A 6-Year-Old Ordered Almost $1,000 Worth Of Grubhub — And Tipped 25% on Each Order

Mason Stonehouse of Chesterfield, Michigan, grabbed his dad's phone and treated himself to chicken sandwiches, ice cream, and more.

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By Gabrielle Bienasz

Keith Stonehouse wasn't paying attention — and 6-year-old Mason took advantage.

The small resident of Chesterfield, Michigan, a township near Detroit, was hanging out with his dad on a Saturday evening in January when he obtained his phone.

"He took my phone to play, and I wasn't paying attention. I was watching my show," Keith told FOX 2 Detroit.

Mason ended up ordering nearly $1,000 worth of food, according to the outlet. Grubhub "got wind" of what happened and gave the family an equivalent gift card, the outlet wrote.

He's hardly the first kid, accidentally or on purpose, to take advantage of tech-enabled solutions for ordering food or playing games. Uber Eats refunded a family whose 4-year-old son ordered over 1,000 Australian dollars in ice cream, per The Irish Times.

Related: Toddler Accidentally Charges $2,000 at Walmart, Goes on Shopping Spree

For Mason's part, he went on the Grubhub app and got cooking. He ordered shrimp from Happy's Pizzas (the restaurant has several shrimp dishes on its menu), chicken sandwiches from Shawarma Yes! Bar & Grill, and Leo's Coney Island ice cream, which is Keith's favorite, the outlet reported.

Then, the orders started coming. Footage from the Stonehouse's Ring camera shows driver after driver bringing or dropping off deliveries, per FOX.

Keith didn't think anything of it at first. "My wife has a bakery, and people are always dropping off stuff from weddings or events," he told the outlet.

Then, it kept happening. "Cars are coming in the driveway while cars are leaving the driveway," he said, and then he saw a fraud alert from Chase inquiring about a $439 charge for Happy's Pizza.

One thing could be unique about Mason's story: He tipped 25% on every order.

After the incident, Mason said he had his piggy bank emptied from $115 to one cent. His lesson? "Only one," he told the reporter. "They took my money."

"This is my lesson, first and foremost, and hopefully parents out there see and learn from this," Keith said.

Gabrielle Bienasz

Entrepreneur Staff

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

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