Arlo Smart Notification Issues

[Pdcm]

I am subscribed to Alro Smart Premier and have set alerts to notify me only when a person is detected. . It had been working well for a few months but for the last few days I've been recieving alert notifcations due to all motion detected. Now my phone is being filled with alerts that I had filtered off. Arlo smart notications are not working properly.

[MikeyW]

Same issues with me. I have the Basic plan and it works(or should I say doesn’t work) the same way. It’s funny that the system works just fine to take your money but doesn’t work to actually setup and use the Smart System.
I was trying to see if I could get it to work using my Galaxy Tablet but I can’t even find the Smart settings for People, Vehicles, etc.
I definitely will not be promoting or recommending these Cameras to anyone.

[elwoodj]

I was on Smart Premier during its trial period and downgraded to Basic + Smart add-on because the trial period was about the end and I don't have enough cameras to justify Premier. With that switch, all the problems with getting Motion notifications went away. Now I am correctly getting only Person, Animal and Package notifications.

Now that I sent this message, I will probably start getting Motion alerts again, because life. I will post if that happens.

[billcawley]

I'm having a similar issue.  I have 2 base stations and 6 cameras (3 each).  I have one camera facing a street and I only want people and animals to be active.  Before the update I had two switches, 'People and 'Other', now I have 3 switches, People, Vehicles and Animals.  I'm able to turn off vehicles but with the 'Other' switch gone I still get lots of motion notices that aren't clasified.  I don't want them.  Any ideas on how to get the 'Other' slide switch back?  I'm up to date on software/firmware, using IOS app and Mac with Firefox.  Rebooting, turning off cameras, moving in/out of 'Smart' hasn't helped.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Bill

[DaGooseMon]

My issue is resolved.  I got a call back on my case after commenting on a Facebook post about Arlo Cameras.  I PM'd my case number to their Facebook page, they escalated my case to their level two support and they called me this evening.  I had to unsubscribe from Arlo Smart, got credited for the remaining days on the monthly charge.  Then re-subscribed to the Arlo Smart service.  My activity zones are back, right where they were before and I now have the ability to manage my Arlo Smart including the new alerts for Vehicles, Animals as well as People.  

So if you're having the issues I've described earlier in this thread, unsubscribe from Arlo Smart and re-subscribe.  You should then be good to go.  

[Airigh2007]

I do not subscribe to the Arlo Smart add-on or notifications.  Since the last update, I'm receiving notifications for Person, Animal, and Vehicle Detection.  I tried Smart a few months ago and didn't like the delay in the notification once motion was detected so I went back to Basic. 

When I sign in through a browser, I can see "Smart" under the individual cameras' settings but I can't click it.  I do not see an item for Smart when I use the mobile app.

[TurnItDown]

Hi Bill, I had the exact same issue and was able to fix it with the help of Arlo Support. It seems that at some point the name of the 'Premier' plan changed to 'Arlo Smart Premier'. By downgrading to the basic plan and then resubscribing to the 'Arlo Smart Premier' plan, I was finally able to get the 'All Other Motion' toggle. Due to the amount of posts where unsubscribing/re-subscribing fixed issues, it appears that the change to the name of the plan did not go quite smoothly for all.

[tk53]

I just wanted to chime in that the unsubscribe/resubscribe dance did not fix my the activity zone issue. Unforunately, it's not a silver bullet.

[billcawley]

Thanks Turnitdownn!  That worked! 🙂

[boltentwins]

I would try the unsubscribe and re-subscribe but I have a few concerns with that approach.  I paid for the entire year $99.  Will the $99 be credited right away if I do it through the Website? I don’t want to pay another 99 (out 198) until a credit is applied.  Also, I have 10 cameras, what will happen to my Cameras (over the 5 limit) in the basic plan do?  I really don’t want to sync them again.  My thought is a random 5 will be sent to inactive?  I’ve been waiting for them to fix it, but it seems like its been a long time making me think Netgear doesn’t have a solution.

[billcawley]

@boltentwins I have 6 cameras on 2 base stations (so 1 over the free limit) and I am on the 9.99/mo plan.  I too was concerned about 'losing' a camera, but it worked very seemless, when I downgraded my account it imediately notified me it was refunding the ~$6 left on my term and then without waiting I clicked to re-upgrade.  I paid the $9.99 and everything worked as it should.  I didn't have to re-connect any cameras.  So my guess is you will receive a refund of what's left on your term (less than the $99 you paid) and then have to resubscribe for a new year at the full $99.

I did just check my citibank cc app and I don't have the refund showing yet (I did the switch yesterday morning).  Guessing that could take a couple days.

Hope that helps!

[purplepalace]

what ended up working for me was removing each camera from the app then going through the syncing process.

[boltentwins]

I fixed my account, I now have access to the Smart premier options again.  I had to renew my yearly subscription.  Instead of unsubscribing and signing up again, I just renewed it. I signed up in November and when I renewed I had to pay 1 month so now my subscription ends in 12/2019.  I really didn't want to worry about a credit being applied to my cc if I downgraded to the basic and back to premier.  I logged into the Web account, selected Settings/Subscription/Payment terms and followed the prompts by selecting continue on every screen.  All my 10 cameras are now in the active section for Smart Notification.  Getting re-enrolled in the plan works.   

[asafayan]

The level of product defects and the absolutely horrendous support has convinced this long time Arlo fan to give up. The engineering team has dropped the ball on this product.

Now the only question for me is - what alternatives have people investigated?

[LawnMM]

Let me see if I understand this, the fix (really a work around) for this horribly managed 'smart' notification system is to downgrade to basic, receive a partial refund, then re-upgrade and pay full price for another year?

My question, people, is why the hell anybody would pay for another year of service as a way to fix a service the company broke? Screw that.

I'm sure they love this idea, they break it and we pay to stay on the hook another year for them to 'fix' it.

[tk53]

The "fix" also doesn't work for everyone. I've spent hours on the phone with customer service after attempting that fix and have made no progress. Maybe enough people unsubscribing from this would get some actual attention to the issue.

[Sandoq]

I quit the smart plan.  Did not help.  An hour delay between motion and alerts, then multiple at once.  

[Airigh2007]

For now, I’ve resolved my issue of receiving Smart notifications of vehicle, person and animal detection without being subscribed to the Smart add-on. I added the Smart service to my account and confirmed it charged me. Then I removed the service and confirmed the charge was removed.

Since then I’ve gotten the simple “motion detected” notifications and they come immediately after the motion occurs. Strange that it happened and I hope it doesn’t recur. I’ve recently added 3 more cameras I got from Costco’s Black Friday deal.

[WPS3]

I have so many issues, I don't know where to start and support was unable to help me when I chatted with them.

Before anyone asks, please note that I am on Android 8.0.0 (AT&T) on a Samsung Galaxy S9+

Also, please note that I cleared the cache of the app, cleared the data of the app, uninstalled the app, ran CCleaner, and rebooted my phone before reinstalling the "Smart" app. All issues persevered through the above-mentioned cleaning.

For starters, the app will not save (display) any created "activity" area(s). If I leave the app, the area(s) no longer appears in the app (NB It does appear when I log in to the website). 

Second, the app notifies me for activity within the area that is excluded, thus the filter for said area is not working.

Third, the app chimes in 4 (four!) times for each and every notification. So when I should hear a single "Beep", instead I hear:  beep beep beep beep, and this for every notification. 

I have addressed these issues with support but they couldn't help.

I have tried Arlo "Smart" app on an iPhone and the app is so far superior! It kills me. The app there shows a "LIVE" on the window when you watch live, the app there DOES remember the activity areas and the app there only chimes in once for each notification. For all intents and purposes, the iOs app works properly although the activity zones still don't work. EVERYTHING is detected.

Any ideas??

[AuntRi]

Same issue

[Formergr]

You are having better luck than I. I spoke to two levels of representative, and neither had read my online submitted information or looked at my screenshots, and just wanted me to recreate very basic scenarios that I already addressed with the other or online and should have been logged. YES I REBOOTED! 

I was told on the 27th of December that I'd get another call back once they looked into it further, but nothing so far (case #40631470). If I get nothing in the next month, I'll be initiating a chargeback on my credit card for my Arlo Smart subscription since I'm not getting any of the promised features. 

[Formergr]

Mine either sadly!

[boltentwins]

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@boltentwins wrote:

I fixed my account, I now have access to the Smart premier options again.  I had to renew my yearly subscription.  Instead of unsubscribing and signing up again, I just renewed it. I signed up in November and when I renewed I had to pay 1 month so now my subscription ends in 12/2019.  I really didn't want to worry about a credit being applied to my cc if I downgraded to the basic and back to premier.  I logged into the Web account, selected Settings/Subscription/Payment terms and followed the prompts by selecting continue on every screen.  All my 10 cameras are now in the active section for Smart Notification.  Getting re-enrolled in the plan works.   

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Well..... less than a month later I lost my Smart notification options, Activity zones and e911.  It looks like renewing my premier subscription (above message) only put a bandaide on the issue.  

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[gilbo2]

Following yesterday's updates, my Smart Notifications once again stopped working. To fix I had to renew my contract - AGAIN.

SURLY we should not be expected to renew contracts every time they do updates. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!? 

[billcawley]

@boltentwins - When I saw your post I went into the app and the website and the smart switches were gone from my view, although things were still working as expected, I couldn't make any changes to smart notices.  Today I updated to the new IOS app that they launched to include the new hardware they are releasing at CES.  It fixed it, now I see all the switches again.  Hopefully this app update solves a lot of the problems people are having!

[boltentwins]

I tried to renew my subscription (2nd time) and it didn’t work. 😞