Oh, no! Alexa’s celebrity voices are removed by Amazon, and refunds are available upon request. That came quite unexpectedly, considering how popular the voice feature was. Shaquille O’Neal, Melissa McCarthy, and Samuel L. Jackson are among the celebrities whose voices are available on Amazon’s Alexa service, but now they are being removed. How can you get a refund from Amazon?
So, even if you’ve already made a purchase of the distinctive voice options, they won’t longer be functional and won’t be accessible for purchase. But we also have good news! An official notice on the purchase page states that Samuel L. Jackson is leaving soon and that the feature will end in full the following week. Shaq and Melissa McCarthy’s voices will be available until September.
Here’s what one of the Amazon representatives said:
After three years, we’re winding down celebrity voices. Customers will be able to continue using these voices for a limited time, and can contact our customer service team for a refund.
Quite disappointing!
Discussing the refunds matter, it seems that there’s quite a process you have to endure until you see your money back. To recall, the voice choices first cost just $1, and only later on were they priced at $5 in subsequent months. It seems like for Alexa users that they bought something just for the sake of it. However, as previously said, Amazon assured users that reimbursements would be handled upon request, so all is not lost (let’s hope!).
What do you think of such a change from Amazon? What’s your experience so far with Alexa?
Why, then, did Amazon turn off the feature? The company’s hardware business recently cut off hundreds of workers in the creative and production departments, so that might be part of it. Alexa is also no longer the trendiest thing in the universe (sorry, not sorry, right?!).