cashless machines

[sir ratholer]

surely the receipt counts a little bit in your favour? imagine the stink that'd get kicked up if the bookies started welching on winning tickets saying "sorry we're feeling a little ungentlemanlike today" or lottery terminal guy avoiding your gaze and pretending you're not there with your lucky ticket, or someone doing a scratchcard in front of a shopkeeper and being told that a refusal to pay-up is "the way the cookie crumbles".

Bookies / Casinos pay out because of the stink / press that would be caused if they didnt which would ruin them...

... having said this, William Hill never paid me the full amount once.


They had a horse at an amazing price which I lumped on and then laid it off on the exchanges. They then sent me an email saying the price was a mistake and I would only get paid out at sommat or other (worse price than I could have got at any other bookmaker) or I could ask for my money back. Unfortunately, I wasn't in to read my emails. I argued that if they had bothered to ring me, I would have cancelled the bet, but they werent interested.

Needless to say, the horse won and I lost a few grand instead of make a few hundred and I was absolutely powerless except to take the law into my own hands with a few FOBTs but sadly this does not get me my money back or hit the right department.

Either way, William Hill are a bunch of thieves and I posted my story on numberous web sites so that people know not to trust them. I would have gone to the national press, but I didnt want the attention brought to the other bookmakers about me as arbitration at that time was worth 1000's a month.

I had a similar issue with a football match with Stanley Racing (funnily enough now William Hill too) where I'd arbed the bet on betfair, they offered me money back and that was it. One letter to the MD later threatening publicity and I had the full payout in a week.

[alcozar]

Only plus point i can see is that thieving toolers would be screwed, other than that it is horrible as like most people if i get a decent win on anything, i catch the coins so that it isn't too obvious to anyone not closely watching how much i've won (i don't want to have to go the bar everytime to get cash that rightfully should come from the machines coin slot).

I can just imagine the reaction if this went widespread on red fruit machines. £150 in to get a ticket with £175 back, instant response, you're cheating, no cash for you, don't come back (and similar on the quiz side but with lower stakes).

It will just be another nail in the coffin for what pubs are left (and more dying everyday).

[Nil Satis]

But if your tickets said:

£1 in Heads Up Poker
£50 winnings

or

£6 in Bookworm
£80 winnings

How comfortable would you be to show those tickets to the barman?

how much was your win for nil ?

My main ticket (made up of more than one win) was for more than £50. In case it's not clear, I am 95% against the idea of these cashless machines and my wins would certainly have seemed 'suspicious' to an innocent barmaid (or hard-faced landlord!) who might never have won more than a £1 on any quiz game. The point I was making was the reverse case really, and applies more to you fruit machine players - how would you feel if you had only won big after pouring a huge amount of cash into a machine chasing that money only to then be told that you couldn't possibly have won so much, again by a innocent barmaid who would have no idea of fruit machine payout cycles (I'd expect hard-faced landlords to be fully aware of such matters!)?

The point is that the venue where I played this machine was the perfect location for this type of machine:

- friendly, safe suburban pub
- helpful barstaff
- three Juice fruit machines in addition to the Ind:e (and hence my wins could easily have come from those - I don't think the tickets identify the actual cabinet, unless there is something in the barcode that does that)

It's all the pubs where those things don't apply where I would be worried about potential payout issues. However given the way the mainstream cabinets are going I don't think we are going to have too much to worry about in this regard...

[inquizitor]

Saw my first one of these in my newly refurb'd local.
Initially thought it was just a new Ind:E cab, had a few plays with my first pint, then went to collect the £2 I'd won before going to the bar for another.

No chink, chink, great, I thought, it's robbed me!

I was just about to walk away when I noticed this piece of paper sticking out of the machine.
Nearly missed it!

[harry2]

Taking the pubs having £700-800 floats behind the bar would raise serious security issues. High street bookmakers have similar concerns and you can often win a relatively small amount, say £100, in a Corals and have to hang around because the safe is on a timelock

[Dunhamzzz]

I doubt this will make it into every pub, they can't rely on the pubs to have enough cash on them to pay out, and I hardly think they are going to give an independent pub the value of three hoppers, it will get nicked by staff and all sorts.

Landlords wil definitely start getting pissed off when you wave a ticket for more than their days takings in their face!

Maybe a chain pub, with the manager having to auth payments, but that's still way to much of an inconvenience if it's remotely busy.

[thecannonball89]

This ticket payout is a joke.

[JG]

I know it is, I was on a Juice today and won the princely sum of £48, so went to press collect and I got this receipt which said "What do you call an incontinent man with a car on his head?"
So I took it to the bar, the dozy cow scanned it, and double scanned it and after checking it and double checking it, she came back and said Jack shit to me.

That ticket payout was also a joke.

I wouldn't have minded but it was an awful joke and I want my £48 back please.

On a serious note, don't worry. Ticket payout is as likely to take off in pubs as cash payout on FOBT in LBO.


If this is an awful posting and I need my coat handing to me, just delete it please. I'll let it ride as someone might like it. I am bloated after a huge feasting session and cannot sleep.

[K_Oranj]

LOL... well, it was alright. Coat's still in the cloakroom.