Comment by spike021
6 hours ago
we have one of those by our office and it's funny how every day it says sold out but there's never really anyone there.
one time we did walk up to it as a few unscrupulous looking guys were hanging out and we figured they're just waiting for a restock. I don't think those vending machines really do anything to prevent people from getting as much as they want.
The card vending machines are effectively rate limited, you need to wait to make a purchase. This is so one person can't empty the entire machine, even if they have multiple payment methods.
What incentive is there for the machine operators to do this?
Not getting yelled at most likely. There are enough vocal people who complain if these machines do not act "fair". So it often is easier just to change how they operate and not have to listen as much of that.