WilliaJDs Reply:
The CustoJDer Service Challenge
Customer Service Department
Williams Electronics
Chicago, Illinois
One of the biggest challenges for any manu-
facturer, above and beyond the development
and production of quality equipment, is to be
responsive to the various needs of both dis-
tributors and operators alike. Throughout
the years, Williams Electronics Games, Inc.
has endeavored to be totally accessible and
sensitive to the vagaries of what is involved
in maintaining operational pinball ma-
chines, video games, shuffle alleys and an
assortment of novelty amusement games.
And because we take the time, care and
patience to always be attentive to each and
every request, it troubled us to read the
problems encountered by John Coccioletti of
Jeannette Vending in regards to his Pennant
Fever machine bat coil (H23-870). which he
wrote about in the April (STAR*TECH Jour-
nal: Vol. 10, No. 2) issue.
Unfortunately, Wico does not make coils for
Williams. But Wico is where Mr. Coccioletti
chose to turn for replacement of his part. Al-
though the bat coil in question is manufac-
tured by Williams, some parts of the coil
assembly are, in fact, manufactured by
outside sources -none of which is Wico.
And, due to the recent low demand for some
of these more common arcade parts, many of
our normal suppliers have gone out of busi-
ness over the past few years. This has
resulted in an intensive undertaking to relo-
cate new sources for many specialty items,
such s the H23-870 bat coil.
However, by seeking out and qualifying new
sources there is an unavoidable delay in
getting production started to the level of
Williams' stringent and exacting standards
so that we were out of stock on this particu-
lar item for approximately three months.
Our disappointment in this untimely delay
was further compounded by the fact that Mr.
Coccioletti decided not to go through his
authorized Williams distributor, as was
recommended, since his saga would have
been substantially cut down to a more ac-
ceptable limit with parts shipped from the
initial replacement order, which would have
gotten him the bat coil by the Spring of 1987.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience
suffered by Mr. Coccioletti and other faithful
Williams supporters, but would like to reit--
erate that corporate policy still enforces that
all parts are maintained for a five year period
after the release of any Williams product.
Admittedly, there are circumstances, often
beyond our control, such as this particular
instance, when we are unable to immedi-
ately solve unforeseen problems, and hope
that everyone can appreciate that this is just
the nature of the business.
We are glad the Mr. Coccioletti was finally
able to receive his long sought part and for
bringing the dilemma to our attention via
STAR*TECH Journal. In the future, we at
Williams would encourage any other indi-
viduals to utilize their local authorized Wil-
liams distributor whenever the need arises
and to always feel free to contact the factory.
After all, we are in the business of providing
products that can make you money. When A
events happen that disrupt this objective ev- •
eryone suffers and it is Williams' fervent goal
to minimize the problems and maximize
your earnings day after day after day.