An Ohio man’s family outing to Dave & Buster’s turned into a 30-minute ordeal after he asks about a 50% off games promotion. Here’s what likely happened.
TikTok creator Tim Holmes (@kingdomquest), who usually produces content about his toy product Nurkl, posted a video about the ordeal last week.
He said his family arrived at the arcade chain hoping to stretch their game credits twice as far based on a promotional email claiming games were half off. Dave & Buster’s locations typically have a half-price Wednesday, so an advertisement for Sunday would be an exception.
Ohio Man Takes Family to Dave & Buster’s for 50% Off Games
“We show up, and we’re going through, and I’m looking at the games, and I’m like, ‘Am I going insane?’” Holmes said. “Because on the games, it looks like the cost to play a single game is the same as a normal day, but they said that they’re half priced today. So I was like, ‘I’m gonna go ask someone. I’m gonna go ask an employee.’”
Holmes talked to an employee who didn’t seem to understand the issue. Then he spoke with another employee. “And he goes, ‘Yeah, I think they’re supposed to be half priced today,’ but he’s like, ‘I was looking at the machines myself, and they are showing that they’re full price, so I’m not sure what’s going on,’” he continued.
After cycling through a few people who relayed conflicting answers on whether the promotion was active, a head manager finally popped up. Holmes explained the half-off deal, and allegedly the manager said he believed the games should be half-off. Holmes said the manager promised to check the system and find out for sure.
Should the Dave & Buster’s Games Have Been 50% Off?
Holmes says the ordeal lasted 30 minutes, and the family didn’t play any games during that time. “So I asked him, ‘Is it possible that when I put my card in there, it actually subtracts half the points instead of what it’s saying on the machine?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, that’s possible, I guess.’”
But when Holmes went and played, he found that the game charged what he thought was the normal amount. The TikToker had found that “the average cost was between four and six [tokens]. And on the high end, it could be up to 12. Four to six was the average cost, right? And they’re supposed to be half price.”
It’s essential to understand how Dave & Buster’s pricing works, and new information is reshaping this story. According to detailed pricing data compiled by the Dave & Buster’s Reddit community, the chain implemented system-wide price changes in March, dividing its 171 locations into four pricing tiers.
The Columbus Polaris location, where the creator likely visited, falls under Tier 2 pricing, where chips cost between 12.71 and 21.43 cents each, depending on purchase volume. At this location, the average game typically costs between 6.8 and 12 chips, roughly translating to about $1–$2 per game. But this depends on the type of game.
How to Understand the Dave & Buster’s Chip Conversion Rate
According to the subreddit, the updated standard arcade games run 6.8–9.0 chips, redemption games like Skee-Ball cost 7.5–11.0 chips, and VR attractions can run 16.0–25.0 chips or more.
Critical here is that the company’s well-known “Half-Price Wednesdays” promotion brings the average game cost down to about 3–5 chips (approximately $0.50–$0.75 per game). This is what the toy maker expected to see on “Half Price Sunday.”
By the end of the clip, Holmes felt cheated. He said, “I believe that manager is lying to me.”
In reality, the company altered the pricing. In this situation, it seems like this was likely not a case of malfeasance. The games do appear to be half-price, but Dave & Buster’s just increased its prices since March.
In fact, at least one commenter noted the change. “I think the games went up,” they wrote.
All Hip Hop reached out to Holmes via TikTok and Dave & Busters for more information.
@kingdomquesttoys I will never go back to Dave and Busters, unless I find out I am not crazy. Please tell me I am wrong and they didn’t just straight up lie to me. #daveandbusters #badexperience #lostcustomer ♬ original sound – Kingdom Quest LLC
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