topic Re: Oh Boy!!! in Community Chat

Oh Boy!!!

gertrudecloset — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 02:02:04 GMT

CHESTERFIELD TWP., MI - The doorbell just kept ringing and the cars just kept coming. A 6-year-old Michigan boy went on a wild $1,000-dollar spending spree - like he was on a game show - using his father’s Grubhub account, ordering large amounts of food from numerous area restaurants.

The food piled up quickly for Keith Stonehouse of Chesterfield Township in Metro Detroit on Saturday night while he was home alone with his son, Mason, with his wife, Kristin, away at the movies with some friends.

We’re talking five large orders of jumbo shrimp, salads, shawarma and chicken pita sandwiches, chili cheese fries, ice cream, grape leaves, rice ... and that’s just some of what was delivered by one Grubhub driver after another.

“This was like something out of a “Saturday Night Live” skit,” Stonehouse, who says he still isn’t laughing, told MLive. “I was probably a 9.5 out of 10 anger while it was happening. The next day, I was at an eight and now I’m at about a three. I don’t really find it funny yet, but I can laugh with people a little bit. It’s a lot of money and it kind of came out of nowhere.”

Stonehouse says he let Mason use his cell phone to play a game for about a half hour before bed. He never thought he would instead click on the Grubhub app and order large amounts of food from one restaurant after another.

“He’s 6, so it doesn’t kind of sink in. It’s not like if our 13-year-old did this, then it would sink in to him,” added Stonehouse. “Trying to explain this to a 6-year-old, we told him we took money out of his piggy bank to pay for this bag of food and this one and so on. We could tell he was upset, but we don’t know if it has really sunk in. That’s the frustrating part.”

So much food had been ordered from so many different places, Chase Bank actually sent Stonehouse a fraud alert declining a $439 order from Happy’s Pizza. However, the $183 order of jumbo shrimp from the same restaurant did go through just fine and arrived at the house.

It took a few orders of food for Stonehouse to realize what was going on. Even after he put two and two together, there was nothing he could do to stop the orders from coming.

“I was putting Mason to bed and saw a car pull up and the doorbell rang with the driver dropping off a big bag of stuff. My wife owns “A Slice of Heaven Cakes” bakery and it was a big wedding weekend, so I thought it was just someone dropping off decorative stuff they used from her. But it was from Leo’s Coney Island. I said, ‘What the heck?’”

“The doorbell rang again and it kept happening. Car after car. Cars were pulling into the driveway while others were pulling out. I finally asked one of them what they were delivering. He said we ordered chicken shwarmas. I took the food and then it hit me. I looked at my phone with repeated messages that my food was getting ready, my food was being delivered. I looked at my bank account and it was getting drained.”

Stonehouse says there was nothing he could do to stop the orders. He says he called one restaurant, who told him he had to get ahold of Grubhub. Stonehouse says there was no way to do that which he could figure out, and no way to cancel the orders.

When it was all said and done, Stonehouse says most of the food went into the family’s refrigerators. The family has a few of them because of the bakery his wife owns. He says they also invited some neighbors over to eat some of the food.

“While all of the food was being delivered and I figured out what happened, I went to talk to Mason about what he did and this is the only part that makes me laugh. I was trying to explain to him that this wasn’t good and he puts his hand up and stops me and says “Dad, did the pepperoni pizzas come yet?” I had to walk out of the room. I didn’t know if I should get mad or laugh. I didn’t know what to do.”

Stonehouse says he’s heard of things like this happening to other parents, but not to this level. He recommends making sure you don’t have important apps readily available for your kids to click on when they’re using your phone. Maybe hide them. He also says he’s changing his password.

“I knew this could happen, but you just don’t think your kid is going to do something like this. He’s definitely smart enough, I just didn’t expect it.” Mason's parents said it will take some time before he gets his phone privileges back.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

RoughDraft — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 02:12:09 GMT

Quite an educated palate for a 6 year old. Hope they have room in the freezer!

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Love my grandkids — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 03:00:01 GMT

@RoughDraft Well his wife owns a bakery and they have several refrigertors so I'm sure they have ample room!

This story will be told about Mason until he's a grandpa!

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Etoile308 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 03:43:29 GMT

Somehow I have zero sympathy for this guy. Perhaps next time he won't use a cell phone as a baby sitter. You want to allow a six year old to play games, buy him a LeapFrog. Better yet, hand him a book and expand his world.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Love my grandkids — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 03:53:45 GMT

@Etoile308 Nowhere do I see this man asking for sympathy. Geez louise.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Etoile308 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 04:03:07 GMT

I don't see him looking for sympathy either, but if he were I wouldn't give him any. That simple. Jeez Louise.

Seems to me he was looking for something...his 15 minutes perhaps. If not, he would have kept the story to himself and never brought it to anyone's attention. Of course there are those that believe everything their children do is so very special.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

chrystaltree — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 04:03:44 GMT

We fall into the habit of letting young kids play their games on our phones and something like this can happen if the apps aren't password protected. Also kids are smart, they watch everything we do on our phones.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

patbz — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 05:07:31 GMT

Bet the family is on the Today Show by Friday.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Bhvbum — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 07:26:41 GMT

And how did these things get paid for? Have you ever ordered something online, there are a number of steps and then the option of how to pay? Pick up or delivery? Would you have your credit card registered to all those places? If I didn't know better, I suspect this kid has been taught to place orders for Food before.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

mormel20 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 12:52:18 GMT

When I order things on my laptop when I get the "pay area" I can click and my saved credit card information (which my computer had saved) will appear HOWEVER I have to type in in the three digit number on the back of the card for the transaction to go through. So did the child already know the three digit or did he go get the card and type it? I never use debit cards so I don't know if they work the same or not. Plus, I don't order on my phone because it is hard for me to see the screen, so there may be a difference with that as opposed to a laptop.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

KittySoftPaws — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 12:59:59 GMT

How about the 6 year old recently inducted into Mensa! The youngest ever.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Jesse Ann — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 14:11:25 GMT

I think the guys phone was linked to his Debit Card because he stated that he looked and saw his bank account balance getting lower and lower. So, possibly easier to order with a debit card linked to an app? But, certain payment options let you continue to order within a certain amount of minutes without having to sign in again. I don’t use these type of apps. Maybe they are just that EASY to order? I wouldn’t let my 6 year old to play with my phone!!

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Kalli — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 20:40:45 GMT

Yikes! It's a good thing my brothers(4) were raised in the 60s. I could totally see this happening to my parents if it had been possible back then. Mom used to say what one of them didn't think of, another one would.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

gertrudecloset — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 20:46:30 GMT

@Jesse Ann wrote:
I think the guys phone was linked to his Debit Card because he stated that he looked and saw his bank account balance getting lower and lower. So, possibly easier to order with a debit card linked to an app? But, certain payment options let you continue to order within a certain amount of minutes without having to sign in again. I don’t use these type of apps. Maybe they are just that EASY to order? I wouldn’t let my 6 year old to play with my phone!!

@Jesse Ann I think a lot of people who post here don't really use smart phones. Some just do the tracfone and use it for that purpose. Smart phones have apps that can let you swipe and go. Amazon food stores, let you pick up and swipe your phone. Transportation in my city is moving toward that for paying for your fare.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Etoile308 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:00:13 GMT

If I'm not mistaken Apple Pay will require either Face ID or Touch ID for a payment to be authorized.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

JoyFilled Warrior — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:02:41 GMT

I'm by no means, Cell Phone savvy, but isnt there a way to "kid proof" some apps, *or* parts, *or* (VISA/MC/Debit Card) of one's Cell Phone?

This 6 yo ordered food item names I'd never even heard of. Let alone a child who orders "shrimp."

What happened to the ole

Phone Call: "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"

Store: "Yes"

Phone Call: "Well let him out!

Is annoying, but far less expensive. heh

Re: Oh Boy!!!

beckyb1012 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:02:58 GMT

I just watched the report of this early this morning on the news. I was laughing and was so proud GrubHub gave them the card. The little boy is absolutely adorable. His dad talking about the line of cars coming in and out of his drive, one right after the other.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

gertrudecloset — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:09:43 GMT

@Etoile308 wrote:
If I'm not mistaken Apple Pay will require either Face ID or Touch ID for a payment to be authorized.

@Etoile308 you could be right. I wouldn't know. I don't have apps on my smart phones and one of them is an Iphone. I have the Iphone SE 2nd edition. My main phone though is an android.

The MTA in NYC has installed electronic readers for us to swipe our phones to pay our fare. You download the app like you would any other app and set it up with your preferred method of payment.

This story doesn't indicate whether the young man was using an Iphone or a Samsung....so we don't know. I know he didn't have to do much if they use Grubhub a lot.

Re: Oh Boy!!!

Etoile308 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:12:50 GMT

Sometimes there are small things that make me question the veracity or motivation of these type of human interest stories.

For example, looking at the photo there appears on the counter to be a tablet resembling an Amazon Kids's Kindle Fire. You know, the type of tablet with age appropriate, game appropriate apps for a six year old. So why the need to hand him a phone?

Re: Oh Boy!!!

sunshine45 — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:20:31 GMT

@mormel20 wrote:
When I order things on my laptop when I get the "pay area" I can click and my saved credit card information (which my computer had saved) will appear HOWEVER I have to type in in the three digit number on the back of the card for the transaction to go through. So did the child already know the three digit or did he go get the card and type it? I never use debit cards so I don't know if they work the same or not. Plus, I don't order on my phone because it is hard for me to see the screen, so there may be a difference with that as opposed to a laptop.

@mormel20

i have two cards linked to my UBER account on my smartphone. i dont have to enter the three digit code when i want to reload manually or if i have it set on auto reload.