Letting the kids play on the phone can lead to unexpected and very expensive purchases, like the one made by Mason, a Michigan boy who ordered $1,000 worth of food from Grubhub.
Keith Stonehous, father of the under-six-year-old, said he lent his six-year-old son the phone before putting him to bed so he could play. Then several packages of food began arriving at his doorstep around 9 p.m.
“The doorbell rang again and it kept happening. Car after car. Cars were pulling into the driveway while others were pulling out,” Stonehous told MLive.
“I was putting Mason to bed and I saw a car pull up and the bell rang and the driver dropped off a big bag of stuff,” Mason’s father recounted. At first, he thought it would be products for his wife, who owns a bakery. But when he saw that the bag was from a restaurant, he was taken aback.
It was after several food deliveries from different restaurants that Mason’s father realized what was happening. He found messages on his cell phone indicating that his food was being prepared and that orders were being delivered. He could also see that the charges were reducing his bank account.
Mason’s father received a fraud alert from Chase Bank for declining an order for nearly $450 for a pizzeria. The other orders were processed and he was unable to cancel the orders.
Little Mason ordered from various restaurants including Happy’s Pizza, Leo’s Coney Island and a shawarma restaurant. The boy took it upon himself to order a huge buffet that included shrimp, shawarma sandwiches, ice cream canisters and more.
As Keith explained to Mason that his actions were not good, the younger boy raised his hand, blocking his father from speaking, asking, “Dad, are the pepperoni pizzas here yet?” “I had to leave the room. I didn’t know whether to be angry or laugh. I didn’t know what to do,” Keith said.
The parents did not act in anger to reprimand little Mason, they decided to take a coin from their son’s piggy bank for each item he bought (a coin for fries, a coin for shrimp, etc.).
Ultimately, the small food buyer’s family gave away much of the food ordered to neighbors and stored the rest as leftovers.
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