Rant: My smart speaker started playing polka music at 3 AM for a week straight

So my Echo Dot in the kitchen just went nuts. Every single night, right at 3 AM, it would blast this loud polka station. I'd stumble in there, half asleep, and yell at it to stop. I checked the routine settings, the alarm list, everything. Nothing. After six nights of this, I was ready to throw it out the window. Then I remembered a dumb forum post about 'voice purchasing.' I checked my Amazon orders, and sure enough, there was a one-click buy for a polka album from two weeks ago. My cat must have brushed against the speaker and ordered it with her paw, and it was set on a repeat playlist. I deleted the order history from the device and the madness finally stopped. Has anyone else's pet ever accidentally bought something weird with a voice gadget?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyrivera11d ago

Okay that's actually hilarious. I always thought those "pet voice purchase" stories were made up, like an excuse for someone buying something embarrassing. But your cat ordering polka music is pretty solid proof. I guess we really do need to turn off voice buying on these things, it's just too easy to trigger by accident. My dog barks at the mailman and I'd be broke if he figured out how to order treats.

barbaramorgan11d ago

Right? The struggle is too real. My own dog once got a whole documentary about squirrels just by barking at a bird outside. Now I have a password on everything.