South Taiwan night market game operator faces suspension for dishonesty

南台灣夜市遊戲店家因不誠實而面臨停業

Vendor accused of purposefully ‘forgetting’ to give change, setting payment traps for customers


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An arcade game operator at Tainan’s Garden Night Market has been accused of purposefully “forgetting” to give change. The latest accusation comes just weeks after his business was suspended for attempting to swindle customers by charging NT$5,200 (US$173.44) to shoot darts at balloons.

In a post shared to the Facebook group “Breaking News Commune” on Friday (Feb. 3), a woman named Tien Pei Shan wrote about her experience while playing a ball-throwing game commonly found in Taiwan’s night markets. “Each game cost NT$100, so my sister gave (the vendor) NT$500 and told him we wanted to play one game.”

After finishing the game without winning any prizes, Tien and her sister prepared to leave. However, her sister realized just before they walked away that the vendor had not given her change.

Tien said the vendor smirked that he did not usually give change, but that he “reluctantly” gave them back their NT$400. When the two went to the night market’s management to report the incident, they were told that the vendor often did such things and had been reported for his actions in the past.

The Tainan City Market Administration Office on Saturday (Feb. 4) responded to the incident in a press release. The statement cited the night market’s management, which previously suspended the vendor's business for a month due to the earlier dispute over balloon darts. The administration office wrote that it would interview the vendor and possibly suspend the business again.

In November last year, a woman who visited the Garden Night Market with her boyfriend shared their experience of being tricked while playing balloon darts. She accused the vendor of first telling them not to pay up front, that he would charge them after they were done. The vendor reportedly encouraged the customers to keep playing more games under the pretense that he was giving them more chances for free.

When the couple finally won a stuffed animal prize and finished the game, the vendor told them that their bill amounted to NT$5,200. After negotiating with the vendor, they ended up paying NT$2,600.