We have a small arcade... however, it's not run by us.
We don't own the machines. (Except the air-hockey machine).
We are not responsible for their maintenance.
We do not have any more access to them than you do.
If something goes wrong the only thing we can do is reimburse your lost tokens. (All the arcade machines take tokens, not quarters). We have no problem doing this, we have special "Token dollars" that we can put in the token machine to get free tokens from, and we get them back when they empty the machine of money. So it doesn't cost us a penny.
However, some people just don't get it that if the arcade game didn't work the first time you tried it... it's BROKEN, putting more tokens in will not magically make it work.
Some examples:
Girl puts in 2 tokens, the game starts up, she actually WINS, but the prize isn't dispensed. So she tries again, and then again. In total she puts 6 tokens in this thing (you get 4 for a dollar), hoping that the outcome will be different.
but wait It gets better.
There was another little girl (about 10 or so) I feel sorry for. Cute kid, but holy crap she was dumb. She's playing a game that requires 2 tokens to play. She puts them in and nothing happens. So she puts in 2 more... and then 2 more, and then 2 MORE.
8 tokens gone. Nothing happens. She comes up to the desk and tells us. We were amazed she would use 8 tokens like that, but we reimbursed her anyway.
She comes back 5 minutes later. "It ate those tokens too."
Wait... WHAT!? She blew ANOTHER 8 tokens in the SAME machine?
At this point I looked over at the machine, and see that's it not really "broken", it's not even TURNED ON! The video screen is black, the lights on the outside of the machine are not lit, the token slot is dim (they have their own light, which is bright red), and it's not making ANY sound (all of the arcade machines have very noticeable "songs" and sounds they play when turned on.
I reimburse her again.
She then asks "What should I do? it keeps eating the tokens!"
Me: "Um, don't use that machine."
Her: "Oh."
Then there was the reverse of this. The game machines in the -arcade- take tokens. However the claw machine next to the bar takes quarters. It's not near the arcade (it's a good 25 feet from the arcade entrance), and all of the arcade machines are clearly labeled that they require tokens. This one is not labeled like that.
Older Lady comes up and says that one of the "arcade games" took her tokens. I ask how many, she tells me 2. I give em back. She comes back a minute later and says "It still isn't working." I reimburse AGAIN, and ask which machine is doing it.
She points at the claw machine.
"Oh, that machine doesn't take tokens, you have to use quarters."
She nods as if she understands and walks away... but what do I see her doing 5 seconds later? Putting the two tokens I JUST handed her in the claw machine...
We don't own the machines. (Except the air-hockey machine).
We are not responsible for their maintenance.
We do not have any more access to them than you do.
If something goes wrong the only thing we can do is reimburse your lost tokens. (All the arcade machines take tokens, not quarters). We have no problem doing this, we have special "Token dollars" that we can put in the token machine to get free tokens from, and we get them back when they empty the machine of money. So it doesn't cost us a penny.
However, some people just don't get it that if the arcade game didn't work the first time you tried it... it's BROKEN, putting more tokens in will not magically make it work.
Some examples:
Girl puts in 2 tokens, the game starts up, she actually WINS, but the prize isn't dispensed. So she tries again, and then again. In total she puts 6 tokens in this thing (you get 4 for a dollar), hoping that the outcome will be different.
but wait It gets better.
There was another little girl (about 10 or so) I feel sorry for. Cute kid, but holy crap she was dumb. She's playing a game that requires 2 tokens to play. She puts them in and nothing happens. So she puts in 2 more... and then 2 more, and then 2 MORE.
8 tokens gone. Nothing happens. She comes up to the desk and tells us. We were amazed she would use 8 tokens like that, but we reimbursed her anyway.
She comes back 5 minutes later. "It ate those tokens too."
Wait... WHAT!? She blew ANOTHER 8 tokens in the SAME machine?
At this point I looked over at the machine, and see that's it not really "broken", it's not even TURNED ON! The video screen is black, the lights on the outside of the machine are not lit, the token slot is dim (they have their own light, which is bright red), and it's not making ANY sound (all of the arcade machines have very noticeable "songs" and sounds they play when turned on.
I reimburse her again.
She then asks "What should I do? it keeps eating the tokens!"
Me: "Um, don't use that machine."
Her: "Oh."
Then there was the reverse of this. The game machines in the -arcade- take tokens. However the claw machine next to the bar takes quarters. It's not near the arcade (it's a good 25 feet from the arcade entrance), and all of the arcade machines are clearly labeled that they require tokens. This one is not labeled like that.
Older Lady comes up and says that one of the "arcade games" took her tokens. I ask how many, she tells me 2. I give em back. She comes back a minute later and says "It still isn't working." I reimburse AGAIN, and ask which machine is doing it.
She points at the claw machine.
"Oh, that machine doesn't take tokens, you have to use quarters."
She nods as if she understands and walks away... but what do I see her doing 5 seconds later? Putting the two tokens I JUST handed her in the claw machine...

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