I Am The King Of Loopholes…

I am the King of Loopholes.

The younger part of me is proud of this. The more responsible part of me is embarrassed. It's a dichotomy of emotion. Regardless, If there is a loophole, I can find it. I know there is a moral facet in this. Am working through that as we speak.

So, it all started in College.

There was a coke machine in my college dorm at Bethany College in Santa Cruz. After you put the money in you could hit the buttons quickly and multiple drinks would drop out. And they kept refilling the machine even though the vendor should have noticed the deficit. I wonder some 20 years later, how much I ripped them off? I think I need to send them a check.

There are loopholes are everywhere, if you look for them. Rewards points are  a Loophole heaven. 

Awhile back, I went to a sporting goods store and they asked me for my phone number when I was paying. I was in a mood and didn't want to fight with the clerk so I told them our local area code + 555-1212 (which is the old number for directory assistance), the clerk accepted it and I left. When I checked my receipt I had a huge number of loyalty points - because apparently a ton of other people did the same thing.

Getty Images

Another time, I discovered using a famous phone number got me some rewards points from a ton of different stores. I respect the fact that someone took the time to enter a bunch of California area Codes (831, 559, 209, etc.) to go with the number to the 80’s Song '867-5309’ by Tommy Tutone. It's an actual real working rewards number. It works all over California. I have tried here in Washington and it’s hit or miss.

Back in Cali, parking meters take credit cards. I used it several times for this. I later looked at my credit card bill. I fouund I wasn't being charged when I parked at one downtown. I may have used it a dozen times before noticing it. Apprently, the meters just checked your card, but never paid out on it. After discoverning this, I paid with cash moving forward.

Any other loopholes that you have used? How long have you been doing it?

All My Best,

The JimShow