Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Discuss our on-site auctions and other slot machine auctions.
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jfried1399
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Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by jfried1399 »

Beware the Elephant House. I "won" a TNT Rockola machine back in September and have paid for it plus twice the amount they originally quoted for shipping but they refuse to ship the machine or even return my email

URL+REMOVED+BY+SITE+ADMIN# ... ?lot=16795
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coppinpr
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by coppinpr »

You're not the first to have problems there. Truth is you will get it sorted eventually, most of the time, he is famous for not replying and ignoring questions, keep at him. :dammit:


Welcome to the forum. :cool:
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clubconsoles
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by clubconsoles »

Where are you shipping to?
It may be best if you organize a crating/ packing company to pick it up on your behalf.
I seldom rely on an auction house to ship, once they have their money, they are not interested!
jfried1399
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by jfried1399 »

Thanks. I have emailed him regularly with no result so I felt compelled to inform the pinball/arcade community.
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clubconsoles
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by clubconsoles »

Try twitter, I got a response the same day!
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JC
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by JC »

I seldom rely on an auction house to ship, once they have their money, they are not interested!
But that's not the point, is it?
Surely, if you've paid for the item and for delivery, it's not unreasonable to expect that the item will be delivered.....and you shouldn't have to wait six months!
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daveslot
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by daveslot »

did you check his website, his last post dated the 6th." This week and next, we're trying to clear up all outstanding deliveries etc., doing various runs around the country, as well as shipping stuff out"
jfried1399
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by jfried1399 »

I did see that. He's had a similar message in the past. You also have to wonder what's going on that he's not having any more auctions for the time being and how many more people are waiting for him to ship. I also just sent him a tweet. I collect Rockola Pinballs and this is a difficult machine to find so I truly hope he does ship the machine. The pure mechanical machines are more in demand but the early EMs are rarer. If he does I'll let you know.
ilovemyjukebox
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by ilovemyjukebox »

Whereabouts in the country are you? It might just be easier to write a day off and collect if possible..
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bryans fan
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by bryans fan »

jfried1399 wrote: You also have to wonder what's going on that he's not having any more auctions for the time being .

He says that they have got builders in stripping off the front half of the roof at the E H. Hence no Auctions at present. Until builders start they don`t know how long it will take.
jfried1399
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by jfried1399 »

I'm in Jersey... New Jersey US so can't pick up in person. After 6 months I am skeptical of what he says. I've asked him to ship the machine or refund my money but no response at all. Who does business this way?
ilovemyjukebox
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by ilovemyjukebox »

If it helps... I can physically pick the machine up the next time I am up that end of the world (about 2.5 hours from me) and you can then arrange to have it collected from me. I'm sorry but I don't have the knowledge to arrange the shipping for you.

Its an option..

Dave
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treefrog
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by treefrog »

Nice offer Dave and more than most would do, although I could imagine the concerns around your paid for machine heading somewhere else and not being in control......

I remember someone selling a Bryans Retreeva somewhere in backend Texas a while back, wanted below market value for it, I seriously considered it as others did, but because I had no idea who this guy was and he would not use Paypal or an escrow service I walked away. Been burnt before.....

Steve has a business and a reputation to maintain, so I am sure will get sorted, also I am sure there is a story around this. I know when I recently shipped a machine from the US I was worried until it hit my doorstep......
youngerap
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by youngerap »

Six months? Unreal. In your shoes, I would have assumed the machine is gone and had them in the Small Claims Court ages ago. Trouble is, whilst I get the impression that criticism is nothing other than water off a duck's back to EH, I am not sure that is entirely fair. EH is a business, the purpose of which is solely to make money for the business owners (and they certainly appear to work bloody hard for their money). But they seem to shoot themselves in the foot time and again when stories like this come out and the overarching issue is one of non-communication! I guess that, all the time there is a market for vintage machines, do they need to care what people think or say? Particularly when those same people turn up repeatedly and spend what seems to be ever-increasing amounts of cash!
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gameswat
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by gameswat »

I think the lesson we've learnt time and again is that to buy with any kind of confidence from EH you really have to be in the room the day of the auction and take your items away in person. Even with several of the admins of this site bidding in person on my behalf I got partly burnt, and I've never been back......... I find it really hard to believe they way they run that business?! My family has been involved in machine operating and dealing since the mid '60s and not once has anybody ever been unhappy dealing with us because we went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly. Word of mouth is god and just imagine how much better EH would sell without all the war stories we hear..... let alone what we don't???!!
jfried1399
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by jfried1399 »

Thank you for the offer to pick it up and in general all your support. I continue to reach out to Steve and have let him know I've posted on these sites. It's my hope that he will realize that it's in his own self interest to act in an ethical way. I've yet to hear back from him. If any of you have contact with him please let him know.
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hiflyer
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by hiflyer »

Nice to hear that EH are actually sorting out the roof. It had many leaks. It always concerned me that items left there for auction may not be protected from the elements. It would also be a good idea to get some form of heating, if only minimal. I, for one, am put off EH auctions in very cold weather as it just becomes unbearable, particularly when the limited seating is all taken, but then I am old and decrepit! I don't think Steve feels the cold. I have never seen him in anything other than shorts and T-shirt.
With regard to the points made in the previous responses to this thread, I agree that there is really no excuse for non-communication and poor attention to client care. Any business can only progress and survive if its customers are happy. No customers, no business. It appears that Steve likes to maintain full control over everything all the time and consequently things suffer. Surely taking on an admin person would help enormously. The payment process on auction day is appallingly slow as it's dependent on one person who is also managing the winning bids during the auction and administering commission bids. Queueing to pay usually starts midway through the auction and the line is soon snaking around the premises with people now bidding from the queue. Maybe two paypoints would help with one for cash and the other for cards as it's the card payments that tend to be rather slow. As soon as one auction is over the next one is being put together. Not surprising then that emails, phone calls and deliveries fall in to a big hole and the customers suffer. No excuses, just get it sorted. Having said all that I am still a sucker for these auctions and have come away with some very nice items in the past.
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treefrog
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by treefrog »

I will miss the damp and cold it so reminds me of my house.... mind you given the structure of the building I doubt it will change I also assume there is some kind of listing on the property given the history.
jfried1399
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by jfried1399 »

All's well that ends well. Might be a coincidence or it might be the power of social media but Steve emailed and then shipped the pin a few days after I posted. Always a great feeling getting a new toy. BTW I'm on the hunt for a Rockola Pleasure Island, Bomber or Big Bang if you know someone that has one for sale. Thank you for all your support.

Jonathan
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Re: Beware the Elephant House Auctions

Post by pennymachines »

That's good to hear. Thank you for letting us know.
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