End Of Life Policy

[simonjf]

I have just received an email about the End Of Life policy. If this is actually what is going to happen then I need to follow up with all my friends and family, social media connections to advocate against Arlo, and search for an alternative company and service, likely starting my own online storage service for them with appropriate security cameras.

Additionally, contacts at Arlo seem to be designed to prevent actual communication - which has the stink of a company that hates its customers.

[JamesC]

New, updated information is now available regarding the EoL policy that is very relevant to much of the discussion taking place here in this community thread. These changes will allow Arlo legacy users who currently have 7-day storage service to continue receiving that service, uninterrupted.

I encourage you all to visit https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/arlo-end-of-life-policy-021023.pdf and read up on these changes.

Thank you,

JamesC

[JamesC]

Hello Arlo Community,

With the recently announced Arlo end-of-life policy, we understand many of you are seeking more clarity and a path forward after your device becomes end-of-life. In the coming days we will be reaching out to impacted users via email with special offers. Keep an eye out for those emails as they will contain more details about these offers and instructions on how to take advantage of them.

For those who may not have read this new policy or have questions about how this may impact you, I encourage you to take a look here: https://downloads.arlo.com/images/PDFs/EOL_Policy/arlo-end-of-life-policy-021023.pdf?cid=a&cid=a

If you've not received a discount offer via email, visit https://www.arlo.com/en-us/eol-offer-form.html and enter your email address, if your account is eligible you will then receive the discount offer via email.

Thank you,

JamesC

[Minburn57]

So, EOL and it won't work . . . . unless, of course, you pay them extra.  Then it will work . . . . well . . . 'maybe'.

Par for the course for Arlo.

[rockjim33]

Also, there is no way to contact support to discuss options? I have about $1,000 into this 3 year old system and I almost bought the solar panels a couple months ago to go with the cameras. This is very disappointing... I hope someone from Arlo is monitoring how they are losing loyal customers who have been referring new people... What is the point of buying the next model if they are going to EOL that in a few years as well?!?!

[Ben58]

I think that is the solution to any Arlo troubleshooting question - “Buy the Blink or any other camera system.”  😁

[pc2k17]

I have to admit when I saw this email come in, I was chatting with Amazon on a missing order and posting a question in simplisafe forum, so I was already on edge and I just skimmed through the email, with End Of Life sticking out it got me concearned.

After reading the article again.... it appears Arlo's marketing just doesn't know how to convey a message. Here is what they mean....

Anyone who has Arlo or Arlo Pro cameras and was on the grandfathered in FREE 5 camera plan with free 7 days cloud storage, will now have to switch over to the Arlo Secure monthly plan. Also, your cameras will not receive any more firmware updates. Other than switching plans, nothing changes, and your cameras will work as they do now, but if future features come out your old cameras won't work with those new features because the cameras won't be updated.

I switched off the FREE grandfathered plan about a month ago to the Arlo Secure Plan when I added Pro 4 cameras and the video doorbell, so I'm good there. And I'm fine with no firmware updates for my old cameras because the updates usually cause more issues than they solve.

So, this appears to only affect people with old cameras who haven't signed up for a monthly subscription yet. Once you switch all you lose is firmware updates and email notifications.

[JerzeyJohn]

I am completely disgusted with your new "End of Life" Policy. Way to scam customers who have acted in GOOD FAITH previously and bought older products by FORCING them to buy new cameras or to PAY EXTRA for a subscription. Completely unacceptable...

Will you be refunding your customers who recent bought the products that you will no longer support without paying for your cloud-based subscription?  I will not pay extra for this subscription which used to be free, after just buying these cameras last year!

DO THE RIGHT THING… RIGHT THIS WRONG!

[fredq2]

E-mailed Clark Howard. He likes these type of bait and switch stories.

[Kevinintx]

So if not ARLO who?  Any companies that have free storage?  How does Ring or Blink compare?  I would take a local video storge option if I can access via an app.  Arlo user since 2017. 

[Series]

I have always regarded Arlo as an honest and  well respected company. This move to stop support for the product I paid money for by calling an end of life is absolutely uncalled for and totally disgusting. Arlo never told me they were considering ending support for hardware they sold me, that is paid for and that still works, I am not sure this is even legal. I can easily call it a breach of contract and sue them. I am absolutely appalled. Arlo is now an untrustworthy partner. Shame on Arlo.

[SoSad]

Very disappointing on EOL and elimination of 7 day free service.  I will be contacting Costco on my disappointment since I purchased it from them and Arlo is changing the terms. 

[Kevinintx]

Well, you lose all that monthly money that you were not paying.  I currently have five free cameras and I pay for storage on my doorbell only because they said it did not count as one of the five free.  So, I signed up and bought another Pro camera to get to five.

[AshTray900]

I do believe you hit the nail on the head. Here is how the message could have gone.

We apologize but we are no longer able to continue to offer the legacy plans. This includes the free 7 day plan that came with cameras that are EOL. Your cameras will still function properly you will just need to sign up for a new plan.

New features may also not be available to the older generations of our cameras, to see the lifetime support schedule please click here and also take caution that some of the older systems may be selling as new in box items on sites like Amazon or eBay and they will not have the service availability that the package states.

Again we apologize for his inconvenience and anyone who has the legacy system can subscribe to a new 7 day policy for up to 5 cameras that will retain your current functionality for the discounted cost of 4.99 a month (not a current option)

if you wish to upgrade your EOL devices you may do so using your arlo account and device serial number to replace each EOL device at a x% discount.

whoever wrote this email should be terminated or put in another position as it’s clear they have no idea how to deal with the public, and sending it out on Jan 1st seriously!

[Kevinintx]

Any intel of:

Crystal Vision 8CH 4-camera 1080P wireless security system Outdoor 4-Camera Plug-in 2Tb Hard Drive Security Camera System at LOWES?

[fredq2]

Business case:

Arlo: 1080P Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera $129.99. Arlo Secure unlimited cameras $9.99/month ($120/year)

Wyze: Wireless 1080P Wyze Cam Outdoor v2 Starter Bundle $73.99, extra cameras $63.99. Cam Plus Lite (name your price - free)  12 second cloud storage 

This is a no brainer. Sorry to leave the Arlo community but I feel like the company left me.

[BobZillaRlo]

I have 5 Arlo Pro 2 (VMC4030). I understand ending support and firmware updates for older products, however disabling features like 7 day cloud recording and email notifications is unacceptable. This basically makes my cameras useless.  Seems like a class action lawsuit is necessary. 

[pc2k17]

Exactly Ash, well said. Looks like we decrypted the Arlo email meaning. Glad I had my decoder ring on today.

And yes anyone on the free plan now has to pay, but you'll probably get the $9.99 plan, and I just paid it all at once, so $120 one time for the year is not bad and I will say the Arlo Smart Notifications that you get with the Secure plan are worth the $120 a year. They are almost flawless differentiating between animal, person, and vehicle and putting a green box around the object in the notification highlighting what triggered the alert. It really works well and is very useful.

[MichaelRo]

Yeah.  I think it’s important that this isn’t about “ending support” as they mentioned in their letter and I’ve seen in several posts.  Sure, they can say we won’t provide technical support or firmware updates after a certain period of time.

They cannot just disable features they sold retroactively.  Lifetime cloud backup is prominently part of the feature set they sold.  If I bought a computer and the company decides to push an update so it doesn’t turn on anymore a few years later, that would be pretty illegal. 

[MichaelRo]

Oh.  And btw (in case anyone from Arlo actually reads these forums), sending a 20% coupon for a new camera and/or discounted service for a year is NOT acceptable.  

If this is a cyber security issue you can’t fix, then send us new cameras and lifetime free cloud backup.

Arlo made their bed with these promises.  They need to figure out how to sleep in it. 

[BobZillaRlo]

In response to jguerdat's post:

Don't be a fool. We all understand End of Life and discontinuing support and updates. However you can still use Windows 7 and older versions of Chrome and Edge. What Arlo is doing is basically disabling these cameras rending them useless in hopes to boost subscriptions. 

I have 5 Arlo Pro 2 (VMC4030). I understand ending support and firmware updates for older products, however disabling key features like 7 day cloud recording and email notifications is unacceptable. This basically makes my cameras useless. While you can record videos locally to a usb drive on the base station, you can't view the videos through the app. You must unmount the drive and connect to a computer to watch the videos.

Arlo doesn't care about "losing" these customers because they already took your money. As far as they are concerned, you are not a customer because you are not paying subscriber.

Seems like a class action lawsuit is necessary. 

[fredq2]

MichaelRo,

I agree. I would compare it to lifetime VPN providers - you shouldn't be able to unilaterally alter terms. 

I find it amazing that ARLO offered no deals to legacy customers, just a bait and switch with a lame EOL excuse. Not a very good customer retention/acquisition strategy.

[enerjazz]

Dear Arlo. Starting January 1, 2023, I am implementing an EOL policy for products and services sold to me. If a company removes features from a working product they sold me, then they are required to purchase that product back at full price.

Arlo has stated they are removing my currently functioning 7-day cloud storage and email notifications from my 2 cameras . Please let me know where to ship these and how you will process my refund.

[Steve_H1]

I just got the email as well. If Arlo doesn't reconsider this in short order, I won't be buying anymore Arlo products in the future. I assume someone at Arlo is monitoring the community and posts. Someone in Arlo management needs to be informed this policy is going to result in reduced future business not more. It's not going to generate replacement/new revenue. As I said, assuming this policy stands, I won't be purchasing any Arlo products in the future and assuming I am forced into replacing the cameras I have due to this policy Arlo won't be in the running or any other future business. So Arlo is going to lose me as a customer and any future revenue from me and I bet from a lot of others too. Also anyone I speak to about this will be informed Arlo is not a company they should consider for products. Very unfortunate Arlo has decided to deal with their customers in this way. So Arlo's end of life policy is backfiring.

[Rich8339]

Dear Arlo, 

A few questions: Like many others, I too received the EOL notice on my cameras. Does this mean you'll reduce your monthly service fee to match your reduced features and services on my cameras? It seems only fair.

Or.... Will Arlo offer new model cameras to existing customers at a discount price as an option for eliminating or reducing features and services?

We, your customers, invested a significant amount of money in Arlo products that were thought to be around much longer. Since your products are not as future proof as once thought, surely there's something Arlo can do to retain valued customers that you're going to lose.  

[JerzeyJohn]

Thanks so much for your reply!

I’m sorry this is happening to you as well. I know some other people are talking about a potential class action on social media as well. 

I just want a fair solution. My cameras work just fine, there is no need to for me to replace them. ARLO seems like they are trying to become Apple with this new “policy.”

[Cohousecams]

Very similar situation 3 cameras 3 1/2 years in service. I plan to take these back to Costco and ask that Arlo no longer be sold through their stores. I don't expect a refund but hope to get to their buyers.  3 1/2 years does not seem like an appropriate service life for a product that just needs to remain stable and record someone coming to our door.  Arlo hope you're listening and have better solutions.  You aren't the cheapest and not the most stable online platform.  

[Kevinintx]

Well, I went from $0 per month for four cameras to $35.88 per year (less taxes) for one Doorbell and five camera which is not a lot, but it is the principle of the matter.  For me I will probably drop the Doorbell Service and go to a different company.  My cameras are old as are the batteries and I am quite sure that today's cameras, doorbells and batteries are better than the ones from 2017 and 2019.  Alro will have to cover my revenue times however many more also leave to just stay level before they can grow.  Maybe they will get lots of people to sign up for $120 per year but I do not think I will be one of them.