RING doorbell owners have just days to dodge a major subscription price rise.
The hike affects Amazon Ring customers in the US and UK – and jacks costs up by around 25%.
From March 11, the price of a Ring Protect Basic subscription will rise.
For monthly subscribers, your cost will rise from $3.99 to $4.99 per billing cycle in the US – and from £3.49 to £4.99 in the UK.
That works out at an increase of $12 or £18 over the course of a year.
If you’re an annual subscriber, the yearly cost rises from $39.99 to $49.99 for US subscribers – and increases from £34.99 to £49.99 in the UK.
That’s a slightly lower yearly increase of $10 or £15 versus the monthly price rise.
Ring Basic Protect is the lowest level of subscription that Ring offers.
It gets you video recording for one Ring doorbell or home camera – or “essential digital features” for a single Ring Alarm.
With Basic, you’ll get up to 180 days of video history, the option to download up to 50 videos at once, automated camera “home and away” modes, person and package alerts, and more.
Amazon confirmed that you can skirt the price hike if your subscription renews before March 11, 2024.
So if you renew for a year before then, it’ll remain at the current price for the renewal term – while a monthly renewal will only last for that single month, before then rising.
If your subscription renews on or after March 11, 2024, you’ll be charged the new pricing.
It’s also worth noting that the increase only applies to Ring Protect Basic plans, and not for Plus or Pro subscriptions.
Ring doorbell customers are unsurprisingly upset over the price hike.
In a Reddit thread on the Ring subreddit, a post about the price increase complains: “Ouuuch! This is a significant increase.
“As a new subscriber I’m quite shocked at the increase to be honest.”
The post has earned hundreds of upvotes and dozens of comments.
One Ring owner replied: “Cancelled subscription, and gave the reason as ‘price’ for feedback. Need to send them a message, this won’t be tolerated.”
Another said: “All I want is to be able to check who has been at my door earlier in the day, seems like a lot to have to pay for it.”
One noted: “Cancelled it just not. I’m not paying for a silly increase like that.”
And another added: “It’s insane, I’ve just cancelled.”
If you’re thinking about cancelling however, be wary.
“When you cancel a Ring Protect subscription, all of your recorded videos are permanently deleted,” Amazon warns.
“To save any videos, you must download them before cancelling your Ring Protect plan.”
Amazon notes that you may be eligible for pro-rated refunds if you cancel before your next billing date.
If you have the Basic Protect plan, you get..
If you upgrade to the Plus Protect plan, you also get…
And a Pro Protect plan adds…
