Phoenix Arcade Repair

This sham of a company should not be dealt with. I got an arcade system that is basically a computer monitor with an emulator enclosed in an arcade. This would be acceptable if the joystick worked. The joystick is supposed to transform from a 4 direction to 8. Unfortunately it never goes back once you switch it and now you can’t play most of the games properly because they are 4 direction games and it doesn’t respond properly. Tim acknowledged this was an issue and he said he would come up to swap it out. He never did. I would constantly text and email ANYONE to help me. Nada. Tim then emailed me out of the blue «might be in your area». I was excited to get my joystick fixed. Guess what? Yep. No show again. Now he won’t even return ANY of my emails or texts. I’m not a pain. I just want my arcade to work given the 2k I spent on it.

In May of 2013, I got in contact with Tim to restore my father’s pinball machine, and to build a MAME emulator arcade cabinet for me. I paid him ~$ 6600 for the two jobs, and he picked up the pinball machine. At the time of this review, in February of 2015, Tim still has my money, my machines, and has been refusing all communication with me for the past three months.
Towards the summer of 2014, I became suspicious at the long string of excuses he was using. He always had various issues that prevented him from delivering the completed projects; He scratched the side of the pinball machine with his belt buckle. His wife was in the hospital. His mother in law was sick. He was in Florida working on another project. He had a toothache. His driver was sick and unable to make deliveries. His toothache got worse and he went to the hospital. His driver was in California on another job. Eventually he just stopped responding altogether.
I eventually flat out told him that I was tired of getting the runaround, and would pick up the machines myself. All he had to do was provide the location of the warehouse and I would pick them up. In response, he explained to me that he had been dishonest with me, that there was still a problem with the machine and that rather than tell me, he had been avoiding me and stalling for time hoping that a replacement part would come in. He apologized and asked me to give him until early November to complete repairs.
The date came and went with no further news or correspondence.
I responded (understandably upset), saying that I wanted to pick up my machines as soon as possible, and that I no longer believed his excuses. He sent an e-​mail back on 11÷12÷14 saying that he was tired of working on the machines anywyas and had no desire to complete the repairs. He would be in contact with me as soon as he was back in town to set up an appointment for me to pick them up. That was the last contact he would contact me.
I have tried everything within my power except physically driving to his house and knocking on his front door to get in contact with him. I’ve e-​mailed him numerous times, I’ve left several messages on his business and cell phones, I visited his (now defunct) storefront in Mesa. He is refusing all contact with me. He has my father’s pinball machine, he has my MAME emulator, he has my $ 6,600, and he has absolutely no interest in returning them.
I urge anyone who reads this message to carefully reconsider giving Tim your business. Talk to me, talk to others who have posted bad reviews. The nightmare I’ve been through could well happen to you as well. I cannot sleep at night from stress and worry.
Tim, you will read this message, I am sure, as you’ve read and responded to others who have left poor reviews. Please return my father’s machine. It is one of the very few memories I have left of him, and if anything happened to it I would be devestated beyond words. I am available at any time. You know how to contact me.
Jennifer
Edit:
Tim has deleted this review from his facebook page. I have yet to receive any word from him.

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE!!! If I could give zero stars I would, he gets one star by default only. The below review is a very shortened description of the nightmare that Phoenix Arcade has put us through.
As per the previous posters review, we too have had nothing but trouble with Tim.
Ten months ago we purchased a Golden Tee arcade game AND upgrade. We paid ½ upfront and ½ upon the delivery of the arcade game, with the understanding that the upgrade would be installed upon on next visit to our vacation home in Arizona, approximately three months later (our primary home is in Seattle). Upon my next arrival I contacted Tim and he advised that his son had been in a car accident and he was out of state and that he would call the following Monday… the call NEVER came! On Tuesday I called him and he said he’d bring the install chip on Thursday. On Thursday he never showed up, nor called, so that afternoon I called him and he advised that the chip was «broken». When I expressed my frustration he said he couldn’t help that the chip arrived defected… Tim had THREE months to determine that the chip was defective! Over the past ten months, we’ve been in Arizona on numerous occasions and we’ve gone back and forth with Tim and his multitude of excuses as to why he can’t bring us the arcade upgrade. In general, Tim attempts to make us feel as if we are bothering and inconveniencing him.
The majority of our phone calls and/​or text messages go unanswered. When he does decide to get back in touch with myself or my husband he’s got excuse after excuse after excuse for not being available or not having the chip or not being able to bring the chip to us. It is very apparent that Tim has NO intention of ever installing the upgrade that we have ALREADY PAID FOR! It is clear that the excuses Tim comes up with (often times the same excuse that he’s obviously forgotten that he’s already used) are fabricated at best. We are left with two options, chalk up our losses and find a competent company to install the upgrade or take Tim and Phoenix Arcade to court.
STAY AWAY from this company! Do anything and everything possible to find someone else to assist with your arcade needs!

Ha! I’m downgrading to zero stars (even though Unilocal wont let me) because Tim just flat out lied in his reply. I have posted the receipt for payment for the services he states he provided for free! I paid $ 429 and the kicker is the dart machine still doesn’t work and I had to take the slot machine («hot peppers» on the invoice) somewhere else to get fixed properly.
The Buck Hunter I paid for was in stock and not something he had to go searching for, as he implys.
He did fix the Pac Man so I will give him credit for that. And I will say I appreciate him trying for a year to get the Big Buck Hunter working rather than delivering a bad product. But still no
excuse for not returning phone calls and emails and keeping my money.

I have to say that I was extremely impressed with the service I received from Phoenix Arcade. I was not a particularly easy customer because I didn’t really know what machine to buy. Tim, the owner patiently gave me all of the options to consider with no pressure to make a decision. By the time I made my decision to go with a vintage MsPacman machine, it was only 3 weeks to Christmas. Tim committed to finding a vintage machine, to refurbishing it and delivering it on a specific date just before Christmas. Not only did he deliver on his promise, but also figured out how to gift wrap the machine and went beyond the call of duty by personally delivering the machine fully gift wrapped and on time. The machine works great, and I can’t get my wife to stop playing it.