Ring announces subscription prices hike, sparking cancellation threats from customers

Ring Video Doorbell.jpg

Owners of Ring’s home security products are fuming after the Amazon-owned company announced a subscription price hike.

The firm is raising the cost of its basic tier from £3.49 per month to £4.99 a month, a 43 per cent increase. While the annual rate will jump from £34.99 to £49.99 a year, Ring announced on its customer support website.

As a result, Ring’s Protect Basic plan will cost double what it did before the previous hike in June 2022.

Customers will pay the new price on their first renewal date on or after March 11. If your subscription renews before that date, you can avoid the price rise for another year by switching to the annual billing plan.

Wherever you look, tech subscriptions appear to be climbing, with Google Nest and Arlo also ramping up prices.

Still, Ring’s decision has inevitably upset some of its customers. Taking to the social platform Reddit, some Ring owners are rallying others to cancel their subscriptions in an effort to force a U-turn.

“If everyone canceled the increase would be called back immediately,” states a popular post on the Ring subreddit.

“They have a team who calculate this all out,” reads a comment on the same post. ”They know they’ll lose customers… but they’re counting on the extra money from the price increase offsetting the customers who cancel.”

Another post on the topic has more than 466 comments from mainly disgruntled customers. “This is the big problem with the ‘as a service’ models,” reads the top-rated comment. “They constantly screw you with annual price increases and your hands are somewhat tied if you’ve invested in hardware.”

The sentiment is echoed on the company’s community forum, where a post about the increase has over 5,000 views and 379 replies.

“This is a complete rip-off,” one person says. “I’ll not be buying or recommending any more Ring products.”

“This is simply pure greed from the company,” writes another user. “If you can specify the enhancements which prove the value then fair enough but there is no need for an increase of this amount when there’s been no new developments/enhancements to the applications and software.”

An Amazon spokesperson told the Standard that Ring’s subscription offers some of the best value in the industry.

“Since Ring launched its Protect Basic Plan in 2015, we’ve regularly found ways to enhance the plan to give our customers more value,” the spokesperson said.

“As we continue to invest in the services we offer, we are updating our Protect Basic plan pricing.“

Although it’s best known for its popular doorbell camera, Ring makes a range of smart surveillance products, including motion detectors and alarms.

Alongside its gadgets, Ring offers two subscription plans that allow users to unlock extra features. These include detailed alerts, additional storage for recordings and screenshots, and discounts on its products.

Ring’s Protect Plus tier, which costs £8 per month or £80 per year, comes with extended warranty and enhancements for its alarms on top.

Of course, you don’t need a subscription to use the products, but the perks are attractive. If the price rise has you considering switching, make sure to check out our guide to the best video doorbells without subscriptions.

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