Quoted from Yoko2una:

That's the thing... I'm not terrible. So imagine what it's like for people who stink at playing too. They're going to blow through their dollars/tokens even quicker and not want to feed more money into the barcade.
So there's a place my GF and I are going tomorrow in Boston. Basically all games are $1/play... AND the beers are like $6/ea.
(Let's ignore the girl for a minute, though she can play!)
Example A - I buy $20 in tokens, which in turn gets me 20 games. I believe Op's in other threads said ideal ball time for $1 games are 3-5 minutes. So let's take the average of 4min/play and I'm sipping on drinks between games. That's only like 90 minutes, and if my focus is on pins, I've maybe only ordered 3 beers tops. So the revenue for the barcade is $20 + (3x$6) = $38. At that point if I'm considering diving back in, I'm looking at potentially doubling that expense and instead usually call it and leave because $72 in one evening is a LOT of money for myself to drink and play pinball.
Example B - I buy $20 in tokens, which in turn gets me lets say 30-40 games ($0.50-$0.75/play) now I'm there for 2.25 - 3 hours, basically double the time. I've ordered 5 drinks, and because I'm 5 drinks deep that menu is looking awfully nice (and this place does have good food). Same coin drop, but they've gotten two more profitable drinks off of me, and I'm ordering food. After that, perhaps I have a 2nd wind because we talked about the games we just played and how we were so close to the GC score. Now they've received $20 + (5x$6) = $50 + food + a potential 2nd token purchase as I don't feel like leaving yet as I feel I've been getting good value for the money I've spent. Plus I am more inclined to return, perhaps with friends, and just spread the word in general.
OR...
Example C - Johnny Hipster walks in because pinball is all the rage, and gets $20 in tokens. He gets schooled because GoT is too damn fast, TWD has a flipper gap he can't manage, and KISS tilts when someone across the room sneezes. He burns through that $20 in less than an hour, wonders where that money went so quick, realizes even a movie ticket yields a better entertainment/hour ratio and decides not to return. In that time, he only had 1 PBR tallboy for the bar's $3 special. They made a quick $23 off of him, but I bet he ain't coming back.
I understand people need to make money, but this isn't the travelling carnival where it's about the quick buck. IMO Barcades should be about building a base of loyal customers, and strategically pricing things so we want to do 2 things and 2 things only - STAY and RETURN another day. If they can't do those things properly, they'll go the way of all the frozen yogurt places named after random fruits and colors. There's something to be said about games constantly getting $0.50 dropped in them vs. $1 sitting there not being played, and again I'm talking barcades here.

Quoted from Yoko2una:

Wow, Mike, wow. 1) Both - I work and she's a student. 2) I clearly mentioned in the quote you quoted that I was removing my date from the examples and was providing single person scenarios. 3) When you met my GF and I at A4cade this summer, I hope you learned we aren't exactly the penny pinching type, but also not idiots either.
If a game is $1 and is just basically taking dollars from us because it tilts when a fly lands on the machine next to it, we get tired of donating money for 1 plunge, 2 flips, and a tilt. I'm also the guy who introduced you the thread about Stern cabinets cracking, and then months later passed on the AS for sale at FTJ's because both corners are cracked. AND we're potentially about to buy a great game at a fair price from a Pinsider/coworker so he can offset his GOTG purchase he just made from you. Basically, we have some cash, but whether it's $1/play or $4K+ for a used machine, we always analyze what we're getting in return when we spend.
BTW - I also gave you guys a referral yesterday, so please take the following as constructive. And hopefully you also remember from this summer that neither my GF nor I are rough players. So continuing on my last post...
Real World Example D:
We go out to The Automatic on Tuesday night, have a fantastic $70 dinner and decide to go across the street to one of your two local locations, because the lineup never fails to impress, and the staff is great should an issue arise with one of the games.
We get $20 in singles and go right to the new AFMr. Tilt out of 1 of my 3 balls. Next game, 2 out of my 3. She tilts on a ball as well. We were disappointed with AFMr as we didn't feel like we even got to play it. Next - AS. Unfortunately the same thing. $8 down, only two 3-ball games have occurred without a tilt. Over to GOT and TWD, more of the same. Finally TAF, and I decided to stop playing after the first game. She scored a replay and played alone.
We simply quit and ended up leaving borderline upset. We didn't even spend the full $20, let alone re-up, so the location only received $9/person + I had a few beers, but we planned to spend HOURS there. If a ball is bouncing around an outlane, I should be able to gently nudge back into play... at least get a warning. But almost every time, it was nudge-->warning-->warning-->TILT. There was virtually no middle ground. At some point it feels less like pinball and more of a donation.
We almost called it a night, but because it was still so early, on a quick whim went next door to State Park - a place that (last time we were there) had a beat AFM w/ no rear GI and a very dim T3... but they were $0.50/play and at least shot ok.
They changed the lineup to an ok players TSPP and a gorgeous MET Pro LED... both on $0.50/play, with very generous tilts. We ended up staying 2 more hours than we expected, I bought a good amount of drinks from the establishment, and even met some guy there who was so into pinball, we just started paying for his games to join in with us. I can't even speak to how TSPP was because we just kept feeding MET.
My GF still thinks you guys are great, and I still even followed up the next day with the guy looking to buy to give him your full Pinside and BPA contact...but the GF said she strictly wants to go to State Park next time we go in because the contrast in what she saw for value. I think her words were "It's like having my hands tied behind my back. Am I supposed to just allow a game to take $1 from me and then drain without ANY attempt at save from me?". I don't disagree with her.

Quoted from Yoko2una:

Please highlight in my 'Example A/B/C' post where I directly say "Your machines tilt when a fly lands on them" or "when someone across the room sneezes". It was an 'in general' statement that pertains to ALL location play, namely at $1/play which is what this entire thread is about. I'm sorry if you read that part as an attack on your specific locations, as it wasn't.
Then you decided to insinuate that I'm a cheapskate or something. I'm a customer. Money I earn goes into your games, and I spoke highly about the lineup and staff at FTJ's and A4 (here and many other threads). We have freggin date nights where we drive to Boston, specifically to play YOUR locations!
Also, reread my last post. I never said that YOUR machines specifically tilt when a fly lands on them. Again, "in general" statement. If you linked it to your games because later in the same post, I talked about tilting on your games this week, that's you drawing an incorrect conclusion, and then accusing me of "GROSS exaggeration". I certainly did tilt on your games, a lot, and yes it was more than I expected to given our style of play, but I fully admitted to trying to nudge to save the balls.

100% of what I've said in this thread is MY opinion based on $1 play in general, hypotheticals, and then also a recap about a night, 2 nights ago where we were customers of yours. I can't see where I've spread lies about your business, and for a long time have praised both locations, the lineups, the titles, the conditions, and the staff service both on Pinside and elsewhere. I wouldn't be on here trying to "damage your business" and simultaneously trying to divert business to you and away from someone else. But I absolutely also have a right on a forum to express if we have a frustrating night, because in all sincerity we did... and you have the right to either take that into consideration, or read it as an attack.
PS - Seriously, if you still think I've written lies about your specific games, PM me. Hopefully between our in person meeting, and possibly reading my long ass posts on many threads, I'd hope one wouldn't think spreading lies is my M.O. If there's something I've written which is erroneous, I'm absolutely more than happy to edit.

Quoted from Yoko2una:

Hey Hilton, now that I’m not in meetings, after reading everything, yeah I can see I came off a bit combative. But at the same time, this is a $1/play thread, and I do feel like my recent $1/play experiences are pertinent... especially with what I felt was a serious trend one recent night. Still giving you an upvote though as you are trying to at least consider both sides.
Perhaps I could’ve been a bit more tactful, but on the other head of the same coin, I’m not shocked the supporting upvotes for the opposing viewpoint are from other opps and tech support folks. Also my viewpoints were intended to be constructive. Why would I actually refer and then SHOW my referral about the guy I’m allegedly, but not factually, slandering?
I hope you saw in all my posts that I was on the whole supportive of the local establishments, and some of my comments were indeed either misinterpreted or even misquoted. You may disagree with me, but I won’t allow words to be put in my mouth.
I’m a customer, but if you knew me and my girlfriend in person, you’d know my GF is one of the few/only females in the hobby that has held the title “Pinball Technician”. She’s no slouch. She worked at the Pinball Wizard Arcade in NH that unfortunately closed this year. She fully knows the tilt mech’s of 110 concurrent location pins under one roof (at a notoriously tight place!) , and I’m not a noob in the slightest seeing how I’ve been playing location pins since the 1980’s. We both thought something was up Tuesday night, and due to our combined experience in this hobby, it’s not completely unwarranted or irrelevant. And I’m sorry but it’s not off limits to mention when there’s a neighboring place that’s at the moment more attractive. I know we are supposed to look out for our own here, but we shouldn’t shun places or people that are routing A-tier games for great prices.
I made some points and I don’t think I misstated anything from a factual POV. I also think all my opinions we’re presented fairly in a discussion about $1/play thread.
However, I’m wiped I spent 2 hours at one of Mike’s customers house tonight and with other normal parenting BS, I now I need to call it a night. If tomorrow I see that I was seriously out of line, I’ll humbally edit my posts. But I hope opps like you can understand that I had an honest opinion, and those opinions from a customer (as much as you may disagree) are still valid... especially from a guy who is still emphatic and positive about the locations in question and had F’ing referred someone to the operator in the last day... who now apparently misquotes me and hates me.