End Of Life Policy - good bye Arlo & replacement

[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

[chevelle1970ss]

Please reply,  but what does this post have anything to do with the subject?  Unless I'm taking this out of context.

The EOLing these cameras is to get rid of you, force your hand and move to a subscription base model.  Good luck ARLO, I already bought a competitors product.  And to think I was going to upgrade soon.  Not now.

[DaveWoj]

@chevelle1970ss 

Not sure who you are replying to but if it's me, I am not an employee.

I'm as frustrated as anyone else on here and have over $1,200 invested.

However, you don't know if the same will to happen with any of the other camera manufacturers, you may be sorely disappointed.

They all have their issues. They all come out with new models every couple years which may or may not be supported in the future.

You just never know. There is no guarantee.

Would you mind telling us what you purchased?

[chevelle1970ss]

Yes, I was replying to you.  Sorry if I was mistaken in anyway.  

This is the thing.  Its called, for better or worse, the right to own.  You paid for a product and you should have the right of usage of that product.  Apparently, this is not the case.   ARLO EOL'ing something is fine, but ultimately they are going to stop your ability to use the product.  End of story.   

Why, knowing this, would I invest in any more of their products.  They will just do it again.

I bought two new cameras from a competitor.  Sure, there may be problems, but the camera is mine to use.  I am not dependent on a company for that product to continue through its life time.

I argue that ARLO customer support is any good.  There is no real way to directly contact them for the most part.  Contact us takes you to the support page where you can look up posts and whatnot.  Shortly spoken this is the truth.

[mmorrismm]

Yes and those existing ones being sold should still be grandfathered in for 7 day cloud storage.  They have options to recall all cameras in stock at certified resellers but again greed got the best of them! All new cameras being sold will need to purchase Arlo Secure plans but customers know that already. 

I am fine with 7 day storage and really do not need 30 days. Arlo be honest and grandfather those that bought into your ecosystem with the cameras that included 7 day cloud storage. We already paid for it with those cost on the cameras. 

[chevelle1970ss]

Good point.  My company now has a two week vacation policy.  All current employees are grandfathered in and have whatever they contracted for when hired (three weeks in my case).

For me, its too late, I have already purchased some superior cameras.  I'll install them this weekend, delete my account and unsubscribe my emails.

[ildiavolorosso]

Has nothing to do with "sticking it to the man." Arlo/Netgear is unilaterally changing the terms of service and deprecating support for devices we already paid for. Switching brands is a smart consumer move at this point, despite the best efforts of folks in this community (many of whom are doing free work for netgear/Arlo, BTW).

[redsoxfan44]

@DaveWoj

I recall getting a no-more-customer-support email a couple of years ago.    That did not surprise me.  Didn't affect me either (thanks to this forum!)

[Mark85]

@mmorrismm 

I suspect why they’ve resorted to these policies, beyond just letting old users stay grandfathered in, is a testament that the hardware is working well enough that most users aren’t compelled to upgrade.

[mmorrismm]

Well they messed up with their marketing. My point is the policy should follow the cameras. I disagree as I have been contemplating of purchasing 2 of their flood cameras with corresponding subscription plan. I am Debating that decision now. But I have purchased a plan for one of my Pro cameras for the enhanced Features to eliminate  false alarms with zones . Emphasized "Added Feature". They should have let attrition run it's course. Instead they chose to alienate faithful customers!!!

[DaveWoj]

@mmorrismm 

I agree that certified resellers shouldn't be selling these but what certified resellers are you specifically referring to that still have these?

I don't see any.

[DaveWoj]

@chevelle1970ss 

I'm certainly open to other options but I haven't found one that compares apples to apples and offers cloud storage without a subscription.

If you can give me an option I can at least compare it to Arlo.

[disbanded]

I literally just bought an Arlo Q and an Arlo 3030 add-on cam from Back Market in December.  And the Q is still for sale on the site right now.

[DaveWoj]

@ildiavolorosso 

Just so I understand your comment.

You are not switching brands as a way to get back at Arlo, you are doing it because you are going to be treated better in the long run with another system?

[DaveWoj]

@redsoxfan44 

I have never used customer support except for a month ago when geofencing didn't work.

Posters on this forum were of much more help.

Reading the instructions thoroughly and community posts solved 99.9% of my issues.

[DaveWoj]

@disbanded 

Back Market?????????

Are you referring to the site that specializes in refurbished products?

There's the problem, many of you think that just because you bought an EOL device in the past couple years from 3rd party sellers, not authorized sellers (after they were discontinued) you think that the 7 day free cloud should still be honored.

So that means that if I buy a used or even brand new Arlo Q from Ebay today and it says "free 7 day cloud", that that entitles me to Free 7 day cloud?

I'm just asking?

[disbanded]

Heck yes they should support it because I already owned 3 new cameras and I bought these 2 before the EOL policy came out - and I also specifically and literally bought these items because of the 7 day cloud storage.  I already had 3 3030's that I bought brand new and I wanted to add 2 more cams to reach my 5 cam limit, so I purposefully bought older cams just for this exact reason, no subscription and cloud storage.  So you are saying because I bought something that was renewed that I am not able to get what it says on the box?   They need to continue to support the 3 new cameras I bought directly from them several years ago.  I didn't go looking for refurbished.  I typed in the Arlo camera name that came with free cloud storage on google and it brought me to Back Market.

[Jlee43]

Thank you.

They are not sold in USA. But, some country still sell some product on list. For your reference, the arlo audio doorbell still sold by Walmart and Amazon in Canada. It's not camera with 7 days cloud storage but it's on EOL list. I have 6 pro camera and 3 audio doorbell. I preordered two audio doorbell on Oct 2018 and bought another one just couple month ago for back up. (Still in sealed box)

Ship and sold by Amazon

https://www.amazon.ca/Arlo-Audio-Doorbell-Wire-Free-Weather-Resistant/dp/B07HXNPJLJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?k...

Ship and sold by walmart

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/arlo-audio-doorbell-black-black/6000198867300

[chevelle1970ss]

Dave, 

for me, I'm not trying to "get back" at arlo.....I feel there are better solutions out there for me such as an ssd card which avoids the whole cloud backup thing.  Perhaps this is not for everyone since it may be considered not as secure.

On a side note: out of the 6 cameras I ever owned; basically 3 are no good now.

[jameswhiteray]

what a bunch of bull **bleep**

[chevelle1970ss]

No Free 7 day cloud for you - Its being EOL'ed baby.

[DaveWoj]

@disbanded 

Ok so I did the same thing thinking I was smart.

I bought an extra Pro2 last March off Ebay to add to my account so yes I knew I would get the free 7 day.

So technically we can all say regardless of where we got them they should be under the free 7 day.

So now what?

Many people don't even know about the EOL. So if they go and buy 5 or 10 more cameras off ebay today and find out about the EOL after the return period, can they still get their refund?

That's a whole new can of worms for people buying and selling on ebay. Do those seller know the cameras are pretty much worthless and are they responsible for refunding your money because of this EOL policy?

[jameswhiteray]

I AGREE 100%

[DaveWoj]

@Jlee43 

If those retailers are still selling them and Arlo hasn't issued anything  requiring them to remove them from their stock or website, then that is a real problem.

Arlo should have notified every authorized seller prior to the EOL policy.

[DaveWoj]

@chevelle1970ss 

You still haven't mentioned what system you went with.

I'd be interested in knowing if you could share.

But knowing it's only SSD card isn't an option for many of us. In my case I use it for a remote seasonal residence so I need the cloud.

Thanks.

[up_yours_arlo]

Customer Service contacted me and after 2 days came back with an offer of "Free 30 day storage subscription for 12 months".

I am reluctant to use this voucher, as it implies I am willing to begin a subscription as a way out of this mess.  I'm not.

I believe, as others have said, we should be grandfathered.  Free 7 day storage should continue and if, for technical reasons they cannot provide 7 days, then switch us to the next-best offering, which would be 30 days.

Genuine batteries are no longer available for my cameras, so it's not going to last forever...