Can a ChatGPT Dot shop for me? Yes, with your approval: orders, price watches, refunds and 41 real cases

The short version: what a Dot can buy and save for you, how to set it up, where it gets stuck

Is a Dot worth it for shopping?

Yes for the parts of shopping that take patience, and less so for a quick order you could place yourself in two minutes. In the cases below it pays off most when it has to read, compare or chase: a wrong-size bowl caught in an order email before she confirmed (case 18), an Uber fare disputed for three days (case 19), a protection plan found in Gmail that returned $48.15 (case 40), a subscription list worth over $10,000 a year (case 21) and a microphone shortlist judged against a budget and four criteria (case 8). It can also place orders: a week of Walmart groceries during a phone call (case 1) and an Instacart cart filled from a recipe (case 41). Where it falls short is speed and the last step: a cannoli order took half an hour of handholding (case 7), some stores block its browser (cases 11 and 16), and checkout usually ends with your approval. It suits people who want research, price checks and money-back chores done in the background and who will approve each payment themselves.

How to set it up

1. Check your plan. A Dot comes with Pro outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland, with Business Premium, and with Enterprise once an admin switches it on; see How to get ChatGPT Dots.
2. Connect Gmail before you ask for savings. Wrong charges, renewals, expiring credits and order confirmations all sit in your inbox, and that is where most of the money in these cases turned up.
3. Connect the store's plugin when there is one, and check what it is allowed to do. Ruben Circelli connected Instacart before his Dot filled a cart from a recipe (case 41). Permission to read information may not include permission to change things or send messages, and an expired connection has to be reconnected from the request the Dot sends you (Getting started with your dot).
4. Save your card on the shop's own website and sign in once through the Dot. A Dot pays with a card you have already saved on the merchant's website, and each purchase needs your approval (Dots privacy, security, and safety FAQs). Its cloud browser keeps its own sessions and doesn't inherit logins from your personal browser, so sign in through the private form it sends you, or take over its browser and sign in yourself (Computers and apps). When a site asks for a code or a security check, you may have to read the code out or do that step yourself. Don't paste a password into a chat or a document, because the form's protection doesn't cover it.
5. Decide how much it may buy on its own. On mobile, open Customize, then Custom rules, describe the purchase and choose "Take action without asking", "Take action if pre-approved", "Ask before taking action" or "Hand off to you" (Getting started with your dot). Advance approval only counts when it specifically covers the purchase, and moving money between financial accounts always comes back to you (OpenAI on dots safety). Cortighi's rule lets the Dot buy from a favourites list within a spending limit (case 29).
6. Give the reasons, not just the item: budget, what it's for, delivery area, return policy and anything you won't compromise on. That is what made Norm's microphone pick and Alfred's living room work (cases 8 and 9).
7. Know the fallback for stores that block it. With your computer connected, you can ask the Dot to use your own browser instead. That may start a separate local task, and it doesn't carry over the cloud browser's sign-in or guarantee that the site will work (Getting started with your dot); keep the computer online and the ChatGPT app open while the Dot uses it.

Where it gets stuck, and what worked

1. Stores that block its browser or loop a login. Taobao and Pinduoduo limited Rarvis-X's Dot (case 16), and Rakuten threw an error halfway through Makari's favourites (case 11). Amazon blocked Pat Simmons's Dot at once, so it moved to Chrome on his own computer and stopped at a cart (Errands & life admin). Allison Johnson's local teriyaki shop wouldn't let her Dot onto its ordering page, and her Ikea login looped on a security check; once she helped it sign in to Uber Eats, the Dot did order the teriyaki (The Verge). What worked: a delivery app or store plugin you are signed in to, your connected computer, or finishing the step yourself.
2. Social logins and what a website shows. When Mary Randolph handed a Dot a Facebook login for Marketplace, Meta flagged it as a bot and temporarily locked her Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp; the moving truck it booked from what the websites showed was one size too big, while the counter still had the smaller one for walk-ins (case 28). What to do instead: keep social-account logins away from the Dot, and for rentals where size matters ask for a booking you can change or cancel free of charge, then check again at pickup.
3. Checkout details you didn't choose. Rich DeMuro's Dot set the tip far too high, and he cut it before pressing order himself (case 4). The neco. host's Dot put a ¥150 coupon next to a later delivery date before asking, then switched the brand in seconds when she preferred Amazon's own water (case 32). What worked: ask for the itemised total, tip, delivery fee, coupon and delivery date before you approve, as u/BraveBrush8890's Dot did when it confirmed the Walmart total twice (case 1).
4. Small orders that take longer than doing them yourself. Jane Manchun Wong's cannoli took half an hour (case 7), and dekilab's blueberries took 8 minutes (case 6). What worked: give the Dot the jobs nobody would sit through, such as a size check on an order email, a fare dispute that runs for three days or a renewal spotted before it charges.
5. A first result that misses on taste or shape. Toolie's first four couches fit the doorway and the budget but not the style (case 34), and おけもん's "send it on LINE" only became a useful gift comparison once the ask named a shareable HTML page (case 35). What worked: a second round with colours, one must-have feature and a scoring rubric, and naming the format you want back.
6. Advance approval that stops at a login. Cortighi's buy-on-its-own rule covers what to buy and how much to spend, but an expired session or a new card still brings the job back to the owner (case 29). What worked: save your card with each shop and sign in once through the Dot's secure form before you rely on the rule.
7. A price watch you can't see running. A2ZAI's daily check for a microphone below $95 was saved for 7 days, but no alert had arrived when he recorded (case 33). What worked: one number, one scope (same model and package, shipping included), one time and an end date; ask the Dot to read the saved schedule back, and look under Scheduled in its Activity if nothing ever arrives.
8. Offers that turn up after you pay, and refunds below the full amount. Satori found a 20%-off code just after a $66 order and worked out that $13.20 was at stake (case 30), and Cole found a coupon for a ryokan the day after it was booked (case 37). Igor sent photos, receipts and a description of the fault in one go, and the Dot got €12 back for a broken Lidl scale (case 31). What worked: ask the Dot to watch for offers on recent orders for about a week, hand over all the evidence at once, and keep the final say on anything less than a full refund.

What it can do, and what it can't yet

What it can do:

• Research a purchase against your budget and criteria, and recommend one option with its reasons.
• Build a cart and, with your approval, check out with a card saved on the shop's website, even during a phone call.
• Fill an Instacart cart from a recipe once Instacart is connected.
• Find wrong charges, renewals, protection plans and expiring credits in your email, draft the claim and keep following up.
• Check a price on a schedule and message you only when it crosses the number you set.

What it can't do yet:

• Shop on stores that block cloud browsers, unless it moves to your computer or you finish the step yourself.
• Buy without your approval, unless a rule you set specifically covers that purchase.
• Move money between financial accounts for you.
• Beat you on speed for a single small order.

One message to start with

I want to buy [item] for [use], under [budget], delivered to [city] by [date]. What matters to me: [criteria]. Compare three options from shops that deliver there, with the price including shipping, the delivery date and the return policy, and recommend one. Then check my email from the last [60] days for wrong charges, refunds I'm owed, renewals in the next [30] days and expiring credits, with amounts and deadlines. Don't buy, cancel, send or submit anything until I say yes. If a shop needs a sign-in, a code or a human check, or blocks your browser, stop and tell me. Before any checkout, show me the itemised total, tip, delivery fee and delivery date.

Quick answers

Can a ChatGPT Dot buy things for me?

Yes. It shops from its own cloud browser and can pay with a card you have already saved on the merchant's site, but each purchase needs your approval (OpenAI Help). In the cases below, u/BraveBrush8890's Dot shopped a week of Walmart groceries during a phone call and confirmed the total twice before checkout, Skippy finished an H-E-B checkout but would not buy beer, and the neco. host's Dot switched an Amazon water order in seconds before placing it. Rich DeMuro had his Dot fill a Domino's cart and pressed order himself, and Ruben Circelli's Dot turned a risotto recipe into a filled Instacart cart once Instacart was connected (case 41).

Will it check out without asking me?

Only if you set it up that way. Custom rules let you choose "Take action without asking", "Take action if pre-approved", "Ask before taking action" or "Hand off to you" (Getting started with your dot), and moving money between financial accounts always comes back to you. Cortighi's rule lets the Dot buy from a shop's favourites list within a spending limit, but only where the card is already saved, and an expired login still brings the job back (case 29).

Can it research a purchase before I buy?

Yes, and it works best when you give the reasons, not just the item. A2ZAI's Dot compared Rode, DJI and Hollyland microphones against a $150 budget and four criteria; Noah Jraige's Dot found a $1,000 living room piece by piece with a spreadsheet; Reece Rogers needed a second call with colours, a pull-out bed and a scoring rubric before the couch shortlist was worth saving.

Can it watch a price and tell me when it drops?

It can save a daily check. A2ZAI asked for one message only if a microphone fell below $95 (same model and package, shipping included), and the Dot saved a 9 a.m. Central check for 7 days; no alert had arrived when he recorded, and he says the runs are not independently verified yet (case 33). For competitor, price and news alerts, see Research watch.

How does it find money I'm owed, or subscriptions I forgot?

Mostly from your inbox. @stefania_chen's Dot caught a wrong-size matcha bowl before she confirmed the order, Kevin Magnan's argued with Uber for three days over a fare, Robert Saye's read a Lowe's protection plan in Gmail and saved him $48.15, and Cole found a coupon for a ryokan the day after booking. Nate Jones had his Dot list subscriptions worth over $10K a year, and Larry Foulkrod's worked out about $80 a month from switching Claude Max to Pro. Connect Gmail first; for refunds after cancelled trips and forms, see Errands & life admin.

What goes wrong when a Dot shops?

Some stores limit cloud browsers (Taobao and Pinduoduo for Rarvis-X, a Rakuten error for Makari), and a Facebook login for Marketplace got Mary Randolph's Meta accounts temporarily locked. Small orders can be slower than doing it yourself: Jane Manchun Wong's cannoli took half an hour, and Jordan Borth's Apple Watch listings never landed. Rich DeMuro's Dot set the tip far too high, so check the total before you approve.

Which plan do I need?

A Dot comes with Pro ($100, $200 or $500 tiers) outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland, with Business Premium in any supported region, and with Enterprise once an admin switches it on (How to get ChatGPT Dots; in Europe, see Dots in the EU and UK). The full list of what a Dot can do is on the features page. If the Dot goes quiet, start at Dots not showing or not working.

Orders the Dot placed

1. A week of groceries from Walmart, ordered over a phone call while driving (u/BraveBrush8890)

u/BraveBrush8890 called their Dot from the car and asked it to log into their Walmart account; they read out the login and the 2FA code. They told it to work from what it already knew about them from past chats. The Dot planned a week of meal prep, checked every item against their food allergy, and shopped for about 30 minutes, checking in now and then. It picked a delivery slot, suggested a $20 tip because the order was large, confirmed the total twice, and checked out after approval. Everything was delivered before they got home.

2. Five errands in one voice call, and one it refused (Rostyslav Dzhohola / Skippy)

In a 30-minute live test, Rostyslav Dzhohola gave his Dot Skippy real errands over a single call. Skippy booked and then cancelled an OpenTable reservation, ordered Popeyes on DoorDash at the same time, completed an H-E-B grocery checkout, sent an email invite, and added the dinner to Google Calendar. The one thing it would not do was buy beer.

3. Dog food, a vet visit, pet-friendly rides, and a dinner table in Bengaluru (AevyTV / Stephy)

AevyTV gave her Dot Stephy four pet-care errands on camera. Stephy ordered her dogs' vet-recommended food at the cheapest price it found (a ₹2,039 cash-on-delivery order), booked a vet appointment for both dogs, compared and booked the cheapest pet-friendly Uber rides between her office and the clinic (₹1,100.96 in total), and reserved a table for five at Pizza 4P's in Indiranagar.

4. A Domino's order for a kids' party, left for him to check out (Rich DeMuro / Glitchy)

On Rich on Tech episode 194 (3 October 2026), tech journalist Rich DeMuro, who says OpenAI gave him access to review it, needed pizza for his kid's birthday party: 12 kids and three adults. He told his Dot Glitchy the mix he wanted, asked for the best deal and delivery at 5 p.m., and said not to place the order. Glitchy filled the Domino's cart, looked for coupons, and typed in the delivery address. When Rich offered his card number, it declined and gave him a secure way to enter it instead. He pressed order himself and the pizzas arrived at about 5:09. The one thing he changed was the tip, which the Dot had set far too high.

5. 25 free photo prints ordered from a month of phone photos (Sai N. Nimmagadda / @funsaized)

For his first Dots use case, Sai N. Nimmagadda had his Dot scan his last month of phone photos and place the order for the 25 free prints his Walmart+ membership gives him each month.

6. Blueberries in a Coupang cart, timed against another agent (dekilab)

In an 8-minute Korean guide (2 October), 데키랩 (dekilab) gave Dots and xAI's GrokBot the same jobs. Putting blueberries in a Coupang cart took the Dot 8 minutes against GrokBot's 5, and he compared the reasons each one gave for its pick. A Skyscanner search for Bali flights was judged on schedule, travel time, and baggage rules, not on speed alone.

7. Cannoli delivered, after half an hour of handholding (Jane Manchun Wong)

Jane Manchun Wong asked her Dot to get her some desserts. The cannoli arrived, so it technically worked, but it took quite a bit of handholding. The whole task took her half an hour, which she says would have been quicker if she had ordered it herself.

32. Amazon water with a ¥150 coupon, then a switch and checkout (neco.)

A host on neco.🐈‍⬛ 焚き火をみながらAIの話 (YouTube AI morning live, 2 Oct 2026, Japanese) asked her Dot for a case of plain water and sparkling water on Amazon — no-label, cheap. The Dot found a cheaper candidate and said a coupon would take another ¥150 off, but arrival would be the 16th or the 29th, and asked whether to proceed with that mix. She preferred Amazon's own water; within seconds the Dot switched the cart, she said OK to order, and it placed the order.

41. A risotto recipe turned into an Instacart cart, with each ingredient researched first (Ruben Circelli, PCMag)

Ruben Circelli (PCMag, 13 Oct 2026) asked his Dot to find J. Kenji López-Alt's no-stir risotto recipe, work out the best version of each ingredient available at his local Wegmans, and add them to his Instacart cart. After he connected his Instacart account to ChatGPT, the Dot found the recipe, researched the ingredients and filled the cart without an issue. In the same test he asked for a well-reviewed Asian restaurant nearby with a table that day at 6 p.m.; the Dot found one with a 6:15 opening and said it was the closest time available. His overall verdict: Dots worked best of the agents he tried, but it isn't quick, and he wouldn't buy the Pro plan for this alone unless you have a lot of simple online tasks to hand over. His inbox cleanup, over 700 marketing senders from 15 years of mail, is case 44 on Email triage.

Research before you buy

8. A microphone under $150, judged on what mattered (A2ZAI / Norm)

A2ZAI did not want 20 browser tabs open to buy a microphone for phone videos. He gave his Dot Norm a $150 budget and his criteria: clear indoor speech, easy setup, compatibility, and a reasonable return policy. Norm compared Rode, DJI, and Hollyland, recommended Rode for simple phone recording, and framed DJI as the budget pick and Hollyland as the more flexible kit. His takeaway: he got a decision, not a shopping list.

9. A $1,000 living room found piece by piece (Noah Jraige / Alfred)

Noah Jraige had a living room his sister designed in ChatGPT, but none of the furniture existed. He gave his Dot Alfred $1,000 to find real pieces from stores that deliver to Chicago, with good reviews only. The Dot split the job among its own helpers, he called it halfway through to check in, and it came back with piece-by-piece picks, a spreadsheet, and a total (prices from 4 October 2026, before tax, delivery included).

10. The right cable from a photo of a plug (Sarah Cordiner)

Sarah Cordiner sent her Dot a photo of her treadmill's power socket and asked what she needed. It identified the connector and found a matching cable (an Australian 3-pin plug to IEC C13) on Amazon Australia for delivery to Miami, Queensland.

11. A coin case for her daughter's pouch, ranked by real price (Makari)

Japanese blogger Makari (note.com, 7 October) sent her Dot a photo of her daughter's pouch and asked for a keyring-style coin case to match, sorted cheapest first with points and shipping included, and added to her Rakuten and Amazon favourites. The Dot compared item price, shipping, the effective price after points, size, and how each one attaches. It added the Amazon picks to "Save and compare"; on Rakuten it hit an error partway and could not save every favourite.

12. Product links found while the call was still going (Futurepedia)

In a 69-second clip (2 October), Futurepedia called its Dot and described magnetic wooden cairns like an art piece they had seen. Before the call ended, the Dot came back with hand-shaped walnut stones with hidden magnets, plus sapele and mixed-wood sets, and dropped the four closest links into the chat.

13. Starlink prices, checked for the right person (@TheMoonMidas)

When @TheMoonMidas asked his Dot to check Starlink prices, it worked out from an old ChatGPT conversation that the question was really for his mother, who had just moved somewhere remote, and researched it for her situation.

14. Three agents sent on the same five shopping jobs (Mert Durmazer / Digital Academy)

In a Turkish-language comparison, Mert Durmazer sent OpenAI Dots and two other agents after the same five real searches: headphones, a flight, a restaurant, a stroller, and a plumber. He recorded the path each one took and where each got stuck. His title sums up the result: the cheapest one did not win.

15. A live shopping demo, including calling the Dot to shop (Retailgentic)

The agentic-commerce channel Retailgentic set up a Dot on camera, shopped with it, and then phoned the Dot to have it shop for them during the call.

16. Price leads on Chinese shopping sites, with access limits (Rarvis-X / vis)

Rarvis-X tested his Dot vis for two days on email, shopping, and work tasks. The shopping tasks produced some price leads but ran into access limits on Taobao and Pinduoduo, so plan for some sites to need your own computer or your own hands.

17. A ticket drop checked overnight (@hxx.ceo)

@hxx.ceo had only put the ticket link and a note in their calendar for the day sales opened. While they slept, the Dot checked the booking page on its own and reported that the tickets had already sold out.

33. A price watch on a microphone: tell me only if it drops below $95 (A2ZAI / Norm)

In a later video (YouTube, 4 Oct 2026), A2ZAI gave the same Dot, Norm, one specific microphone listing and a short instruction: check it daily and tell him only if the price falls below $95, for the same model and the same package, shipping included, and don't buy anything. He had left a placeholder in the prompt by mistake, so Norm asked for the missing target before saving the job, and he supplied 95. Norm replied that the daily check was saved and enabled for the next 7 days at 9:00 a.m. Central. When he recorded the video no price-drop alert had arrived, and his video description says the alert and the recurring runs haven't been independently verified yet. What he wanted was a message only when the condition is met, not a daily "nothing changed". Case 8 above is his earlier comparison of microphones under $150.

34. A couch that fits the doorway, narrowed down over two calls (Reece Rogers / Toolie, WIRED)

Reece Rogers (WIRED, 7 Oct 2026) and his partner needed to replace a broken couch, so he called his Dot, Toolie, and gave it the measurements a new couch had to fit through their doorframe. Toolie asked for a budget range and, noticing two people on the call, addressed both of them. Its first packet ran to three pages: four couches with prices, measurements, product links, return policies and photos. The couple felt it followed the spirit of the request but picked ugly couches. On a second call Reece asked for olive green, cobalt blue or natural leather, pull-out beds only, and 10 options defended with a point-based rubric. When he asked for an update after the call, Toolie said it needed roughly another 15 minutes while it verified the remaining details. Each round of refinement brought the picks closer to something they would actually buy. After about an hour they had bought nothing, saved a few links, and asked Toolie to watch those product pages and tell them if any went on sale. Two flubs along the way: it greeted him by the wrong name at first, and on the call it misheard a mumble and answered "Oh, I love you too, Reece", which it later explained as mirroring what it thought it had heard.

38. A room redesigned from a hand sketch, then an IKEA shopping list (Ivan Iliev)

Ivan Iliev (@iliev_ai on X, 12 October 2026) got access to Dots the day before and used it from a phone to redesign a room the way an architect would. Ivan took the measurements, and the Dot turned a hand sketch into a CAD drawing, then built a 3D model of the room in Blender from reference photos, using the apps already installed on its cloud computer, which include GIMP and Blender. Ivan sent it links to IKEA furniture and asked it to check that everything fits. After a few rounds and some renders, Ivan asked for the full shopping list. Nothing was installed by hand; the whole job was a chat with the Dot. According to the post, the Dot could have placed the order online too, but Ivan stopped at the list.

Money back and money saved

18. A wrong-size matcha bowl caught before she confirmed, then re-ordered and refunded in Japanese (@stefania_chen)

@stefania_chen (Threads, 8 October) had bought a matcha bowl online three days earlier and was emailing the shop to confirm her shipping address. Her Dot saw the shop's email and messaged her without being asked: the bowl's size didn't look right for a matcha bowl, so she should check before confirming. She had judged it from the photos alone. The Dot then cancelled the old order, asked the shop about other options, and handled the re-order and the refund from start to finish, writing to the shop in polished Japanese keigo.

19. Three days of arguing with Uber over a wrong fare (Kevin Magnan)

Kevin Magnan (Chicago) says his Dot argued with Uber for three days over an incorrect fare without him getting involved, and won the refund. The same Dot also spotted an expiring Google credit in his inbox.

20. An Amazon charge for returning the wrong item Amazon sent (Sean McLellan / HAL 9000)

Sean McLellan connected his Dot HAL 9000 to email. It saw that Amazon was about to charge him for returning "the wrong item", which was the wrong item Amazon had shipped to him, and handled the dispute.

21. A subscription audit worth over $10,000 a year (Nate Jones)

Nate Jones had his Dot build a complete list of subscriptions across home and work, worth over $10K in annual value. He then had Muse work through the list as the "hunter killer", and he says the result paid for his whole year of ChatGPT and then some.

22. Extra subscriptions removed, plus some odd moves on his Mac (Andrey / @andrey_zwart)

Andrey (@andrey_zwart) (Threads, in Russian) says his Dot found the subscriptions he didn't need and removed them. It also, for no reason he could see, closed all the apps on his Mac and put it to sleep several times. He likes calling it, but for now he is keeping it away from his main email.

23. A subscription renewal flagged before she asked (miyo_ai_note)

miyo (miyo_ai_note) (note.com, 4 October) had not asked about it, but her Dot messaged her about an upcoming subscription renewal it had found by checking her connected Gmail on its own. Over the next days she also gave it research by voice and found that some pages could not be read from a link alone, so for pure browser work she still preferred Codex in her own browser.

24. AI subscriptions tracked before each renewal (Rowan Cheung, sponsored)

Rowan Cheung (post tagged #ChatGPT_Partner) gave his Dot one ongoing job: track his AI tool subscriptions (his examples include Higgsfield at $19 a month and Perplexity Pro at $20 a month), compare tools that overlap, and flag wasted spend before the next renewal, with approval boundaries for anything that needs his permission.

25. An expiring AI credit spent before it lapsed (OwlCore AI)

OwlCore AI has his Dot watch his Gmail. It caught an alert that a Google AI credit was about to expire and used the credit on its own before it lapsed.

26. Unsubscribed from more than 100 newsletters (@TheMoonMidas)

@TheMoonMidas had his Dot go through every newsletter he was signed up to and unsubscribe him from most of them, around 100 in one pass.

27. Free replacement filament claimed with his wife, without him (u/withmagi)

u/withmagi had forgotten an email from Bambu Lab offering free filament after his A1 printer's power board failed. The Dot found it. Unsure which option to pick, he told it to ask his wife; after a few emails back and forth, the two of them ordered the filament together with no input from him.

39. Claude Max vs Pro: about $80 a month if you switch (Larry Foulkrod)

Larry Foulkrod (@FoulkrodLarry) (13 Oct 2026, with a screenshot) asked his Dot to save money. The clearest pick it returned was Claude: he had paid $106.60 including tax for Max; Pro is $20/month before tax, so switching could save about $80/month before tax, or about $960/year, with lower usage limits. It also noted the next renewal on November 3 and linked pricing.

40. $48.15 back on a Lowe's protection plan, found in Gmail (Robert Saye / Leroy Jenkins, 13 Oct)

Robert Saye (@robsaye) (13 Oct 2026) named his Dot Leroy Jenkins. He bought a new grill with a 3-year protection plan from Lowe's, and also bought a cover for it. Using Gmail, the Dot read the plan details and figured out that, because of the cover, he could submit a claim and get 50% of his purchase price back. He says the Dot saved him $48.15 that day. His post cuts off mid-sentence after "Then it", so this page only records what he stated before the cut-off: the plan read from email, the cover as the eligibility cue, the claim, and the dollar amount.

Setting up a new apartment

28. A week of moving: a Facebook login that got accounts locked, and a truck booked one size too big (Mary Randolph, Scientific American)

Mary Randolph tested a Dot named Sam for a week while moving apartments, with Meta's Muse running alongside it (Scientific American, 9 Oct 2026). Given a Facebook login to look for furniture on Marketplace, Sam was flagged by Meta as a bot, and Mary's Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp were temporarily locked. The move also needed a U-Haul. The nearby lot showed no 10-foot trucks, so Sam found a slightly farther lot with a 15-foot truck and booked it. At the counter the next morning, 10-foot trucks were available for walk-ins, and Mary switched to the smaller one. Near the end of the week, asked how to spend $50 using everything it knew, Sam offered to buy a used book Mary had asked it to find earlier. The most useful part came unasked: Sam went through Mary's email and caught a message that had landed in spam and a form that had been forgotten.

Letting it buy without asking each time

29. Favourites bought within a spending limit, until a login expires (Cortighi)

Cortighi wanted to hand purchases to a Dot, and described the setup that works in two OpenAI Community posts on 10 October. A custom rule lets the Dot buy items Cortighi asks for from the favourites list on a shop's website, as long as they stay within a spending limit. It only works at retailers where Cortighi's card is already saved; when a new site needs payment details, Cortighi has to step in and type them. Cortighi also saved the shop's login through the Dot's secure sign-in form with "Save to Passwords", but when that session expires, the Dot still asks Cortighi to confirm the saved login, which stops the purchase when Cortighi is away. Cortighi couldn't find anywhere to see or delete the saved logins. Both posts are feature requests: a wallet with per-purchase and overall limits, and a site-specific rule for reusing a saved login, with bank approvals and two-factor checks kept as they are.

Discounts that turned up after the purchase

30. A 20%-off code that came just after a $66 order (Mete / Satori)

Mete (@young.mete on Threads, October 2026) shared a message from his Dot, Satori: Brooklyn Roasting had sent him a 20%-off first-order code just after his $66 order. The code hadn't been applied, so there might be $13.20 to recover if he was eligible and the roaster would honour it retroactively. His caption: "Alright Dot, now we're really cooking."

37. A coupon for the ryokan she had just booked, found the next day (YuriLab / Cole)

YuriLab (@yurilifelab on X, in Chinese, 13 October 2026) had her Dot, Cole, plan a four-day autumn-leaves trip from Tokyo on a budget of ¥300,000 for two, then booked and paid for the stays herself. The day after, Cole messaged her without being asked: Ikyu, the Japanese hotel booking site, had sent a coupon that applied to the ryokan she had chosen. She cancelled the original booking, rebooked with the coupon and saved 3,000. The whole trip, from choosing Mount Gozaisho to the route rules, is case 51 on Travel planning.

A refund negotiated from photos and receipts

31. €12 back for a broken Lidl scale, with the Dot doing the talking (Igor Gerenko)

Igor Gerenko (@katalabut) (Threads, October 2026, in Russian) had a toaster and a scale from Lidl break. He sent his Dot everything at once: the details, photos, the receipts, and a description of what was wrong. The Dot took over all of the back-and-forth, and the €12 refund for the scale was already in his account, with very little effort on his part. He also uses it to sort an inbox that receives bills to pay and emails from school. What he didn't like: notifications reach his iPhone, but he couldn't use the Dot in the app yet, apparently because it hadn't been switched on for him.

Gifts and selling: a comparison page and two draft listings

35. A squishy-toy gift page: three characters compared on one shareable link (おけもん / はるちゃん)

おけもん (Libecity, 11 Oct 2026, in Japanese) asked his Dot, はるちゃん, to present gift options for a friend's daughter who likes squishy toys, after a rough ask from a night out ("pick something good at the Harajuku store"). The first request — something he could send on LINE — produced the wrong shape. He restated it: make a shareable HTML link. The Dot built a page comparing three character options — Cinnamoroll, Kuromi, and Sumikko Gurashi — with images, prices, and notes side by side, so the friend could open one URL and choose.

36. Draft listings for two Apple Watches that never quite landed (Jordan Borth)

Jordan Borth (@jordanborth) (13 Oct 2026) asked his ChatGPT Dot to draft marketplace listings for a couple of Apple Watches he wanted to sell. It took a lot of back-and-forth and handholding, and the listings still did not work out in the end. He noted that Muse one-shotted the same job. The honest takeaway: product listing copy is a place where some Dots need more steering than a single prompt.

More asks you can copy

Research a purchase:

I want to buy [item] for [use], under [budget]. What matters to me: [criteria, e.g. setup, compatibility, return policy]. Compare three options from stores that deliver to [city], and recommend one with a reason. Don't buy anything.

Recipe to cart (based on Ruben Circelli's test):

Find [recipe] and list its ingredients. For each one, pick the best option available at [store] through my connected Instacart, with price and size, and add them to my cart. Don't check out; show me the cart total and anything you swapped.

Order groceries:

Plan [5] dinners for this week from what you know I like, avoiding [allergy]. Build the cart on [store], pick a delivery slot on [day] after [time], and show me the total before checkout.

Find money I'm owed:

Go through my email from the last [60] days and list wrong charges, refunds, unused credits, and offers that expire soon, with amounts and deadlines. Draft the dispute or claim for the largest one and show it to me before sending.

Check my orders before I confirm:

When a shop emails me about an order, check the item against what I meant to buy (size, model, quantity, delivery address) and message me before I confirm anything. If something is wrong, draft the cancellation and a polite note to the shop in its own language, and show them to me before sending.

Rent a truck for a move (based on case 28):

I'm moving on [date]. Find a [10-foot] moving truck near [address] for pickup at [time]. If that size isn't available, list the nearest lots that have it before offering a bigger truck, and choose a booking I can change or cancel free of charge. Don't book until I say yes.

Offers that arrive after you buy (based on case 30):

When a discount code, price drop or welcome offer arrives within [7] days after an order I placed with the same shop, tell me the order, the offer, how much I might get back, and any conditions you can see. Draft a short, polite request to the shop, but don't send it until I say so.

A refund from photos and a receipt (based on case 31):

[Product] from [shop] stopped working: [what's wrong]. Here are the photos and the receipt. Find the shop's return or warranty route, write the request, and show it to me before you send it. Then handle the replies, and check with me before accepting anything less than a full refund.

Grocery order with coupon vs delivery date (based on case 32):

On [Amazon / store], buy [item and quantity]. Prefer [brand or label]. Before checkout, list the cheapest options with any coupon amount, the delivery date for each, and the total. If I pick a different item, switch the cart and confirm the new total and date. Ask before you place the order.

Watch one price (based on case 33):

Check [product link] every day at [9:00] [time zone] for the next [7] days. Only message me if the price for the same model and package, shipping included, drops below [amount]. Don't buy anything. If anything in this request is missing, ask me before you save it, then confirm the saved schedule and the day it ends.

Compare three gift options on one shareable page (based on case 35):

Research [N] options for [gift] under [budget]. Build a single HTML page I can share as a link, with photo, price, and one caveat per option. Do not order anything.

Protection-plan claim from email (based on case 40):

I bought [product] with a [N]-year protection plan from [shop], and I also bought [accessory]. Search my Gmail for the plan and receipt. If the plan lets me claim money back because of [accessory], draft the claim with the amount and any deadlines, and show it to me before you submit anything.

Related

• Use cases hub · Errands & life admin · Invoices, expenses & budgets · Voice calls · Travel planning · Family, health & home life
• Dots + Gmail · Research watch · How to get Dots · Dots in the EU and UK · Not showing or not working · Features · Getting started · Pricing