MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (WDIV) – A Michigan couple have learned the hard way to make sure they lock shopping apps on their mobile devices before letting their son use them.
Keith and Kristyn Stonehouse say their 6-year-old son Mason spent time playing on his dad’s phone on Saturday night before going to bed. After Mason went to bed, GrubHub delivery drivers began dropping off orders.
Her parents had no idea what was going on.
“Over and over again, and it’s piles and bags of food. ‘What is going on?’ They drop them off at the door, so I don’t communicate with the drivers,” Keith Stonehouse said.
He finally managed to stop one of the GrubHub pilots.
“I said, ‘What’s going on? Why are you bringing me food? He said, ‘I don’t know you. You ordered from the shawarma,’ the father said.
That’s when it finally clicked: Mason had to do it. It turned out that the 6-year-old spent almost $1,000 on food from GrubHub without telling his parents. There were several orders from several different restaurants.
“I think I had left the app open, and he saw it when he was playing with my phone and started going to town. He ordered several orders: chili fries, pita rolls chicken, ice cream, pizza,” Keith Stonehouse said.
Fortunately, the Stonehouses’ bank dropped some of the charges.
“Then I get an alert on my phone. My card was declined for fraud at a pizza place for $439,” Keith Stonehouse said.
Mason’s father says he had to take a deep breath before he finally told his son about the incident. His parents must have tried to find a way to explain to him that this food costs money.
“We grabbed his piggy bank and showed him all that money coming out of the piggy bank. One by one it was that. It was that bag of food. It was that, and you could see his face, you know said Keith Stonehouse.
“I think it sank when we were taking his money to try and pay some of it back, just as a lesson. I know what that money in your piggy bank means to you. So it’s only a fraction of what you spent,” Kristyn Stonehouse said.
Even though Mason may understand now, it will take him some time to get his phone privileges back. The situation is a good reminder to protect your apps from children.
Copyright 2023 WDIV via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.