Arlo Camera 1 Firmware.2.10342

[Room101]

Bought my camera Sep 2016 but so disappointed with customer service now that it has gone wrong. They don't seem in a hurry to resolve as I have had over 20 questions about the product and still no resolution. Pink picture and uses up loads of batteries. Tried restarting and other strategies but no use. To add insult to injury I am supposed to post the defective camer at my cost and leave my home unprotected whilst they send a replacement. See below for questions from customer service:

I sincerely apologize that you have to go through all these trouble. We will process replacement for this camera. Please provide us with these following information:

1. Serial number of the affected camera
2. Your phone number
3. When and where did you purchase this camera?
4. Your complete shipping address

I will look forward for your response.

Since the battery draining issue persists, please provide us the following information for us to further isolate the case:

1. How do you know that the battery has drained? What indicators were used to make this determination?
2. What is your expectation of battery life?
3. How long do the batteries take to drain to the point of not working? After a few hours, days of inserting new batteries?
4. Have you opened your camera battery compartment and confirmed battery door contacts and springs are clean and dry? If not, please clean and ensure battery door is tightly shut.
5. When inserting batteries, do you see a momentary blue LED? Please describe the camera's LED activity.
6. Do you notice that the camera is periodically emitting a rapidly blinking Blue LED?
7. What battery brand are you using?
8. Are these batteries rechargeable? How many recharge cycles have these batteries gone through?
9. When inserting batteries, do you see an amber LED blinking periodically?
10. Where is your camera correctly located? Is it indoors or outdoors?
11. How low does the temperature get in the area where the camera is located?
12. How far away is your camera from the base station? How many barriers – walls, doors, double-pane windows? Could the camera or base station be moved to reduce distance between camera and battery?
13. Do you have your Base Station permanently set to Armed/All Motion On or on a Schedule?
14. What is the sensitivity setting on your camera?
15. What duration have you set your camera to record for when a motion is triggered? How many recordings do you get per day for this camera?
16. How many of your library recordings are night vision?
17. Do you do live streaming? If so, how long do you do live streaming on a daily basis? Do you do manual recordings too?

We hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you for your time and cooperation. Happy New Year!

[steve_t]

Do you think it's unreasonable for them to ask you these questions?

[Room101]

Clearly something is wrong which cannot be fixed and the bulk of the questions i have actually responded to already. The questions came after a series of emails in which i had already stated that I had tried solutions suggested and supplied much of the information already requested. I am not their product tester -if they need to ask that many questions then they need to do further product testing. In the meantime rather than waste my time they should do the decent thing and replace at their cost and not mine. In short, yes, I do think their respone is unreasonable. 

[JamesC]

Room101,

I have reviewed your case and it appears an agent has reached out with an update on your current RMA status. Please refer to your open support case for more information.

JamesC

[Room101 · Accepted solution]

Correct -it will be replaced so the issue is resolved.

[Room101]

NOT resolved after all to my satisfaction. Don't blame the agent but do blame the most arrogant customer service policy ever. In order to recieve a replacement first then send the defective camera as agreed I need to give my credit card details. Imagine if before buying a netgear product I asked for the Netgear company credit card details. On a point of principal I refused so now I will have the "option" of returning the camera, then waiting several days for a replacement thus leaving my property without a security camera. I thoroughly regret buying this product. I have advised a few of my colleagues looking for camera security to stay well away from Netgear / Arlo. Dreadful. 

[Neynaa]

I have brought two camer8and after a.month one turned pink then the second when I put the batteries in they were only half full. Now within two weeks this camera also has turned punk seems like a bad batch of lot numbers have been shipped to the stores I am disappointed in trying to get this resolved because someone vandalized my home and because of this I did not good at good picture the side camera got a partial face

[Room101]

Sorry to hear this. They ought to compensate in some way or at least try to resolve quickly but do not get your hopes up as it took several weeks to resolve my issue, even then I was forced to leave my home without the security of a camera whilst they provided a replacement. (They only send the replacement once they have received the faulty camera unless you rpovide credit card details - I didn't as I think this is an outrageous policy). I can only suggest that you invoke your consumer rights and insist that replacements are provided without delay and insist on this. I have also made it my duty to leave reviews on as many sites as I can where the camera is being sold in order to inform other future customers prior to purchase. Hopefully they will avoid the mistake of investing hard earned cash in this product. I wish you luck and hope your cameras are replaced / refunded soon. 

[jguerdat]

Half battery level with new (GOOD) batteries indicates you only have two installed properly. The batteries are in series-parallel and switch between the back and front sets to maximize life. Issues involve inserting backwards as well as getting stuck when pushed down.

Pink videos is a hardware issue already reported here - us the search mechanism at the top here. It's a hardware problem that can be resolved by opening a case with support.

[Room101]

Total nonsense info re batteries. I am quite capable of "installing" batteries thank you. As for pink image -read the feed as all "online solutions" were tried prior to requesting a replacement. I think you have missed the point entirely which is faulty gear and poor customer service. Please don't reply. 

[jguerdat]

OK, I'll let someone else tell you why you're wrong and/or missing the point.

[steve_t]

Pretty sure the 50% battery on insertion of brand new batteries was directed at Neynaa, not you. And the information is correct