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30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
CuriositiesDEC 6, 2023

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online

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It’s always fun to find something you’re not supposed to, like a crack in a system that lets you get around it and use it for your own advantage.
When these loopholes benefit people, they rarely notify those responsible for fixing them and will usually exploit them as long as possible. These happenings also make for good stories, so when one Redditor asked people online to share them, the comment section was filled with replies. Scroll down to see the best of them! And if you get so hooked, this list is not enough, here’s a shortcut to another one!
More info: Reddit

#1

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
One year our entire family went to the dog track for New Year's Eve. They had a really good dinner deal plus dancing with a great DJ, and of course gambling. At midnight, there was going to be a balloon drop. Each balloon had a strip of paper listing a prize in it. Most were small, like one free $2 bet, a free dessert, things like that. The grand prize was an all-expense paid trip for two to Durango, Colorado to ride a scenic railroad. Earlier that evening, I was on the dance floor, and happened to look up at the balloons. One odd thing stuck out to me... you could see the silhouettes of the paper strips inside the balloons. Most were small, around two inches long, but one right above my head was at least as long as my entire hand. I reasoned that that balloon HAD to have the grand prize in it, as it would take a lot of space to write out "All expenses paid trip for two to Durango, Colorado for a ride on a historic railroad". I made sure to mark that balloon, and right as it turned midnight, got directly underneath it and watched it like my life depended on it. I grabbed the balloon, and sure enough, I was correct. I won a $2000 trip, but then I turned around and sold the trip on Ebay and got enough money to then buy my wife's engagement ring. It worked out *really* well for me!
147points

#2

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
During my first year teaching, teachers were each allowed 1500 photocopies a month. I had 150 students. That wasn't enough. One day, a coworker announced that she was leaving for a different opportunity. I asked her for her copier code. They never deleted her code, so I had 3000 copies per month for the last 5 months of the school year.
121points

It’s most likely safe to say that, every once in a while, every one of us has a chance of encountering some overlook in the system that we usually get an opportunity to abuse for our own good. This is no less true when talking about the author of this post.

As Bored Panda found out by reaching out to the OP, u/Aarunascut, also known as Aaruna Njuguna, is a 34-year-old UK resident working as an e-commerce entrepreneur. As he told us himself, he’s a down-to-earth people person who is intrigued by diversity.

The author is a curious human being. He likes to ask questions and loves to get good replies, so she tries to time these posts to get the most responses possible. “It’s exciting reading some of the replies, and it’s kind of self-fulfilling when others say they like such threads.”

#3

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
The campground we stayed at when I was a kid had an arcade in the lodge with an air hockey table. I figured out that if you put quarters in and pushed the plunger to start the game just until the air started - you could pull them back out and get a free game.
I had that air hockey table running for HOURS. We had kids lined up around the table. We even did a little tournament - it was so much fun.
When my family was about to leave I told one other kid the trick. Turns out I'm a pretty good judge of character. For 3 years we met back up and ran that Air Hockey table until one of the campground attendants caught on.
The 4th year the table was fixed and cost a dollar to play. The arcade was entirely dead. The thing is - kids would always play other games while they waited for air hockey. The campground decided it was better to have a dead arcade that made nothing rather than one that made a little and had free air hockey. That was when I learned the importance of a loss leader.
118points

#4

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Not real sure it’s a loophole but I’ll still post it. I run a recycling center and when Mountain Dew did the win a Xbox one with codes under the soda bottle caps we got a total of 20 Xbox ones. Every worker got one that year. Also Casey’s pizza had a thing going that you collect 10 tabs off the large pizza box you’d get a free pizza. We had free pizzas weekly for years till they stopped doing it.
107points

Aaruna was eager to make his own addition to the list and share his own loophole story, telling us that in his home country, some random tech-savvy people would post instructions with codes on the X platform. “I’d get 100GB+ internet bundles for free,” shared the poster.

The OP also told us that his favorite story from the comment section was about a student renting a store as a front for getting a deduction, which made it much easier for her to fund her tuition fees. “It got me thinking,” said Aaruna, praising the person for their smartness in coming up with this hack.

#5

When I was a little kid, my dad would volunteer at the Farm area of our State Fair every year. I'd go with him all the time, and just run around since there was nobody there in the morning hours before the fair opened for the day.
Across from the Farm area was a beer garden, with a big koi pond. Every morning I would go over to the (currently closed) beer gardens, wade into the pond, and collect like $20-30 in coins from the drunk fair goers the day before.
It was an insane amount of coins, and they were damaging to the fish anyway - so it was a total win-win scenario. I did this every day for the entire month of the fair... several years in a row.
103points

#6

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
You're not actually required to get married or have children. You are totally just allowed to spend that time however you would like.
93points

Making mistakes is human, so there will always be things that are not supposed to be where they are, yet get overlooked and stay there regardless. But it’s also interesting to learn why we keep looking for these easy ways around certain things and where is the place that a line should be drawn. 

Looking for answers to these questions, we came across an article by Lifehacker, which explained that loopholes are not inherently good or bad and exist in a pretty gray area. When they’re being exploited, the result will likely tip closer to one or another side. However, that depends on a wide number of various factors.

#7

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Oh, I've got a good one.
A well known bank offered a lucrative cashback reward points program for grocery store, gas station, and pharmacy purchases on a credit card they offered. The promotion only lasted the first six months of opening the card, but you could open multiple cards and get the same benefits again every time you opened a new one.
You know those prepaid debit cards you can buy at grocery stores? I maxed out the credit card every day buying those babies, then used them to pay off the credit card balance and just collected the cash from the reward points.
Made thousands of dollars a day doing this. It felt illegal, but it wasn't. I effectively robbed the bank legally. And since credit card reward points are considered rebates it was all tax-free.
This eventually became my full time job. It got more difficult to pull off over time as the grocery store employees understandably became increasingly suspicious of me and reluctant to keep selling me their cards at such a high volume. I had to start driving longer distances to new stores that didn't recognize me and work on charming store managers to dissuade them from hassling me. Still beat the hell out of any real job, though.
I rode this gravy train for a little under a year before the bank sent me a letter in the mail gently informing me that they were aware of what I was doing and kindly requested that I stop. I didn't want to find out what would happen if I pressed my luck any longer so I quit while I was ahead. The bank has since closed the loophole.
It was a pretty surreal year. I grew a huge beard, was baked at least half the time, ate way too much fast food, and went to the beach almost every day. Ultimately I was somewhat relieved when it came to an end, but I do have fond memories from that year.
89points

#8

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
My senior year of high school a Chick Fil A opened in our town and to advertise the grand opening they put a free chicken sandwich coupon in the yellow pages of the phone book. No purchase, no stipulations. For whatever reason there was like 1,000 phone books stored in a storeroom off the gym. Me and my buddies ate a chicken sandwich damn near every single day of senior year.
88points

It’s good to know why we look for these cracks in the systems that can be used. And the very first stop on this list is laziness. Humans like comfort, and we’re often pulled to do as little as necessary to achieve what we want. It may be bad for us, and it might also push us to find better ways of doing something, but the statement is true regardless.

People also love free stuff. So when we find an opportunity to get some, possibly without any apparent consequences, it’s hard to pass on it. At the same time, it comes to the issues with the existing systems, whether to fix it or to get around it.

And lastly, we are curious, love feeling smart, and hate being told “no.” Knowing something that others don’t always make us feel good, doubly so if it brings us benefits. However, when we’re told we can’t do something, it only excites our curiosity more, making us push the limits and see how far we can really take things. 

#9

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Last July I went to a metal fest. Beer was f*****g €7 and you paid by purchasing a coupon online, which would then be swiped off by the bar attendant on your own smartphone.
After the first legitimately purchased beer I thought to my IT self: what if the swiping off animation of the coupon is on client side? If that's the case, turning internet off before handing the coupon would prevent it from being voided. Then, turning internet on again and refreshing the web page should present it as new.
I was right. I got 7 free beers and a friend of mine 6.
76points

#10

A long time ago when I was attending community college, I worked at an Imax movie theater in a mall. Next door was a two-story arcade that had promotion that if you brought in a ticket stub from the Imax theater or the movie theater, you'd get a $3 free play card. I'd assist in cleaning the theater and find lots of discarded tickets that I'd take to the arcade after my shift. None of the workers cared.
73points

Most things can be somehow justified, and it all usually comes down to our own personal ethics. However, there are some questions that people should ask themselves before exploiting some loophole to make it easier to consider the consequences and find where they believe a line should be drawn.

To start with, ask, “Is it breaking the law?” If it is, being caught can result in losing a lot more than gaining and can cause a lot of regret down the road.

Following that up, another viable question would be, “Is it affecting someone else?” Someone else could easily get in trouble for your actions and have no way to protect themselves. While you might not feel the consequence, that person definitely will.

#11

For my sons 4th birthday party we went to Chuck E Cheese, he got to stand in the ticket wind machine, imagine a circular phone booth and wind would rush in there and tickets would fly around. The birthday boy got 60 seconds in there to keep what he could catch.
I told him to hold his shirt out and stand there, he was 4000 tickets richer.
Report
71points

#12

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
My bank thinks the vending machine at work is an ATM and refunds my “atm fee” automatically.. chase bank if anyone wondered
I noticed I was always getting like $1.50 returned to my account here and there and then I realized what it was
70points

If the previous two questions end up with an answer “no,” ask yourself this: “Is it worth the trouble?” Just like breaking the law, this can lead you to bigger losses than gains, or at the very least, cost you precious time.

Lastly, it’s a good idea to think about what someone you respect would think of you if you chose to do it. If the answer is negative and you’re still trying to justify it, you’re most likely already looking for a loophole to get to a loophole, which should be a definite stop sign.

#13

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
If you're a Hilton Honors member and stay at a hotel where you get the $15 food and beverage credit, make sure you reserve as two guests even if it is just you. You will get $30.
68points

#14

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Back in the 80s we found vending machines which were not regularly serviced that would overflow the coin box and spill quarters on the floor. We used to scrape them out from under the machine with a stick. Was a good time to be a latchkey unattended minor.
64points

In the end, there really is no set officiator that could undeniably tell us what is wrong and what is right. Even when talking about abusing some system, agreement, or rule through its shortcomings abuse, there are ways to use that for both good and bad. It all comes down to our own morals, but as long as we don’t hurt anybody, at the very least, we get some good stories to share online or in person.

What do you think of this list? Have you ever found and exploited any loopholes yourself? Well, don’t wait! Come down and share!

#15

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Back in school, I found if you stuck two pennies together the vending machines would accept them as £1.
I had a LOT of cheap chocolate and soda.
64points

#16

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
When Pizza Hut first started online ordering they gave me a code for a free pizza for ordering online for the first time. Turns out the code also worked if you just ordered as guest and kept working.
64points

#17

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Buying oak molding at Home Depot. It was supposed to be $3.50/ foot and one store insisted it was $3.50/each sixteen footer so I bought all of it. When I finished the project I took back the extra and they gave me $3.50/foot about a month later. I think I made about $5k more on the returns than the actual project.
51points

#18

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
My GF worked at a gas station that had points cards that gave a discount. if the customer didn’t have one she’d scan hers for them to get an item discount and we got the points for discount gas.
Never paid over $1/gal the entire time she worked there.
48points

#19

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
A few years ago, a vending machine company (Selecta) started a game where you would scan the barcode of your purchase (every month had a few partnership items) and get points. If you religiously scanned your 2 items every day, you'd get in 3 months enough points for the best gifts: iPads or TVs, things like that.
Except, to scan a barcode, you don't need to purchase it, you just need to have it. So if 1st day of the month you buy the chocolate bar, nothing is stopping you from scanning it again and again. You can even just take a picture of the barcode of the soda drink bottle next time you stop at the supermarket and actually never buy it.
And you can make a printable PowerPoint of it, to ease the task.
And you can open accounts to family and friends and share the Ppt.
It lasted a bit more than a year and it was very fruitful.
46points

#20

30 Loopholes That People Exploited The Hell Out Of Before They Were Fixed, As Shared Online
Older vending machines like the ones in my high school and car wash used to take golden dollars(yes, the Sacagawea coin), count them as a dollar and then spit them back out. You could buy the whole machine with one golden dollar. My friends and I exploited this for 7 months senior year until they swapped all of the machines out.
45points
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