Santa brought many children Barbie‘s new voice-controlled Hello Dreamhouse this holiday season, but those same kids and their parents were left frustrated on Christmas morning when their high-tech toy didn’t work.
Disgruntled consumers took to Twitter on Christmas Day to complain that they were receiving an “Error Code 18” message when they attempted to use the voice commands to open doors, turn on lights or utilize other functions in Barbie’s new house, Mashable reports.
ToyTalk, the company responsible for the technology in the Dreamhouse, released a statement to the discouraged buyers.
“Today, a small number of users are experiencing service issues due to the extremely high volume of demand we’ve seen with the Barbie Hello Dreamhouse,” the company said. “Our engineers have identified and resolved many of these issues, however intermittent problems may still exist as we continue to increase capacity. … We’re very sorry for any trouble this may have caused you and your family.”
That likely didn’t make disappointed children feel any better. “Sad kid here this Christmas morning,” tweeted one user. “Please help salvage 2 little girls’ Christmas,” implored another.
Shares of Mattel Inc., which owns the Barbie franchise, closed at $28.34 before the Christmas holiday weekend, down from a 52-week high of $34.76. The release of new Barbie dolls with more diverse skin tones and body types boosted sales earlier this year.
