This is where you can give your opinions on this type of post
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/38301
and how this is best handled in the future, rather than in the post itself.
Warning - the opinions are to be kept on topic. Attack the argument but not the person. Those off topic (eg attacks on person will be deleted and if too personal or sustained could earn a temporary ban)
MOD edit - to clarify where the mods are currently on this one, check this post out.
but when the promotion is near is end ozbargainers will have the upper hand)
Upper hand? you mean non-ozbargainers will have no chance whatsoever.
Or like itsross in the linked thread that has bought 20 slurpees lately, and hasn't won once. Yes. even if no one knew about this hack, there's odds he still wouldn't have one, but unlikely.
I don't really think it's wrong, but do understand where other people who think it is are coming from.
I'm in WA, and we don't have 7-11 here, so it doesn't bother me.
"you mean non-ozbargainers will have no chance whatsoever."
non-ozbargainers will still have a slight change not no chance,
the chances of a ozbargainer not going to that specific store, the chance of "Several 7/11s in Sydney city are holding the cups at the counter and making you pay for them before you dispense your beverage." happening.
The non-ozbargainer will have the bad hand throughout the promotion when compared to us ozbargainers.
"Or like itsross in the linked thread that has bought 20 slurpees lately, and hasn’t won once. Yes. even if no one knew about this hack, there’s odds he still wouldn’t have one, but unlikely."
wow, either unlucky or an ozbargain has done it to that store OR 7/11 is not telling truth about the 1 in 6.
"I don’t really think it’s wrong, but do understand where other people who think it is are coming from."
haha, yeah it's not wrong but i also know where people are coming from
Several 7/11s in Sydney city are holding the cups at the counter and making you pay for them before you dispense your beverage.
So they're obviously frowning upon the practice of people handling all their cups? I'm hardly surprised. If they turned a blind eye to this practice and someone was to become ill and sue them, this website would probably be used as evidence that it's quite common knowledge that people are handling all the containers - and possibly be implicated. "OzBargain supports and promotes the unsanitary practice of handling food grade containers in order to win free food" - not nice. No matter how you look at it, this 'scam' is both morally wrong and unsanitary.
…or the staff are onto it & have swiped all the winning cups for themselves & their mates; which would be morally wrong, unsanitary, unethical, unprofessional, discourteous and well, just plain evil! :p
FWIW, I'd rather have OzBargainers handling my cups than the festy 'staff' at my local 7/11!!! ;)
To be honest mods, I thought that my reply to Tony was on topic, measured, informative & only mildly personal, not particularly acerbic at all…but whatever. ;)
Same thing happened with Large cups in some stores in Melbourne after the previous competition was 'compromised' (why they didn't learn from that experience puzzles me).
They must have received my email to this thread then… :P
ha, gosh I'm slow.. I didn't realise that could be an explanation for them keeping all the cups behind the counters. The first 7/11 I noticed this in was in Blacktown NSW. All the cup sizes were behind the counter, so you had to pay for it before you could fill it.
I just assumed that it was done to deter kids from filling up cups and doing a runner, as the machine was right at the door. Loads of school kids around there because of the train station.
If it was for hygiene reasons, they should put the lids behind the counter too. I see more people grabbing a few lids then pulling one off for themselves before popping the rest back on the shelf, than people grabbing multiple cups (and even if they grab multiple cups, they're usually only touching the outside… with lids they touch the inner side of the lid. I fill my Slurpees up to the dome lid :(
I don't mind hacks, providing they are not harming any individuals or cheating small businesses.
A few years ago citibank sent me a letter, advising for every $500 I spent they would credit me $25, even if the balance was paid in full, and on cash advances & transfers.
So I went mad transferring $10k in and out of my account as many times as I could during the promotion period to score some free cash.
Would that be considered a hack?
If it's not illegal, I think the users will make up their minds about the moral issues of using hacks.
Did it work?
Dude how much did you make out of that LOL
Just over $3k ;)
Stoopid promotion really.
Stoopid promotion really.
lies, you made 3k that's heaps, that's 3k free money
althought there is high risk of someone stealing the 10k from you
How much did it get taxed? :)
That is a A LOT of money for nothing, I'm jealous!
For some reason I can't reply to your reply issh, but it's not a lie.
At first I was withdrawing $1k per day, from the Citibank ATM, then going across the road to my bank and making a deposit, waiting another day to clear then depositing it back in to Citibank. So each day I was revolving $1k.
I then realised and confirmed with the bank it applied to transfers out of the account, and I could transfer up to $10k per day.
No longer did I have to visit the bank or the ATM, and could do it all online = low risk.
So for each xfer I made $500, the promotion lasted 2 months.
If I was on to it earlier I could have made more, but I was very hesitant at first that a bank would leave a loophole like that open, and I had to pay interest whilst the money was withdrawn.
I didn't want to pay interest on money I had simply withdrawn for the sake of getting the cash back if the cash never arrived!
It was not declared as income, and I did not make any interest on it so it was pretty much tax free.
It's a pretty far fetched story to make up, if you search hard enough you will find ppl in other forums who had much higher limits attempting to claim back $20k on the same deal.
@ h4lyon
lol
what i meant was you saying "stoopid promotion" when it was an AWESOME one
haha, stoopid me.. (and I didn't neg ur comment) ;)
There is an argument here that our knowledge of the hack decreases the chances that other people will benefit from the promotion. However, consider any other special or deal where there is limited stock - when we Ozbargainer find out about it, we take advantage of it. Others who were slower or didn't know will miss out.
So, if it is OK for an Ozbargainer to rush out and snag a $199 Netbook from Officeworks, why aren't people moralising that means that some innocent person who saw the thing in the catalogue will miss out?
What is the difference? The Netbooks are in limited supply, and when they are all sold, they are gone. The Slurpie cups are in limited supply, and when they are all gone, they are gone.
It doesn't matter who gets them - they are loss-leaders used for promotional purposes. It's not as if Ozbargain is advising people of a way to "make" more of the winning cups.
I think this is a good argument..
My addendum to that is, if it isn't posted here, it'll be posted somewhere else.
As an Ozbargainer, I'm glad to know these hacks. I tend not to use them, but I like knowing they exist if only not to get suckered into buying something for the chance of a freebie!
Well said!
I think the argument, from those who frown upon the hack, distinguishes the two a couple of different ways:
(1) We've often seen that (for giveaway posts) comments like "Cool, free spark plug spanners! I got 13 of 'em!" get voted down. Leave some for others. Sometimes we walk a fine line between opportunistic and greedy.
(2) For the netbook example, I think we're using our community to gain early/quick access to great bargains - in this case somebody is getting a cheap netbook and it might as well be us. With the hacks, many of us are using our knowledge of the hack to fleece stores of giveaways intended (statistically) to reward loyal customers and attract new ones. In contrast to the netbook example we're saying "somebody is getting free chocolate and we might as well take as many as we can/want". I'd compare this kind of thinking to emptying a bowl of complimentary mints into your bag, or bidding $0 on a "name your own price" promotion. Legal: yes. But not really in the spirit of the offer. And you can see from the comments on the Cadbury hack how many we took and how quickly some stores ran out of winning bars after the hack got out.
Just thinking my way around both sides of the argument, and definitely no angel myself. I'm always pushing the boundaries when it comes to freebies/discounts: just the other week I got hugely downvoted for only offering $220 for unwanted PS3 (didn't want one that bad, is all, just chucked a number out there), and I was guilty of partaking in several free Cherry Ripes…
If the hack is pressing certain buttons at a vending machine to get a free drink, then that shouldn't be allowed.
If the hack is something logical, like doing what EVERYONE has tried to do in the past for example, how many of you remember as a kid trying to find a difference in the winning free paddle pop sticks, mars bars, willy wonka bars, free whatever in chip packet etc.
A post on this is just letting people remember that sometimes companies don't make it impossible to find the winning product. I bet if we were kids most of us would have tried it ourselves anyway.
i tried the chocolate one last time, it wasn't that easy. i just gave up and bought a few and hope for the best and i did get a winning one. but when i looked at the wrapper it was kinda hard, thought all the winning ones were gone. i think with this if its easy to find. most ppl would work it out sooner or later.
makes no difference if its posted or not. I think it just makes me more inclined to go in and have a try, where as i normally wounldn't bother. so it could mean more business for 7/11.
I found it really hard to show friends what to look for after I opened the wrapper, you can see the cherry ripes much easier when the wrapper was stretched.
This reminds me of trading cards, esp Yugioh. Some kids could tell which packs contained foil cards due to the way they affected the pack (can't remember if it was due to weight or bending card). The kids that could tell would pillage booster boxes of all the packs containing foils, leaving little to no chance for the average buyer.
When it became widely known this was happening, no one bought individual packs from stores anymore. In the end, hobby stores kept their boosters behind the counter and handed one to anyone who wanted to buy (similar to what some 7/11s are doing now).
I vote yes to the hack so far.
The issue is its not fair on stores if they have heaps of people rumbling through their stock because people want freebies.
At the end of the day, the "free stock" has already been allocated, whether or not ozb takes advantage of it.
How can you vote yes to the hack (scam), and in the next sentence say "its not fair on stores if they have heaps of people rumbling through their stock because people want freebies".
We condone it even though it's not fair to the retailer?
Has OzBargain become that base that we condone members rummaging through cups just to get a free drink?
We condone it even though it’s not fair to the retailer?
how can it be 'not fair' 7/11 have a specific number as stated in their T&C to give away, 7/11 are not going to create more for the growing demand, they have at set number /limit to give away
Has OzBargain become that base that we condone members rummaging through cups just to get a free drink?
if you don't want the free drink, i'll have it
Edit: I reconsidered my comment and decided I can't pass judgement on something I'm guilty of doing myself sometimes.
Remember people: it's "everybody has a right to their opinion" not "everybody has a right to my opinion".
Remember people: it’s “everybody has a right to their opinion” not “everybody has a right to my opinion”.
+1
The hack idea is fine, but not on the front page,it demeans the reputation of ozbargain, not bargain hunters but opportunists. Yes some are but its the sites reputation that is affected
The way I look at it, if you feel uncomfortable with the hack, don't do it! Just don't try to stop someone from telling me how to do it.
+1
if you don't want to be apart of it, just don't cooperate the the deal
Awww.. I was wondering why my email inbox was no longer getting spammed by ppl posting in the 7/11 post.. Its been closed. My first decent post and not many +'s. Dang it! Lol
what really people were spamming you.
that's sad
Lol. Sorry I meant I subscribed to receive emails.. Then ppl just kept commenting so it was filling my inbox quite quickly. I tried unsubscribing so I wouldnt receive an email each time someone posted, but it wouldnt let me. So I kept getting emails right up until the deal was closed for commenting. Thats what,i meant about spam.. Sorry.. I think I used the term wrong. Also means no +'s..
haha yeah
it's a shame that it comments/votes was closed
i would've voted + as mentioned 7 hours ago(look up, 1st post of this thread)
Lol. Awww thannnks :-)
that's a useful one
If it's cheaper why not, that's what this site all about :p
I dont get why the book hack thread stays open but not 7/11. They are both hacks nonetheless. Did I just attract all the whingers in the 7/11 deal? :-P
Muzzamo hit the nail on the head in the BD thread with this "Plenty of selective ethics going on here…" astute observation. We all have a different moral compass, the naysayers should have their comment & just get back to enjoying whatever their own particular vice is! ;)
I stopped the comments because it wasnt about the deal it was about the Hack being on the front page, so the discussion was opened here where it needs discussing, not in that post. Sorry but the voting stopped as well.
It was either that or delete personal attacks which are not tolerated at Ozbargain.
Even now peopel are arguing back and forth on personal opinions.
Express your views leave it at that
Keep it on topic or get deleted
I've said in the book depository thread. It's hard to draw a line between hacks and stealing from the shop?
In slurpee case as someone else stated. If you can find a way to swap the price tag for a free slurpee, is that a hack or theft?
do you mind reminding me which is the BD thread you're referring to?
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/38328
using proxies from other countries in order to get a better deal
i'm for it
the immoral part is the editing of the cookie, not using a proxy.
You are exploiting a bug in their website to get a lower price.
But considering people post products that are mistakenly low, its very similar.
I'm going to sit on the fence on this one.
I vote hack.
It is a company's responsibility to conduct their promotions with diligence.
When done without, you cannot expect the general public to be honest about the exploit.
I don't mind if OzB rules against Hacks.
I (and many others) can get the same 'noise' from Whirlpool and a host of other forums / bargain pages.
Keep in mind that ethics in consumerism is a Myth. It is dog eat dog out there.
It is a householder's responsibility to secure their windows and doors. If they leave a window or door unlocked, you cannot expect the general public not to walk in and burgle the house.
Not stating my opinion of the hack in general, just pointing out the failure in tsunamisurfer's argument.
The failure in yours is that the hack is legal.
Irrelevant. We're not discussing illegal activity, we're discussing activity presumably legal but debatably ethical. If it were illegal it would have been removed immediately, since OzBargain can't in any way condone, encourage or promote illegal activity.
Therefore my point still stands. The mere failure of a householder (shopkeeper) to perfectly secure their premises (website) is not an invitation for you to exploit their weakness.
Therefore my point still stands. The mere failure of a householder (shopkeeper) to perfectly secure their premises (website) is not an invitation for you to exploit their weakness.
Ummm, breaking and entering is illegal don't you know. I think simply buying something using a UK based IP address is just a tiny wee bit different.
Once again you've missed the point. Legality is irrelevant, we are discussing whether or not a given act is ethical.
Well you are the one who is comparing it with something that is illegal. Hence the illegal act is obviously un-ethical because the majority have made it the law. The legal thing is obviously not as un-ethical, otherwise it would be the law too.
Therefore your argument is invalid until you compare apples with apples.
You've commit the fallacy of equalising legality and morality. There are many, many objectively immoral things which are openly legal in countless jurisdictions. Unless you're also a subscriber to the fallacious theory of morality that makes it entirely dependent upon majority consensus.
When I first joined ozbargain….some 2 years ago……the community had quite a symbiotic relationship with retailers…..mutually beneficial, everyone won.
That relationship seems to be becoming more and more parasitic, as some ozbargainers seem to want nothing more than to bleed retailers dry. There seems little interest in how their actions may affect businesses….or indeed fellow ozbargainers….
There is no concept or care that businesses do need to make profit to be able to survive
I would imagine there are businesses that view the ozbargain community similar to how a farmer might view a plague of locusts…..we could probably add 7/11 and book depository to the list
There seems little responsibility for their actions…. "it's the site's fault for not having good enough security"
We all know the majority of these 'hacks' are wrong……irrespective of how we might like to justify them to ourselves and others
'Fairness', decency and respect seem to be trickling out of this community….
I look forward to learning how to shoplift or break into cars ….. "Not my fault….They should employ more security guards"
When I first joined ozbargain….some 2 years ago……the community had quite a symbiotic relationship with retailers…..mutually beneficial, everyone won.
+1 even though i have not been here long(about less than a year) ozbargain has changed dramatically throughout the year
I would imagine there are businesses that view the ozbargain community similar to how a farmer might view a plague of locusts…..we could probably add 7/11 and book depository to the list\
or some may imagine ozbargain as a minefield to increase their sales with a bit of profit(because at the end of the day, profit is profit), i have no doubt that both 7/11 and book depository will make profits regardless of how their customers purchase their products
your slippery slope is invalid.
I remember as a 12 year old learning that a win a free sunny boy promotion similar to the slurpee promotion could be manipulated.
The winning sunny boys had been produced with a slightly different wrapper so it was easy to tell which ones were winners.
I took advantage of that knowledge to gain products that were being given away by the producer.
Sunny Boy company -a subsiduary of Nordine Defence Dynamics- had XXXXX number of sunny boys to give away. They knew/planned that that number would be a "loss".
7/11 know that they will lose XXXXX number of slurpees.
I'd be interested to know if they have had an increase in slurpee sales due to this promo.
and what effects of introducing those different flavours?
The URL hacking for the book shops. that's a little different.
in contractual law when a customer approaches the cashier with the product and the cashier accpets the customers money for the product then it is deemed a transaction. offer and acceptance.
Whilst I would like books at the cheapest possible price (I'm at uni - one lot of books for 1 subject will cost at the Uni bookshop $268 -1 subject!!!!). Manipulating the URL is akin to changing the price tag on in store gifts.
You enter the store with prices listed as goverened by the seller (URL) and then to change the URL would be changing/altering the price tag.
It is a criminal offence to alter price tags.
If people are so hard up to find cheap book then really search (there is usually always somewhere a bit cheaper- well, until you get to the cheapest place). or get an e-book version- usually significantly cheaper.
I cannot work out why somebody would research and go to all that trouble of using Proxies and altering cookies to get a better price… when they could get a free copy of the book from a Warez or Torrent site.
If you are going to steal, the last thing I'd be doing is leaving my full name and address with the company that I stole from! ROFL, how dumb is that!
The analogy with shoplifting/thief/changing price tag is flawed. It would be closer to something like asking your mates working at woolies/coles/myer getting you a cheaper price by using the staff discount.
but your not asking your mate , if you had a mate in the UK you wouldn't need to change the price yourself
It seems society is more parasitic we now have companys like all the one day coupon selling sites these deals are clearly not good long term for the companys that comit to these deals i personally don't purchase from these sites unless the deals are from large companys as there are so many bad storys people have yet these sites seem to be doing well i would like to know the sales pitch the reps from these sites give
A practical guide on shoplifting was published by Abe Hoffman and is available to download ;) Seriously though, no-one recommends shoplifting and if the police don't get you Karma might.
I agree that retailers should be part of the team but there are some, like Hardly Normal, where I'm struggling to envisage a store full of bargains. I'm sure we all agree the good retailers (& there is good everywhere) should be rewarded.
The relative power of, in many cases cash-strapped, bargain hunters compared to that of the mighty retailers, is imho like comparing the fortunes of "welfare bludgers" with colourful white collar identities like, say, Richard Pratt, the Packers, Steve Vizard, John Elliott, Paul Hogan etc etc
Well maybe we should have a "HACK" forum? but the thing is how far it should go?
Manipulating for free shipping?
free product?
blatant thieft?
Maybe hacks should only be allowed when the quantity of the prize is already known?
Davo, this is what the thread is about, from the discussions we can gauge what is the best way to handle this without ripping everyone apart.
There is the question of ethics of deals like this. NO I am not making a judgment on any side here.
Where is the line.
As some have pointed out a price mistake we know is a mistake, is it ethical to take advantage of it. Or is it ok, but if the company decides not to honour it, do we scream or do we shrug and say oh well worth a try.
And there is much line stretching. Arguments like, you took advantage of deal X, that may have crossed the line, so now its ok with deal Y which is way past that line. And that if you crossed it in Deal X you are not permitted to argue that in Deal Y its going too far.
Yep like saying you stole 5c so you cant complain about someone stealing $5 or $500
I doubt in anyone here hasn't done something like knock off a pen from their employer school etc.
So keep on the topic. Its about Hacks, what is a hack and should it be permitted on the font page, or should it be in a thread, or not at all?
Now without declaring where I stand, and frankly I dont think I am prepared to put what I would do in a public place, or is it right for me to do? That's a personal decision
However I would like to point out to some of the more vocal here that IMHO putting it on the front page is too wide open. Hey if you find say a price mistake, and want to take advantage of it, sharing it publically on the front page, is the best way to kill the "deal". To often when a mass of "strange" behaviour is detected, the business kills it. Also its hard to honour a mistake like DELL was in when it meant hundreds of orders at a loss of some kind. 10 or so they may do, but hundreds - nope.
Its not just the members who see the deal, its seen by 10 times that number who are not members, and by those other sites that scrap the deals here, and by people who cross post to other sites.
Forum posts are more private, and without any facts to back me up, seem to be more frequented by regulars.
Unless of course my aim isn't to share something odd or "valuable" I have found but to get votes, to see how high my deal will go.
My 2c (and please argue or discuss the points raised, but keep it non personal as a mod like I have above I'll delete personal attacks or off topic posts). Have you say keep it clean and rational, then we can maybe come up with something that may at least be a compromise that most can accept
front page is too wide open. Hey if you find say a price mistake, and want to take advantage of it, sharing it publically on the front page, is the best way to kill the “deal”.
IMO, i think those should be like in a separate deal, like as in where we submit a deal and choose what it is freebie, there should be a tick box for price mistake
and for price mistake it should only be viewed by members only to lessen the 'kill' of the deal
my opinion only
Definitely agree. Deals that are too good and likely to go away quickly should be reserved for those who actually contribute to the community rather than just leeching off of it.
Yeah, totally agree.. I think it's worth to differentiate between genuine business intended sale vs exploits/hack/price mistake. I think there are so many voice in this topic because the grey line is too far apart, so we need someone to remind us what “bargain” we are getting?
This non-public promotion code is another example of exploits.
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/38349
I'm copying over my argument from the previous Slurpee post:
Funny how some people grow a conscience regarding this hack, yet the same people don’t even blink when a price for, say, a Blu-ray box set gets posted online or in a catalogue which is clearly a mistake, yet try and do the most to benefit from it, and cry foul when it doesn’t go their way. Both are clearly mistakes - the Slurpee one due to manufacturing, and the catalogue due to a misprint.
And I'll repeat what I was typing above… To be just as "funny" about it.
And there is much line stretching. Arguments like, you took advantage of deal X, that may have crossed the line, so now its ok with deal Y which is way past that line. And that if you crossed it in Deal X you are not permitted to argue that in Deal Y its going too far.
that example doesnt make sense, on the production side, there should be quality checks (so if none are done well the business only has its self to blame), for catalogue errors, you expect the business to put a notice in the paper, or put up a sign where the stock it located, if none of this is done, I can understand a customer being upset as they have no reason to believe its wrong. Where I work, if
if???????? dont leave me hanging!
i wasnt going to post that lol
but if my customers see a price that was for items on reduced to clear, and its fresh new stock, i always give them the reduced price, so if there is nothing to say otherwise the customer should get the catalogue error price
but in the above example, the price has been adjusted through manipulation.
I've seen plenty of cases when i used to work in liquor. Somehow numbers in the sign would "disappear" making the product significantly cheaper.
Suddenly a $43.95 product became $3.95 and people would argue trying to get that price.
In your case, it was error that resulted in an original price not being removed.
Well to me, quality checks = proof-reading before it goes to press/print/online.
And as far as I know, error notices are put in newspapers regarding catalogue errors, but they're way after the fact of course - the damage has been done for a few days. What good is that?
Lastly, when I tried to get my cheap as hell Toy Story Blu-ray triple pack from Big W that time, they didn't need a sign - the woman told me straight away it was a catalogue mistake. Which I kinda knew anyway but it was worth a try. But again - people get up in arms about these things and start chanting 'ACCC' and such.
So yeah, my example does make sense ;)
well not that long ago, I bought a slurpee after work, and I grabbed a twirl bar as well, and low and behold it was a free bar promotion wrapped bar. So I couldnt resist the temptation to see if it was a winner, even if it was remote and low and behold it was a winner, so clearly, these hacks arent doing the damage the "moral" users would have us believe.
As davo said, there is a pre existing amount of winners so I dont see the real issue with it. With the book depository hack, I wouldnt do that, but at the same time, Im not sympathetic as there is clearly misleading pricing on that website, even if its cheap
So are you arguing for against Hacks - You say hack "A" yes Hack "B" no, others say Hack "B" yes Hack "A" no
So where is the line. How as Mods are we going to make the call without some idea? (or consensus) Then there will be a new Hack "C" or "D" type what do we do??
And what is truly a "HACK"
i think visual hacks are fine, but anything that requires phyical manipulation shouldnt be allowed like the book depository one. I just think that if you expect a email saying the order has been refused, which may happen, its not right
(i will admit im not completely unbiased on book depository for the pricing issue though)
I don't see the need to moderate these hacks. Let our votes decide.
i just think its the mob mentality at work again
and (livert) thats one opinion we need to have. thank you (Not joking either)
IM. Yes but as you say they are pricing for different markets - so they are will to sell for what they think the market can bear. They havent got checks on where the product is going, like saying if its shipped to another country other than the country of the URL then its ok.
Isnt that a sloppiness with their systems?? Not saying I agree with doing this, just that another argument is valid depending on your view point, where as sifting through cups is or isn't?
+1 for this. There is too many different "hack" types, making it very hard to include all of them in the rules. We should just have to stick on the voting system, adding to the guideline: opposing hacks is not a ground for giving negative vote. If voting equals to mob mentality, then why do we still have a general election?
re: Isnt that a sloppiness with their systems?
So as long as we can hack a business's system and change their price.. It's their sloppiness? So any hackers can shop for free and legit?
I agree with others, 7/11 hack is "low"… but BD hack is over the line.
I don't think it's low. I think what the BD does is far lower. Claiming to give us free shipping, but then charging us a higher cost than they do to local buyers without having some sort of disclaimer is disgusting.
I love the moral high ground on a free slurpee.
Does anyone have the slightest idea of the % margin on a cup of frozen water and sugar syrup - its astronomical.
If only I owned the slurpee machines in 7/11, it is money for jam - or is that money for water and sugar syrup.
Get over it - absolutely no one is getting hurt by this knowledge - and has been pointed out - if I hit up a 7/11 for some frozen water - maybe just maybe I'll also grab a kit kat as well….everyone's a winner - not just one in 6!
MOD EDIT: Republished as thread is already off topic so why penalise you….
Hack big business, not small business
LOL SydGuy - you added another complexity - what is Big and what is small, what about Medium sized ? Now we can have another 50 posts to define this. What about new businesses vs old businesses?
I just had a cool idea, why don't we have a special members only VIP area?
We can post hacks, price errors etc, that way it won't go public :)
I know I've refrained from posting a few things because I didn't want it to hit the front page as it could cause huge issues.
And SydGuy, just because its a big business it doesn't mean that what you are doing won't effect the franchise owner or store manager.
Yea I floated that before , again if people are seriously wanting to take advantage of the deals, those posted in the forums would tend to last longer than those in the more public front page. So again if some one is serious about utilitising the Hacks as many proclaim to be then a more private space might be the go.
It's a very difficult question….and…. mods, you have my sympathies……..
and…whilst not offering a solution….another factor to keep in mind is the danger of litigation and to ensure that Ozbargain (capital O) is not exposed to any risk….
Could a company sue ozbargain for promoting activities that lead to a loss of revenue, or harm a business in some other way?
rhetorical question btw
I don't think OzBargain can be held liable for what's being posted on a public forum. Correct me if I'm wrong.
There's an interesting case that I think is still ongoing at the moment…(scubaboard lawsuit), in which not only the board owners, but individual posters have been targeted.
Just had a read. What a joke. What the hell happened to freedom of speech?
whirlpool has had a couple of interesting moments too over the last couple of years…..
ACMA blacklist?
Yep….the home of free speech
Everyone has a different view. I think the real problem is that the comments quickly get out of hand.
If there is a hack identified on here, then people are already using it. Therefore it may as well be those of us who are so inclined.
If you don't agree with the hack, then don't do it, and try and avoid jumping on that high horse. If the "victim" of the hack is really going to suffer from it, then they will just cancel the transactions, simple. Its no different to a genuine pricing error and we've all seen plenty of those.
in saying so, apathy is a good thing?
i think the gist of these comments is that there are people questioning the ethics of such methods, and who are we to criticise the chinese/china businesses for practising unethical business methods, when we at home are doing effectively the same thing? Double standards and hypocrisy.
bear in mind, a person might have the freedom to post/blog hacks be it in forums or dedicated sites like ozb. It doesn't naturally absolves themselves from any fault in today's world. Look at how those people who published 0-day vulnerabilities before notifying the vendor.
In this case, the worst case scenario? I think BD will increase prices across the board to cover the most expensive postage, or they might introduce shipping costs separately - meaning package might end up using premium services like dhl..etc, which either way, meant that consumers lose out.
Seriously, if you own the business, will you put up with this sh1t? I reckon you'll go "stuff you" and ban that destination country faster than you would block spam from those .com.xy domains.
I say to hack, because companies set a limit on how many are given away for free.
Example
Company X made a promotion where could could get a free slurpee when you buy one where you had to look at the sticker like in the http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/38301, however only a set amounts of cups were given the winning slurpee, in this case 1 in 6. Sure its a hack, but does the company lose money whilst you are doing it, no. The company has set aside a limit where only a certain amount of slurpee cups have won, you just can't pick a cup each time and get a winning slurpee, again its 1 in 6, but eventually either when the promotion ends or when the cups have no more "free slurpee"'s the company will make a profit.
In this case, instead of us having a 1 in 6 odd we have a 1 in 1 odd(if you are good), whilst non-ozbargainers will have a 1 in 6+ odd(at the start they will have a 1 in 6 odd, but when the promotion is near is end ozbargainers will have the upper hand)
P.S Kimba88, i would have + you but i can't :(