Furious mum says Amazon Alexa ‘ruined Christmas’ after it blurted out daughter's surprise
4 December 2019, 11:46 | Updated: 5 December 2019, 12:25
One mum was left furious when her smart speaker revealed her ten-year-old’s present.
With Christmas right around the corner, parents everywhere are trying their hardest to keep their kids’ presents hidden.
But despite her best efforts, the surprise was ruined for Lizzie Nuttall’s daughter when her Amazon Echo revealed what she was getting from her mum.
The 41-year-old from Wrotham, Kent, explained she had decided to treat Alice, 10, to an £130 InstaX camera this Christmas after she spent weeks begging for it.
Unfortunately, her cheeky Alexa accidentally dropped her in it when it said 'parcel arriving, InstaX' in the kitchen, while both mum and daughter were sitting.
Speaking to The Sun, Lizzie said she was upset that her device had 'spoiled' Alice's big surprise, explaining: “Alice tried to cover it up saying, ‘I haven’t heard, I haven’t heard’ — but she clearly had and so her surprise is ruined.”
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She went on to say she was more annoyed as Amazon recently insisted it wouldn’t reveal items that were likely to be gifts in the run-up to the big day, joking: “I think Alexa has turned into the Christmas Grinch.”
Before adding: “Now we’ll have to get Alice another gift because she hasn’t got a surprise.”
This comes after a spokesperson for Amazon announced in early November: “From November 17, Alexa no longer reveals the names of items likely to be gifts to prevent spoiling surprises.
“Customers that prefer to never hear, or always hear item names, can change their settings in the app.
“If an item is marked as a gift during checkout, Alexa will never reveal order details.”
The spokesperson has since told us: "Alexa will not reveal names of items likely to be gifts when customers ask, 'Where’s my stuff' or to read delivery notifications, to prevent spoiling surprises during the Christmas season.
"Customers that prefer to never hear, or always hear item names can change their settings in the Alexa App. If an item is marked as a gift during checkout, Alexa will never reveal order details.”
Meanwhile, parents have recently praised their Alexas for giving their children a special message from Santa himself.
When you ask the device how many days there are until Christmas, you will then be asked by Alexa: “Would you like to hear an update from my good friend Santa?”
He then explains how he’ll be preparing for the big day with his elves.
