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

Comments

  • Donaldhump on 16/02/2016 - 11:13
    +7

    at uni back in 90s i was doing a networking class, and the textbooks were a good $120 for the two combined in shrink wrap.
    Some kid burst into class and yelled out that they were scanning for $12, 300+ students stampeded down to the book shop, was funny as

  • baybaboy on 16/02/2016 - 12:26
    +1

    theres still a loophole to get free data on all the major mobile network with no credit :) u just have to use a modded app for android and data works for free. Only downside is it chews up the battery faster. u can even hotspot it to other devices for free net.
    Anyways back in the days when i used to load smscseeker on my lappy and find free smsc for free txt.
    this loophole still works too as i use it for emergency purposes when im out of credit lol

    • Forskin on 16/02/2016 - 14:49

      care to go into a bit more detail?? :)

    • josepet on 16/02/2016 - 16:30

      I really need moar info plz :)

    • realfancyman on 17/02/2016 - 08:59

      more info?

    • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 18:47

      Yea more info?? What's the app called? Do you need root for it to work? Does it work with the resellers like Amaysim?

    • rye on 19/02/2016 - 23:49

      Please explain? Via PM?

    • jdogg on 24/02/2016 - 00:48

      I highly doubt that this is possible

    • baybaboy on 24/02/2016 - 01:15

      its very possible. i actually posted the apps on how to get free data on android but told the moderator to delete my post so it wont go viral and loophole stops.
      u dont even have to register the sim to get free data.

    • tinx on 13/05/2016 - 18:33

      so does anyone figured out how to do this ?

      • realfancyman on 13/05/2016 - 23:18

        I have found a way to get free data on Telstra's Mobile Network. PM if you are interested.

        • realfancyman on 30/05/2016 - 17:40

          Telstra closed the glitch :(

    • bargaino on 17/06/2016 - 13:38

      theres still a loophole to get free data on all the major mobile network with no credit

      I'm guessing TCP over DNS tunnelling? You need a server to connect to. Works on most paid wifi services too. Good for a quick email check.

      • baybaboy on 17/06/2016 - 13:57

        Dns tunneling would be slow like using Freedom.
        There is other ways :)

  • antonthenet on 16/02/2016 - 12:41
    +7

    When a website won't accept AMEX but accepts Paypal - I just pay with my AMEX card through Paypal.

    • uccoffee on 16/02/2016 - 17:24
      +1

      some sites also restrict AMEX through paypal

      • ucd12345 on 17/02/2016 - 10:20
        +2

        If this happens, simply remove your bank account from PayPal leaving only the AMEX. Since I tried this, it has worked hundreds of times without a hitch.

        • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 18:47

          Wow did not know that. Didn't even think of that..

  • born2reign on 16/02/2016 - 12:44
    +16

    One that I use at JB-Hifi when purchasing any electronics is to haggle them down for a deal on a TV for example. They usually drop it 5% or so if you simply ask. Then you need to look unimpressed by the deal and then offer to purchase a DVD player, HDMI cable, surround sound system etc. After this the sales rep will drop the price of the TV substantially after factoring in the entire bundle/package that you're buying from them.

    Keep the receipt, next day take everything back but the TV (or whatever item you actually want to keep) and get your money back for everything else and hence getting the TV for 15%+ off.

    One time, I couldn't be bothered coming back to Westfields the day after, so I literally took it all back 30 mins after purchase which was a little awkward lol but no dramas with it.

    • strikerzebra on 17/02/2016 - 12:20

      What is the return policy normally?

      • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 18:48
        +2

        Technically they don't have to refund you for "change of mind" (which this would most likely fall under, but as long as you keep your receipt plus don't open the item you intend to refund, it makes it a lot easier.

        • strikerzebra on 18/02/2016 - 09:25

          Ever been rejected?

        • illumination on 18/02/2016 - 11:56
          +1

          @strikerzebra: Nope. Not when I've satisfied criteria above (receipt + unopened). But can't say I've tried without satisfying the criteria either.

          Also, receipt can be an electronic receipt (e.g. you've taken a photo of it on your phone) - but of course hard copy is better. Just saying that it can be hard copy.

        • born2reign on 18/02/2016 - 14:40
          +1

          @strikerzebra:

          Nope, done it about 4 times as well. Usually when buying a TV or a harddrive

      • born2reign on 18/02/2016 - 14:39

        Standard 30 days not opened package no questions asked I would imagine!

    • Giraffe on 18/02/2016 - 00:06
      +1

      Inadvertently did something similar when I got a quote from Harvey Norman for a mattress and bed frame (and was able to negotiate more of a discount for buying more). Had the quote printed and a week later called and said I wanted to go ahead with mattress only - no issues getting the discounted price even without the bed frame.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/02/2016 - 13:28

    When I use to do it I would go and find the employee parking at westfields and it was bac kthan $6 for a whole day.

    That's it if i knew I would be out there for more then the free amount.

  • sauce2k6 on 16/02/2016 - 13:32
    +7

    Carlton dry had a promotion two years ago where you can win festival tickets.

    Inside the case was a code you would enter online to see if you instantly won or not. After my first one was not successful I thought I'd give it another try using the same code. The code was valid but didn't win so I then used the same code about 500 times and won 6 double passes to different festivals.

    They must have learned from this because last year they had the same promotion but used unique codes :(

    • BanannaMan on 17/02/2016 - 12:44

      nice thinking outside the proverbial box!

    • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 18:50

      Not really understanding what you're saying. So you used code A, didn't win. Then you tried using same code A again and again, didn't win. Then you used the same code A 500 times and won every single time after that? How does that work? Lol

      • scrimshaw on 17/02/2016 - 20:16

        I'm guessing Carlton did not use an RNG (random number generator) and therefore the codes were not unique (i.e possibility that the code is reused and reprinted multiple times)

        I'm assuming that every time the code was entered there was a small chance the user would get the prize.

        • illumination on 18/02/2016 - 11:57

          No RNG makes sense considering what he said, but it doesn't seem to make sense that the first couple of times it didn't work, yet it worked every single (500 times) after that!

          Is that also a symptom of lack of RNG? Not familiar.

        • webtonmoy on 19/02/2016 - 05:35
          +2

          @illumination: I guess what he said is that he tried it for 500 times, and in those 500 trials, won 6 times.

        • illumination on 19/02/2016 - 15:48
          +1

          @webtonmoy: Ah - I think I missed that part…. :) makes much more sense now!!!

  • michaelTito on 16/02/2016 - 13:58
    +11

    About 6 years ago I was hooked onto this mmorp game. Found a loophole to duplicate items.

    It was a character transfer loophole. It allows you to transfer one character from one account to another. The process is when you transfer one character to another account you need to log off from the account you're transferring from or else it will give you an error message asking you to log off from the account you're transfer in from.

    So after a weekly maintenance I bought a high level character from some random it in game. Once I accepted the character, logged on and confirmed everything was ok and logged back in with my main character to realise that the guy who sold me his character is still logged in with the exact same character standing there for hours. (He went afk without me knowing).

    From there onward I figured out that you don't actually need to log off and still be able to transfer character. Did a few test transfer and worked out a way to keep the duplicated items in the account storage.

    From then onward I was the richest guy in game. Made a lot of friends who help me sell those items to other players for real cash.

    Lasted 3 months. Made about $50k in total.

    Went on a 3 months holiday, came back got questioned by he custom asking me where I got all those money from. Wasn't a good experience.

    Got let go after 3 hours of questioning. Worth it. 5/7 would do again

    • CVonC on 16/02/2016 - 14:02
      +6

      that's a solid five out of seven story mate

    • michaelTito on 16/02/2016 - 14:11
      +1

      read this again and fk me dead, so many typos.

      was typing this on my phone while pretending to take a dumb in the bathroom at work. (another loophole).

      • CVonC on 16/02/2016 - 14:17
        +1

        that's not too nice on the dumb

    • ronnknee on 17/02/2016 - 10:20

      Did you travel with all that money on you?

      • michaelTito on 17/02/2016 - 12:56

        I didn't spend all the money travelling. Spent around 10k and kept the rest and bought a house with it.

        • ronnknee on 17/02/2016 - 14:05

          Ah okay, just wondering why all of a sudden customs would interrogate you if you didn't have all that money on you.

        • michaelTito on 17/02/2016 - 14:58

          @ronnknee:

          Well some transactions were made via PayPal and some were made via western union. They had no idea how much I received via western union but a large amount Via paypal. (From then on, that's the time I know the fed can get access to everything. Even your PayPal account.) THey worried that some drug lord paid me the money via paypal and made me go overseas To bring drugs back into Australia.

        • ronnknee on 17/02/2016 - 16:03

          @michaelTito: Ohhhh wow, that's really interesting (and terrible experience for you).

    • strikerzebra on 17/02/2016 - 12:21

      50k , shit, why didn't you just put the money in your bank ?

      • michaelTito on 17/02/2016 - 12:57

        If I did that I would probably be in jail right now.

        I deposited the left over money into my dad bank account and bought a house with it using them money as deposit money.

        • strikerzebra on 17/02/2016 - 13:04

          Yeh well you don't do it in one lump some .. what was the game by the way?

        • michaelTito on 17/02/2016 - 15:00

          @strikerzebra:

          The amount added up in my paypal account. Not all but more than half of it. Some transactions were made via western union. I think it flagged the fed when a lot of the money were coming from South American countries.

          It's was a Korean MMO call MU online.

          It was the shit back then. A lot of Brazilian and South Americans play that game.

        • strikerzebra on 17/02/2016 - 15:41

          @michaelTito:

          Looks like a better version of runescape haha

        • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 18:54

          Why would you be in jail? From what I can see, you didn't do anything "illegal" did you?

          Also, just curious, how was the interrogation? What did you say?

        • michaelTito on 17/02/2016 - 19:21

          @illumination:

          I wouldn't in jail.was just 19 year old me being scared.

          They were like where did all those money come from. I made up bull shit like I sold my unused stuff on eBay and some of them are from me relatives overseas etc. When I was overseas I bought a full luggage of new clothes and I told them I was going to sell those clothes after I wear them once. They told me if I own a business. I said hell no. Those clothes are for private use only and sold them as I no longer need them. They asked if I spent all my money overseas I said yes. Asked me what I'm doing for a living.

          Not much questioning but more like searching. They Went through every corner of my luggage. Told me to take off my pants and shoes ( in a room) took my wallet and scan every single corner or it.

          Funny thing is I got nothing to declare during that time. All The stuff I'm brining back in are just clothes and other random craps like cheap mobile phone shoes etc. No wood or food or whatever but as soon as I hand the officer the arrival form and passport they looked at me and asked me to follow them. My girlfriend was with me they told her to walk through but she insisted she want to stay with me. I'm pretty sure my name somehow got flagged by their system.

          Government spying on us is real!! Jokes

          Like you said I did nothing wrong.

        • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 19:32

          @michaelTito:

          Haha wow. Really interesting story and props to you.

          So really, you could've been honest about everything and you'd still be fine I'd imagine? Simply because you've really done nothing wrong. I guess as you mentioned, fear got the better of you so you tried to make up random stuff as to how you got all the money?

        • michaelTito on 17/02/2016 - 19:45
          +1

          @illumination:

          Looking back now even if I tell them the truth I don't think I will be in trouble. But yes I was shitting myself. I was 19 recently started Uni and I'm not an oz citizen. Don't want to get deported back really so I made up lies haha. I will tell this story to my kids when I'm a dad.

        • hahaboy on 18/02/2016 - 20:15

          @strikerzebra: wave1: Trimming armour for free!!!

    • Mumbles on 18/02/2016 - 05:22

      Don't worry Customs probably stopped you because of a low-tech reason. You were carrying a suspiciously large amount of cash:
      http://www.austrac.gov.au/travellers/travelling-or-out-austr…

      I figured this out when I was in a similar situation to you. At every airport my sneakers were being swabbed and/or get body frisked.

    • hahaboy on 18/02/2016 - 20:13

      what mmorp?

  • [Deactivated] on 16/02/2016 - 14:04
    +13

    Any 7-eleven franchise owner's here?

    • Donaldhump on 16/02/2016 - 16:34
      +1

      u need a job, i pay good money cash in hand

      • scrimshaw on 16/02/2016 - 17:07
        +1

        and all you can eat expired sandwiches.

  • sydneybargainer on 16/02/2016 - 16:00
    +2

    buying train ticket after midnight (off peak fare) and used during peak hours next morning.

    • ronnknee on 17/02/2016 - 10:22
      +3

      Wouldn't work in NSW as the reset time of the tickets is 4 AM.

      • sydneybargainer on 17/02/2016 - 13:16

        it used to work in city rail around 10 years ago.

  • AbhiC on 16/02/2016 - 16:14

    Few months back, I saw an ad in a store where they were selling iPod Nano 16 GB 7th Generation ( Only Pink Colour) in clearance for 119 AUD instead of original price of 219 AUD. I showed that ad in another store and price matched it ( I did not mention that the offer is only for Pink colour) and bought Blue colour iPods. I bought 10 pieces from there different stores and sold it in gumtree for anywhere between 165 to 175 AUD ;)

    • CVonC on 16/02/2016 - 16:43
      +4

      That was at Target and also available for the purple and blue you broden you

      • AbhiC on 16/02/2016 - 18:56

        They had offer only on Pink Colour in the month of December. That too was out of stock online.

  • HeartFeltAxe on 16/02/2016 - 16:31
    +3

    Ahhhh, I love thinking of all the times my dad and I exploited things… (I'm 14)
    There was this one time where my dad, brother and I all went to target and I wanted to buy a Nerf Gun, but mainly just to have a little look around. And when my dad saw the clearance rack, he was drawn there like some sort of gravitational pull. Guess what was in the rack
    Welll….. there was a giant 750g pack of marshmallows that were gluten free, dairy free, egg free so on and so forth. It even was out of date to add it to the mix, and it was around 5cents a packet. We got about 8 packets and ended up sick on the way home >.<
    Also the 1c watch on ozbargain, that was pretty good.

    • hahaboy on 18/02/2016 - 20:18
      +5

      i was waiting for the nerf guns to come back in the story man.

      • HeartFeltAxe on 18/02/2016 - 20:22
        -1

        Soz, 5c marshmallows are WAY better x)

  • Donaldhump on 16/02/2016 - 16:35
    +9

    sharing a train ticket between myself and ex who worked night shift, as i got off the train she would be on platform waiting…quick paper ticket transfer

    not a loophole, pretty much fraud/theft

    • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 18:56

      Lol why/how is that fraud/theft? As far as the authorities are concerned, both of you have a valid ticket. They're not to know and won't know it's the same ticket.

      Or are you saying this due to the usual "tickets are not transferable" clause?

      • Donaldhump on 19/02/2016 - 00:56
        +1

        probly has a rule you cant transfer… screw it we did it for years. qld trains are a rip off anyway

  • tazdevil76 on 16/02/2016 - 17:22
    +15

    A few years ago, Adelaide Casino printed vouchers in the FREE city messenger that were $10 off meal plus $5 coin voucher. My friends and I found a heap of city messenger newspapers and cut the vouchers out. Every day for quite some time we would go to the casino, buy a Schnitzel for $12.50, use the $10 voucher so the outlay was $2.50, then after the meal take the coin voucher downstairs and get 5 x $1 coins, then walk out without playing the machines. Profit $2.50 plus free meal.

  • cannedhams on 16/02/2016 - 19:06
    +7

    Whenever I moved house I would always go to Bunnings and buy a $6 piece of timber that was too long to fit in my car. So I would ask for the courtesy trailer. I was only supposed to have it for two hours but if it took five hours for me to move house they didnt mind, I would just make some bs excuse about a flat tire when I got back.

    Pretty cheap trailer hire. I couldnt figure out a use for all the bits of wood until I used a table saw to cut them up into Jenga blocks for the kids.

    • cannedhams on 16/02/2016 - 20:39
      +21

      There used to be this popular Chinese restaurant that had a promotion on Tuesdays- they had a tray of habanero peppers out the front and if you could eat eight of them you got a free main. The sting was that most people could not even eat one because they were so hot. They had little bottles of milk at 2 dollars a pop to take the burn away and I think they sold quite a few of those.

      This guy I knew who worked at a pharmacy in the same shopping mall used to gargle lignocaine to numb his throat and then eat all eight peppers. Unfortunately his throat was too numb to taste the meal they gave him and also the peppers tore strips off his arse on the way out but he figured it was worth it for a free meal. Also you got your photo up on the wall.

      • scrimshaw on 16/02/2016 - 22:23
        +2

        peppers tore strips off his arse

        Owwww

      • CVonC on 16/02/2016 - 23:30
        +2

        laughing my or should i say his arse off >_<

      • strikerzebra on 17/02/2016 - 12:23

        Haha, instant karma

        • blehgg on 17/02/2016 - 17:25
          +3

          12 hours later karma

  • 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?

      • Bendo on 18/02/2016 - 13:19
        +1

        Haven't asked where I work but once I got a really penetrating look as I'd put Minister of Education or something…
        I think I was wearing thongs. Still got in though. Ha!

        • strikerzebra on 18/02/2016 - 14:02

          Haha hilarious, I guess you could just say your accidentally put Minister of Education in error

        • Daabido on 23/03/2016 - 22:43
          +1

          @strikerzebra: They obviously had an error in their database. Your name was Mister Ed Ucation.

  • visualmagic on 16/02/2016 - 20:06
    +16

    In 1997 (ish) I won a radio competition with Mick Malloy and Tony Martin.

    The question was "Mash Up a Celebrity with a Product" - mine was a "Michael Jackson - Jack-In-The-Box", a plastic toy that jumps out and scares children.

    For this I won a ticket to The Cranberries Brisbane concert. They cancelled the concert from illness and the radio station gave me a years supply of their movie nights, so every couple weeks I would get the promo tickets delivered. So movies like Sleepers and The Lost World. Always 2 tickets.

    Anyway, I realized within a couple sessions that every time the movie started they would yell out "look under your seat! you may have won a CD of [insert band here]"

    So… I started going early and looking under seats as casually as I could until I had a couple of the prizes each week.

    Which… I would then 'return' at Sanity type stores that would accept new discs without receipts for exchange or refund.

    What a little shit I was.

  • Lord Fart Bucket on 16/02/2016 - 21:49

    A few…
    Years ago, iiNet's data counting system was VERY laggy. If you used about 95% of your data with a couple of days to go, you could just keep downloading with little chance to get shaped.

    Another one is some companies have great refund policies. Bunnings for one. The amplefier in the unit block i live in got fried (lightning). Went to bunnings, bought an expensive indoor antenna, used it until the other one was fixed (4 days), returned the bunnings one for a full refund, no questions asked.

    • Mumbles on 18/02/2016 - 05:46

      I happily survived for years on a 2GB Telstra ADSL plan using this trick. Friends couldn't believe it since Windows Updates alone can be half the monthly quota.

      Last day of the month I would go download crazy (Windows patches, anti-virus updates, malware updates, new web browser, browser plug-ins, StarCraft2 updates, iTunes updates, IOS game downloads, iPod/IOS firmware updates, YouTube downloader).

    • adzzz on 18/02/2016 - 15:37

      They have great refund policies there until people like you exploit them and then the rest of us with legitimate returns need to send things back to the manufacturer to be checked because there were too many people exploiting the system…

  • [Deactivated] on 16/02/2016 - 22:00
    +4

    This is a little convoluted and I've cut some corners (But I think you're smart-enough to fill-in the blanks). This one's known as "Telstra Christmas" with me and my friends.

    1 Get a dual-SIM Android Phone like the Moto-G or Moto-E (Both EXCELLENT phones!)

    2 Aquire 2 Prepaid Telstra SIMs, one for voice, one for data (Phone might come with one already)

    3 Insert only the data sim, start-up, set it up and buy something from the Google Play store using "Telstra credit" as the payment source

    4 Power-off, insert the voice sim, start-up and configure this how you will, yadda, yadda, yadda.

    Now When you need more data, buy a $140 data recharge (AFAICT you have to do this directly with Telstra - none of the other sneaks using Woolies' gift-cards or Flybuys will work as retaillers usually have $100 or $200 recharge points right now). Use Paypal backed by an Amex Platinum-Platinum/Platinum-Reserve card for bonus points if you can.

    After this you get 16G data with a 2y shelf-life + $140 to waste in the Play store (Go buy TV shows, Movies, Books, DRM-free music… or Apps if you must).

    And for the voice sim?… recharge $100 at a time (Now you CAN use those Flybuys or Woolies gift-card tricks!), This gets you 200 voice minutes with a 12-month expiry + $100 credit you can either waste in the Play store, or better-yet spend on TXT or voice-minutes "Plus Packs" (You have to figure-out which one is best for you and when).

    Set-up a Telstra account to manage your accounts and install the (Better than you expect) Telstra 24x7 app to help manage this.

    • illumination on 17/02/2016 - 19:08
      +9

      So the end result is, you've paid $240 in recharge credit plus whatever the starter packs cost
      And you get:
      - SIM 1: 16 GB with 2 years validity (total right? Not per month), $140 credit to use in Google play store
      - SIM 2: 200 voice mins for 12 months, $100 credit to use in Google play store

      So that $240 is the equivalent of $10/mth.
      And 16 GB over 2 years is an average of 0.66GB/month
      200 voice mins is a bit less than 10 mins a month.

      I'm kind of struggling to see how this is such a good deal?

      • [Deactivated] on 26/11/2016 - 15:38

        Sorry for the ancient-history response - only just noticed there was one.

        It's convoluted, but the value comes from the credit attributed to the data sim - ignore the voice sim (Use whatever you want - or nothing - You can receive calls on the data sim, you just can't make them).

        It's $140/2Y for "Enough data to get you by when you're out of range of WiFi". I'm not trying to "use it up to get my money's worth", it's the availability of data that is the point. All mobile internet in Australia is godawful value. I use these sims for grey-haired relatives who just need to send/receive email mostly and the long-expiry's perfect.

        NOW…
        I can also use the $140 credit in the Telstra account in the Google Play store. This in no way affects the 16G of data credit I have. I've bought several seasons of recent TV shows this way (Game of Thrones, etc.)

        So you could consider I either bought 2Y of low-usage internet service and got $140 free Play store credit or vice-versa.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/02/2016 - 22:07
    +3

    Morally questionable… seems to be the trend:

    StyleTread had a $30 off $200 or more. They hadn't disabled gift cards.

    Purchased a $200 gift card for $170. I used that gift card to purchase another gift card with $30 off.

    I did this 9 more times to give me $500 store credit for $170 outlay.

    They honoured the purchase even after picking up on the exploit, props to them for that.

    MJ Bale had a similar exploit at one stage with 20% off. Unfortunately it was not nearly as lucrative as you had to wait for the gift card to be mailed. Only $500 credit for $400, which was then spent on a 20% off sale.

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