By Alice GibbsShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA Georgia mom was left stunned after discovering her young children had managed to go on an Amazon shopping spree—all without leaving their living room.
Kaylyn, 33, from Harris County, Texas is mom to three children under the age of six. She told Newsweek that the unexpected buying bonanza unfolded one day before breakfast.
Early that morning, her daughter came to her and admitted that she and her brother, Waylon, had been shopping, and at first the mom did not believe it. But a video on Instagram of the moment her daughter confessed has gone viral, as Kaylyn asked: "You did what?"
“[It] happened back in August all before 8 a.m. I thought they were joking at first, I didn’t think they’d actually know how to order anything from Alexa,” Kaylyn, who did not give a surname, told Newsweek.
But sure enough, when she checked the orders, Kaylyn found that her children had managed to buy items including a $37 princess dress, a four-pack of LED light-saber wands costing $28 and a $7 coloring set.
“She went and showed me and I didn’t think she actually did it because she couldn’t re-do it. But it wasn’t until I saw the emails of the things they ordered I realized they actually did order it. Thankfully I was able to cancel the orders,” she said.
...Amazon’s Alexa smart speaker was launched in 2014 and voice-activated ordering soon followed. While it is popular with many users, many parents have reported kids ordering toys, snacks or gadgets through voice assistants without permission. Alexa's voice-purchasing tools have long been a source of both convenience and accidental chaos for households with young children.
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In a statement to Newsweek, an Amazon spokesperson explained the controls available to families to prevent surprise orders.
“Customers have a number of options to control their Alexa shopping experience, including turning off Alexa voice purchasing any time in the Alexa App (Settings > Account Settings > Voice Purchasing),” the spokesperson said. “When voice purchasing is disabled, Alexa doesn't allow anyone to make voice purchases on Alexa. Customers can still ask questions, shop for products, add items to their cart or Shopping List and track orders.”
Adults can also tighten security in other ways. “They have the option to require a confirmation code to place an order,” the spokesperson said, adding that customers can “limit purchasing to only recognized voices (so that only recognized adult household members can place orders with Alexa).”
For households with young children, setting up a child profile provides an added layer of protection. “Parents and guardians can set up a voice ID for their child, which helps Alexa personalize the experience for kids based on their voice,” the spokesperson said. “When Alexa recognizes your child’s voice, it will provide child-friendly responses and remove voice purchasing.”
If an accidental order does go through, help is still available. “Customers can ask Alexa to cancel their order at any time prior to shipping,” the spokesperson said. “If they don’t cancel before the item is shipped, they can request a free return through the Online Returns Center. Items purchased with Alexa by voice are eligible for free returns.”
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