Is anyone else having Echo problems this morning? Mine does not control or find my Smartthings devices. It worked fine last night…
Mine is working fine this morning.
Their sale last month was too successful. I’ve noticed during some times of day ( usually evening) Alexa has been asking us to repeat commands 2-3 times. Replying the off ( on ) is not a valid command for a light, etc.
My only explanation is that with all the new Echoes their servers are overloaded. Looking back at history of requests the commands are being translated properly so it not executing properly points to cloud failure. Multiple emails and phone calls to Echo support have changed nothing. Their only solution is a factory reset and repairing the device. Ask it for the time and it replies . ’ Okay it’s working fine". If it comes back which it does as soon as you try any HA command, call back and we will replace the device. The fact that all 3 of our Echoes are having the same issues tella me it is NOT the device but the cloud.
It seems to be worse with Wemo ( off is not a valid command) Hue and ST we just have to repeat which device several times. Harmony for some reason shows in ST history properly, Harmony shows activity as active, yet NOTHING happened. So need to “fix activity” and turn on each device through phone app, set proper inputs.
I have noticed that commands that always worked flawlessly do have occasional trouble now, but this has happened in the past so I didn’t think much of it. That being said, issues in the past seemed to have been related to Amazon reserving new keywords which cause my expression to consistently fail whereas recently I just have to repeat it. Also, when it gets confused (“Sorry, which device”?) it doesn’t matter how clearly I say the device, it just won’t work. I have to say “cancel” and say the whole phrase again.
If you are like me and go to echo.amazon and look at history of requests, it will show
" she understood" the command properly the cloud just didn’t execute it .
I know TV and Prime stopped working ie turn on/off TV, turn on Prime had to be changed. So far turn on/off Television turn on Fire are working. It is the "turn off back yard lights " ( Wemo switch) not being a valid command for that device that is really irritating .
My Hue bulbs and Wemo devices all work perfectly, and the Echo is correctly understanding the requests. It’s just the Smartthings devices that all show as offline in the app and Alexa responds that the device or group is not responding.
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@RLDreams I hadn’t looked at the history but I see the same thing. She understands but inexplicably doesn’t do what I asked. I sent a notification to support, though I don’t expect anything.
@paulsown Sounds like Alexa got disconnected from ST. I’d recommend unlinking and reconnecting it in the Alexa app under settings > connected home.
Your first few replies will be that they have no record of any problems with cloud interface. After a few reports/complaints, expect an email asking you to call them, then they will have you do a factory reset and remove it from your account ( ie "put a pin in it " ) . After it is reattached to your account ask Alexa for the time and weather and insist that everything is fine.
I’ve made that call 3 times and know the script by heart LOL
I’m having similar issues, although it appears that certain keywords are now being interpreted somewhere in the chain. Where “TV” has always worked as a simulated switch for toggling my TV, I can’t use that term anymore, nor can I use “Television”. I had to change the switch name to “LG”. I’m thinking that Amazon, ST or Samsung is attempting to add some logic that overrides if if certain keywords are used. I had this experience with the Google Hub. I have a simulated switch called “everything” that I use when it’s bedtime and I want to turn off a few items such as the TV, lights, fan, etc. When I told Google hub to turn off “everything”, the response I got was “You got it, turning off 35 items”. Kinda funny, Google didn’t care about my everything switch, it just turned off… Everything.
Oh well…