This calls for the precise mix of viciousness and cunning

What do you do when someone is sitting in an inactive arcade booth and you happen to be on the clock behind the counter?

You address the issue. Specifically, knocking on the door and reminding them that the movie has to be playing if they are in the booth. They mutter out some apologies and assurances that they were already moving to put more money into the machine. Moments later, the "active" light comes on.

A handful of minutes later, the booth goes dark once again. A few minutes longer and no one has emerged.

Once again, you stroll over, give a brief knock and another reminder that if they are in that room, movies must be on. You get almost an exact repeat of the earlier response.

Perhaps the guy in the booth is just too dense to understand the requisite concepts expected by the store. More likely, he's running some private game on us.

Precisely at the point where a dollar's worth of time would run out, the booth shuts off.

This would be strike number three. This time, the terse knock at the door is accompanied with an equally direct statement his custom is no longer desired and he needs to leave immediately. Noises of acknowledgement issue from within.

However, several minutes elapse without any hint that the person is planning on exiting at any point in the foreseeable future. This is somewhat displeasing, to put it mildly. So one reviews their options. Obviously, further dialogue with the critter will not yield results. Popping the door and demanding an immediate exodus would probably precipitate a heated reaction on the idiot's part. An option, but perhaps something else would have less potential consequences for me. The police could be summoned to charge him with trespassing, but that would be escalating something that is probably solvable on one's own.

A germ of inspiration comes to the fore. The parking lot is checked, customers are matched with vehicles, and the fates have been kind this night. So once again there is a knock on the arcade booth door, only this time it's followed by the question of whether they own a red pickup truck with plate number "ABC 123".

They do.

Then it's casually mentioned that a tow company has been summoned to remove that vehicle and he probably only has a few minutes left before the wrecker arrives.

Like magic, the booth erupts with sounds of distress and hurried movement. Moments later a mostly dressed man hobbles to the doors to check on his vehicle. He relaxes just a bit to see it as he left it, but still wastes no time getting himself pulled the rest of the way together and leaving.

Problem solved without further fuss.

And if they'd called the bluff, a tow truck could always be summoned for real.