What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?

L0p on 12/02/2016 - 22:12
Last edited 14/02/2016 - 15:53

Until recently I was using a coupon code for a pizza store which allowed me to get any pizza for $5.
I may be selfish but decided not to post it here for fear of it being canceled.
Until recently where one of the friends I shared this code with shared it with some friend of his who got a job at this pizza place causing the deal to "expire".

So coming to my question: What was a loophole that you found and exploited/are exploiting the hell out of?
It doesn't have to have expired if you wish to keep it a secret like me you may wish to censor the affiliated company.

If you need some inspiration/a good read

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/44tard/what_was_…

General Discussion

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  • Unbranded on 13/02/2016 - 10:55
    +188

    When cereal boxes advertise a 1 in 5 chance (or similar) of having a free toy or gadget inside the box, I just take some boxes around to the fruit and veg section of the supermarket and weigh the boxes on the scales. The heaviest box is guaranteed to have the free prize!

    • POWER1 on 14/02/2016 - 21:22
      +30

      I did that so many times and remember once we got a box with no gift but an extra 100g of cereal.

      • paaj on 23/02/2016 - 13:31
        +2

        still a win! haha

    • Diji1 on 13/02/2016 - 13:09
      +11

      OK that is genius :D

    • WannabeHermit on 14/02/2016 - 00:59
      +6

      Lol this is what my father does

    • John on 13/02/2016 - 11:19
      +3

      Smart!

    • Unbranded on 15/02/2016 - 10:14
      +1

      Works best with digital scales as the free pedometers and the like that Kellogg's often gives away only weigh 20 or 30 grams. Unfortunately Coles has replaced many of the digital scales so I find Woolies a better bet.

    • TurkishDelight on 14/02/2016 - 22:03

      ok lad that's brilliant, have to admit.

    • harkoliar on 14/02/2016 - 23:20

      I gotta try this. Brilliant

  • Blottski on 13/02/2016 - 00:36
    +82

    I used to stay at a place in Melbourne (YWCA on Elizabeth) when I used to come over to study and then had one of those junk food dispensers in the communal kitchen.

    Anyway I worked out that if you put a 5c piece in the machine, it would spit out the coin but register 5c as being paid on the machine.

    Lets just say being a student on an apprenticeship me and the other guy who I used to room with exploited the hell out of that machine when we were there….

    took them 2 years to work it out.

    • montorola on 16/02/2016 - 13:54
      +4

      Haha nice!

      I have this vision in my head of you repeatedly putting 5c in the machine, just like those poker machine zombies mindlessly putting coins in the machine.

    • patinadiary on 15/02/2016 - 17:36
      +3

      well done…for a change (no pun intended) the 5c pieces were actually useful.

    • AlienC on 13/02/2016 - 00:46
      +2

      hahaha i like this one the most, genius!

  • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 08:37
    +70

    Surprised how many here think fare evasion is a morally acceptable loophole.

    • ozy on 13/02/2016 - 09:48
      +3

      As long as they tag the words F#€k or €#nt into their seat onboard I guess I accept they are challenged people and accept the morality of their choices.
      Rest assured they will live shorter more disadvantaged lives, often ended soon after they get caught fair evading and receiving a fine. Not being able to pay fines leads to all sorts of causes of death.
      (Suicide, depression, starvation, being on the end of a jail shiv etc..)
      Sleep easy HereBobButtons.

      That said, if your train breaks down (yes run privately but put in place by the taxes you pay) or is cancelled and you are docked at work for tardiness, then a free compensation is in order!
      Grab a broken bottle or a knife from the work kitchen and proceed to your free train ride home, make sure you keep entertained by scratching into the back of the seat/ wall/glass windows the profanity of your choice.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 11:24
        +1

        …Yeah!

        They take us home late, or take us to work late… Yet they have the balls to say, "Sorry for the delay, thanks for your cooperation. Full fare thanks."

    • Clear on 13/02/2016 - 10:06
      +2

      Most people do it here with the buses. The problem is that there is no signage and the drivers don't tell you that you need to upgrade for certain distances and hops. You're expected to know it already.

      • sellingoutsoon on 15/02/2016 - 13:34
        +2

        Most people do it here with the buses

        I know it was Valentine's Day yesterday…but ewwww

    • MrMcHairyHead on 08/03/2016 - 19:15
      +1

      It is. Public transport should be free.

    • Diji1 on 13/02/2016 - 09:51
      -3

      What the heck has morals got to do with it?

      • ozy on 13/02/2016 - 09:55
        +13

        Whats love got to do with it, got to do with it, got to do with it.

        • Charity on 13/02/2016 - 18:56
          +4

          He's a private dancer, a dancer for money, and any old music will do

      • miarn on 13/02/2016 - 15:18
        +1

        Pretty poor troll mate, you really need to lift your game.

  • muncan on 13/02/2016 - 09:28
    +67

    Bought some Qantas top up points the other day, and the operator asked me to stay on the line to complete a survey. I hung up when the survey started. Saved a minute of my time which I could then spend on OzBargain.

    • massafiri on 13/02/2016 - 19:56
      +8

      There's a special space in hell for people like you. See you there.

    • matt_will_fix_it on 13/02/2016 - 21:29
      +6

      Buying qantas top up points is the opposite of a bargain. They are so expensive.

      • muncan on 13/02/2016 - 21:35
        +9

        Unless purchased for a loophole.

    • Hinee on 17/02/2016 - 15:27
      +1

      I hope you realise that survey is designed purely for KPI's to do with that individual customer service rep. I don't know if I'm just a nice bloke, but if they have legitimately done me well then I'll always spend the ~60 seconds confirming it.

      • paaj on 23/02/2016 - 13:25

        they should then do the survey like iiNet - send you an email after your call and you can reply whenever you want. But the thing that craps me the most is no follow up after a bad review (iiNet usually follows up)

        Note: I don't work for ii

        • koplik88 on 02/03/2016 - 04:30

          I'm sick of those email surveys. Back in the day they use to send you a voucher or something to say thanks when you rated a companies service. Now you get nothing!!
          I've seen a few of the banks saying you could win a $2k voucher. So where do they post the actual winner?

  • Gotchas on 13/02/2016 - 03:29
    +52

    Iv managed to get a an email address that receives lots of great offers from so many exotic places and kind people around the world
    Il be off to the to retire in the Caribbean once this windfall comes from Nigeria

    • scrimshaw on 13/02/2016 - 08:51
      +80

      Hello Peanut, my name is Scrimshaw Savimbi the 3rd, I am a former Moderator of Ozbargainia and I come to offer you my Eneloop collection worth 2 million in DickSmith dollars….

      • Gotchas on 13/02/2016 - 19:33
        +11

        Pls tell me more,(frothing at the mouth)

      • paablo84 on 16/02/2016 - 15:35

        order oz bargain

  • That Guy on 13/02/2016 - 09:35
    +43

    When Mars first started the free bars promotion if you looked at the wrapper on the right angle you could see the '!' in the "You've won a free bar!" printed on the inside of the wrapper.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/02/2016 - 23:18
    +40

    About 2 years ago, Myer emailed a $20 off coupon (no minimum spend) … bought several hundred dollars worth of stuff…

    • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 08:56
      +6

      So you got $20 off?

      • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 09:52
        +26

        It was an email coupon with a generic barcode, ie reusable unlimited number of times.

        All of my purchases were in the $21-25 region

        • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 19:39
          +8

          @chipstss:
          Almost 3 days…

        • TurkishDelight on 14/02/2016 - 21:55
          +2

          @sp00ker: lol luckiest guy here.

        • chipstss on 13/02/2016 - 19:30
          +1

          How long did it last?

    • CI on 13/02/2016 - 09:33
      +4

      I remember. Was a great day. In hindsight not so much, lost much more on my Myer shares though

      • [Deactivated] on 13/02/2016 - 09:53
        +3

        Teaches you for buying shares in an private equity IPO…

    • Bad-Wolf on 15/02/2016 - 12:38

      totally did the same thing!

    • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2016 - 12:26

      I remember this! I used it too. It was late 2013/ early 14. I bought so much and travelled to every single counter in the store so could save so much.
      One guy realised and warned the other counters so I just went to another Myer.

      Saved a few hundred with it.

      Edit - I am thinking of this one…is that what you meant? It was $30 minimum though.

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/125774

      There was this one too
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139315

      • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2016 - 20:50

        I meant the 2nd one - only $10 min spend.

  • brynj on 17/02/2016 - 14:33
    +40

    Some vending machines at Burswood Casino used to accept any card with a magnetic strip to pay for your drink/food.
    2 coffees on Medicare thanks.

    • blehgg on 17/02/2016 - 14:57
      +2

      gold

  • gawky on 13/02/2016 - 09:22
    +38

    Use a non-expired gift credit card with $0 credit on parking ticket machines. Use to accept the card and give maximum allowable ticket time.

    • Bluewhisky on 16/02/2016 - 17:19
      +2

      Does this still work?

    • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 19:22

      What's a "gift credit card"? Is that like a woolies gift card or does this refer to something else?

    • bargaino on 15/02/2016 - 22:30
      -4

      Errr, that is well beyond fare evasion. It think its actually fraud. Not as bad as stealing, but still criminal.

      • gawky on 16/02/2016 - 10:10
        +8

        Ok.

  • Randxyz123 on 13/02/2016 - 13:23
    +34

    Not sure how much of a loophole this is but you can read The Age in private browsing mode for free and it doesn't count how many articles you read per month

    • first in line on 15/02/2016 - 22:54
      +3

      thought everyone knew that

  • xdiep on 14/02/2016 - 06:22
    +31

    In Melbourne, from Swan street to get to Exhibition st, you typically have to pay the Citylink tolls. i.e. https://goo.gl/maps/xQNYWFwZ8on

    However, by entering the Rod Laver arena car park, as long as you leave within 10 mins, you can get out for free and avoid the toll completely https://goo.gl/maps/kwGZaXPHcHM2

  • Gnosh on 18/02/2016 - 08:28
    +27

    When at home watching TV with the missus I'll put something on only because I know it has raunchy scenes. When the show or movie is over she's normally in the mood.

    • montorola on 18/02/2016 - 10:34
      +4

      You sly devil you…

    • Twocupteabag on 28/02/2016 - 22:57

      You put the hole in loophole.

    • hahaboy on 15/02/2016 - 23:17
      +3

      would have been awesome if he was able to change the scripts somehow and score 100% without actually doing the test. I don't know if that would actually work cause I don't know enough about scripting, but i will silently chuckle at my idea.

      • Fizzydrink on 18/02/2016 - 16:06
        +2

        they probably didnt know that that was the test.

    • WT on 04/03/2016 - 15:16
      +1

      would be a better story if he submitted another 4 fake's at 100% then he was the only one to turn up for interviews, therefore win by default

  • Ghogger on 13/02/2016 - 21:45
    +25

    I used to ride my motorbike across the Sydney harbour bridge fairly regularly, and I had assigned the number plate to my toll account but to my surprise I never got charged.

    It was only a few months after getting my motorbike that when visiting my parents, my dad mentioned 'you should probably adjust the bag on the back of your bike, it makes it hard to see the number plate'

    You can imagine that no bag adjustment was made.. Went through at least 100 tolls with that bike - bridge, M2, M7, the harbour tunnel, never got charged. That bag was the best investment I ever made.

    • hahaboy on 15/02/2016 - 23:07

      what do you mean? was the number plate on your bag, and if so, can't cops pull you over and fine you for it?

      • Ghogger on 15/02/2016 - 23:20
        +1

        The bag covered the numberplate since it hung a little lower than it was designed to (called a ventura bag rack if you're interested)

        • hahaboy on 16/02/2016 - 22:46

          sweet. thanks :)

    • SuperHanz on 16/02/2016 - 17:42

      Probably explains why there are about 15 cameras clustered at the toll recognition part on the gateway.

    • WT on 04/03/2016 - 14:46

      My riding buddies all had flip plates, just reach around and flip it when needed. It was handy for these occasions, but not the real reason why we had them.

  • kima on 13/02/2016 - 09:37
    +24

    yeah i'm going to share my secret loopholes with you so you can exploit them when you don't share with us.

      • 0p on 13/02/2016 - 16:23
        +8

        As mentioned before you may post the details of a store "anonymously" ie
        -That "big electronics retailer"
        -That online store
        -That burger joint
        -That caravan park
        Etc…

        • QuickToThePointless on 15/02/2016 - 18:04
          +4

          -That "big electronics retailer" - lets just call it D. Smiths
          -That online store - lets just call it x-bay
          -That burger joint - lets just call is hungry x
          -That caravan park - lets just….check mate!

          What about these

          -that pay Tv provider
          -that government owned telco
          -that american video game manufacturer

        • BestofOZB on 14/02/2016 - 17:58
          +2

          Then we all try to figure out which caravan park it is….nice game.

        • Agret on 16/02/2016 - 20:20

          @pointless comment:

          that american video game manufacturer

          The UPlay $2 game exploit was so good, my UPlay account is full of games thanks to that.

          Sadly I screwed up the EA Origin free game exploit and only got one game. Didn't learn about the add/remove from cart trick to get all of them free until after the promo ended :(

      • revolutio on 18/02/2016 - 01:38
        +1

        Oh youse guys, don't downvote him.

  • konazz on 14/02/2016 - 23:43
    +24

    Need a new telephone port or power point installed? We had a really tricky like to run from downstairs to upstairs.

    Solution - Foxtel for 1 month and get them to install points in bedroom. The use new conduit to run cat5. Cost $30

    • cwongtech on 16/02/2016 - 00:30

      Nice!

    • TurkishDelight on 17/02/2016 - 00:52

      @konazz dosent foxtel uses RG6 cables?

      • cwongtech on 17/02/2016 - 03:19
        +1

        The use new conduit to run cat5. Cost $30

        You don't use the Foxtel cable, you just use the wallplate + conduit fitted out for it and swap it out for Ethernet :)

        • Agret on 17/02/2016 - 09:41
          +1

          @TurkishDelight: you unscrew it from the wall then screw in a cat6 one. For the cable you tie your ethernet cable around the rg6 cable securely then pull the cable through

        • TurkishDelight on 17/02/2016 - 04:30

          yes but the wall plate has an RG6 female connector, how do you swap it to an Ethernet cable?

        • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2016 - 09:11

          @TurkishDelight: @congtech:

          nice avatars!

        • TurkishDelight on 17/02/2016 - 10:22

          @Agret: right, thats cool.

        • TurkishDelight on 17/02/2016 - 10:24

          @astroberryz: much Thanks…..JDM Doge Woooo..

        • cwongtech on 17/02/2016 - 10:26

          @TurkishDelight:
          Wallplates are cheap (They require a mounting bracket which is pretty standard) + cost like $2-$4. You can get the keystone ones to make it even easier.
          The conduit is the tricky part. Wallplate swaps are really easy.

  • j5ive on 16/02/2016 - 08:15
    +23

    When I was 15 working at the local supermarket we had scan rate goals to work towards on the checkout. I though it would be interesting to try hitting total button every spare second to see if this paused the timer. So If I was turning to put up new bags, or unload a bag, or even wait for more items to go on the belt- I would hit total.

    That month I got a record scan rate and was employee of the month. They quickly worked out what I was doing when they watched me serve someone. I wasn't employee of the month anymore.

    • username999 on 19/02/2016 - 23:56

      "I wasn't employee of the month anymore."

      LOL! Don't know why but it made me crack up so badly. Thanks!

  • upsydaisy on 13/02/2016 - 13:57
    +22

    The undercover parking at our local hospital was $40 per day. We were parked for 28 hours and got a charge of $80.
    The fee for a lost ticket was $50. No surprise that we accidently lost our ticket.

    • Gotchas on 13/02/2016 - 14:03
      +12

      Not as good as tailgating car in front out of the boom gates

      • mavis30551 on 15/02/2016 - 16:13
        +6

        Broke a Boom gate once when the car in front was doing the exact same thing and I was too balls deep to stop.

        Not even joking, freaked me out for months wondering if I was ever going to get a bill to fix it.
        But it turns out they don't have cameras and the boom gate comes off easily and they just slid the plastic thing back on.

    • Food on 13/02/2016 - 14:26
      +1

      Same but the daily fee was dearer than the lost ticket, that lasted a while (sadly albeit in sad circumstances)

  • Bendo on 16/02/2016 - 19:36
    +20

    Whenever there was a survey that wanted my details, I always used to put CEO, Director or Minister.
    Then this gets put in a database and whenever there is a free dinner/free front row tickets/whatever for a show, Boat luncheon, etc, I would get the invite. Still happens sometimes. You are just in a huge database and they sort by the high up titles. I've received many invites to places I would NEVER get into otherwise. Great fun.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2016 - 12:33

      Stealing this. See you at the next event :)

    • strikerzebra on 17/02/2016 - 12:50

      Haha wow, gonna try it, don't they ever ask where you work?

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