Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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DavidCruiseSF
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I am having trouble with several of my solar panels installed on Pro2 cameras. They all worked fine for the past 3 months, then we had our first rains and now 3 of them are having trouble. 

 

I called support and spent 1 hour on the phone explaining to the call center lady (Aiz - ID# 0017287900) what was goign on, and all of the troubleshooting I have done, including using a spare panel to verify that the problem was not the cameras themselves. She was processing a replacement panel and then said she had to wait for a supervisor to approve the replacement. I asked how long that would take and she could not provide an answer, but that it would be tomorrow when she comes back on shift. I explained that was not acceptable and that I needed someone to work on this today. She put me on hold, came back 15 minutes later and started troubleshooting questions with me again. After answering all the questions, I asked to speak to her next level of support who was providing her these additional questions to ask me (it was obvious she was going between me and someone else) she then put me on hold again, and I waited for 15 more minutes and then she finally disconnected the call. 

 

This is THE WORST product support I have ever experienced. 

 

Now I called back, and they are processing a replacement, but they wont ship me a replacement until I return the defective panel AND they want me to pay to ship it back to them and wont send me a label. Why would I pay to ship you a defective product?? Especially when I can just return it to the place I bought it from. There is a very serious breakdown here, it hurts the customer, it hurts the retailer (since they are going to deal with my return now) and at the end of the day customers will not be loyal to this product.

 

I am glad I bought these from Costco, back to the return department they will go... Arlo/Netgear - YOU GUYS SUCK!

 

 

 

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JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

DavidCruiseSF,

 

I apologize for the poor support experience. I've reviewed your support case and it seems the agent you were working with was able to resolve the issue. Please let me know if any further assistance is needed.

 

JamesC

DavidCruiseSF
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Actually, nothing is resolved at this point. Look, I had a very difficult time with this representative, and now I also need to contact that same group again because I have several more panels all acting the same way. Do I have another option? Also, this replacment arrived and it DID NOT come with a shipping label to return the defective panel, so what do I do about that??

 

Here is another set of issues that are as a result of recieving the replacement panel today. I opened the box that just arrived and the panel that came is the same model as the ones I purchased from Costco (I purchased 6 and now 5 of them have issues) BUT with several changes that seem to indicate my panels are truly defective and you guys already knew it because you have updated some minor things. First, this solar panel arrived with several new attachment brackets that seem to indicate that the cabling connection to my cameras and lights is insufficent. My brand new panels from Costco did NOT come with any of these fancy attachments, so is that why all of my panels are acting up now? Next, the cable that comes from the panel has two big changes, the first is a much better seal to the connecting device, and the other is a big warning that says not to disconnect the cable from the panel "or damage may occur". WHAT??? None of my panels had this warning, and this cable is not permanently attached, it has little clips and the instruction manuel even says to push the cable in until you hear the click, but now we are not allowed to remove this cable? So, the design is inferior, and I have a bunch of defective products now. How should I go about resolving this? Do I need to call the same center and deal with those incompetent representives again for each panel? Do I have to argue with them that I should not have to pay to ship these defective things back?

 

I would really like to know how to move forward, bottom line is, I am seriously thinking about pulling out this entire system and getting a refund from Costco.

 

 

 

 

 

JessicaP
Arlo Employee Retired

Hi @DavidCruiseSF,

 

I have sent you a PM over so I can gather some information from you to take a look at your case.

jaw5279
Tutor
Tutor

I also had issues with my solar panels after heavy, blowing rains.  What I found out was that a small amount of water was leaking into the camera port where the cable connects to the camera.  I took the camera and cable down and let them dry out (several days inside).  Then when I remounted them I got butyl tape (available on amazon) and sealed around the port to insure a totally waterproof connection.  I haven't had any issues since.  This is after going thru the solar panel replacement process and having the second panel have the same failure.  I think the real problem is more a design flaw than a parts failure since I have had it happen with three different solar panels/cables and two cameras.  

DavidCruiseSF
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Jessica/Support

 

I have been awaiting a callback for over 5 days now. I have sent 3 e-mails to follow up and no one has gotten back to me since I missed the 1 phone call you guys made to contact me.

 

 

DavidCruiseSF
Star
Star
Still awaiting a callback on a return shipping label, and having the rest of the RMA’s finished. No response since last week.
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