Boys try to ram prize out of claw machine in Sunshine Plaza arcade, hurl basket after failure
Two boys trying to get a hit from a claw machine in Sunshine Plaza recently resorted to ramming the machine in a futile effort to knock a prize out.
As it turned out, it wasn’t the first time that frustrated customers had attempted to forcefully get a prize.
In a separate incident, two girls tried to break into the machines with a key.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
Boys ram claw machine to knock prize into chute
The incidents took place at Kuclaw, a claw machine arcade found at Bencoolen Street’s Sunshine Plaza.
At 10pm on 11 Sept, two boys and a girl entered the shop to play a claw machine.
The owner, who usually isn’t at the arcade, told MS News that he received a usual CCTV camera notification of customers entering. There were no other staff present at the time.
He thus started watching them through an app, but soon noticed that they had unusual methods.
“Ready? Go!” One boy said as he tried to pick an item up with the claw.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
On cue, the other boy began ramming against the side of the claw machine with his shoulder, causing loud banging noises.
“They want to try banging the machine to see if the claw will drop the items towards the direction they are banging, which is [towards] the chute,” the owner explained to MS News.
The ramming successfully sent the prize flying out of the claw, but it missed the chute and landed behind it instead, much to their disappointment.
Boys cuss and throw basket after failing repeatedly to knock item out of claw machine
They tried again, cussing when the claw ended up missing the prize entirely.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
The mishap did not deter them, as they would try two more times.
“Ram it! Ram it!” exclaimed the boy operating the claw. However, the other boy mistimed the bump, and they failed again.
“What the f*ck? No!” they cussed.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
After several more attempts, they ran out of tries without getting anything.
“It’s a scam, never mind,” one of the boys complained as they walked away.
Out of anger, the other grabbed a token basket and hurled it to the ground.
Owner suspects teens tried ramming trick successfully elsewhere before
The owner said that they did not cause damage to his machines, but did shift them out of position from the ramming.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
It seems like they have done this and succeeded before elsewhere, as they looked confident and just kept on trying.
He told MS News that the claw machines have been the target of forceful methods in the past.
There was a man who “massively” shook a machine out of position, a teenage girl who punched the glass door after a failed catch, and even an experienced player banging on the glass to try to knock a prize into the chute.
Girls attempt to unlock claw machines with own key
The owner shared another incident from 19 Aug, where two girls had spent S$2 but failed to get a prize.
Frustrated, one of the girls used her own key to try jiggling the locks of several claw machines and get into them.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
The attempts failed, and the teens seemingly left after one of them spotted the CCTV camera.
Perhaps surprisingly, the owner of Kuclaw informed MS News that he did not take action against the teens in either video.
Image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner
“But I would want to spread awareness to other shops out there to stay vigilant always, and also hope the video can serve as a warning,” he said.
When asked if any of these problem customers had returned, he merely replied, “Thankfully no”.
Also read: 3 boys tilt Labubu claw machine in Yishun, steal S$300 worth of dolls
3 boys tilt Labubu claw machine in Yishun, steal S$300 worth of dolls
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Featured image courtesy of the Kuclaw owner.
