just to tell other buyers "SEND MONEY NOW...ALIEN IS SHIPPING!!!"

Your investors are the SAME PEOPLE that invested in Heighway pinball on day 1. SAME PEOPLE. But it's going to be different now? How? They gonna hire George Gomez or Jersey Jack to take over? Because that's the size of company Andrew promised. Saying someone KNOWS PINBALL is not what people want to hear. Someone that KNOWS MANUFACTURING is what is needed here...and not just any, Pinball Manufacturing. So tell us, are these investors experts in that? Have they any experience with that? Would you buy a car from a few rich guys that have never made a car before?
 
If Stern offered me the fist StarWars I still would not pay upfront, the only time I would pay upfront is with paypal and before the 90 day claimback deadline, not 2 years as so much can happen in that time.
 
Kendra I do agree on a lot of your comments but laying some of the blame on helmut is massively unfair I don't know the guy but like him and other hp staff are just doing a job going to work and earning a living
I have worked for a company that went in to administration and you get an incline that things are not right but till you turn up that day and the receivers move you are never sure let me tell you that this will be just as uncomfortable for staff members as it is for people who have paid in not knowing you are going to get paid do you bail or stay most horrible situations to be in believe me
 
stoptap said:
I simply would never pay up front for a game. When they are sat in Pinball Heaven, in a box that is the time to buy.
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Yes if people carry on throwing there money at stuff that they have not even seen the more the manufacturers will carry on with the pre order **** just wait till it's in stock at ph then buy it they will always be enough to go round unless you want an le which is pretty much the same games these days with different art stern can't give Aerosmith le s away
 
Even if you were 100% sure you would get a game with the pre-pay model, how do you know it is going to be any good? No reviews, tailored videos and pictures, no idea of reliability. I've bought games before I've played them, but I have done a lot of research, reading reviews, watching videos etc, games that have been out for a few years.

They say hindsight is a wonderful thing, but sometimes having a brain in your nut is better.
 
stoptap said:
I simply would never pay up front for a game. When they are sat in Pinball Heaven, in a box that is the time to buy.
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Agree, just like I'd never buy a house off plan, unless I'm an investor - and that's the mindset some Pinsider's seem to live in.
 
I can't believe it. I agree with Canada. To me it's been patently obvious that there was no manufacturing even since Full Throttle days. Whilst not being able to say much due to an NDA, I do have to ask as to why Andy incorporated a new company months ago https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10370844/officers . No suggesting any impropriety in that but not the sort of thing you concentrate on whilst trying to run a start up pinball business.
And where is he? I'd imagine he's been told to keep his head down and is probably brushing up on a little Russian.
 
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Kaneda said:
But people in pinball are dumb.
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I agree with a lot of what you say but the above is a daft comment to make. I got burned by the Predator fiasco but I'm certainly not dumb. I'm very trusting but not dumb. If I give someone my word, I'll follow through. I generally look at others as I look at myself. Sometimes it doesn't work out trusting someone else. But it's not me that's dumb, it's them letting me down.
 
@Kaneda Too many replies mate. You probably have a good point to make, but spam replying to every single post isn't a great way to do it - people just won't read them ;) Take a breath or two mate :thumbs:
 
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Not too happy about getting lied to in an email in order to get another deposit (Morgan Potter - Customer services executive). End of may my hairy ass crack!!!!

But then that royal bum blasting i got from predator had my defenses up so i had a strong feeling things just weren't right.
 
I'm in Denmark for the world championships. I can confirm Scandinavian investors have control of the company and have said their priority is to get the Alien game out to everyone that as paid ASAP. I'm not able to say how long that will take so please don't shoot the messenger..!
 
It's the same investors from the start so why would anything change I also read a post that they have been at the factory for 3 weeks so why have they not replied to any e mail
If they have been there for the last 3 weeks have they been overseeing people who where not on the aliens list rolling up and buying pins cash the whole thing absolutely stinks
 
Moonraker said:
I'm in Denmark for the world championships. I can confirm Scandinavian investors have control of the company and have said their priority is to get the Alien game out to everyone that as paid ASAP. I'm not able to say how long that will take so please don't shoot the messenger..!
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Good to hear that, Peter. How did the IFPA go for the British contingent?
 
I don't even pre-order video games these days as the chance of disappointment is so high....and that's just £40. People who pay £5-10K up front for a pinball machine nobody has ever seen or played, well I can't even get my head around that. There ought to be at the very least a sizeable discount for these buyers. Otherwise it makes no sense at all.
 
The entire Heighway debacle can be summarized as this: all talk and no action. Andrew promising games for years. New investors saying games will go out ASAP when they have no idea how to manufacture games. Again. For this to work these guys need to invest millions and hire a team that know how to manufacture pinball in volume. I can count the men that know how to do that on one hand.
 
Kaneda said:
The entire Heighway debacle can be summarized as this: all talk and no action. Andrew promising games for years. New investors saying games will go out ASAP when they have no idea how to manufacture games. Again. For this to work these guys need to invest millions and hire a team that know how to manufacture pinball in volume. I can count the men that know how to do that on one hand.
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You don't need people who specifically know how to just manufacture pinball machines in volume. You need people who know how to manufacture complex electro mechanical devices in volume. It really isn't rocket surgery. It can easily be tackled with a systematic, focussed approach by somebody who knows what is involved.
But it DOES need somebody that knows how to set up a manufacturing cell.
 
Good article that clarifies what a lot of people suspected was happening. Shame for Andrew as he nearly pulled it off but here's hoping they can get it moving forwards again.

If I can give the new owners/managers some advice it is to get a production/project engineer to work alongside the designers. It happens where I work. The R&D designers fanny about for weeks before bringing a mechanism to me for resolving which I typically do in about an hour. They have been told but they are just too stubborn. I have encountered this with many design engineers. An experienced test/development engineer is a MUST.

Also have somebody with LEAN/6SIGMA qualifications have a look at how the factory is set up. From what I have seen on the videos that have been posted it isn't geared up for mass production.
I would offer to have a free look for you but it is too far away.
 
The entrepreneur/passionate guy who has an idea and turns it into a product is rarely the right guy to take the product to the mass market and run a manufacturing business. Two completely different skills sets. Dragon's Den is all about small companies getting themselves investors that don't just offer cash, but also relevant expertise, experience, contacts etc.

Hopefully Ragnar Lothbrook and friends can offer that to Highwăy Pinbøl or whatever they call themselves in the future...
 
All the events and costs involved in shipping machines for shows in USA, hotel costs, staff costs etc etc couldn't have helped. There is no point promoting something you can't sell. The licence alone sold itself.
 
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This thread is so depressing and the similarities with the whole zidware experience is troubling. I really had hoped alien shipping would be the start of the recovery. From experience I can tell you employees and contractors are normally at the back of the queue for getting what's owed and when 'new management' takes over phrases like 'nothing to do with us', 'that's a matter between you and ...', 'not aware of that' get mentioned and you get shafted all over again when you were the people putting in the most effort

Of course I don't know if this is the case here, just feels very similar. My one word to any new management when sorting out the mess is DONT forget existing contractors and employees owed. All debts and liabilities need to be addressed, not just games sold. The collective employee expertise is important not to lose during a transition. Anyway just my 2p
 
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