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9th February 2024
02:30pm GMT
In recent years, Ring doorbells have become absolutely everywhere. It seems like nearly every other home has the gadgets, but customers are furious after recent price hikes.
For those who don't know, the doorbells allow homeowners to see exactly who is at their door even if they aren't home.
The gadgets connect to WiFi and communicate with an app to allow people to see what's going on, and even lets users go so far as to talk through their doorbell.
However, the extra security does come with a catch.
Unlike regular old doorbells, Ring charges users a subscription fee in order to access the benefits of being able to see the footage.
In the UK, their Protect Basic Plan charges users £34.99 per year, working out as £3.49 a month. However, new price hikes mean that the company is upping the cost to £49.99 per year, and even more if users pay monthly.
For those who are on the yearly plan, they will pay £15 more over the course of a year, and monthly subscribers will pay £18 more.
Sky News reports that this means the price has gone up by a whopping 100 percent since March 2022.
Even if you cancel your subscription, all of the footage the device gathered will be permanently deleted.
A representative for the Amazon-owned brand told The Mirror: "Since Ring launched its Protect Basic Plan in 2015, we’ve regularly found ways to enhance the plan to give our customers more value.
"As we continue to invest in the services we offer, we are updating our Protect Basic plan pricing. Starting March 11, 2024, Ring Protect Basic will increase to £4.99/month.
"We believe that Ring Protect offers some of the best value in the industry."
Rather unsurprisingly, the announcement of the price hikes hasn't gone down too well.
"@Ring just had an email to say that the annual subscription is going up from £34.99 to £49.99 in March. That is a 43% increase. How on earth can you justify that when the service won’t change? #notrenewing #RingDoorbell," one person wrote online.
A second wrote: "@Ring your price increase is unjustifiable during a cost of living crisis!!! Thing is you know people will pay it! What will it be next year? £10 a month - was only £2 when I joined 3 or 4 years ago!!!! #ripoffbritain #RingDoorbell."
A third put: "Less than 18 months ago, the price for the@Ring doorbell subscription was £24.99/year. Then it went to £34.99/year and today it’s announced it’s going to be £49.99/year. That’s utterly scandalous. You pay good money for the hardware and then this? Nah mate."
