McDonald's customer sparks debate with 'borderline insane' order

A McDonald’s diner has divided the internet by utilising a genuine ‘kiosk trick’ to obtain free food for their family. While some Reddit users hail their genius, others have called their commitment to the trick ‘borderline insane’.

We all love a good menu hack, a freebie, or getting our hands on a one-time promotional product, right?

At McDonald’s, you’re rewarded for how much money you spend with its loyalty scheme. If you accrue enough points, you can pick from free fries, hot drinks, sweet treats like McFlurries, and classic burgers, such as the Big Mac.

If you’re ordering via the app, then McDonald’s imposes a strict 15-minute cooldown between orders, rendering it pretty impossible to stack rewards and any deals the corporation has running, including the popular McDonald's Monopoly game.

However, some bargain hunters have reported a loophole when ordering at an in-store kiosk, claiming that if you put your unique account code into the self-service machine, you can select deals and rewards without waiting 15 minutes.

Some people have admitted to using a McDonald's kiosk loophole to score free food quicker than usual (Bob Henry/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“Scan the QR code at the kiosk. The free rewards are under deals,” explained a Redditor. “It took me a minute to find them, as I don’t go to McDonald's usually. You’ll need to check out after each free item you redeem, then get a new QR code.”

This system ‘cheat’ has sent some users into a frenzy, with people going as far as to stack multiple deals on top of one another.

Over the weekend, another Reddit user snapped a photograph of their family's orders, which included 19 tickets - most of which utilised a ‘Buy one, get one’ sandwich deal.

“Family fed. Kids had mcflurrys to keep them busy while I put in the rest of the orders,” they wrote. (Sic)

According to the post, the family of four came out of their restaurant with two burgers, three McChickens, one wrap, three or four McNuggets, three portions of fries, four pies, and three McFlurries.

Redditors have come out in their droves to debate the fast food fan's behaviour, with one typing: “Ok dude, a few is okay but this is crazy and when some franchises are banning this practice.”

One McDonald's eater shared how they utilised a kiosk loophole to feed their family of four (Reddit/acidoflacuna)

“People will cheat the system if it allows, sadly. Imo this is borderline insane. Just order your food like a normal person,” someone else lamented.

A third commented: “And that’s why we can’t have nice things.”

For anyone confused about how they managed to get so much free food, the original poster has revealed exactly how they managed to redeem so many tickets.

“With all the alternative method of entry bonuses getting free food, if you go into the McDonald's and use the kiosk, open the app, go to earn points and scan the QR code, and choose the free food deal from the kiosk and not the app, you can submit the orders consecutively instead of having to wait 15 minutes between orders,” they commented.

Some people are against the freebie 'cheat', while others have defended the users' efforts (Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Despite the backlash, some have defended the savvy shopper’s efforts, including one user who wrote: “Some of you here, acting like you haven’t redeemed quite a few at once….”

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Congrats on feeding your family,” another remarked.

A third said: “Can’t believe you’re getting so much hate for this and being called classless… I mean it’s McDonald’s we’re talking about.

“Why have promo if you can’t use it? Employees are gonna have to make food whether it’s all for him or a bunch of different people. I just don’t understand people anymore man.”

FOODbible has previously approached McDonald’s for comment on kiosk rewards redemption.