Machines that are Out Of Order

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:23 am

One for the hall of shame: the Crown and Sceptre, Streatham Hill, London SW2. Went here at the weekend and won £40 on the ItBox: machine paid out precisely £1 and stuck up an IOU for the £39. I complained and an employee switched the machine off an on and then disappeared behind the bar. On reloading the error message had gone and it looked fit to play: I went back to the bar and the employee concerned had finished his shift and went home. The rather insolent girl behind the bar told me they could do nothing - my contract was with ItBox not the pub, etc. etc. - the usual load of rubbish. She wouldn't even accept it was the pub's job to get in touch with the machine company (with a payback to follow) - she told me she could give me a number to ring to report the fault myself! Absolutely unbelievable; I know this sort of thing happens because people never bother to complain so if I have time this week I will rattle off a letter to GamesNet (who now provide ItBoxes - right?) cc:ed to Wetherspoons head office. I imagine as soon as I left the pub the bar staff were on the 'phone to report the fault and will share the £39 when GamesNet pay up. Bl**dy annoying.

cp999 · Post by **cp999** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:20 am

I never trust machines enough to allow a bank to build up like that - I always collect any reasonably sizeable amount at the first opportunity, and collect the first win achieved in order to test the payout; saves a lot of wasted time and frustration should the payout mechanism be faulty or the machine empty. Of course my suggestion does not make your experience any less annoying.

Fwiw, I think Gamestec have a poor record in machine maintenance and I think it's got worse since they acquired a fair slice of the ex-Leisurelink sites. For such a large IOU (and potential complaint) I would have mobile-phone-photoed it, one close-up shot and another shot which gets some of the pub in the background, if practical. I put your chances of getting the cash at less than 10%, but I think you know that already.

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:58 am

Thanks for that very useful advice CP. I regret to say it's not the first time I've been done out of a bank of that size (I fell foul of the infamous Paragon disappearing prize a couple of times with £30+ banks), and I really must take on board some of the very sensible points you make - the mobile 'phone photos one is a particularly wise one.

ROSSKEEN · Post by **ROSSKEEN** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 11:41 am

My local paragon has developed an interesting fault.

From the main menu you select a game, lets say Hex Appeal. Screen goes black. Does nothing. However the 'main menu' button on Hex is bottom left. So when I touch the area of the screen where it should be, bingo, it takes me back to main menu.

From there I hit Hex again and it works fine.

Does this about 1 in every 100 games, game appears to be working but screen has failed.

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:25 pm

The ItBox in the Wetherspoon's in Oxford has a fault I haven't seen anywhere else - on Celebrity Millionaire the screen goes blank after the initial load-up screen and nothing happens before you are returned to the main menu a minute or so later. What I believe happens is that the game is running but in "invisible mode", which does make it harder to put the four celebrities in order I find...

roberto la vigna · Post by **roberto la vigna** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:15 pm

Nil Satis wrote:ItBox in the Wetherspoon's in Oxford

This had a different, also completely novel, bug for me too. Once I went to collect my winnings, the machine put a line through the 'collect' icon in the top left hand corner, whilst still acknowledging the sum it owed me.

Was paid from the till by an obliging member of staff, thankfully.

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 11:38 am

There is another ItBox payout error which is much more common and which I think I've suffered from it on that particular machine, namely that when you sensibly try to collect your first reasonable win, it takes ages to pay out what is usually the correct amount but then decides to put up an error message saying it has been unable to pay out that same amount. Obviously an unscrupulous person could show that message to the bar staff and try to claim the same amount twice

but the real frustration is that to get rid of the message and play other games you have to switch the machine off and on again which normally takes around 10 minutes on an ItBox and that is assuming you can access the switch, which is not always the case.

cool · Post by **cool** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:54 pm

The way to do it is this.Get two pieces of paper- note machine/date/time/games won on prior to non-payout/put your name on it /sign it- ask to see the manager to witness the amount on screen.Get his/her name on paper and signature(if will agree).Keep duplicate.Take control of the situation.Usually works.

dmac · Post by **dmac** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 8:21 pm

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:52 pm

Had a non-pay of £16 on a Paragon this lunchtime. Inspired by previous advice on here I complained at the bar and was told to ring the machine provider - an outfit called Vendease. Rather than not bothering, I just did that, and they were very helpful and told me they'd put a cheque in the post. So, a big shout out to Vendease for really good customer service. Don't know if any others of you have dealt with them but they impressed me.

Northern Monkey · Post by **Northern Monkey** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:07 pm

Monday night, a kind of souped up Inde- Caveman Capers - Game Not avilable

Word Soup trivial target which just proves- words for show, questions for dough as far as the " Real Boys" concerned

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:59 pm

grecian wrote:an outfit called Vendease.

I've heard of them - I think they are based in Western France.

... sound of tumbleweed blowing through the room ...

fotherz · Post by **fotherz** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:17 pm

Quick raid around the city last night...

Knights Templar - screen is completely buggered.
Penderel's Oak - one machine is damaged - the screen has fallen back from its usual position - but still playable.
Slug & Lettuce - machine turned off.

Highlight was a jackpot from "Legends of Darts" (lol) and seeing Jiggy Bank and Hells Bells still in operation.

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Tue May 26, 2009 4:06 pm

grecian wrote:One for the hall of shame: the Crown and Sceptre, Streatham Hill, London SW2.

On the flipside, I had a very novel experience over the weekend of actually being rung back by a pub to tell me that a sum of winnings which had gone unpaid was ready for me to collect! This was within about three or four days of the non-pay and suffice to say I was really pretty impressed. The pub in question is a central London Wetherspoons and whilst the amount in question was a relatively measly £11 I hope this shows that Wetherspoons have improved their policy since my bad experiences at Streatham a while back.

tonkarentino · Post by **tonkarentino** » Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:20 am

It is definitely my view that pubs have softened in their attitude to people winning. This could be because as most of the working machines are in chain pubs they couldn't give a s**t.

In the old days I've had the machine unplugged on me mid game, been threatened with a rottweiler and been held up against a wall by a landlord in Skegness who was demanding £20.00 from me as recompense for the money I'd "cheated" him out of!

Some great advice about how to take control of the non pay out situation. I particularly like the two copies of a signed note one retained by you trick and will be employing it straightaway this lunchtime.

BTW it's no wonder I don't ever do any good when I visit "The Smoke". I'm never going in a London Wetherspoon's again