Smart Premier 1-year free with Arlo Ultra DOES NOT WORK

[norm911]

I just spent $1000 on the 4-camera Arlo Ultra kit to replace an older Arlo system with no smart subscription. The one year Arlo Smart subscription did not activate when I added the new base station so I contacted support with ticket #40803998. After removing/re-adding the base station and all cameras they were still not able to figure it out. Their recommendation was to return the whole system and buy a new one? Doesn't seem to make any sense when everything is working well other than the lack of the free Smart subscription. I uploaded my receipt via chat to the support agent and asked that they activate my subscription manually, but they were not able to help me. The support agent ended the case by saying "I'll have to call you back on this" and I've never heard back. I can't help but feel cheated and misled after spending $1000 on this system! Really awful customer service experience.

[JessicaP]

Hi @norm911,

I have sent you a private message to gather more information from you. Hope to hear from you.

[lasermonkey]

I am also not seeing my 1 year free subscription to "Arlo Smart Premier". How can i log a job and get this sorted out?

The support chat doesn't work (using chrome), and the support number in New Zealand also does not work as i can't log a ticket, and without one i get stuck in a loop.

Please help Arlo.

[JessicaP]

Hi @lasermonkey,

Make sure to have the latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox and/or on incognito mode to see if the live chat works: Arlo Support.

If that doesn't work, please let me know.

[lasermonkey]

Hi Jessica, I've been able to chat to a support rep on chat after updating my browser.

However, it was a less than stellar response:

"As I've double checked, since the Arlo Ultra system was purchased via Amazon US and installed on New Zealand, I apologize but you cannot take advantage of the 1 year subscription plan. The free plan is only covered on which country the system was purchased. For example; if the Kit was purchased on the US you can take advantage of the plan if the system is installed within US, If you purchased the system in Australia, you can take advantage of the free subscription if the system is installed in Australia"

This seems a bit silly, surely i can just get it added to my account?

OR is a workaround to create a new account located in the US and re register the device there?

Any advice?

[JessicaP]

I'll send you a private message to gather more information from you regarding your subscription.

[HazzMatt]

I bought my 4 camera Ultra system from Best buy.com and it did not give me the 1 year free Arlo premier plan either. A request was filed for me after I engaged Arlo via chat. I'm hoping this gets worked out soon because I cannot record to the library until I have a plan in place.

[fps945]

Just installed my Arlo Ultra 2 Camera Package and the 1-yr free Arlo Ultra is not activated. Can you please provide info of how to resolve this issue

[HazzMatt]

I suggest contacting Arlo suppport via their web page, and use the Chat Feature.  They will ask you for information and hopefully they will assist you.  One way the might support you is to ask you to purchase a 1 year plan for about $99 and they might refund you.  I wish you success.

[fps945]

Chat is not available! 

[HazzMatt]

Try chat in 2-3 hours. The chat team I've dealt with operate out of the Philippines, so there is a time difference. They actually are a pleasure to work with. Good Luck 2 U

[fps945]

This is the repond from tech Support Chat.

------

End Chat

Noreen S

Thank you for choosing Arlo.

My name is Noreen. How may I assist you today?

4:19:15 PM

Me

Hello Noreen, I just installed my New Arlo Ultra kit with 2 cameras.

4:19:45 PM

Noreen S

Before we start, may I have the email address associated to your Arlo account?

4:19:57 PM

Me

I dont see the 1-yr free subscription activated

4:20:05 PM

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4:20:21 PM

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4:20:30 PM

Noreen S

Thank you. May I know where did you purchase the Arlo system?

4:21:15 PM

Me

Amazon

4:21:25 PM

Noreen S

May I know which country you have installed them?

4:21:54 PM

Me

Puerto Rico

4:22:08 PM

Noreen S

You purchased the camera in Amazon US, right?

4:22:31 PM

Me

Yes, PR is USA Territory!

4:22:48 PM

Noreen S

Thank you.

4:23:11 PM

I would like to inform that currently there no service plan that is offered in Puerto Rico.

4:24:00 PM

Me

Another Question, according to the Arlo Web site, this package suppose to come with 2 Security Mount and 1 magnetic. It only came with one of each.

4:24:15 PM

Noreen S

Once you purchased the Arlo Device in Amazon US, the service plan is valid only within North America.

4:24:46 PM

Me

That must be show in the site! Do you have a link that show me that....

4:24:53 PM

So is a service what is the issue...

4:25:53 PM

Noreen S

This is the link where the service plan is offered : https://kb.arlo.com/88/What-are-the-available-Arlo-subscription-plans-and-how-much-cloud-recording-i...

4:25:55 PM

Me

PR must be inside the USA...

4:26:32 PM

So if someone from Hawaii buy this system, he is out of luck, no service available

4:30:18 PM

Noreen S

I apologize. I know that there is no service plan that is offered in Puerto Rico.

4:32:10 PM

Since there no service plan available the free 1 year plan could not be claimed.

4:33:13 PM

The base will scan the IP address and will determine the country where it is installed.

4:33:43 PM

Me

You guys must make this clear... really disappointed. Specially when PR is part of the USA

4:33:49 PM

Noreen S

I apologize for the inconvenience.

4:35:04 PM

Me

False Advertising! Must be clear on the site! Thanks

-----------

NetGear must be clear...PR is part of the USA and must be able to get the service. They need History clase. Not only she told me only North America, what about Hawaii.... They must be clear about this....

[eduardo90mx]

Same problem not being able to activate my arlo smart premier subscription

[michaelkenward]

Here's one wrinkle on this saga:

Solved: Re: Arlo Ultra - Smart Plan - Arlo Communities

"The free 1 year plan is only claimable in the country in which the system was purchased."

[fps945]

That sound good, but in my case, Amazon sell perfectly to Puerto Rico because is a part of the US. If this must be estipulated before the sale....

[abcd4ever]

I wish I would have seen this thread before wasting $1000 on the 4 camera pack from Best Buy. Customer service said they would call us back, never did. Online chat not available. Great cameras but lies about subscription and zero customer service isn't sitting right with me. Right now I have $1000 live-viewing cameras only.

[HazzMatt]

I feel your frustrations. If you bought and are using the system within the continental US, ARLO may offer you what they did for me - to have you purchase the plan but then refund you. Chat is typically not available for me until later in the afternoon west coast time. I wish you success.

[norm911]

Yeah, I feel your pain. I also bought the $1000 kit from BeatBuy in the US and then had to spend hours with support to get the SmartPremier working. Those are hours of my life I will never get back. In the end they just made me pay for it and promised to reimburse me after 30 days. I think the cameras and technology are great, but support could be a lot better. Like you, I wish I had known beforehand.

[lasermonkey]

An update to this, I managed to get another job logged via Community Support, JessicaP was very helpful getting this done.

I was then called by an Arlo support rep who initially tried to close my call, based on:

1) The units (3 cam system and base station) were purchased in Amazon US region

2) I live in NZ

Therefore, i was not entitled to the "1 year free" subscription.

I declined the request to close the job, and wanted to see where in writing that this contractual issue existed in the product documentation. 

I then requested the job get escalated.

I was called back later by the same support rep to advise that he had got a request in to the product team and they were working on it. That was approx 2 weeks ago.

I have (just today) pinged the support rep again for a follow up.

I will keep this thread updated with any progress.

Hope this helps someone - i would advise against purchasing a product from another country as they want to region lock customers into zones (for whatever reason, suspect price gouging in my country of NZ and other markets).

[lasermonkey]

Final update from me, I've had a response through from the service desk, who provided me a coupon for the 1 year smart subscription.

I applied this, and boom, it now works.

I hope this information helps someone. Remembering that my details were:

1) Purchased a system from the US (amazon) that came with a 1 year subscription "free"

2) Live in New Zealand

3) New Zealand is a supported country for the Arlo service

4) US coupon did not work in NZ

[norm911]

Well, you guys aren't going to BELIEVE this. After spending hours and hours on this problem, it was resolved by the support agent making me purchase a one year subscription for $99, and promising to refund my money after 30 days. So I did that. Guess what happened after 30 days? My Smart Premier subscription stopped working and they DID NOT refund my money. I have never been so angry and so frustrated at a company in my entire life. I have 10 cameras, and recently spent over $1000 on the new Ultra's. I feel robbed, and I'm going to do something about it. I refuse to call support anymore - I don't have time to waste on the phone or chat when the results are so poor. It's a complete waste of time. I'm going to give them 24-hrs to resolve this (I hope someone from Arlo is reading this) before I report this to the BBB, and write bad reviews on Amazon and BestBuy to warn other buyers. No one should have to go through this, and no one should have to waste their money on a product that comes with such horrible customer support and makes false claims about the free Smart Premier service. 

To top it all off, I decided that maying $99 to make this go away would be easier than reporting them and writing bad reviews, so I just tried to re-buy the Smart Premier service again. Of course, it failed with the message in the screen shot below. HAHA. This is unbelievable.

Dear Arlo support folks - you have 24 hours. This has been far too much effort to get my service going. I will not spend any more hours with support on this. 

[BrunoRibeiro]

I am facing the same issue. I bought the 4 cams kit at Best Buy in California, US and I live in Brazil. I am already very disappointed that this did not come with the 7days rolling, but hopefully it seems Arlo will add it back in the 2nd half of 2019... but I want to use and apply my 1-year free Premium Acess. How can I do it?

[michaelkenward]

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@BrunoRibeiro wrote:
I am facing the same issue. I bought the 4 cams kit at Best Buy in California, US and I live in Brazil

---

For reasons known only to Arlo, "free" subscriptions are pegged to where you bought the hardware.

Solved: Re: Arlo Ultra - Smart Plan - Arlo Communities

The free 1 year plan is only claimable in the country in which the system was purchased.

Bummer.

[lasermonkey]

The best way is to open a case, and if not addressed, get them to escalate and keep asking for escalation.

[jguerdat]

You always get the free 7 day rolling  plam regardless of where you install. Subsciptions depend on where you first installed the system as well as th ecountry of credit card.