Netgear Class Action Says Arlo Baby Monitor Doesn’t Work as Advertised

Netgear faces a new class action lawsuit alleging that their Arlo Baby monitor does not work as advertised.

Lead plaintiff Ryan Klebba recently filed the class action against Netgear Inc. claiming that the Arlo Baby monitor is defective and unreliable.

In anticipation of the birth of his twins, Klebba says he purchased the Arlo Baby monitor in August 2017 for $244.

In September 2017, Klebba reportedly set up the Arlo Baby monitor in the nursery, only to realize that the video and audio monitoring features were unreliable.

He also found that using the monitor over an internet connection seemed to strain its core functionality. When denied a return via Amazon, Klebba says he reached out to Netgear and they agreed to send him a replacement. However, his problems with the Arlo Baby monitor allegedly continued.

In a later conversation with Netgear’s support staff, Klebba was reportedly told that the monitor could not maintain a reliable connection for video monitoring and that he should use audio monitoring exclusively.

In December 2017, a month after his twins were born, the Arlo Baby monitor allegedly failed to alert him and his wife that their children were crying. They woke up at 2 a.m. to find that both twins were crying and had been for about two hours.

“Klebba and his wife were shocked by the realization that their babies were unattended and in potential danger for hours, all because the Arlo Baby was unable to maintain a connection and, once disconnected, failed to reconnect automatically—despite disabling video monitoring and using exclusively audio monitoring, as suggested by Netgear,” the Netgear Arlo Baby monitor class action states.

The Arlo Baby monitor is advertised as an “all-in-one” monitoring system capable of video and audio monitoring. Netgear allegedly advertises the Arlo Baby monitor as a way to “always stay connected to the most important things in your life, even when you can’t be where they are.”

The Arlo Baby monitor can reportedly connect via WiFi, so its video and audio feeds could be viewed from a variety of devices including computers, cell phones, and tablets. A large selling point for the Arlo Baby monitor was the ability to combine it with Netgear’s companion tablet, the Netgear Arlo Baby monitor class action states. The tablet was allegedly to be released in Summer 2017.

According to the Netgear baby monitor class action, “the companion tablet promised the unique ability to stream the Arlo Baby to the tablet without an internet connection, thereby allowing consumers to monitor their baby away from Wi-Fi networks like a traditional baby monitor.”

However, Netgear allegedly failed to release the companion tablet, meaning that consumers could not use their Arlo Baby monitor without an internet connection. The Arlo Baby class action claims that this severely limits the usability of the monitor.

Another issue mentioned in the Netgear class action is the sporadic performance of the Arlo Baby monitor, even when connected to WiFi. Many consumers allegedly complain that the monitor frequently disconnects and fails to reconnect.

The Netgear Arlo Baby monitor class action claims that this, combined with the lack of a companion tablet, makes the Arlo Baby monitor unable to accomplish its designed task: “provid[ing] continuous monitoring of babies while the parents attempted to sleep in a different room.”

Klebba seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased an Arlo Baby monitor. He also seeks to represent a Texas Class of the same consumers, protected under state consumer laws. The Netgear baby monitor class action seeks actual damages, consequential damages, compensatory damages, restitution, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiff is represented by Aaron D. Radbil and Alexander D. Kruzyk of Greenwald Davidson Radbil PLLC.

The Netgear Arlo Baby Monitor Class Action Lawsuit is Klebba v. Netgear Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv-00438-RP, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.