New member | Berkeley bandit TLC

[iceollie]

Hi all,

I have been trying for 14 months to get my machine service with no luck.. I have tried slotmachinedepot a few times but have not been able to speak/text/email them for months (there is no reply and phone goes straight to unavailable) I have never known anything like it. My machine is now currently sitting at my parents house on the North Suburbs of London and I feel it is going to just sit there indefinitely which is such a shame.

I have just moved into my new flat in Islington, London and really want to put the bandit in there. Any ideas because I can't find anyone and I feel slotmachinedepot is a lost cause in trying to sort my machine out. It genuinely has been over a year and I have got nowhere.

Any guidance or contact details of someone that can service it will be forever appreciated.

Thank you
Oliver

[treefrog]

Ollie do you not have a car and need someone to collect the machine as you had one offer from Paul in Sussex. I suspect Mark is busy in his projects as he mentioned, as I guess we all are. Another option is Henry Powell up in the Noth West which would require shipping it there and will obviously cost a bit for the whole deal.

I would even offer to help and based in North Essex, but not clear whether you are expecting someone to collect the machine

[badpenny]

Hi Ollie ……

I've just checked your previous posts on this matter.
There are plenty of us prepared and competent to do this, however I'm not convinced as to what you want or expect. Like Treefrog says is "someone picking it up, and then delivering it back" your objective?
It's not only the most expensive manner of doing it, but you'll learn nothing, which is also what most new owners want. Even the professional restorers are likely to expect you to arrange delivery.

I also can't see any photos in your posts, which might help somebody to decide there's either too much to do or it's merely detached or missing springs. Both TF and Coppin have good reputations with many rebuilds behind them. They're both in your neck of the woods so I see little point in the rest of us who hang around North of Watford offering.

BP

[malcymal]

A good few of my SEGAs don't have the 'Sega' script cast into the front panel.
Can anyone confirm that they are by a different maker?

This topic has been discussed on this forum many times over the years. Having owned many of both types and discussion with Roger from Norfolk who has broken up and sold more than I have had eggs for breakfast, I believe they are not true from the factory Sega. Sega machines should all have correct serial numbers on a sticker on inside right and metal label on base rear (this often drops off). The cabinet parts are not all interchangeable although vary, like rear hoods, metal front cash trays and as Roger mentioned when he made the replacement jackpot glasses seen at auctions for a decade, they only fit proper Segas. Even the lighting set-up is different and the top light box. They may well have Sega parts like mechanisms and escalators.

I had one pretty much identical to this. I had the same award card, the same Criss Cross wording to the left of reels, the same reel strips and it certainly wasn't compatible on parts with a genuine Sega. The back door is different. The rear top bonnet off a genuine Sega will not fit it (I actually had a Sega and one like this side by side to find out the difference). The escalator off a Sega will not fit it. The mech didn't tie up with the escalator or a Shefras.

What's confusing here too is that this machine award card implies it's a 'light pay' version, e.g. found in cafes where the max pay was 10 due to the law. The fact it has a jackpot on show, I can't help thinking that this has been added for show rather than something that actually works because if it was a club machine the award card would state 18 for bells. Maybe I'm wrong and the operator was just trying to fleece punters out of correct payouts. You might actually find some form of solenoid in there too for a random feature; they stuck transparent symbols on the first reel for something like ten coins paid when feature lit. I came to the conclusion that mine was actually a Berkeley and when a collector from France came over to buy it from me he stated the same.