A restaurant goer in China got the shock of her life Nov. 23 when one social media mishap ended up nearly costing her over $60,000, the South Morning China Post reported.
The diner, surnamed Wang, innocently posted a photo of the restaurant food on a Chinese social media site, but the photo also included a table’s QR code used to place orders, according to the South Morning China Post (RELATED: Man Allegedly Fakes Heart Attacks To Skip Out On Bill At Several Restaurants)
A large number of people began to scan this code and ended up ordering 1,850 portions of duck blood, 2,580 portions of squid and 9,990 portions of shrimp paste, the outlet reported. Wang reportedly deleted the photo as soon as she realized what was happening. But this did not stop people from placing new orders to her table, leaving Wang with a $60,000 bill, the South Morning China Post reported.
Fortunately, the restaurant realized what was happening and did not make Wang pay for all the food, the outlet reported. The restaurant has since revised its ordering system to prevent this incident from happening again, according to the New York Post.
Woman receives $60K dinner tab after innocent social media mistake https://t.co/8dhirkuoFp pic.twitter.com/YAAxVyApM2
— New York Post (@nypost) December 6, 2023
Wang said the entire incident was a learning experience, and she called for greater public awareness of information security, the South Morning China Post reported.
Restaurants in China commonly used QR codes even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, China Marketing Insights reported. But many American restaurants did not start using QR codes until the COVID-19 pandemic, as it allowed customers to place their orders remotely, Twin City Business (TCB) reported. Since the end of the pandemic, American restaurants have slowly returned to using physical menus, TCB noted.