Negative feedback thread for kcarcadegame

[jassin000]

At this point it has been well established that nobody should ever do business with KC [anymore].

After my last experience with the Diamond White from KC, I purchased my next Vewlix from @Cereth and I was very pleased with the cab I received.
I know he is out of commission ATM, or maybe in general for CRT cabs IDK (I could care/hate CRTs anyway)...
But when/IF he should ever return, I'd send some more biz that way [and suggest others do the same].

As I mentioned before, the only way I'd ever buy from KC again is IF I could go in person with a uHaul and leave with cab in hand same day (I think at this point his reputation has set these terms in stone).

 

[mrasmus]

After my last experience with the Diamond White from KC, I purchased my next Vewlix from @Cereth and I was very pleased with the cab I received.
I know he is out of commission ATM, or maybe in general for CRT cabs IDK (I could care/hate CRTs anyway)...
But when/IF he should ever return, I'd send some more biz that way [and suggest others do the same].

As I mentioned before, the only way I'd ever buy from KC again is IF I could go in person with a uHaul and leave with cab in hand same day (I think at this point his reputation has set these terms in stone).

Cereth's been nothing but great to me, he's given me some great advice about this cab and this situation; in fact, he even talked to his distributors to track down replacements for the missing "critical parts" that I wasn't going to be able to source via YAJ, in case KC failed to deliver. He's definitely getting all my sales moving forward, and I have at least one friend who I will be sending his way as well, once they're ready to buy.

I almost feel like I should write Cereth a positive feedback thread on here, even though I haven't even ordered anything from him, lol.

I agree that picking up in person seems like the only reasonable way to reliably have a sane KC transaction, and I think you need to come informed and be detail-oriented in your inspection (stories of missing IO boards from Vewlix cabs come to mind).

 

[Sir_Kit Jumper]

As it stands, KC has agreed to send the replacement parts. Can we wait for OP to receive and verify he's made whole without gathering around with pitchforks, talking about chargebacks or about returning the thing.

I'm 2 for 2 in my cabs shipped across country from KC, got a Vewlix last year and a Blast City this year. There were breakdowns in communication here and there, but I never once got the impression that KC was exploiting me. In the end, KC delivered on what I needed.

Try putting yourself in his shoes for a minute...
My head spins with the idea of having hundreds of thousands of dollars of merch sailing across the seas, meanwhile having a warehouse crammed to the ceiling with every type of game imaginable. Have you seen the pictures in his thread? His warehouse is a sight of wonder.. Can you think of how exhausting it might be for one person? Meanwhile your phone is blowing up alllll day about new orders and old... I'm not saying you shouldn't have received the replacement parts by now, just saying it's a tough undertaking to juggle all of this by yourself.

With that said, there's not exactly an abundance of folks supplying arcade machines stateside. If you know of anyone other than KC, Cereth, or GndZero with stock, please let me know cause my dark passenger is craving for another tasty treat. Before these folks our only option was to hope for a group buy and pay out of pocket, 6 months in advance, sight unseen while praying you received a working unit. We've come far since then, let's not toss aside someone whose responsible for hundreds of untold success stories for the small amount of times things have gone askew.

 

[skate323k137]

There are plenty of people who know how to run an ethical business. It's very clear historically that KC rides that line hard.

He could get 1,000 Astro Cities tomorrow for 750 dollars each and I wouldn't buy one from him. I have 3 candies that came from container or group buys, yea, those risks suck. The whole point of buying from someone like this is to avoid that. To me it seems like buying a cab from KC is a more expensive version of a group buy dice roll.

It you can't handle it, hire an employee. Can't afford it? Raise your margins. A poor business model is not an excuse for poor business ethics.

 

[mrasmus]

I've gotten a local offer, in private, for a floor mat for $50, that I'm gonna be taking. I can afford it whether or not KC judges it worth reimbursing that cost for me (just like I can afford the locks, or even the "critical parts", if needed -- it's just that they should have, in my eyes, been part of what I bought.) I've also got an offer from Cereth for locks that I'll likely be taking.

So my cab will be "complete" by my definition, whether KC reimburses those costs or not.

 

[benime]

As it stands, KC has agreed to send the replacement parts.

After a month of back and forth, excuses, and a 6 page callout thread.

Can we wait for OP to receive and verify he's made whole without gathering around with pitchforks, talking about chargebacks or about returning the thing.

You must have missed the part where KC told him to return the cab because he didn't want to deal with shipping the parts.

I'm 2 for 2 in my cabs shipped across country from KC, got a Vewlix last year and a Blast City this year. There were breakdowns in communication here and there, but I never once got the impression that KC was exploiting me. In the end, KC delivered on what I needed.

Shipping a cab missing basic, bolted on parts--parts that were present in the photos given to OP--is not a 'breakdown in communication'.

Try putting yourself in his shoes for a minute...
My head spins with the idea of having hundreds of thousands of dollars of merch sailing across the seas, meanwhile having a warehouse crammed to the ceiling with every type of game imaginable. Have you seen the pictures in his thread? His warehouse is a sight of wonder.. Can you think of how exhausting it might be for one person? Meanwhile your phone is blowing up alllll day about new orders and old... I'm not saying you shouldn't have received the replacement parts by now, just saying it's a tough undertaking to juggle all of this by yourself.

A bloo bloo bloo, won't someone think of the small business owners? The fact that he could HIRE someone to help out and avoid these problems at the outset has been brought up; he would rather pocket the cash and pass the burden on to the community for support.

With that said, there's not exactly an abundance of folks supplying arcade machines stateside. If you know of anyone other than KC, Cereth, or GndZero with stock, please let me know cause my dark passenger is craving for another tasty treat. Before these folks our only option was to hope for a group buy and pay out of pocket, 6 months in advance, sight unseen while praying you received a working unit. We've come far since then, let's not toss aside someone whose responsible for hundreds of untold success stories for the small amount of times things have gone askew.

I don't know if you realize this, but there have been plenty of importers over the last 20 years, and plenty of cabs outside of KC. You act like he's a unicorn, and then in the same breath, list two other importers who don't fuck over their customers for a buck. If there's a market, there will ALWAYS be someone to step in and fill that void.

The number of problems the community at large has had with KC over the years is not 'small' by any reasonable measure, so instead of talking out of your ass I would suggest doing a little research to understand why he's been banned from so many other forums.

 

[mrasmus]

A bloo bloo bloo, won't someone think of the small business owners? The fact that he could HIRE someone to help out and avoid these problems at the outset has been brought up; he would rather pocket the cash and pass the burden on to the community for support.

Thank you; this right here helped me put something to words. I don't want to feel like a burden on the community and its generosity, taking advantage or leeching out of sympathy for this whole messy situation. Cereth as I've mentioned has been incredibly gracious with time, advice, and even offering parts at no cost just to make sure I get my cab whole, to clean up KC's mess. I've been hesitant to take the offer because, yeah, to a certain degree it feels like allowing the buck to be passed.

That said, I've had a ton of support from the community, here and in private, from sympathies to advice to leads to just commiserating over shared experience, and I want to say that I appreciate all of it massively, as a newcomer in these parts. Dealing with this in isolation would have been much more frustrating, and very well could have left me with buyer's remorse, and a distaste for the cab that I was so excited to order back in December. So a huge "Thank you" to everyone who's supported me in all this nonsense.

 

[mrasmus]

Dang, USPS updated estimated delivery of the packages KC sent to Monday. Will have an update when I have it in-hand.

For what it's worth, assuming the right parts are in those parcels, KC did turn them around (and in the timeframe I'd requested at the beginning of the week, that he couldn't commit to, sparking the dispute). Probably going to be somewhat quiet here until those packages come in, since I just don't have much more to add.

 

[Kagaden]

Dang, USPS updated estimated delivery of the packages KC sent to Monday. Will have an update when I have it in-hand.

For what it's worth, assuming the right parts are in those parcels, KC did turn them around (and in the timeframe I'd requested at the beginning of the week, that he couldn't commit to, sparking the dispute). Probably going to be somewhat quiet here until those packages come in, since I just don't have much more to add.

How about sharing - how the heck did you get into this game? I'm a bit fascinated by Chunithm now, have never seen it before it started selling here and have never played it.

I watched this to learn about it today, looks like a ton of fun:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnpogycec9g


Also~ Welcome to Arcade-Projects.com. You def came in with a splash haha.

Edit: I'm a huge Miku, future tone, and anime fan and am still watching vids of the crazy amount of content. I think you may have just shown me my next cab purchase...

 

[mikaeltarquin]

How about sharing - how the heck did you get into this game? I'm a bit fascinated by Chunithm now, have never seen it before it started selling here and have never played it.

I watched this to learn about it today, looks like a ton of fun:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnpogycec9g


Also~ Welcome to Arcade-Projects.com. You def came in with a splash haha.

Edit: I'm a huge Miku, future tone, and anime fan and am still watching vids of the crazy amount of content. I think you may have just shown me my next cab purchase...

Oh man, if you like think you might like it, you probably will. I have a small collection of rhythm game cabs and it's by far the one that gets the most play right now. There's SO MUCH content, from songs to skills to characters. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[mrasmus]

How about sharing - how the heck did you get into this game? I'm a bit fascinated by Chunithm now, have never seen it before it started selling here and have never played it.
<snip>
Also~ Welcome to Arcade-Projects.com. You def came in with a splash haha.

Thanks for the welcome! Didn't feel like this was the right stage to go talk about my Chunithm story, so I kicked off a discussion thread and wrote up my history with the game, and why I'm so passionate about it over here. Would love to gush more if anyone has any questions, and also hear about others' history with the game as well.

 

[Tkat2600]

I legit think there might be a market for a KC middle-man. Somebody who knows their shit, is local, and takes a few hundred dollars' commission on going to KC's warehouse, inspecting/testing the condition of whatever cab is being bought, and making sure the right cab gets on the truck to any particular buyer. Would save people the hassle of this kind of issue, and would save KC from the headaches caused by his own QC.

I tried this...multple times. where i'd go and pick the cab for the person, pay for it using the money they sent me via paypal and then bring it to my place so it can be picked up there or shipped from there..no one took my suggestion. Still willing to do it.

It's best to be in person. Plain and simple. You pick it, pay for it and take it that day. can't leave it for another day as the unit...may change.

 

[rewrite]

I legit think there might be a market for a KC middle-man. Somebody who knows their shit, is local, and takes a few hundred dollars' commission on going to KC's warehouse, inspecting/testing the condition of whatever cab is being bought, and making sure the right cab gets on the truck to any particular buyer. Would save people the hassle of this kind of issue, and would save KC from the headaches caused by his own QC.

Absolutely not worth the effort. Been there, done that, and what it turns into is garnering the bad blood of the seller if the buyer decides to back out, or the bad blood of the buyer if something happens in transit, etc. Not enough money out there to be in that position again.

 

[suprawhite]

Absolutely not worth the effort. Been there, done that, and what it turns into is garnering the bad blood of the seller if the buyer decides to back out, or the bad blood of the buyer if something happens in transit, etc. Not enough money out there to be in that position again.

I've deal with him multiple times in person for myself and it's been one disappointment after another so being the middle-man is pointless. First off, his communications is horrible which can be understanding since his English is limited, but he doesn't make up for his customer service ( if there's any). Even though he can speak my native language, that doesn't seem to help either. If anything goes, he treated me worse. If I present myself as a foreigner, I probably get treated with more respect. He's very pushy and if you are a little picky or ask too many questions, he'll ignore you and kinda like get out of my place. Very uncomfortable feeling.

 

[Cereth]

Absolutely not worth the effort. Been there, done that, and what it turns into is garnering the bad blood of the seller if the buyer decides to back out, or the bad blood of the buyer if something happens in transit, etc. Not enough money out there to be in that position again.

This happened recently with Phil, and he got stuck with a CROSSxBEATS. Stuff was taken care of eventually, but it's definitely not an enviable position.

 

[Arcadefan27]

This review is a bit late, but none the less it should be aired out and hopefully it helps some folks decide on who to do business with. I bought a Blast City from KC in 2021. I bought it based on a few pictures he sent. I was not able to pick it up in person, but had a friend of mine do so. Part of the selling point was him claiming the chassis had just been refurbished. When I got the cab home and turned it on, it worked all but 5 minutes. I called KC and he said no problem that it had a warranty and I should send it back to him. This started a 4-6 month process which involved many calls/texts to KC to essentially push him to honor the repair warranty. After 3 months of waiting I began to call PNL to find out where in the que my chassis was. PNL informed me that the chassis had been repaired weeks before and KC had it in his possession, all while KC kept claiming PNL was still working on it. I pretty much had to play detective between two businesses to find my own parts. KC finally returned it (after about 4 months) and the chassis was in working condition. However, a warranty on parts replacement should not take that long. I was lucky enough to have a friend who sold me a spare chassis, but I can't imagine having to wait on KC for months to receive a part that took PNL a week or two to repair. For some of us it takes years to afford/track down these games....the last thing you want to do is stare at it a few more months in your garage. Would I do business with KC again? Sure, but I would be more inclined to buy the machine in person and inspect it myself.

 

[Tkat2600]

How about sharing - how the heck did you get into this game? I'm a bit fascinated by Chunithm now, have never seen it before it started selling here and have never played it.

I watched this to learn about it today, looks like a ton of fun:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnpogycec9g


Also~ Welcome to Arcade-Projects.com. You def came in with a splash haha.

Edit: I'm a huge Miku, future tone, and anime fan and am still watching vids of the crazy amount of content. I think you may have just shown me my next cab purchase...

Chunithm is the greatest game ever. I got mine because the cab design got me. I never played it until I got it working...now I can't stop.

as for KC. I'm done with him for now, he wouldn't give me the part i needed to fix the chuni..

 

[Sir_Kit Jumper]

Looks like KC really crashed and burned over the Chunithms! @mrasmus did you ever end up receiving the promised parts from KC?

 

[Kagaden]

Chunithm is the greatest game ever. I got mine because the cab design got me. I never played it until I got it working...now I can't stop.

as for KC. I'm done with him for now, he wouldn't give me the part i needed to fix the chuni..

Yeowch, Brutal... what were you missing Tkat2600?

Glad to hear you love the game! Happy to say I have one nearly arrived!

 

[Tkat2600]

It was a broken LED strip on the billboard. because it was broken I asked for a replacement. his only option was "bring it back" he wouldn't give me another strip from another billboard because then "it will be broken" and I'm like "but KC, if I return this to you, you will still have a broken billboard...MINE!!, so just give me the strip" but he's so fucking stubborn. I finally just walked away. now I have no one to buy arcades off of anymore.