Recommendation to Arlo Management

[AncientGeek]

Dear Arlo Managment Team,

You have grown a very significant business over the past two or three years.  Your business includes not only your employees, suppliers and your stockholders, it most importly includes your customers.  As customers of Arlo products, we have placed a higher level of trust in you and your products than we do when we buy typical consumer electronics.  We are trusting you and your products to help us protect our property and our families.  This is an incredible level of trust on our part, resulting in an incredible level of responsibility on your part.

You pushed out a new release that did significant harm to Arlo customers and severely damaged our belief that you deserve our trust for the extremely important service we require of your product ecosystem.  Some customers are actively leaving your system, writing negative reviews and (no doubt) telling all their friends to steer clear of Arlo because they don’t adequately appreciate the importance of the role their products and ecosystem play in the everyday lives of Arlo customers.

This Arlo Community is an excellent vehicle for customer engagement, yet you appear to be largely ignoring the power and importance of proactive customer engagement, instead opting for silence or at most an insulting and aloof sound bite from time to time.

You owe your customers an apology for the recent damage you have inflicted.  You owe your customers an explanation as to your planned repairs and continuous updates as to your progress against your plan.  You owe your customers acknowledgment of their observations of the degradation of their customer experience and communication as to what you plan to do to reinstate the higher level customer experience they had when they originally bought into the Arlo ecosystem.

But this obligation is not a negative.  Customer engagement is how you build trust and loyalty.  Customer engagement fills the vacuum and dramatically decreases the level of anxiety, anger and negative feedback your customers will feel and provide during difficult times.  Ultimately, customer engagement builds goodwill and builds your business.  It informs your product development and provides a vehicle for invaluable direct feedback well in advance of your quarterly sales figures and at a level that is actionable.

Please engage with this community.  We desperately need your engagement...and so does your business.  

[donnamb]

Dear Arlo Management,

This isn't working. We need to be able to see battery life IMMEDIATELY when inside the app. We need be able to set a layout of the camera views to OUR liking. We need to be able to see one camera click through without needing multiple steps. Functionality needs to be STABLE.

Take a deep breath and just write an apology that includes an immediate stop-gap, short-term mini-fix, and long-term plan for including your customer base in the ongoing rollouts that are sure to follow.

Obviously, we all see the value and quality of owning your product - we are believers and cheerleaders. We are mavens and recommenders.  We are the public face of your business.

Now, we are not so much in love with you right now... we don't want a divorce, but we do want some serious communication and trust building returned to our relationship.

This "upgrade" that you've forced on us is not to our liking... that means it changes or we leave. But before we go "there," let's see what can be repaired in our relationship.

Did you (as it seems to us) outsource this project to a company/country that doesn't actually use the product? Did you beta test it with any long-term residential or commercial users?  WHEN are the fixes planned? 

Please don't just sit there pretending that this is not happening. Put a big announcement on your splash page that says "OOOPS, WEGOOFED!" do your mea culpas, and fix this thing. (This is the CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT part).

Then offer some incentive as a makegood - give everyone a 50% off monthly subscription for the incredible inconveniences they have experienced (This is the BRAND LOYALTY part). 

Then never, ever do this again. Do some major beta tests BEFORE you roll out another "upgrade." (This is the DUH part).

Remember, people have choices. We have chosen Arlo so far, but your users will "vote with their feet" and walk away if you don't COMMUNICATE with us and fix this SOON. 

XOXO,

donnamb

[brh]

@AncientGeek

If you look on the home page of this site and look next to picture of the girl with her arms raised, you will see an invite to join the A Team which is a group of Arlo customers that do beta testing of Arlo's products before being released to the public. You get to identify bugs and share your feelings, ideas and suggestions to Arlo's engineers who are actively working on these products. You will notice many familiar names there if you are accepted to participate and I believe you would be a great candidate. Check it out.

Brian

[donnamb]

Thank you, Brian. I will absolutely do that. 🙂

Best,

donnamb

[brh]

@donnamb

Great! Now that Arlo has separated from Netgear, if you own any Netgear products that are registered with them, you can also apply to do the same thing with Netgear products.

Brian

[azizfatamah]

Dear Management.

Proudly having such good product from netgear.

I being purchased your product online from Amazon. regretly telling that some features failure from one of my hardware ( night vision failure).

contacted your team. they can replace but only to USA. but your amazon can shipped anywhere, but claim need USA address to be send. such amazing.

what about customer purchase from free duty airport. Do they have no right to claim warranty.

Please have a look.

Reference case:40531467

[AncientGeek]

Brian,

Thanks...will do.  Perhaps I could dedicate one of my iPads to the beta testing and keep the other dedicated to using the current release.

[GarySzy]

Is there any intention to fix the boondoggle that is part of iOS 2.6.1 that prevents users from being able to see the battery icon and % of charge without having to click 3 times on each camera?  I see now three different threads discussing the same issue.  This one, https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Idea-Exchange/Allow-us-to-monitor-single-camera-history/idi-p/164... , and https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro/iOS-App-Update-why-change-the-layout/m-p/1646970#M46618 .  Please correct immediately or roll back to the last version that had better functionality.

[AncientGeek]

And if rolling back isn’t an option, how about releasing 2.5.5 as “Arlo Classic”. A different app, we can use until the Arlo app is fixed.  I know dealing with two code lines would be a pain, but not as big a pain as what the user community is experiencing post 2.6.0.

[The_Wraith]

My two cents - linked so as not to crosspost:

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Community-Feedback/Customer-service-representatives-that-respond/m-p/1...

[AtchRho]

Very well written.

Arlo,

please take note, and make the needed changes for your customers.

Thanks

[giorgina]

---

@brh  écrit:

@AncientGeek

Si vous regardez sur la page d'accueil de ce site et que vous regardez à côté de la photo de la fille aux bras levés, vous verrez https://discord.software/ https://downloader.vip/adobe-reader/ https://downloader.vip/itunes/ une invitation à rejoindre l'équipe A qui est un groupe de clients d'Arlo qui testent en version bêta les produits Arlo avant leur publication. au public. Vous pouvez identifier les bugs et partager vos sentiments, vos idées et vos suggestions avec les ingénieurs d'Arlo qui travaillent activement sur ces produits. Vous remarquerez de nombreux noms familiers si vous êtes accepté pour participer et je pense que vous seriez un excellent candidat. Vérifiez-le.

Brian

---

 Une application différente peut être utilisée jusqu'à ce que l'application soit corrigée.  Je sais que traiter avec deux lignes de code serait une douleur,  

[brh]

@giorgina

Vous devez voir cela sur votre téléphone intelligent, https://discord.software/ https://downloader.vip/adobe-reader/ https://downloader.vip/itunes/ car ce n'est pas le lien que j'utilise. Voici le lien approprié:

https://c.crowdly.com/p/2958-arloateam

Brian

[trickytcamgeek]

The below text is from the Arlo technologies Form 10-Q filed with the SECURITY today.  Arlo share price plunged today 23% to $9.28, well below the IPOD price of $16 earlier this year.

"Currently, reviews of our products and services are a significant factor in the success of our new product and service launches. If we are unable to generate a high number of positive reviews or quickly respond to negative reviews, including end-user reviews posted on various prominent online retailers, our ability to sell our products and services will be
harmed. Any unsuccessful
• • • • •
future delays in product and service development and introduction, or product and service introductions that do not meet broad market acceptance, or launches of new product and service lines could result in:
loss of or delay in revenue and loss of market share;
negative publicity and damage to our reputation and brand;
a decline in the average selling price of our products and services;
adverse reactions in our sales channels, such as reduced shelf space, reduced online product visibility, or loss of sales channels; and increased levels of product returns.

[trickytcamgeek]

Sorry, read IPO and SEC in the last post  (damn this predictive text)

[trickytcamgeek]

Here is another extract from the 10-Q filed with the SEC today:

"
Significant defects affecting our services may be found following the introduction of new software or enhancements to existing software or in software implementations in varied information technology environments. Internal quality assurance testing and end-user testing may reveal service performance issues or desirable feature enhancements that could lead us to reallocate service development resources or postpone the release of new versions of our software. The reallocation of resources or any postponement could cause delays in the development and release of future enhancements to our currently available software, damage the reputation of our services in the marketplace, and result in potential loss of revenue. Although we attempt to resolve all errors that we believe would be considered serious by our partners and customers, the software powering our services is not error-free. Undetected errors or performance problems may be discovered in the future, and known errors that we consider minor may be considered serious by our channel partners and end-users.

[trickytcamgeek]

They wrote  "known errors that we consider minor may be considered serious by our channel partners and end-users."    

I am glad they didn't write "known errors that are considered serious by our channel partners and end-users may be considered as minor by us"

[AncientGeek]

---

@trickytcamgeek wrote:

The below text is from the Arlo technologies Form 10-Q filed with the SECURITY today.  Arlo share price plunged today 23% to $9.28, well below the IPOD price of $16 earlier this year.

"Currently, reviews of our products and services are a significant factor in the success of our new product and service launches. If we are unable to generate a high number of positive reviews or quickly respond to negative reviews, including end-user reviews posted on various prominent online retailers, our ability to sell our products and services will be
harmed. Any unsuccessful
• • • • •
future delays in product and service development and introduction, or product and service introductions that do not meet broad market acceptance, or launches of new product and service lines could result in:
loss of or delay in revenue and loss of market share;
negative publicity and damage to our reputation and brand;
a decline in the average selling price of our products and services;
adverse reactions in our sales channels, such as reduced shelf space, reduced online product visibility, or loss of sales channels; and increased levels of product returns.

---

This is exactly what I was talking about when I wrote my open letter to Arlo management a month or so ago, telling them their V2.6.0 release problems could very well consitute a material event which required reporting to the SEC in order to avoid potential penalties by the SEC for failure to file.  It was incredibly reckless of Arlo Tech to make the radical changes to the UI without significant input from users and to release software without extensive alpha and beta testing to ensure it functioned properly over the entire range of supported platforms.  The stakes are way too high under normal circumstances and even higher heading into a holiday season when products like this are heavily promoted and sold as gifts.

Things are turning around for sure, but I still see a lot of problems and complaints in the community postings.  An incredible faux pas the company must put firmly in the rear view mirror to recover fully.  The time lost will never be recovered unless competitors stumble for their own reasons.  It is much easier to grab marketshare when the entire market is expanding, but far more difficult as the market matures.  Companies that establish themselves as leaders early on, have a significant advantage over their rivals.  With maturity comes commodity and lower margins.  Far less money to invest in R&D to keep the party going.

[trickytcamgeek]

@AncientGeek I think somone just deleted your new post.

[AncientGeek]

---

@trickytcamgeek wrote:

@AncientGeek I think somone just deleted your new post.

---

Wow...and it was so eloquent!

I still have the text for my own history.

To be clear, it is my unwavering desire for Arlo to remain one of the major providers of top quality home security solutions for residential customers.  I have a lot invested in Arlo equipment and want the company to keep building, releasing and supporting a variety of useful products.  The best result would be for everything to get resolved and for this to have been a corporate learning event that gets posted on conference room walls to make sure everyone understands how important software quality and utility is to the success of the company.

[trickytcamgeek]

@AncientGeek Indeed it was eloquent.   Luckily I read your text before they deleted it.

I don't know why they would delete your text.  Could this be the taking action on the bit where they wrote: " If we are unable to quickly respond to negative reviews, including end-user reviews posted on various...."

This is what you wrote:

"

This is exactly what I was talking about when I wrote my open letter to Arlo management a month or so ago, telling them their V2.6.0 release problems could very well consitute a matieral event which required reporting to the SEC in order to avoid potential penalties by the SEC for failure to file.  It was incredibly reckless of Arlo Tech to make the radical changes to the UI without significant input from users and to release software without extensive alpha and beta testing to ensure it functioned properly over the entire range of supported platforms.  The stakes are way too high under normal circumstances and even higher heading into a holiday season when products like this are heavily promoted and sold as gifts.

Things are turning around for sure, but I still see a lot of problems and complaints in the community postings.  An incredible faux pas the company must put firmly in the rear view mirror to recover fully.  The time lost will never be recovered unless competitors stumble for their own reasons.  It is much easier to grab marketshare when the entire market is expanding, but far more difficult as the market matures.  Companies that establish themselves as leaders early on, have a significant advantage over their rivals.  With maturity comes commondity and lower margins.  Far less money to invest in R&D to keep the party going.

"

[AncientGeek]

It is back.  It apparently got caught in an automatic spam filter system.  Many thanks to JamesC for noticing and releasing it.

[brh]

I have posted several simple replies to peoples problems that never showed up. No controversial replies. Something has been wrong with the site since yesterday.

Brian

[brh]

@AncientGeek

Excellent Post. I have a million thoughts about what is going on at Arlo and I really don't know where to start or how to organize these thoughts. So let me get started and I will probably add more as time goes along. So firstly, I have owned Arlo products for three years now and with the exception of a few frustrating bugs, the system has worked very well for me and is a huge part of my home security along with Samsung Smartthings which, in my opinion is a great compliment to the Arlo system.

I realize that Arlo is grossly underfunded and is up against giants in the industry that have very deep pockets. Arlo, unlike most of its competition, has granted its customers a free plan for 5 cameras and most of Arlo's customers never go past that free plan. The competition, on the other hand offers no freebees and collect subscription fees from the start. The competition does not want to play nice with other iot systems such as Smartthings but want to have closed systems. From the beginning Arlo and Smartthings worked together and came up with a winning combination. Thus, I am very saddened to see Arlo's stocks falling like they are. Given more working capital, I think Arlo could take on the competition and whip them soundly. So, should Arlo go the route of the competition and start collecting fees from the very first camera? That would increase its revenue stream.

There are many individuals on this site like you and me that volunteer a lot of our time trying to help people solve their problems and have a pleasant experience with the Arlo system. Unfortunately, Arlo is not spending enough resources on this site to resolve problems that we can not fix. Many problems get unresolved until the customer returns their Arlo products.

That is one of the reasons I joined the beta testing program and invited you to do so. Arlo needs beta testers with a lot of experience with their products. In the beta program, bugs and problems that show up get the attention of the Arlo development team and are usually resolved quickly.

I am very excited about the Arlo Ultra announcement and if the cameras turn out to work as the advertisement says they will, I will be adding/replacing many of my cameras. Arlo did listen to its customers with this system and there are a lot of features that customers have requested.

Enough for now. I truly want Arlo to succeed.

Brian

[brh]

@JamesC

Why are so many of my posts disappearing lately? I am not posting anything controversial. Some of my posts that disappeared had links to where a person could purchase Arlo accessories and helping this person identify the correct accessory for his system. I contribute a lot to this forum.

Brian