(I am an employee, bagging groceries for a customer. Behind me is an open area for people to walk, and behind that is a claw machine and gum ball machines. A lady and her child are at the claw machine. The lady comes up to me, and this is what ensues.)
Customer: “I put a $5 bill in this machine, expecting to get $4.50 in change!”
(Each play is 50 cents.)
Me: “I am sorry, ma’am, but that doesn’t give change.”
Customer: “I want my change back! I only wanted him to play one time.”
Me: “I don’t think there is anything I can do, but let me ask my manager.”
(I walk to the office and the customer follows me. I go in and tell my manager what is happening. He says we can’t give money back unless the machine takes the money and then won’t work. I go back out and walk up to the customer.)
Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we can only give money back if the machine takes it and then doesn’t work. There is a separate company that puts the machine there; they take the money from it and they fill it up.”
Customer: “Well, what am I supposed to do?!”
Me: “Your child will just have to play $5 worth of plays.”
(I resume bagging and the customer goes back to the claw machine. A few minutes later she comes back up to me.)
Customer: “He only played three times, and now it won’t work! $5 is ten plays!”
Me: “He played more than three times ma’am. He was playing when you first started talking to me, and he was playing the whole time we were at the office while I talked to my manager. You may have only seen him play three times, but I assure you that he used up all his turns.”
Customer: “There’s no way!”
(She turns to a man who was standing there, whom I hadn’t noticed before; he’s her spouse.)
Customer: *to man* “How many times did he play?”
Man: “I didn’t count, but it was more than three.”
Customer: *looks at the man, looks at me* “Whatever!”
(Then she grabbed the child and quickly exited the store, the whole time berating the child for spending her entire $5 and not winning.)
