Mom gives toddler her phone to play—gets confused when later receives alert about $430 couch purchase on Amazon
Parents often mistake the idea that handing over phones to toddlers can keep them busy or distracted. While the latter is true, it comes at a cost — quite literally sometimes. Isabella McNeil, mom of two, revealed that leaving her toddler unattended with her phone cost her around $430, per 7 San Diego News. The woman casually handed over the device to her 2-year-old toddler, Rayna, who, out of curiosity, managed to leave the mom in a financial blunder. While the kid’s tech-savvy attitude is remarkable, it has us hysterically amazed and careful about leaving kids with phones to distract them.
McNeil recalled browsing couch options on her phone on Amazon as she was on a hunt for the same. However, Rayna abruptly came up to her and demanded the phone before she could throw a tantrum. As any parent would, to avoid a meltdown, the mom handed over the phone to her kiddo with not a whiff of what was to unfold. The smart toddler, though unintentionally, managed to get to the page and pick a pricey $430 couch and purchase the same. With all odds striking, the little girl found the “Buy with 1 click” option and managed to purchase the item.
The mom was aloof from this hefty purchase for quite some time. It was only when she received an alert that the product had been shipped that she dug into details to figure out the mishap. "I said, 'What? My couch has shipped? I didn’t remember ordering a couch,’” the mom recounted. "Lesson learned. Now I know it’s really dangerous and [I need] to make sure the Amazon app is closed before my daughter takes the phone. It’s just so easy,” she added. What followed was nothing but a wait to get the couch. The latter was way over their budget and McNeil certainly wouldn’t be keeping the same.
The mom couldn’t cancel the order and returning it meant paying over $100 in shipping. She also would have to pay restocking fees and it just meant a deficit for the mom. The couch arrived and remained in its packaging to be resold. McNeil listed it on a website with the ironic description, “Brand new in box. Ordered it by mistake, but my toddler actually did…darn buy with 1 click on Amazon. Anyway, it’s more of a hassle to ship back, so I’ll take a loss." She tried to price the product as close to what she paid to avoid much loss.
The mom honestly revealed that in the spur of the moment, when parents are caught up in parenting, it gets hard to keep track. She added a cautionary message to all parents. "Make sure all of the apps are closed, make sure your passwords are fingerprint-locked, make sure they don’t know your number password because kids are a lot smarter than we think," she said. In an update, it was revealed that McNeil was offered a complete refund from Amazon and that she had the option to keep the couch, donate it or even return it with the help of Amazon representatives. The “Buy with 1 click,” was also turned off for the mom.