NoahsArcade
New member
Now that I have been in hobby/biz for about six years now Ill get an email or phone call from time to time about a repair job. Depending on the problem I usually make arrangements to at least "look" at the machine.
Earlier this week I got a call from a lady who had just purchased a Street Fighter II Championship Edition arcade. She said she bought it off of craigslist and was putting it in her churches youth center. Said it worked when she purchased the machine. Got it set up in the church basement and nothing. Marquee light would come on but nothing from the monitor. Sounded like an easy fix so I made arrangements to check it out last night.
I got there. Opened up the back and the entire bottom of the cab was FULL of maggots! It looked like there was a dead rat (or maybe a small cat) in the cab and there was hundreds of maggots feeding on what was left of the body. The smell was so bad. I was in shock that people hauled this thing through a church and down into the basement without noticing the smell. Normally I charge a $75 assessment fee which includes the first hour of labor but in this case I just popped the back of the cabinet on, told the nice woman good luck and went on my way. I didnt have the heart to charge her anything. Figured the story was worth eating 60 miles in gas money.
Ive seen some scary shit in the back of cabinets but never anything like this. You couldnt even see the bottom of this thing. Ive seen cabs with ants, dead birds, spiders, and even one with some major termite damage but never anything like this. I think Im done doing house calls for awhile!
Earlier this week I got a call from a lady who had just purchased a Street Fighter II Championship Edition arcade. She said she bought it off of craigslist and was putting it in her churches youth center. Said it worked when she purchased the machine. Got it set up in the church basement and nothing. Marquee light would come on but nothing from the monitor. Sounded like an easy fix so I made arrangements to check it out last night.
I got there. Opened up the back and the entire bottom of the cab was FULL of maggots! It looked like there was a dead rat (or maybe a small cat) in the cab and there was hundreds of maggots feeding on what was left of the body. The smell was so bad. I was in shock that people hauled this thing through a church and down into the basement without noticing the smell. Normally I charge a $75 assessment fee which includes the first hour of labor but in this case I just popped the back of the cabinet on, told the nice woman good luck and went on my way. I didnt have the heart to charge her anything. Figured the story was worth eating 60 miles in gas money.
Ive seen some scary shit in the back of cabinets but never anything like this. You couldnt even see the bottom of this thing. Ive seen cabs with ants, dead birds, spiders, and even one with some major termite damage but never anything like this. I think Im done doing house calls for awhile!

