Fed-up resident hacks faulty machines to get his laundry done for free

An incompetent laundry management company turned this ordinary resident into a vengeful hacker.

Michael Orlitzky, who lives in a building that offers washing and drying machines to residents, found his greatest enemy in the company that manages these devices – CSC ServiceWorks. After all else failed, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

He first shared his reasons and methods for revenge on his personal webpage a year ago, going into humorous detail about why his actions were justified and what he planned to do about it.

No properly working card-reading machines, dollar bills getting eaten, and no service being provided were just a few examples from the long list of ways the system deceived him.

Orlitzky then shared that the company decided to change all the washers and dryers, installing new ones ahead of time and leaving residents with now unusable laundry cards that still had money in them.

He was well aware that the system was scamming people by taking their money and not providing them with services even though the residents “had already paid for the rent, water, and electricity.”

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when one of the new machines took his quarters but then got stuck, making him pay another $2 to move it to another machine. This is when Orlitzky decided to contact CSC ServiceWorks customer service to get a refund.

The whole hassle of having to go to their website and then install the app to be able to get his money, made him think of alternative ways to use the service, Orlitzky shared via 404media.

In short, he found a way to bypass the payment requirement and have his laundry washed for free without damaging the machines.

On his webpage, he shared how he found a way to access the machines. While it was easy to unscrew the washer, the dryer required a bit more work. Nevertheless, Orlitzky provides two options for access: “hardcore mode” and “inexpensive mode.”

The second option requires a person to check what kind of dryer they have and go to its parts store to check for the “washer dryer key” which can then be bought online.

However, Orlitzky warned others by stating that “according to the manual, these washers keep a record of the last few times the service door was opened. And they're connected to the internet because that's how the app works. As a result, CSC probably knows that you've opened the service door.”

Finally, after what seems to be multiple attempts to try to unlock the machines, Orlitzky shared his “process of short-circuiting.”

“[..] All you have to do is connect the two wires yourself, circumventing the switch,” explained the newly born hacker. This way, the coin-drop mechanism sends a signal to the service panel, thinking that the coin is inserted.

Until now, the bypass trick was only shared on Orlitzky’s personal website. But his methods for getting his laundry done for free have recently gone viral after he was invited to talk about his experience at the hacker conference DEF CON.

While it may sound like an unusual hacker story, the need for free washing/drying services seems to be on a number of people’s minds. For example, Reddit users are sharing their tips and tricks on how to make their laundry machines run for free online.

“You need to order the key. Maytag machines are the MX7 key. Speed Queens and all other Alliance-branded machines are GR800. Whirlpool is GR777. Unlock the panel and the machine’s ‘service panel detection’ button will be no longer depressed and the machine will allow Rapid Advance mode,” shared one of the users on the social media network with others being thankful for the “super informative” information, adding “you almost never find a valuable comment in this subreddit, but here one is.”

Another person online added, “If you can read the card using a card reader on a computer, it may be possible to save the card's data with a balance on it and then write the data back to the card once the balance is low.”

“When I was young we lived in apartments that ran off of special plastic tokens that you had to buy from the office for $1 apiece. When we got a computer when I was 15, I figured out a way to order those tokens... 1000 for $40. So we did laundry for free and I sold laundry tokens 50% off to my neighbors,” revealed another Reddit user who even turned this into a “business.”