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Embarrassing Alexa

(107 Posts)
Havemercy Sun 26-Jan-25 12:29:06

Just experienced an extremely embarrassing episode, courtesy of our WiFi smart speaker. Alexa kindly reminded me ( out loud ) that it was time to order some more female incontinence towels. Very kind of her - but problem was this was in front of three visitors !! Embarrassing silence followed but I thought it might be a good idea to warn anyone who orders things from Amazon that Alexa will speak!!

sunglow12 Mon 27-Jan-25 21:04:38

Someone gave me one for Xmas a few years ago . I used it for music but got fed up with paying £2.99 a month and apart from my grandchildren repeatedly asking for it to play gummy bear over and over one time haven’t used it since .

Oopsadaisy1 Mon 27-Jan-25 20:19:47

Tanjamaltija

They listen - and look. If I look up pictures of crafts on Pinterest, I get adverts for the items used on Facebook, and so on.

That’s the cookies that you have to download to go onto various websites, that happened before we had an Alexa.

Oopsadaisy1 Mon 27-Jan-25 20:19:05

I have a friend who insists that Alexa listens to you.

I laughed

MrOops laughed

Our Grandson laughed

Alexa laughed………..

🤗

Tanjamaltija Mon 27-Jan-25 16:12:36

They listen - and look. If I look up pictures of crafts on Pinterest, I get adverts for the items used on Facebook, and so on.

Marydoll Mon 27-Jan-25 16:01:37

wibblywobblywobblebottom

Don't people buy Alexa because it speaks. I'm not senile so I can remember what needs to be bought, or I write it down on a piece of paper.

Have you actually read the whole thread and the reasons why people buy these devices.
Nothing to do with senility.

I forgot to mention, ours are also linked to our Sonus system and I can play wall to wall music, throughout the house and also in the garden.
However, I am mindful of my neighbours and don't play music too loudly.

semperfidelis Mon 27-Jan-25 15:58:07

I only have music and all the radio choices on Alexa. You don't have to subscribe to anything else. I've had it for years and it costs nothing! It brilliant for people like me with poor eyesight. I don't have to peer at black buttons to select radio stations, I just ask Alexa and she does it. She's known for being a great help to blind and partially sighted people. Bravo Alexa!

wibblywobblywobblebottom Mon 27-Jan-25 15:37:34

Don't people buy Alexa because it speaks. I'm not senile so I can remember what needs to be bought, or I write it down on a piece of paper.

MiniMoon Mon 27-Jan-25 15:30:28

Thinking about how useful Alexa is, I remembered this while I was clearing my shopping list.
Very funny.
youtu.be/IvnW89osj0g?si=Zp3r1kt9wu9MxiBJ

Sawsage2 Mon 27-Jan-25 15:05:12

I love my Alexa, set up by my daughter in 5 minutes, listen to what you want when you want. Just say 'Alexa play my music playlist or weather forecast or how far to.....?'

knspol Mon 27-Jan-25 14:54:56

My Alexa asks me if I want to reorder things from Amazon but only if I see it's light is on and I ask if there are any notifications. It does occasionally speak out of the blue but only in response to something that's been said either by a person in the room or by the television.

alisonsmith4 Mon 27-Jan-25 14:28:50

Alexa only speaks if you ask her to! You have to say “Give me my notifications”

cornergran Mon 27-Jan-25 14:04:34

We simply turn the microphone off when Alexa isn’t needed. Simple enough. If either of us are unwell or may need help then we ensure they are all on. Works for us. .

SillyNanny321 Mon 27-Jan-25 14:00:38

No problems with my Alexa. If I didnt have Alexa I would not be able to listen to Planet Rock as DAB is the pits here. No longer available on Sky as it was so got Alexa in my lounge & in my Bookroom when I sit there reading. You can turn on & off what you want Alexa to do on the App anyway!

Azalea99 Mon 27-Jan-25 13:54:35

I have a couple & use them quite a bit, particularly for reminders. One at our holiday home is kept in the bathroom , down the corridor, & reminds me to take a thyroid tablet each morning. I usually unplug it when I leave but once forgot, & DS1, who had arrived on the very last flight, was wakened bright and early! Apparently he wasn’t amused.

Helenlouise3 Mon 27-Jan-25 13:34:47

Hubby has always said that it listens to us lol

Milest0ne Mon 27-Jan-25 13:30:59

DD bought us one a few years ago. It is still in the box. I asked SiL what it did and he said it played music. Not a lot of use when OH watches tv all day.

GrauntyHelen Mon 27-Jan-25 12:43:42

Don't have one and never will

FannyD Mon 27-Jan-25 12:38:31

Firstly- I do like Alexa, and find lots of uses. But - she certainly does listen!
We were in our living room. Alexa is in the kitchen, but the door was open between the two rooms. I was recounting an incident to my dh - I can’t remember exactly what it was about but I said to him “I feel really bad about it”.
Alexa immediately piped up, asking if I needed help, a list of numbers of organisations that might be able to help me?
We laughed at the time, but on reflection found it a bit unnerving. On the other hand, if the circumstances had been different - who knows, someone might have been grateful for her ‘help’.

sandye Mon 27-Jan-25 12:20:27

Nothing to hide so not bothered that it listens, if it does.

Rosiebee Mon 27-Jan-25 11:19:42

My downstairs Alexa is rechargeable so it can be removed from it's base and I often take it into the kitchen so that I can listen to books on Audible while I'm cooking or ironing. Or I'll take it into the dining room to listen to while I'm sewing. In the summer, I've been able to take it into the garden. Love that I can get any radio station on it without fiddling around to get the right station. Upstairs Alexa is just a basic one but I can still hear my books on it. If they broke, I would definitely replace them.

annodomini Mon 27-Jan-25 11:02:40

I'm listening to Classic FM on mine just now. It (she?) woke me, as usual, at 7.05am and, as usual, I went right back to sleep. I have another in the sitting room and there's one available for use of guests in the spare room. All the family have them, except, perhaps DGGD who always shows an interest in mine. For her 3rd birthday, perhaps?
(OK Just joking...I think)

Oopsadaisy1 Mon 27-Jan-25 11:00:16

She will also tell you jokes and knows the different voices of our family and will say hello to them ( obviously we have set it up in advance) if they ask her a question.

She’s like Wikipedia, she knows everything!!

I’ll ask her if she knows the route to my sister in laws house.

I’ll get back to you……..

Oopsadaisy1 Mon 27-Jan-25 10:57:10

Alexa will only listen if you say her name or something that sounds like the word ‘Alexa’ . We had a film on recently where someone was called Alex, our Alexa kept chipping in saying she didn’t know the answer to that!
I use her for cooker timings, she will remember all the different timings for oven and various saucepans ( you can tell her which pan to remember) to remind me the day before I need to put the bins out (as I always forget) and many other reminders and alarms and yes, she does remind me when she thinks it’s time for me to reorder dog food.
She also tells me when my Amazon parcel is about to be delivered.
She plays my music playlists as well, she will also contact MissOops in an emergency if I can call out to her. I really would miss it if I had to give it up.

merlotgran Mon 27-Jan-25 10:02:48

DH once complained that our Alexa hadn’t understood him. Much to my amusement, she snapped back with “Here’s a fart. Now would you like another?”.

Oh I must set up something like that for the next time my lovely Luddite friend comes round for coffee with her long suffering husband in tow.

He would absolutely love it!! 😂

Charleygirl5 Mon 27-Jan-25 10:02:05

I have 3 Alexas, kitchen, sitting room and bedroom. I am partially sighted and could not do without mine, as it is great when cooking with the reminders I give her. Good for music, as I do not fiddle with knobs. An excellent alarm clock, weather and news reader.

Very occasionally, she will remind me out of the blue what Amazon is sending, but as I live on my own, it is no embarrassment.

I love mine.