Legal Question in Business Law in Connecticut

hello, I know this sounds ridiculous but I think it's not fair for everyone else. I went to this mall one day and saw a crane machine, obviously you have a chance to win or not at all. I played the machine and the reason why is because I could win a pair of Beats Headphones, which are a little expensive thus why i wanted to play! So I payed to play about 4 times. out of the 2 times. the machine ACTUALLY did pick the headphones (Headphones were in a oval shaped case) and moved, but the case was slowly slipping off because the BAG IS TOO HEAVY. this happened TWICE. Can i potentially do something? The owner is scamming everyone, and i contacted to owner about it explaining that the headphones in the bag is too heavy, the owner took very long to respond and i had to call multiple times, the owner just wants to give a refund. I should've won those headphones fair and square.


Asked on 11/30/17, 2:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Max Rosenberg Rosenberg,Whewell, & Hite, LLC

You are correct. You are ridiculous. There are adjustable settings that can determine the strength of the claw's grip and how long the claw can hold that grip at maximum strength. The owner of the machine has the ability to tweak the settings to their standards. Newer machines even let owners change the settings on the fly using a smartphone app. The owner can also set a "dropping skill" to tease you, meaning the claw can be set a certain amount of times to drop the prize before you can get it. The machine's algorithms can be set based on the profit the owner wants to receive. The gaming claw machine instruction manual explains just how rigged the machines are: "Managing profit is made easy, simply input the coin value, the average value of the merchandise, and the profit level. The machine will automatically calculate when to send full strength to the claw."

A video further explains in the 1950s, the government classified the machines as gambling devices, but new relaxed regulations in the 1970s led to them becoming a staple in stores and restaurants. You gambles and lost. THERE IS NO FAIR AND SQUARE WHEN YOU GAMBLE ON AN AMUSEMENT MACHINE. Good luck.

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Answered on 12/05/17, 9:26 am


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