Toddler accidentally spends thousands on furniture on unsuspecting mum’s phone
A toddler has accidentally spent $2990 on furniture while playing with his mother’s phone - with neither parent realising until the packages started arriving.
Pramod and Madhu Kumar began receiving a seemingly endless supply of packages from Walmart after their 22-month-old son Ayaansh accidentally clicked the “place order” button on his mum’s phone.
While playing with the device, Ayaansh managed to access the store’s website - and his mum’s full shopping cart - and completed the checkout for an almost $2,000 order ($NZD 2990).
When the packages began arriving, the couple began to question each other over who placed the order and why they didn’t ask for input from the other person.
They soon realised neither had made the order, and that in reality, their son was behind the suspicious transaction.
The order contained items for their new home in New Jersey, which they moved into almost a year ago.
“My wife does online shopping, so at the time, she was checking some things on Walmart and she added (them) to a cart,” Mr Kumar told TODAY.
“She was not intending to purchase those, she just added (them) to a cart and said, ‘OK, we’ll come back later’. But then she put the phone down and somehow my son managed to get the phone.”
Aayansh’s innocent use of his mum’s phone to play quickly turned into his first shopping spree, with the order including accent chairs, flower stands, and other items that continue to arrive at the family’s home.
The Kumars had no idea who had made the large online order when packages began arriving on their doorstep. Image: Pramod Kumar
“We’re still getting packages,” Mr Kumar said. “We have a bunch of packages. Like today, there are two packages just sitting outside of our house.”
Mr Kumar was initially surprised that his son was able to complete the transaction, as shoppers are usually asked “multiple times about the items you need to select and you have to click here to be able to confirm and then reconfirm to make sure before ordering”.
But, the toddler was able to show just how much he knew about phones while his family spoke to NBC New York.
Using a reporter's phone, Ayaansh was able to close the calendar app, send an email to the reporter’s mother, and search through their contacts.
“We learned a big lesson,” Mr Kumar said of the incident.
“Moving forward, we will put tough passcodes or face recognition so when he picks up the phone he finds it in locked condition,” he told NBC.
As the deliveries continue to arrive, the Kumars are planning to wait until everything has arrived before going to Walmart for a full refund.
However, they plan to keep a few items to remember the funny incident in the future.
“We are asking the same questions (to Ayaansh) again and again, ‘Oh, did you order that?’” Mrs Kumar said.
“He’s totally clueless to what he did, because nothing he ordered is of interest to him,” Mr Kumar added.
Image: Pramod Kumar