Afternoon all
Setup
I have a Phillips Hue hub and Amazon Echo Skill App connected to my HE C8.
Issue
In my kitchen dinner, I have 15 GU10 Hue bulbs and have created two routines, which are triggered by the voice command Cook and Eat. These routines turn on the same lights but change the brightness in the two areas.
Recently, the routine triggered by the command Cook fails to trigger, even with retrying 2-3 times. However, if I trigger the Eat routine, it will fire 100% of the time. After that successful routine trigger, the Alexa command Cook will fire correctly again 100% of the time. I'm using the same Alexa device to trigger the routines and the device is indicating that it has heard the trigger and understands the command.
As the lights being controlled are the same devices in both routines, I've ruled out a ZigBee communication issue. But for the life of me, I can't work out a possible cause for Cook to sometimes fail but will always be successful if Eat has triggered first. 
Can anyone give any clue
Welcome to the nuances of Alexa control. I have battled similar symptoms for years without a clear explanation.....and sometimes decreasing WAF.
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When you issue the command "Cook", if Alexa does not respond, the first thing you should do is ask "Alexa, what did you hear?" If she heard "Alexa, cook", then you need to check the routines. I suspect she heard something other than "cook" and thus did not trigger the routine.
I generally find that Alexa works better with slightly more complex command structures. For example, I use the command "Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights". But something like "Alexa, time to cook dinner" might work just as well, even if it is breakfast time.
Remember that the Alexa microphones are not only picking up the original signal but sound reflections from around the room. This can cause the message received by Alexa to be garbled. In my kitchen, I have two Alexa devices: an Echo Show 5 (which has relatively poor "ears") and an Echo Show 18 on the opposite wall. I can be sitting at the desk 20 inches in front of the Echo Show 5 when issuing a command and receive a response from the Echo Show 18 that is 12 feet behind me. Other times, the Show 5 will respond. If I whisper, the Echo Show 5 will respond, but the Echo Show 18 is too far away to hear me. Thus, try issuing the "Cook" command with various intensity levels.
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Thanks, I'll try that and update the thread the next time it happens.
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Alexa is the number one reason WAF drops in my house. When Alexa behaves, all is well. When she doesn't, life is hell.
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Ditto. So true in my household.
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Agreed. That is why I use as few Alexa routines as possible and try to have everything that works in Hubitat set up to do so. I then use Alexa voice commands to trigger Hubitat actions.
Thanks, no repeat of this issue since I implemented Time too... 
