This is a brief public service announcement regarding Retroplay OZ of Australia who made custom virtual pinball machines and arcade cabinets. As of January 16th, 2023 the company entered into “liquidation”, a process in which assets of a business are sold to pay off debts. The company took several deposits and full payments on orders from customers that were never fulfilled. Through liquidation, customers are typically the last to get paid, assuming there’s even any money left over at that point.
There were some supply chain issues throughout the pandemic which understandably affected there business. As a paying customer, once every several months I would receive an email update from Retroplay. Several of the components they needed were in limited availability and/or had drastically gone up in price. The owner of the small business, David Gilmore, also had some family issues going on and had posted a video on his YouTube channel (as well as sending an email about the situation). The entire Retroplay YouTube channel has since been taken down as well as their website. Despite these ongoing challenges, they continued to accept orders even into 2023. His website remained for awhile after they went into liquidation, and someone could still place an order.
RetroPlay Oz “where’s my machine or refund” Support Group on Facebook has a lot of information on the situation and is a private group for anyone who is owed money by Retroplay. It also includes contact information for the liquidation. The group is private and was changed to allow only those who are owed money from Retroplay. As of February 9th, the Facebook Group documented AU$387,140 OF UNFULFILLED ORDERS. Unfortunately that number continues to climb and only with the known reported customers who have joined the group.
If you have made a purchase from Retroplay and are owed money, you may be able to request a chargeback from your bank. You may also be able to file a claim with the liquidator or seek assistance from consumer protection agencies. It’s important to act quickly and to keep all records and receipts related to your transactions with Retroplay, but be sure to check out the group on Facebook for more information.
Unfortunately it was the same story for several people. They would get fairly quick responses from David for inquiries up until they made a payment, then communication was few and far between, if at all. Several people started to become “ghosted”. I got an email in late November 2022 that my machine was nearly complete. A few days later there was even a video posted of it, but then I never heard back after multiple replies back.
Despite placing my order with Retroplay and paying in full back in October 2021, I was able to call my credit card company and have them start the “charge back” process. They asked just a couple details on the situation, and placed a temporary reversal of the charge onto my card. I was informed that the temporary credited about would be permanent after two billing cycles if Retroplay did not respond. This process started when I called in February 2023 and by March the credited amount was permanent.