Review: DGI/Pachislot777

[derbyboy]

Last week I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, so I went shopping on ebay. Pachislot777 (Direct Gaming International) had a Winning Post up for $99 start bid. Winning Post is made by IGT and has a Horse Racing theme, perfect for a derbyboy.

I won the machine for start bid price on 12/27. I inquired about an extra 500 tokens, since it only came with 200. I received a response in less than 30 minutes for $40. I thought I could get 1000 tokens for $10-$15 more, so I politely declined. I received a shipment notice and tracking number the next day on 12/28, which I thought was outstanding considering it was the holiday season.

I checked FedEx tracking and it was due to arrive on Friday, 01/04. I checked again this morning and it was on the truck for delivery today! When are they ever early, especially when there's a holiday that week? I left work a little early and the bundle of joy was sitting outside my garage when I got home. I gave it a quick once-over and the box looked OK, a few minor dings, and wheeled it into the house with my handy dolly.

I opened the box from the bottom and taped the flaps back, then gently turned it over. The first thing I noticed was that there was no extra protection for the front of the machine and that the machine was single boxed. They are the only vendor I've had so far that doesn't double box the machines. The machine did look great when I took the box off. The cabinet was smooth and freshly painted, the reels were clean and bright and the glass looked good with no cracks or major scratches.

Then I saw it. The ugly ding/dent/crunch/gaping wound on the side of the door! Unbelievable. I knew they hadn't sent the machine out like that, so it could only mean one thing: FedEx! I don't know if a double box would have helped or not, but I shudder to think what would have happened if the box had been hit in the front!

I was soooo bummed! But then I called DGI and talked to Lila, and she was fantastic! She said no problem, she would call FedEx and get it taken care of. She would see if they had another Winning Post in stock and get it shipped out tomorrow. She called me back and said they had another machine and that Fedex had a call tag to pick up the damaged one tomorrow.

Outstanding customer service all the way around. She took me at my word that the machine wasn't right and took care of it right away. She never once made me feel like I was a bother. She was the best! I would not hesitate to buy anything from them, no-hassle customer service like this is priceless.

I will update when the new machine arrives. Some of the pics:

[luckydog]

thats some dent

they do need to upgrade their packing!!!

[Tulsa]

Out of all of the machines I have purchased from them I've never had a reason to try out their customer service. All my machines came in as close to pristine fashion as one could expect from a used machine. Always very clean. It's nice to hear their customer service is as top notch as the machines I've received.

[owennewton]

I got my Eva 1 from them. A little on the high side of the price scale but like new.

[promojoe13]

I've gotten both of my Pachislos from them and they have been fantastic to deal with. I had a lot of questions about the Tomb Raider machine I was getting for my wife for Christmas (which she loved by the way...) and Lila and Chris were extremely helpful in getting one to me.

Then I bought the Speed Racer off of eBay from them and the machine came in great condition and well packed. This one didn't have a volume control so I called back and they walked me through how to install one if I got one from them.

I cannot say enough how great both of my experiences with them have been. Great people!

[derbyboy]

All my machines came in as close to pristine fashion as one could expect from a used machine. Always very clean.

One reason I was so bummed was that the machine was in such great shape, save for the FedEx dent.
But now I'm sure the next one will be just as good or maybe even better.

[Ichi]

Thats awesome! Don't send the tokens back with it! Say FedEx lost them lol.

[derbyboy]

Update: FedEx picked up the damaged machine today.

But I didn't get an email about the replacement machine shipping out today. A little surprised by that but possibly I misunderstood on the phone yesterday.

So now I probably won't know anything until monday.

[luckydog]

vendors usually ship a replacement after they hear for the shipper.

maybe the shipper is slow notifying them

[derbyboy]

I received a shipping notice and tracking# from the vendor today at 12:03pm, which is 9:03am their time.

FedEx picked up the machine at 4:00 this afternoon.

[fronzdan]

That has to be the ugliest dent from rough shipping I've ever seen.
Usually plastic stuff breaks off or cracks, but it retains the same basic shape, albeit in pieces. That looks like someone swung a sledge hammer at it at very high speed.

DGI is good though, I have one or two machines from them.

[derbyboy]

That looks like someone swung a sledge hammer at it at very high speed.

Actually, I think they drove a steel rod through the box with that sledge hammer.
Whatever it was hit that machine ugly hard.

[derbyboy]

The replacement machine is on the truck for delivery today.

Hope to have pics and Review 2 later tonight.

[MrBungle]

I played this at my dealers place for about 15 minutes. It's a very nice machine and you won't be disappointed!

[derbyboy]

The replacement Winning Post machine arrived this afternoon in one piece.

One small ding in the box that didn't go all the way through the cardboard. It was only single boxed again, which is probably the only negative I can say about DGI/Pachislot777. As you can see from the pic, anything that hits hard outside of the foam areas is in danger of being damaged, which is exactly what happened to the first machine. There is nothing else between the box and the machine.

The machine survived FedEx and was in great shape, clean and no major scratches. The cabinet was smooth and freshly painted with a nice semi-gloss finish. The reels were bright and all lights were good. Machine operates fine, but is one of the loudest I've ever come across. Definitely will need volume controls, but then again how many don't?

As stated before, customer service is excellent. Communication is excellent as well as their start prices, shipping charges and reputation. This is definitely a dealer you can trust to buy a pachi from. I will say though if all other things were equal, I would go with a vendor who I know packs the machines the best. DGI has been the worst that I have experienced so far and they need to upgrade their packing, in my opinion. Otherwise I'm very satisfied with them overall.

[pachinut]

Video, we want video!

Glad that it all worked out.

Frank