Long story short: A frequent arcade goer caught a plushie from a toy catcher machine at Cow Play Cow Moo arcade at Downtown East, but her prize was allegedly snatched away by the staff who then demanded she pay an extra S$6.50 to claim it.

The incident occurred on Dec. 31, 2017.

The reason? The toy she caught was not supposed to be caught as it was not part of the game.

The staff also allegedly told the arcade goer, who was there with her family that day, that they could post about the incident on Facebook if they are not happy -- which they did.

So far, Quah, her family and the arcade have engaged in a bit of back-and-forth, with each side trying to explain what happened.

Quah also claims to be a regular at the arcade and knows the rules of the games inside out.

Mochi ado about nothing?

So, why all these angst?

The toy that Quah caught comes from the mochi plush series.

It is officially called Mocchi-Mocchi, an official line of Disney merchandise that is manufactured by toymaker Takara Tomy ARTS.

On Carousell, they are selling for about S$45 each.

It's understandable for companies that own these crane games to not want to give away these prized toys faster than they can replace them.

However, it makes these kinds of situations, where a win is not necessarily a win, extra frustrating for customers.

Especially so after customers have spent a lot of money on the machine.

Most crane machine players will also know that the strangely weak claws doesn't necessarily move in the way they want them to, and casual players may very well give up in vain after several tries.

In any case, this will ultimately be that cautionary tale that the house always wins, or at least, they will want to.

Arcade responds

As seen in Quah's updated Facebook post, Cow Play Cow Moo has responded.

The arcade said the Mochi Pooh plush is a premium prize that required a top-up for an exchange.

It was not part of the "game" as only Mochi Chip and Dale were supposedly part of it. The Pooh toy had fallen off the side of the crane machine and landed in the gameplay area where it could be picked up.

However, the Mochi Pooh was eventually given to Quah without a top-up in the end.

The arcade has also included an additional response mentioning that there is a guaranteed prize after 28 tries of the crane machine game and that the claims by this customer have been "sensationalised" and did not "illustrate the whole picture of what happened".

The post did not address the snatching incident, however.

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More questions

Even though Cow Play Cow Moo has since clarified that winning the Chip and Dale Mochi toys would not have required a S$6.50 top-up to take home, Quah recounted that the staff told her that all toys in that machine would have needed a S$6.50 top-up.

In response to Mothership.sg queries, the arcade said the crane game is not as straightforward as winning the prize immediately when it falls into the chute.

The gameplay is a little bit different, as a player has to catch the toys that are designated as bait, which you can exchange for the toys behind on display.

Some toys might require a S$6.50 top-up, while other toys might require two wins, and the rest you can exchange for right away.

Unhappy with the initial statement by Cow Play Cow Moo, a comment thread was started by one of the girls from the family that was there, which resulted in a back and forth exchange.

The exchange focused on the discrepancies regarding which toy needed a top-up when caught.

Regarding the family being told to post on Facebook, it was reported in Lianhe Wanbao that the staff's words were misunderstood in anger, as the staff was reportedly asked to provide her boss' contact number.

As the staff was not able to do so for privacy reasons, they told the family to leave a message on Facebook, in which case the boss would be able to respond to.

The thread has since been hidden away as the arcade has offered tokens to the affected family as compensation for their particular case.

Bottom line?

Crane machines are fun, but they are difficult to win prizes from.

Cow Play Cow Moo sounds like the Hokkien term Kao Peh Kao Bu (cry father cry mother).

Established in 2006, it is relatively new compared to Virtualand and Timezone.

Located at Suntec City and Downtown East, the two outlets have since attracted parents, kids and young couples.

So, if you want to play, don't Cow Play Cow Moo, please.