thanks for all the great advice guys, i actually was not so sure if
anyone would even reply!
I had some machines in laundromats with minimal staff oversight. They got raped and pillaged and I pulled them within the first 30 days every time. This was in the late 1990s though, so take that for what you will.
Most people are decent and won't ruin your stuff. The same six dirtbags in every city, though, seem to take a sadistic glee in destroying any coin-op equipment they encounter.
i am a street operator, i specialize in laundromats. ireally havent had any problems
with unattended more than attended. you have to take extra precautions but the main
thing is people trying to unscrew anything with a screw and jamming up the coin mech
Check your local ordinances regarding pool tables if you haven't already. Sometimes there are weird rules about them like minimum age and hours of operation. There are also ordinances sometimes about a maximum number of unattended machines in one place.
GREAT advice thank you, i did not know that. based on the other posts i may
skip the pool table , altogether.
Lots of surveillance cameras even if they're non working ones that you order off eBay and just place them along the ceiling.
ill be installing a camera system. fake cameras are a bad idea , its actually a liability
if someone gets robbed, raped, etc.. and you had fake cameras you can be sued because
you created an "expectation of safety" its actually better to have no cameras at all
than fake cameras at least from a liability standpoint. But i will be installing a camera system.
What I learned the hard way:
* Security Bars are a must. Coin door and cash door. Thieves know how easy cam locks are to defeat.
* Put hasps and padlocks on service panels and back doors. They love to crawl behind the games and work, unseen, from behind removing cash and damaging the electronics. Ensure you utilize the carriage bolts with the hasps, as wood screws alone mean they can be pryed off and will yield heavy cabinet damage.
yeah i bulletproof my equipment since most of it is in laundries or places like that
or in flea markets where nobody is really watching it.
* Aligning yourself with a nearby business can help. Give them your phone number and hook them up with freeplay. Consider using tokens if you would rather only secure the change machine.
thanks great idea. i will be using tokens only, not only because i can secure
the changer better, but also because i want to get the whole dollar. also theres a laundry
next door i dont want them making change in my machine because the changer is out
if they break a dollar i want them to spend thru that entire dollar at the arcade.
I worked for a large op who swore off any unattended locations, not because people broke into the machines... but because they *stole* the machines. Several times, several different locations.
yeah i was planning to bolt down everything especially prize redemption. you really have to
or people will shake the crap out of them. Also a lot of the stuff is too big to fit through the door anyway.