9 replies to this topic

[jonnyb]

Hi

A few weeks back I posted a message explaining that a local arcade had a faulty Bar-x that had misaligned reels...it clearly shows 3 xxx but didnt pay, the Management stated the reels werent in alignment etc..

Anyway, to cut a long story short this is what I did in another arcade that the original arcade owns, I know its not moral/legal but there you go...)

(all made sure I wasnt on the cameras, thanks to PJ for the relevant info to avoid these)...

(1) Took half hour to see which Party Time/bar x's were taking the most money...and it was a very busy Sunday (seafront arcade)

(2) Took my tube of SuperGlue and Cadbury's buttons...

(3) Added amount of Glue to button

(4) Inserted Button into 5 x Part Time Arenas, and a handful of Bar X's did this over the course of 2 hours, playing them with proper £1 at the same time to avoid obviousness!

(5) For good luck also stuck a couple of cancel buttons down, and even stuck a note changer up...


Then, found a Bar-X (old style converted to 25p play/£25 jackpot), noticed it was 'dropping' so played it around £10 and finally got the JP, it was one of those that pays out immediately...It paid all £25 out OK, but I decided to tell the arcade it didnt....and they happily paid me £25 and turned the machine off..

So, for the £10 they ripped me, is has cost them a lot lot more.....

Om sure most of you will not agree with my actions, and it was a very big risk I took...

But at the end of the day, I gave the arcade plenty opportunity to refund. Was funny watching the ONE SINGLE arcade engineer open up the Party Times and trying to unjam the mech at the top which had melted button/glue clinging to it.......

...and it was me who complained that the macine wasnt taking money!

I did this a fortnight ago...and still some machines are turned off, I do hope they have lost a lot of money

[mrbops]

8) Its gr8 to hear some one finally gettin one over the arcade owners - its not as if they can't afford it I cant remember the last time I had a sizable win from any machine in an arcade.

[dave1de]

Yeah good on you jonnyb, i like what you did with the bar x askin for the jp again, very clever

[b3rny]

"It's not like they cant afford it" - grow up you tosser. If that is the attitude you want to take why dont we all go to esso, bp and shell and take petrol without paying for it. Likewise lets all go to PC world and walk out with 10 copies of Office XP for free. These companys make billions of profit each year why not steal of them too.
Your attitude stinks and it is because of people like you that I dont play in arcades.

Prat

[dave1de]

Fair enough, but do PC world or petrol stations deliberatly rip off customers. However, possibly jonnyb's actions were a little over the top.

[robbo007]

Although i disagree with what you did from the point of view that it was wrong and would annoy many people who wanted to play the machines, It gave me a smile to read your story. I have felt hard done by over the years through many ways i thought the arcade had cheated me through:

1) a duff hi-lo number reel - went higher than a 2 on £4 melons and the wheel just jammed. I had put in a fiver and complained that the machine was faulty and I should have my stake back - they told me where to go.

2) not being paid out correct amount - usually a quid, never bother claiming it as they often give you a quid back and turn off the machine - leaving you fcuked if you have already pumped a load into it (always happens to me on party time

3) sticky buttons, mostly in pubs (usually the start button), resulting in gambles you would never do in first place

4) blown bulbs - always happens to me with 9 reel blasts with a jp symbol in view. you hit start and you don't know which effing reel the blast is on, nearly twatted the machine when my last blast was cherries once

5) arcade cashiers who either don't change up money, or if they do , they moan and give you the skankiest notes in their till

.....and thats my personal rant over

[b3rny]

Many people, especially on this forum have had bad experiences in arcades, but lets be honest and look at the type of people who play there (the unemployed and grannies). If you want machines that are almost always working and pay their closest percentage join a snooker club or go to a students union and play the club machines, if you are that desperate to play go to some motorway service stations!
If you dont like the fact that the machines in the arcades are rigged/ broken/ never paying out etc etc DON'T PLAY THERE!

[bugalugs]

If you dont like the fact that the machines in the arcades are rigged/ broken/ never paying out etc etc DON'T PLAY THERE!

Yeah, thats all well and good but you only find out the machines are faulty, etc after you have lost your money!

Whilst I don't necessarily condone jamming up machines with super glue, its nice to see someone actaully do what a lot of people, including myself have been thinking about doing for years. Its easy to say how wrong this sort of thing is but the people that say that are not the ones that have been blatently swiddled. :-?

[silkyuk9]

I look at this in 2 ways,

1... yes arcades are ripping off customers, arcade owners know no matter how low the payout people will still play machines, they love your addiction. also, if you say you won £25 and told them it never paid out, so they gave you the money, this also shows your dishonesty, what happens to the next customer who really doesn't get a payout and the management tells them to 'f*** off out of my joint'.

2.. My other point is that what you did is criminal damage, and you might have cost that arcade thousands of pounds worth of damage, if you got caught you might have had a good kick in too, my experiance on gambling is that lots of arcade joints are run by gangsters and sharks, they wont have thought twice about kicking the f*** out of your head.

JUST STAY OUT OF THEM DAMN ARCADES

[Zoltar]

Surely any earnings that arcade lost due to machines not working due to these actions only costs the player again. I'm no arcade owner but if my premises were taking say 5k a week and all of a sudden it dropped to 4k and i had pinpointed this drop in earnings to a shed load of machines that some chap had tampered with, wouldn't lowering the percentages to cover my losses be the first thing I'd do? After all, what other ways does an arcade owner have to recoup his losses?

Nobody can hurt an arcade owner remember. He recoups his losses from his players. Once he hits the minimum 70% settings on his machines, if he can't make a living, he will close. But not before trying to make as much money from us players before hand.

It's a simple equation. Just like in ASDA or any supermarket. When they lose money through theft, they simply increase their prices to compensate. Your friendly neighbourhood arcade owner does exactly the same.

Who wins in the end then?