How do i remove a previous owner whom I cannot contact

Hi - I have bought a home in Australia and it has a Ring Doorbell. I went through the setup process and it says the device is still assigned to the previous owner. We cannot get hold of the previous owners and have no idea where they are. I called the Australian support number for Ring and gave up after being on hold for more than 30 mins. How do I assign this Doorbell to myself please?

regards,

David Campbell

Good question @campbed100! When a device is owned prior to you, the previous owner will have to release ownership. Upon attempting a new setup of your device, the old owner will receive an email requesting they release ownership. Check out our Change of Ownership process for further steps on gaining ownership. If these steps do not resolve your concern, or result in your ownership of the device, our support team will be the best to assist further with this, by phone.

1 Like

They won’t do it for you. they’ll keep you on the phone for half an hour just to tell you, sorry here’s a discount for a replacement.

This…

Spent nearly two hours with three “different” csr… The first was called Mohamed, the second Mohamed Gamal and the third was called Mohanad…

I provided proof of purchase (eBay and PayPal, linked my Amazon account and provided access on two occasions with only the mention that it was to confirm my Amazon account… Only to be told at the end of it all, they couldn’t de-register the device and I could get a code for 30% off a new doorbell…

Really not good enough when I made a decision to buy a ring doorbell eventually, it should not matter there’s a second hand market for everything. I didn’t have the same issue with the Echo I bought used, set up and linked to my Amazon account with no hassle at all.

If anyone from Ring can reach out to offer some more assistance (and by that I mean an appropriate resolution) to help, that would mean a lot…

I have the same issue why i have to buy another device and i had one i have proof for purchase from ebay 2nd hand 30% is not enough

Hi @Abufarida. Ebay and other 3rd party distributers are not Authorized Ring Retail Partners. To find a list of Authorized Ring Retailers, visit this page here.

1 Like

Hi, Ring are just protecting themselves and users from third party takeover of their devices. Ring have no control over the 2nd hand market where there is no way of knowing where the units have come from. Some may be sold fully decom’d from the original owner and these can be connected to the Ring ecosystem, but others where the original owner has not reset them are potential stolen etc.

But there is a possible solution suggested on another thread. If the units don’t have a active Rjng Subs plan and they have not been connected to the Ring ecosystem for 60 days then ownership can be reset.

4 Likes

I agree with everything you say but just to add to my point, there was no suspicious circumstance in my case, I had all original packaging with matching S/N and MAC but the csrs didn’t want to know and security wouldn’t escalate… If the doorbell I had WAS stolen, I would expect and fully deserve Ring to pass my information to the authorities…

All my griping is moot now anyway as the other day I scanned the barcodes on the box in the Ring app under “set up a new device” and it totally worked !

Video doorbell 2 in fully working and mint condition and for the absolute bargain price I paid on eBay…

1 Like

Hi Murray, is this true? I’ll try and cut a long story short, i have 5 different types of ring cameras in 3 different locations, i deleted my account and data from the ring website but didn’t remove the ring devices from my ring app, so now i cant set up my cameras again as i can’t contact the previous owner (me) as i deleted the account, i effectively have about over £600 in cameras i cant use. I’m hoping what you said is true, if there is no active ring subscription and they have not been connected for 60 days then the ownership can be reset? Is this true? I hope you see this, thanks.

1 Like

This is ridiculous. So let me tell you my first impression on this… for one… its a video doorbell… two… ITS A VIDEO DOORBELL. I just moved into my sisters house and she asked me to install the Ring doorbell. So here i am going through the lengthy process in setting it up and installing the bracket etc. After having it connect to the wifi… AT THE VERY LAST STEP the device tells me that its registered under someone else and how i need to contact them to release ownership.
So here… i tried to chat with someone numerous times that got me nowhere and having me to call customer service having me give her all the information blah blah blah and when they told me the same thing that the device said… i asked her… “how do i contact someone who is dead?” She apologizes and then asks me for the death certificate and all the works. Like im supposed to have my dead brother in laws death certificate?? Then she tells me to get it frol my sister.
Look… do they really expect me to have MY SISTER WHO LOST HER HUSBAND IN SUCH A HORRIBLE WAY FOR HER TO GET ME THE D.C. JUST SO A VIDEO DOORBELL OWNERSHIP CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER LIVING PERSON?! ITS A VIDEO DOORBELL. THIS ISN’T ESTATE AND OR PROBATE.
And I todd the Rep look… i am not going to bother my sister… i said, "forget it… this isnt worth it. its a VIDEO DOORBELL.

i tell you what though… i will be sharing this FIRST AND LAST EXPERIENCE WITH RING ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY ALL DAY to let others know about this horrible experience. This is ridiculous.

Goodluck to all of you trying to get help from this company.

They might as well start charging for device registration and life insurance too while they’re at it.

…ridiculous

Did the exact same thing. Fortunately I only have one camera. Was told twice to wait 30 days and try to register again. Didn’t work, waited 60 days, same thing, called Tech Support, was on the phone for 2 hours, BUT….the technician found my device, IP address, and released it from hold.

2 Likes

Do you get notified when the previous owner releases the ring? Cheers

This totally sucks! I bought a Ring Alarm system at an estate sale. When I tried to set it up, it said it was already registered to another account. Talking to Ring was a waste of time. They want me to contact the previous owner, which I can’t do. Estate sales in the location I purchased it are generally because the home owners have died or have gone into a nursing home. I don’t know which is the case here. All Ring wants to do is give me a 30% discount on a new system.

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.