EU - Subscription Increase

[SJH13]

I am interested to hear thoughts on the recent notification to raise the subscription again. I am not sure this is justified and is an abuse of position taking advantage of peoples fears over their security. This is my position and I am seriously considering cancelling my subscription and replacing the camera system with a stand alone setup.

[MichaelT90]

Same here, we had the multi cam plan, I would wait sometimes 15 to 30 minutes to get notifications and longer to actually see the footage. 

Geofencing, activity zones, smart detection, and scheduling don't work, which used to be the only reason for having the plan.

Unfortunately I used to get 2 days of storage on the free plan, now, without a plan you get notifications of motion detected, but no snapshots, video, nothing. And it doesn't even show you the last thing detected on the devices page.

They've basically bricked my expensive devices and created e-waste. Disgusting behaviour in my opinion as they're contributing to the various environmental issues across the world with these practices, especially now I see they've done the same even if you have a hub!

[Wolfpretzel]

My Arlo Secure plan is due to renew in two days, with a significant price increase, despite still not delivering on the reliable service they promise. I initially had issues with the Pro 4’s and had them RMA’d to Pro 5S’ and then different problems ensued. I am on another thread about those issues but back to the new plans they’re offering. 

I currently have the Arlo Home Secure Multi-Camera plan and it will renew for $150/yr keeping everything (apparently) the same. If you try to change to the new plans on offer you either have to downgrade to “basic” ($130/yr) and lose almost all of the features (smart detection) that Arlo promoted to sell us their cameras in the first place or fork out even more again for the “plus” plan ($180/yr). It is pretty shameful conduct from this company and it seems a lot of Arlo customers see it this way. 

What else is disgusting is the sales tactics they are using to coerce you into paying for the most expensive plan which most people don’t want or need. I’ve uploaded screenshots from when I selected to change to the “basic” plan from my current plan for reference. 

It seems that Arlo are getting further and further out of touch with their customer base and think that they can continue to increase prices while removing features the company was founded on. This usually signals a failing company that will soon go bust. Time will tell. I wonder if they’ll take notice of all the customers leaving in droves. 

 

 

 

[StephenBruce]

Expecting the already ridiculous $149.99 annual renewal yesterday (for unlimited cams), the actual annual price increased to $215.88 per year! The website boasts the increase is to support enhanced technology... I wish Arlo would start pushing some of those tech advancements out to users because the current quality and reliability of the software/app is POOR!  I have $1000's invested in 15 cams that (despite strong WiFi connection and solar charging panels on each) continually have poor motion detection, tremendous delays when a cam does capture motion, unreliable scheduling for home/away settings, and cams that literally freeze when temps drop below 20 degrees. Very disappointed in the cam quality and the service response when contacting Arlo support. I did purchase Asurion warranty on each cam and have had to use it on 7 of the 15 cams (not to mention 3 cams returned to store because the cams simply stopped working). 😞          

[1arlo]

Yes I just saw this debit from my account 1999 a month. I’m canceling my subscription today. Screw these guys!

[fierce750]

How do you justify it?

Easy, Go to Costco and purchase the Eufy 340 PTZ cams for  $100.00 bucks right now with NO monthly Subscprtion fee,

Just Cancled my my Arlo Sub.

Farewell.

[MichaelT90]

Utter madness isn't it? 

The way I see it, you can either charge for a subscription and make the cost of the hardware nominal, or you charge for your hardware, and only charge a nominal fee for premium features, certainly not any basic functionality... Like you know, being able to arm the cameras and get meaningful alerts! 

I moved to reolink, £40 for the camera, data stored locally, and frankly the image quality (especially night vision) is 10x better! 

P.s. thanks Arlo, without a subscription our doorbell doesn't even work anymore!

[Edinburgh_lad1]

The problem, @MichaelT90 , is that the cost of the hardware is far from being nominal and the cost of subscription is far from being nominal. BoJo's reign (unfortunately) comes to mind: 'they want to have a cake and eat it'... It's arrogance to the n-th degree. 

[MichaelT90]

You are absolutely right! And it's disgraceful behaviour from a company I previously respected.

[MichaelT90]

Ooh, 1 more thing to add, it screams of BMWs, pay for heated seats in your car, then subscribe to use them! 

I'll never purchase a BMW or other brand that does the same thing, pure greed.

[Realrodey]

I have 6 cameras located at 2 locations and subscribed for 12.99 per month. I’m being told now I will have to have two separate subscriptions at 19.99 each. This is ridiculous jump and with no notice. 

[fierce750]

Return the favor.

Switch brands and cancel.

[MichaelT90]

With that almost 27.00 increase, you're basically looking at being able to afford 1 new reolink  camera with better features and local storage (SD card, sold separately) every 1.5 months... 

Now consider you're actually paying 40.00/month, thats actually the cost of one of those reolink rlc-520 cameras every month... Cancel your subscription, look around for a brand you're happy with, and it will basically pay for itself within the year. 

My advice to everyone is the same, work out what you'd save, and how soon you could pay for the system all over again by cancelling your subscription, and it's life expectancy and if it works out cheaper to switch within the equipments lifetime, don't hesitate... The average camera is expected to last around 2 years I would say.

[Realrodey]

Thank you and yes that makes perfect sense. My problem is finding these other brands that will be reliable and as user friendly. 

[MichaelT90]

Very welcome! 

Definitely check out reolink, but avoid their cloud storage service, as it's hosted in China, use the SD card storage or also purchase one of their NVRs

The camera I sent you is powered by PoE (power over Ethernet) you can get power adapters for them, or they also do variant models that are battery powered.

[AikaneKai]

Arlo is a case study on how you destroy a company from within.

• They remove critical functionality on which users rely and which were reasons for buying the product/service.
• They don't provide an acceptable level of support.
• They are unresponsive to clients needs.
• It takes years before anything is addressed, if it gets addressed at all.
• They do not communicate with their users or potential users.  (This forum is not known about or used by the vast majority of people who own or are considering Arlo products.)
• They coast on their previously good name earned when they were owned and run by Netgear, while slowly destroying their reputation.
• They raise prices, perhaps because they're now getting fewer customers due to the above items and industry competition which surpassed them in quality and support.