While smart homes come with great perks to make your life convenient, there are also times when smart devices do the exact opposite instead. From malfunctions to situations no one saw coming, here are five times having a smart home went terribly wrong for owners.

1. When a Smart Vacuum Did the Opposite of Cleaning

Jesse Newton has a smart device story that made internet history when it went viral—in the early hours of the morning, his Roomba vacuum spread dog poo all over his house.

Unbeknownst to Newton, just before the Roomba's automated cleaning schedule started at 1:30am, the family dog soiled the living room rug. As the Roomba went on its cleaning route, it brought the dog's mess with it—spreading the offending material across the entire house.

You can see Newton's full story (and even an illustrated map) in his Facebook post below:

2. When Alexa Became a Kid's Personal Santa

A glowing Alexa Dot

There are multiple stories of children ordering items through Amazon's Alexa without their parents knowing. In 2023, the New York Post reported on a five-year-old who ordered a $500 hot tub using Alexa. His total purchases amounted to nearly $1,000.

Others have reported incidents of their children going on shopping sprees using the smart home assistant. Luckily, owners can stop accidental voice purchases on Amazon Alexa by turning it off altogether, only allowing certain voices, or requiring a PIN for voice purchases.

3. When a Firmware Update Ruined Smart Locks

Password lock symbol on dark background

Smart locks are a useful tool that can help manage access to your home without the need to create physical copies of keys. But they aren't infallible.

In 2017, LockState made headlines when a faulty software update left around 500 of their smart locks inoperable, according to ArsTechnica. Luckily, customers could use a physical key to lock and unlock doors, but the incident eroded trust in the devices.

4. When Server Outages Left Smart Homes Unusable

Since smart homes require internet connectivity and access to online services, server outages can affect their usability. In 2020, Google's Nest service failed several times, Android Police reported. This left smart home owners with unusable devices.

In 2021, an Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage left owners of certain smart devices stranded, Futurism reported.

It's a reminder to be selective when creating your smart home. You don't want your appliances and devices to become unusable every time there is a server issue.

5. When Hacked Ring Cameras Terrified Children

Smart security camera mounted from the ceiling

It's important to protect your smart home from hackers, especially if those devices have access to sensitive data and feeds. The importance of smart home security was highlighted in 2019, when a man was able to hack into a home's Ring security camera setup and communicate with an eight-year-old girl.

As reported by NBC News, the man started playing music and told the girl to mess up her room and break her television. The child responded with terror.

This isn't the first time home security cameras have been hacked, with hackers harassing or communicating with children. But it was one of the most notable incidents.

Smart Home Devices Come With Drawbacks

So much can go right when you have the perfect smart devices, but as these incidents show us, so much can go wrong. While some incidents were out of the control of smart home device owners, others show the importance of securing your devices.