In the United States, a 6-year-old child used his father’s smartphone to “play”. Except that in reality, he was ordering food galore on the GrubHub app. Total transaction amount: more…
Leaving your smartphone to a toddler is not without risk. This can block it, send unwanted messages and in very rare cases, place orders without your knowledge. In Michigan, a father had the bitter experience of this. As the local press reports, Keith and Kristin Stonehouse let their son Mason play on his father’s phone before bedtime. A little later, delivery people from the GrubHub app started dropping off orders at the Stonehouses.
The father of the family was perplexed: “What is happening ? Why are you bringing me food?” He will eventually understand that this food in abundance was ordered by his son when he “played” with his phone. Having fully grasped the intricacies of the application, the waiter ordered a medley of different foods including shrimp, salads, shawarma, chicken pita, sandwiches, chili fries and ice cream.
GrubHub makes a commercial move
The child had bought so much food that Keith’s bank had sent out a fraud alert, refusing a $400 pizza order. Before that, the boy had no trouble validating payments, proof that configuring an additional validation step is not a luxury when you have children who are a little too resourceful at home. Cute detail, the waiter invariably left a tip to the delivery men.
Having heard of this “unexpected spending spree”, Grubhub made a good business move by offering the family $1,000 worth of gift cards. For their part, the parents decided to take the opportunity to explain the value of money to their son. To do this, they took his piggy bank to extract some money: a coin for the pizza, a coin for the prawns, etc. As for the meals ordered, the family shared them with the neighbors so as not to make a mess.
