New Jersey toddler runs up $1,700 bill on mom’s phone

A New Jersey family learned the hard way to put passcodes on their phones after their 22-month-old racked up $1,700 in online orders on mom’s phone.

The Kumar family had just moved into a new home and, according to News 12 New Jersey, the mother, Madhu, had been browsing home furnishings from Walmart on her phone and placing items in the shopping cart for purchase some time in the future.

The family was flummoxed when the items started showing up at their home; as far as they knew, they hadn’t ordered any of them. Madhu says there was a parade of delivery people showing up on their porch, with one piece following another. Most of the deliveries were accent chairs that Madhu planned on buying some day, just not all at one time.

It turns out that their not-quite-two-year-old son, Ayaansh, had gotten ahold of mom’s phone and started pushing buttons. Since Madhu had her credit card information stored on the store’s website, he was able to check out without anyone knowing.

His mom says that he loves to play on electronic devices, emulating his two older siblings who have spent a lot of time learning remotely during the pandemic. Apparently, Ayaansh has reached a level of expertise that allows him to order online.

The Kumars say they tried to cancel the orders but were told that since they were already delivered, they couldn’t be canceled. Since then, Walmart has agreed to refund the family for any items that they return.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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