Author Topic: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!  (Read 26599 times)

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Offline Zero999Topic starter

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For those who don't have time to watch the video. An Amazon customer had something delivered to their house. They weren't home and their delivery driver misinterpreted the automatic doorbell's pre-recorded message as a racial slur. He complained to his boss and Amazon shutdown the customer's account, just like that!


This is mental. Eliminate this crap from your house.
 
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Offline langwadt

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2023, 09:00:27 pm »
how much Stockholm syndrome does someone need to have to only "seriously consider" dropping Amazon after being treated like that?
 
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Offline Infraviolet

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2023, 09:09:45 pm »
Another example of why one should never rely on cloud anything.

And why the corporate/governmental complex* need to stop playing judge and simply provide plain services to any customer who wants to pay, see also: google shutting down an account when someone needed to transfer nude medical images of their family to a doctor, paypal suspending the acounts of free speech groups, trudeau freezing truckers bank accounts for peaceful protest, a new york shopping centre banning access to anyone tangentially associated with a law firm they didn't like, and not to mention the horrors of social credit systems and central bank digital currencies being proposed...

*far too many revoloving doors of managerial types transferring back and forth between government bodies and corporate ones, and all the while advancing the general "agenda" of busy-bodies intent on controlling everything in to neat bureaucratically ticked boxes.
 
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Offline james_s

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2023, 09:12:42 pm »
The irony is all the lip service Amazon gives about being "customer obsessed". I hope he sues them over this, and contacts all the local news media with his story.
 
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Offline SiliconWizard

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #4 on: June 12, 2023, 09:16:55 pm »
Hilarious. :-DD

We still have some choice, but question is, at what point will we stop having choice and ALL companies will be infected by this?

The "reassuring" part is that many companies that have taken this woke path (ESG crap) to an extreme have faced backlash (like Netflix, Disney, Paypal...)

So what's the future of Amazon? Bets are open.
 

Offline John B

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #5 on: June 12, 2023, 09:27:36 pm »
how much Stockholm syndrome does someone need to have to only "seriously consider" dropping Amazon after being treated like that?

It's worse, he used the phrase "loyalty" to amazon. Any consumer should be willing to drop a giant corporation as quick as they're willing to drop you.
 

Offline Zero999Topic starter

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2023, 09:49:03 pm »
Hilarious. :-DD

We still have some choice, but question is, at what point will we stop having choice and ALL companies will be infected by this?

The "reassuring" part is that many companies that have taken this woke path (ESG crap) to an extreme have faced backlash (like Netflix, Disney, Paypal...)

So what's the future of Amazon? Bets are open.

I wonder if they're going to fire the delivery driver? Perhaps not, assuming he's from a protected minority group. Heck, he's also probably a victim of diversity inclusion and equity training which teaches people to see microaggressions and discrimination everywhere.
 
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Offline daqq

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2023, 09:52:30 pm »
Today on "Why cloud based smart-homes are a dumb idea", episode #3489
Believe it or not, pointy haired people do exist!
+++Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++
 
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Offline james_s

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2023, 09:53:31 pm »
The delivery driver isn't the problem here, maybe he really did think he heard a racist comment. The issue is in the way Amazon handled it, guilty until proven innocent. If they were going to do anything, they should have investigated first, and taken action only once it is PROVEN that the customer committed some kind of offense that is in breach of contract and even then unless it was an actual credible threat or act of violence then the only action should be a warning. There's an old saying "the customer is always right" that companies seem to be forgetting about.
 
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Offline TimFox

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2023, 10:21:35 pm »
The homeowner's story:   https://medium.com/@bjax_/a-tale-of-unwanted-disruption-my-week-without-amazon-df1074e3818b

This is why I don't connect any of my household services to the cloud or internet--call me old-fashioned.
 
 

Offline akis

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #10 on: June 12, 2023, 10:33:57 pm »
We still have some choice, but question is, at what point will we stop having choice and ALL companies will be infected by this?

The "reassuring" part is that many companies that have taken this woke path (ESG crap) to an extreme have faced backlash (like Netflix, Disney, Paypal...)

So what's the future of Amazon? Bets are open.


As long as we keep voting the woke in - we are ourselves only to blame. While we still have a shred of democracy left and can vote and our vote is not automatically thrown in the bin.

Netflix, Disney, Amazon and all the rest are doing pretty well, I think. Most of the population are already brainwashed and follow the headlines without knowledge, understanding, suspicion or due diligence. Brainwashing starts at school where little kids get fed the agenda of the day, without parents ever knowing what goes on in the classroom. I remember clearly with my kids from 25 years ago. And then it goes on from there. Little kids do not have a chance.

Heck, he's also probably a victim of diversity inclusion and equity training which teaches people to see microaggressions and discrimination everywhere.

"equity training"? If only. Equity would be a nice thing to teach. What they do teach is (a version of) equality, with a strong exception towards white westerners.



 
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Online bdunham7

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #11 on: June 12, 2023, 10:38:21 pm »
how much Stockholm syndrome does someone need to have to only "seriously consider" dropping Amazon after being treated like that?

If you are heavily invested in the whole system and your options are to get it working or rip it all out, the decision might be tough.  Fortunately for me, I made that decision over  decade ago and I have nothing (that I'm aware of) that won't function without phoning home, and the vast majorit will function without any wi-fi or other radio signals.  It's getting harder and harder to do that as time goes on. 
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 

Offline DrGeoff

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #12 on: June 12, 2023, 10:46:13 pm »
Today on "Why cloud based smart-homes are a dumb idea", episode #3489

There's no such thing as the "cloud".
Just someone else's computer.
Was it really supposed to do that?
 

Offline thm_w

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2023, 11:10:18 pm »
Keep the political opinion garbage to the Dilbert thread please. We don't need more of that here.

The delivery driver isn't the problem here, maybe he really did think he heard a racist comment. The issue is in the way Amazon handled it, guilty until proven innocent. If they were going to do anything, they should have investigated first, and taken action only once it is PROVEN that the customer committed some kind of offense that is in breach of contract and even then unless it was an actual credible threat or act of violence then the only action should be a warning. There's an old saying "the customer is always right" that companies seem to be forgetting about.

I agree its clearly poorly handled. But "customer is always right" mentality has resulted in the whole Karen phenomenon. Customer can be wrong, and they can be let go or banned.
Amazon is free to drop whoever they want if they have a legit reason to do so.
Alexa service is free, but you could argue they should refund the hardware cost of the device.

The irony is all the lip service Amazon gives about being "customer obsessed". I hope he sues them over this, and contacts all the local news media with his story.

What would you possibly sue for?
OK heres your $40 back for Alexa.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2023, 11:12:18 pm by thm_w »
Profile -> Modify profile -> Look and Layout ->  Don't show users' signatures
 
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Offline MK14

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2023, 11:24:38 pm »
I have a degree of sympathy for Amazon.

There was a potentially fairly serious incident (big enough to get an Amazon customer, banned from using Amazon services), being reported.  So, they rightly informed the customer, investigated it and after a reasonable period of time took reasonable actions to reactivate the customers account.

Also we need to be careful, because we are hearing only one side of the story.  Perhaps the door-bell message was somewhat abrupt, and a bit rude, without being racist as such.

On the other hand, I tend to agree with a number of the criticisms of this policy, against Amazon, both in this thread, in the video and after reading about the person whose account was disabled, account of what occurred.

  • They shouldn't have been so reliant, on Amazon (online) services
  • Amazon should have made more/better effort, to inform the customer, what was going on.  Perhaps writing and/or phoning/texting them, to make sure they get the message
  • Not taking any actions to disable their account, until it has been investigated
  • Just blocking purchases, rather than all the account features, such as Alexa
  • Issuing one or two warnings, before the final (second or third incident), that gets their Amazon account closed
  • Compensating the customer for hassle, when found innocent
« Last Edit: June 12, 2023, 11:27:09 pm by MK14 »
 
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Online bdunham7

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2023, 11:41:23 pm »
Amazon is free to drop whoever they want if they have a legit reason to do so.
What would you possibly sue for?
OK heres your $40 back for Alexa.

It may be true that the TOS allows the manufacturer, seller or service provider to 'turn off' stuff at will.  What's being discussed here is the wisdom of allowing yourself to be subjected to this treatment at the whim of the company.  Your other option is to not purchase such products or services--or worse, become dependent on those goods, especially from sellers that have shown a willingness to excercise their right to terminate services without a lot of discussion or consideration.

The problem I have with all of this is that now everyone want to bring and try their case in the court of public opinion, AKA mob rule.
A 3.5 digit 4.5 digit 5 digit 5.5 digit 6.5 digit 7.5 digit DMM is good enough for most people.
 
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Offline Kim Christensen

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #16 on: June 13, 2023, 02:50:47 am »
Today on "Why cloud based smart-homes are a dumb idea", episode #3489
There's no such thing as the "cloud".
Just someone else's computer.

I laughed the first time I heard of the Client-Server relationship being rebranded as "cloud computing".
 
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Offline EEVblog

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Offline EEVblog

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #18 on: June 13, 2023, 06:06:30 am »
The homeowner's story:   https://medium.com/@bjax_/a-tale-of-unwanted-disruption-my-week-without-amazon-df1074e3818b
This is why I don't connect any of my household services to the cloud or internet--call me old-fashioned.

Smart homes are a dumb enough in the first, but why connect to a cloud service?
If you have to "smartify" your house then use a local system that has no internet connection.
 

Offline Halcyon

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #19 on: June 13, 2023, 06:06:42 am »
Today on "Why cloud based smart-homes are a dumb idea", episode #3489

I always maintain that a truly smart home is one that is properly planned and designed. A well-place "analog" light switch is far better than a bunch of cloud-connected garbage.
 
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Offline wilfred

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #20 on: June 13, 2023, 06:33:03 am »

I agree its clearly poorly handled. But "customer is always right" mentality has resulted in the whole Karen phenomenon. Customer can be wrong, and they can be let go or banned.
Amazon is free to drop whoever they want if they have a legit reason to do so.
Alexa service is free, but you could argue they should refund the hardware cost of the device.

What would you possibly sue for?
OK heres your $40 back for Alexa.

I afraid you don't understand the meaning of the phrase "the customer is always right". It's not literally true. It refers to their ability to choose, and that thinking they are wrong for going elsewhere or rejecting your offer is pointless. To win them you must offer what they want, or persuade them better.

I would argue the alexa service is not free. You purchase it with something that is of value even if it is not money.
 
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Offline akis

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #21 on: June 13, 2023, 06:34:27 am »


I always maintain that a truly smart home is one that is properly planned and designed. A well-place "analog" light switch is far better than a bunch of cloud-connected garbage.

There those light/electrical switches/relays, that talk to each other, and only to each other, with no need for wifi or internet connectivity. This is the kind of system I am thinking of installing at home: one hard-wired "master" switch and a few "slave" switches that cause the master to switch on and off. The brand is Qiunetic, but I hear there are more out. This system has allowed me to keep just one hard-wired switch in each room of the house with only one cable travelling to the ceiling lights, and the ability to add further slave switches wherever I want, and without relying on wifi or the internet or some company's servers.
 

Offline .RC.

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #22 on: June 13, 2023, 07:07:14 am »
Never understood why people need to be so dependent on devices around their home.   What is next a smart device attached to the cloud to wipe your arse?
 

Offline m k

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #23 on: June 13, 2023, 08:15:18 am »
In Japan you can get a model with an analyzer.
Advance-Aneng-Appa-AVO-Beckman-Danbridge-Data Tech-Fluke-General Radio-H. W. Sullivan-Heathkit-HP-Kaise-Kyoritsu-Leeds & Northrup-Mastech-OR-X-REO-Simpson-Sinclair-Tektronix-Tokyo Rikosha-Topward-Triplett-Tritron-YFE
(plus lesser brands from the work shop of the world)
 

Offline langwadt

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Re: Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home!
« Reply #24 on: June 13, 2023, 08:51:23 am »
There was a potentially fairly serious incident


really? someone says they thought they heard a racist remark
 
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