Originally Posted by
_kurt
A small warning to anyone reading your post not to intentionally or flagrantly take advantage of the lack of LP clawback. Years ago eShopping would fail to debit the miles for returns. A few people maximized that loophole by buying and then returning hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. I think when it was finally caught, some accounts got shut down.
This is good advice. There are certain lines that are just not a good idea to cross. Maximizing the published rules of program is one thing; intentionally abusing a website bug or oversight is another. IMO buying things that you intend to return is not even a grey area; it's clearly over the line (though we all have to set our own lines based on our tolerance for risk and possibly our morals)
Honestly EXP is so easy to achieve while staying within the rules, I see no reason to even consider a tactic like this. The risk is too high. Note that AA can catch this with an audit (they don't need help from the portal) and they have been heavy handed about stuff like this in the past.