Keith Stonehouse was at home on Saturday night when he let his son, Mason, play a quick game on his phone before bed. But instead of playing a game, his 6-year-old decided to order a late-night snack. A $1,000 late-night snack to be exact.
Stonehouse said when the first delivery car showed up he assumed it was a delivery for his wife. But then another car pulled up. And another.
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.
Mason apparently enjoys a wide variety of food, as his order included shwarma, chili cheese fries, ice cream, rice, and a $183 order of jumbo shrimp, just to name a few items.
This was like something out of a "Saturday Night Live" skit. 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 said the only time he did crack up at the situation was when he went to give his son a talking-to:
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.
In the end, there are much worse things a 6-year-old could be doing on a smartphone, so although it was an expensive lesson learned, I don't think Mason's parents will let him use their phones again any time soon.
