TV anchor says live on-air 'Alexa, order me a dollhouse' – guess what happens next

[froggyboy604]

A San Diego TV station sparked complaints this week – after an on-air report about a girl who ordered a dollhouse via her parents' Amazon Echo caused Echoes in viewers' homes to also attempt to order dollhouses.

Telly station CW-6 said the blunder happened during a Thursday morning news package about a Texan six-year-old who racked up big charges while talking to an Echo gadget in her home. According to her parents' Amazon account, their daughter said: "Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?" Next thing they knew, a $160 KidKraft Sparkle Mansion dollhouse and four pounds of sugar cookies arrived on their doorstep.

During that story's segment, a CW-6 news presenter remarked: "I love the little girl, saying 'Alexa ordered me a dollhouse'.

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This wouldn't have happen if the owners of the Alexa unplugged their device.

$160 is kind of expensive for a doll house. You can get a used refurbished Xbox 360 or PS3 for $160.

I think it is best to use pre-paid credit cards and gift cards to buy stuff on Amazon, so people can't buy stuff when there are no funds or real credit card with a high credit limit like $10000 on an Amazon account.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

Shouldn't there be some kind of confirm before the actual purchase is made?

 

[froggyboy604]

Shouldn't there be some kind of confirm before the actual purchase is made?

There is a chance that this story is fake, and the Amazon costumer made up the Alexa purchasing story to earn money or get famous from paid news interviews, and tabloid magazines who believe the story is true, or publish the story to embarrass Amazon because it is a big company.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

There is a chance that this story is fake, and the Amazon costumer made up the Alexa purchasing story to earn money or get famous from paid news interviews, and tabloid magazines who believe the story is true, or publish the story to embarrass Amazon because it is a big company.

I actually remember another story on this some years ago, but I'm not sure if much came from it.

 

[CM30]

There is a confirmation... if you set it up. Unfortunately from what I hear, it's not set up to require confirmation by default, which is a stupid decision on Amazon's part.