My girlfriend and I recently moved to Alton and are occasional visitors/customers to the Half Moon family of Arcades located at Weirs Beach. All spring and summer long we have been gathering our won tickets from Skee Ball etc., and following each visit we would cash in our tickets at the rear counters. The receipt we received from each “Cash in” would sometimes be given on a “Half Moon” stub with the ticket count noted. On a few occasions the facility must have run out of “Half Moon” Stubs, so they were writing receipts on plain paper. All that proved the credibility of this plain paper type of receipt was a signature. Last weekend we visited the Half Moon Penny Arcade with my family and like usual we won tickets and attempted to add them to our pre existing allotment. Following a brief altercation, we were marched to the sister arcade up the street and told that the hand written receipt in our possession held a signature to someone that doesn’t exist!! We did our best to explain what the person looked like, etc. and no dice, they wouldn’t honor it! After a few minutes with what appeared to be the manager, the situation got ugly. We were told specifically that we were believed to be counterfeiting the receipt!! Unbelievable!!! I said a few retaliatory comments and went on my way vowing to not return.
First off the amount we had on the ticket was nominal in the first place. In arcade monetary value the amount was probably less than $10. Second of all I didn’t appreciate being told rudely that I was a counterfeiter!!! My girlfriend and I are very upset by this event as we have been frequenting these arcades for years, even prior to moving here. We will miss it but will refrain from spending any more of our hard earned money at that establishment! We will solely go to Funspot where they have automated Ticket Eaters! Just wanted to put this out there in case anyone else has been getting handwritten receipts etc.! BTW, has this happened to anyone else?
