Ring has announced that it will be increasing the price of its cheapest subscription package in the UK and US to £49.99 ($49.99) from March.
Needless to say, users of the Amazon-owned company’s video doorbells weren’t exactly ‘buzzing’ at the news that will see the price of its Ring Protect Basic subscription jump from their current £3.49 /$3.99 monthly fee to £4.99 / $4.99. For UK customers choosing to pay one yearly sum this will increase by nearly 43% from £34.99 to £49.99, while US users will ‘only’ have to endure a 25% rise from the current $39.99 to $49.99.
The changes will take place from 11 March 2024, so those renewing their existing subscriptions before that date (whether automatically or perhaps now manually) will be charged at the current prices, with everything else from that date charged at the new, higher prices. Any Ring customers that are already signed up shouldn’t have to do anything if they’re happy with the changes, as they’ll just see the extra money added to their bill when the next monthly/yearly renewal date rolls around. Similarly, if you’re making use of a free trial period, you’ll be billed accordingly based on when that trial ends.
Obviously in the current climate no-one’s going to be happy with any price increases, with the likes of the BBC pointing to irate users on the community boards and criticisms from consumer groups. If it seems like a step too far, there’s always the option to cancel the subscription (with functionality such as motion-activated notifications, Live View and Two-Way talk still available at no extra cost) but it would remove the ability to save and review recorded videos, along with the other alerts and perks – so you might want to download anything worth keeping before clicking that cancel button. As things stand the pricier Plus subscription with additional Ring Alarm coverage will remain at its current £8 a month rate.
You can get the full details on the UK-friendly Ring website (US customers can click here). Of course, for some that extra £1.50 a month or £15 a year might not seem like a huge deal, but with the cost of living crisis as it is, the percentage jump is certainly eye-catching – and possibly a worrying sign of things to come. So, are there any Ring users that would still vouch for the merits of the Basic subscription perks, even at these increased prices, or is this an unjustifiable and ruthless cash-grab that will have you scrolling down to that ‘cancel’ button?
SOURCE: Ring / BBC (via announcement and website)
IMAGES: Ring
