topic Re: Atrocious customer service chat in Arlo Pro 4

why do i need a subscription? recordings not appearing

Arlouser051922 — Wed, 18 May 2022 20:45:08 GMT

Can someone tell me why i have to register on a forum to get answers for a product?

I have to get answers for:

Recordings
recordings not appearing
older cameras have recordings but new cameras do not
why do i need a subscription
on the box it does not say a subscription is needed

I can't even call your customer service number to get any answer. Using the chat is useless. I have had Arlo for years but never had issues until now.

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

StephenB — Wed, 18 May 2022 20:39:24 GMT

@Arlouser051922 wrote:

why do i need a subscription

on the box it does not say a subscription is needed

I suspect this is the real question.

Older cameras (for instance, the Arlo Pro and Pro 2) came with 7 days of free cloud storage. All the newer cameras (starting with the Ultra in 2018) require a subscription for cloud storage.

The box should have a statement about the subscription (though technically it isn't absolutely required). That statement might be hard to spot - where it is depends on exactly what camera you purchased. FWIW, I think it is more prominent on the newer models.

If you have a smarthub (VMB4540 or VMB5000), then your base supports direct access to local storage. Since you put VMB5000 in the model field, I will assume you have that model base.

Direct Access to local storage allows you to access recordings stored on the smarthub from the app. https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it-for-Arlo-video-recordings There are a number of limitations:

Recordings are only available in the app, not the browser
Recordings are only available using the primary account (not friend accounts)
There is no ability to save manual recordings or snapshots.
There are no thumbnails
Remote access requires router configuration that some find difficult. Also, it won't work with some ISPs - for example, Starlink and T-Mobile broadband

Also, the microSD card needs to be at least 16 GB.

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

Arlouser051922 — Wed, 18 May 2022 20:45:47 GMT

StephenB,

I see you only answered part of my questions and avoided others. Do you work for Arlo? Does anyone on here work for Arlo?

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

StephenB — Wed, 18 May 2022 20:57:37 GMT

@Arlouser051922 wrote:

Do you work for Arlo?

No. This is mostly a user-to-user forum.

@Arlouser051922 wrote:

Does anyone on here work for Arlo?

Yes - there are two mods ( @JamesC and @ShayneS ) BTW, anyone from Arlo will have an Arlo logo next to their usernames in their posts.

@Arlouser051922 wrote:

I see you only answered part of my questions and avoided others.

Recordings

recordings not appearing

older cameras have recordings but new cameras do not

why do i need a subscription

on the box it does not say a subscription is needed

I think my answer addressed all the topics. You either need a subscription for cloud storage (e.g., recordings) with newer cameras, or you need to use direct access to local storage.

If you have other questions on recording, you should ask them (and provide more clarity - just saying "recordings" isn't very useful).

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

Arlouser051922 — Wed, 18 May 2022 23:14:45 GMT

So since nobody on here works for arlo and i have to "BUY" a subscription in order to talk to anyone in arlo doesn't that see a bit crappy? I can't just call someone and talk to them about products, product support, and pricing? IF YOU DON"T WORK FOR ARLO why don't you stop commenting on this!

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

JamesC — Wed, 18 May 2022 23:19:32 GMT

This is a peer to peer community. Users help other users here as well as receive assistance from Arlo moderators.

What further clarity to the above question are you seeking? Could you provide more details?

JamesC

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

Arlouser051922 — Fri, 20 May 2022 21:39:25 GMT

First and foremost a customer should NEVER get on a forum to talk about support or pricing for a company's product. The should be able to get to a LIVE PERSON either over the chat or over the phone. I could not do either. The chat would NEVER connect me to a real live person.

Since i have an older plan why do i have some cameras that do cloud recording and some that don't?
Why doesn't Arlo offer cloud recording with newer camera's?
If cloud recoding is required why isn't listed in BIG BOLD lettering on the box? I had to actually go and look at the box and it was lettering so small i missed it.
What are the service plans?
cancellation of said service plans. how does that work?
Does this company offer any military/veteran discounts?
local recoding. What is the biggest memory card it will accept?
Will all camera go to local recoding?
I have several older cameras and will there still be cloud recordings or will they go to local?
can i access my local recordings not on my home network? for example, i am sitting at a restaurant and i see my alert go off, will i be able to see that local recoding with my phone, like i do with cloud recordings?

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

JamesC — Mon, 23 May 2022 22:05:04 GMT

Answers in green below:

Since i have an older plan why do i have some cameras that do cloud recording and some that don't? Legacy cameras came with 7 day cloud storage at no cost. Newer Arlo models require a subscription to save recordings to the cloud.
Why doesn't Arlo offer cloud recording with newer camera's? Newer cameras offer additional cloud capabilities such as Arlo Smart alerts, activity zones, e911, etc. You can find more information on this here: https://kb.arlo.com/000056583/What-is-Arlo-Secure-and-how-can-I-benefit-from-it
If cloud recoding is required why isn't listed in BIG BOLD lettering on the box? I had to actually go and look at the box and it was lettering so small i missed it. Subscription requirements are listed on the packaging, I will pass your feedback along to the product team on the locaiton and size and this label.
What are the service plans? See here: https://kb.arlo.com/88/What-are-the-available-Arlo-subscription-plans-and-how-much-cloud-recording-is-available
cancellation of said service plans. how does that work? Arlo subscription plans are paid on a monthly basis, you can cancel a plan at any time within your Arlo account by navigating to Settings > Subscription > Cancel Plan
Does this company offer any military/veteran discounts? Reduced rates are available during specific promotional periods and events. If your account is eligible for a promotional rate, you will receive a notice via email and/or within the app.
local recoding. What is the biggest memory card it will accept? Between 16gb and 2TB is the recommend size for storage devices: https://kb.arlo.com/1146857/How-do-I-set-up-local-storage-backups-on-a-USB-device-using-my-Arlo-Base-Station-or-SmartHub
Will all camera go to local recoding? If local storage is enabled, all recordings for cameras synced to the base station or SmartHub can be saved locally.
I have several older cameras and will there still be cloud recordings or will they go to local? Legacy cameras do not require a subscription for cloud recordings. If you have cameras that record to the cloud for 7 days, this has not changed.
can i access my local recordings not on my home network? for example, i am sitting at a restaurant and i see my alert go off, will i be able to see that local recoding with my phone, like i do with cloud recordings? Direct Access to local storage can be set up using the following: https://kb.arlo.com/000062337/What-is-Direct-Storage-Access-and-how-do-I-use-it-for-Arlo-video-recordings

Re: Atrocious customer service chat

Arlouser051922 — Thu, 26 May 2022 15:35:15 GMT

Thank you for the response. I will accept it as a solution. I will say lastly that a customer should NOT have to jump on a forum to get answers from someone in Arlo. I should NOT have to have a paid subscription to talk to an Arlo representative. This whole way of "helping" the customer is NOT helpful.