Mum says claw machine is rigged after spending £100 for just one toy

[Stillstrawberrywater]

There is a article in our local paper website about a 34 year old Mum who spent £100 on trying to win a cuddly toy for her 5 month old ds from a claw machine at an amusement arcade on a holiday resort somewhere in Sussex. She initially spent £40 then complained to a member of staff, who changed the setting of the machine. She then won the toy with her next go. The member of staff then changed the setting once more, but said Mum wanted a 2nd toy for her ds, so proceeded to spend another £60.

I would link the article but our local paper website is full of spam and slows your computer down so i'll spare you that.

But why? Why would this woman go to such effort for a 5 month old, who probably isn't old enough to really care anyway? And surely you could just find said toy on ebay for £5 anyway?

My son is five months old, but if he was old enough, he would probably be upset

have not laughed so much in ages. Brilliant.

I really hope she did this as some kind of dare

Yeah but lets be honest, most of the games in amusement arcades are a form of gambling. Those coin pusher machines are another one that are fixed. Then the arcade games themselves seem to be set to a really difficult level asking you to pay again to continue the game after you have lost all your lives or not made a checkpoint after 90 seconds.

Yes, they are all fixed - slot machines, coin drops - the owner can choose how often they want them to pay out (little and often or occasional big jackpot) but the rake-off is always going to be in favour of the house. Adults can choose whether the 'fun' of playing the machines is worth the cost. Children might not realise they are fixed, though.

You are right though, in this day and age of PC and everyone being offended, etc, it is surprising these arcades are still open today.

I thought we weren't allowed to call people thick or stupid anymore ? On account of their feelings and how it's seen as somehow sneery ?

(Not a view I personally have much time for, I have to say).

Whenever someone jumps in to try and police discussion about such matters, it's worth remembering stories like this.

(btw, big thanks to @CitadelsofScience for the rabbit hole that is : www.facebook.com/angrypeopleinlocalnewspapers - that's an afternoon I'm never getting back . )

Yes, I have to admit I've gone off and clicked like on that fb page since it was mentioned on here

The toy she won is £8.90 on Amazon.

Oops - posted too soon.

Had I wanted it that badly, I suspect it would have checked that wonderful newfangled invention called the internet, rather than spend several days and £100.

Jaysus. Imagine her shock when she finds out bears shit in the woods.

My local beach arcade has machines that give out tickets. One of the prizes was a food mixer. I saved a zillion tickets and proudly claimed my prize. I priced it up in Argos at 40 quid and calculated that it must have cost me 70 pounds to gain the tickets. I've used it once. I am that fool with money

I saw this - the baby looked very engaged and utterly distraught. What a numpty! For a toy that probably cost £2.

THIS is what happens when Jeremy Kyle gets cancelled

She could have used that £100 for a better outfit to wear for the bloody paper!

Or bought for for 1-2 weeks. Or paid a months utility bills.

Thank you for mentioning that FB group. That's this evening sorted...

I'm normally the most open minded sympathetic non judgmental person you could ever wish to me.
However in this instance I have zero sympathy. Shes an idiot.
For 2 reason she must have had to keep putting the money in, and Its not like the child needed or would have taken a blind bit of notice of the bloody toy.

Is it just me who thinks it is rather appropriate that she won an elephant?

A boyfriend ‘won’ me a stuffed leprechaun from one of these once. It was really cheap and nasty and not worth even one ‘go’ on the machine.

She clearly has issues 😄

My favourite part is that she said you can't find those toys anywhere else. My DF got Ds the same Dumbo from Disney store 🙈🙈

Is she part fish?

Could be worse though. Park Camber is Nirvana compared to Pontins.

I need a rasta banana though 🍌

Don’t we all Born

Of course they are rigged but with a bit of training you can still win for a lot less. Would be no point otherwise. The point is to have fun trying to win. I like the little ones that let you keep going till you win. Great for kids cause they won't lose.

My son is five months old, but if he was old enough, he would probably be upset

Someone needs to say to her, "Love, if he was old enough, even he'd think you were idiot."

He's 5 months old, all he's concerned about is eating, napping and shitting.