Disappointed in DJI after Phantom spirals out if control.

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Terribly disappointed in DJI.
So last week I was flying my Phantom 4 pro on a real estate job, I take off like usual and everything is normal. After about 3 1/2 minutes I climb up to about 300 feet to get an overhead shot of the property when I get 2 quick error messages that said ESC error. So I try to descend and it immediately spirals out of control landing in the water of the adjoining marina. Luckily it didn't hit anything or anyone..
Fortunately I had it insured so will be reimbursed for it. But this is the disappointing part. (to me anyways)
First I contacted DJI support and after waiting online for like an hour texted with someone who stated that because the drone was over a year old that I could send them the flight data and for $65 US they would review the flight logs for me. I told them I already had Airdata and it clearly shows the ESC error message 3 seconds before it went down. So I asked if this was for replacing the Phantom? They stated that if it were from a known issue then there may be something. So I was given a phone number to call which I did. After being on hold for over an hour I was very briefly told to send an email to the support team with all of the details. Which I did and the response I received from that is, We are sorry but your product being over a year old, it is out of warranty. And basically went on to say that they would be more than happy to sell me a brand new drone at full price.
It truly shows that you are basically on your own once the check clears. I have been a supporter of them for quite a few years and have talked alot of friends into getting their products, and then basically being told sorry about your luck. It is making me seriously consider going to the competition with this type of customer service.
Sorry for the rant. Just mad.
Thanks,
 
Not trying to start an argument but what did you expect them to do for something that is out of warranty? There has to be a limit somewhere beyonf which anyone will say "Sorry but........" .
My initial interaction with DJI was to inform them I had also had the issue and have seen on on several forums. It was more their response that was disconcerting.
Basically being told that they were not interested in supporting but more selling.
 
My initial interaction with DJI was to inform them I had also had the issue and have seen on on several forums. It was more their response that was disconcerting.
Basically being told that they were not interested in supporting but more selling.
OK but what can you expect from a product that is out of warranty? If your car's transmission fails one month after the warranty expires, what response would you get from the dealer? It also wouldn't matter if it was a Yugo or a Mercedes. The item is beyond its factory warranty so any failures will not be covered by the manufacturer.

If you were still within the warranty period and it was indeed a manufacturer defect, then yes of course we would expect the manufacturer to do something. If you got that response under warranty then of course there would be something to be upset about.

I know it sucks to lose an expensive piece of machinery that is basically still new. It's the risk we take any time we buy anything that is electronic or mechanical.
 
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You don't leave anyone on the phone for an hour. Customer service is non existent. Even though the warranty had expired they could have offered all the advice they had about any such problems being reported. Their product shouldn't be falling out of the sky as soon as the warranty is over but they are who they are. Make your next purchase without their name on it. That's the only way to handle that. Opinions are like rear ends, everyone has one.
 
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I've been hearing bad things about DJI customer service for years, ever since I bought my first Phantom 1 way back in 2013. I believe that it's true that they're far more interested in selling product then taking care of their customers. They know they still have the lion's share of the worldwide market for consumer and prosumer drones-I've never heard of any other company stepping up and giving them serious competition (many have tired and failed, some are still trying). But of course, none of us saw Corona Virus coming. That's screwed up just about everything. IMHO, of course. YMMV.
 
Several fellow DJI folks have sent me this:

The DJI Drone Company’s future is Uncertain.

This will be posted in the next few days- the author is still working on it. But many employees have changed their linkedIn profiles to record the fact that they were laid off:DJI is a privately-held company and, unlike Amazon or Apple, it does not need to provide quarterly statements or annual reports to the public.

The absence of such reports makes it near impossible for outsiders to get a sense of how the company performs. Especially after recent rumors of layoffs and drastic reorganization, many people, including myself, have been wondering what is going on with DJI. To find out more, I have reached out to several people close to the DJI organization, and I have been contacted by former DJI employees to help create a clearer picture of what is happening within DJI.

First, DJI's sales and profits tanked, Information we received from DJI insiders, and people closely related to the company, indicate that sales for March may be down by as much as 80% year-over-year. Profits are reportedly down even more. The dramatic decrease in sales is directly linked to the rapid spreading coronavirus, although sales had been down already due to the implemented trade tariffs and the increasing geopolitical tensions between the U.S and China.

It seems that DJI saw the coronavirus as an excellent opportunity to clean their house and reorganize its business, resulting in a large number of layoffs across its organization.The layoffs appear not only to be limited to the U.S. offices of DJI. We have received reports of similar organizational changes in Europe and in Shenzhen, China.

In the U.S., most of the layoffs seem to have impacted the Burbank, California office, where reportedly mostly older and Caucasian employees were let go. Other DJI offices in Cerritos, CA, Palo Alto, CA, and New York, NY, have seen layoffs as well. Most of the layoffs in the U.S., during which about 30% of total staff lost their jobs, took place unceremoniously around March 27th.

A second round, however, is rumored to take place around April 25th, which may result in about half the total U.S. staff having lost their jobs. “By May 1st, DJI will have laid-off over 50% of U.S. staff. This is support staff, repair staff, marketing staff, and software engineering staff - across all divisions in all U.S. sites from Burbank to Cerritos to Palo Alto to NYC," said a senior legal adviser to DJI who has direct firsthand knowledge. "Large quantities of layoffs have occurred internationally, and more will follow as well. "The Cerritos offices are DJI's primary repair and maintenance facility for the North American market. Even though select repair centers in Canada also perform basic repairs, any issues related to flight log decryption or analysis are dealt with in California or back in Shenzhen, China.In Burbank, CA, where DJI's marketing and sales operations are based, as many as 20 out of 40 employees reportedly lost their jobs. Some of these positions are allegedly now filled by ex-Huawei employees.

DJI's York offices are much smaller, housing only about 15-20 people. About five people reportedly lost their jobs at this location. Many of DJI's long term partners and dealers did not receive any upfront warning about the changes that were about to take place in the organization, leaving many of them wondering what had happened to their account managers. One former employee said that "DJI terminated 30% of its employees without any advance notice, with only a few days left till the end of the month and end of health insurance coverage, during the worst pandemic that has hit the world in recent years. "DJI's heavy-handed and unprofessional approach to the layoffs saw people being escorted out of the buildings by security and without any severance packages.”

The same senior legal adviser, I quoted earlier, said, "DJI showed a remarkable lack of empathy and professionalism in discarding some very loyal employees. Even though economically DJI is seeing a massive reduction in revenue and had to reduce employment positions, the way they handled this was unconscionable and reflects in such a bad way on the culture of this company. It isn't cultural as relating to China- because we deal with many other Asian companies. It is cultural to DJI. "Return DJI's drone hardware or else ... Some of the former employees were asked to return any drone equipment and other hardware belonging to DJI within a week of receiving their termination notice.” This request was nearly impossible to comply with, given the coronavirus lockdown situation in New York and California. Allegedly, some former employees were threatened with law enforcement seizure and legal action for “theft of company property,” simply because they were unable to transport significant amounts of drone hardware back to the offices within the limited timeframe provided by DJI.

The situation at DJI's head offices in Shenzhen, China, is not much better apparently. Many of the drone makers employees, half of whom are still working from home, were asked to come into the offices for a meeting. After the layoffs were announced and after handing over any equipment, they were cut off from work email and escorted out of the building. The layoffs occurred across DJI's consumer, enterprise, and agriculture departments.

While we do not have any specific information about any layoffs in Europe, it seems that they did not escape unscathed. DJI diversifies its product offering to offset diminishing drone sales. As we have seen a dramatic slow down in drone sales over the last two years, it comes as no surprise that DJI has been looking to diversify its product offering.

The company has had the Ronin-S, the Osmo, and the Osmo Mobile products for some time. Still, more recently they added the Osmo Pocket, Robomaster S1, Osmo Action, and made a big push into the “ Light Detection and Ranging unit” (LiDAR) market with its subsidiary LIVOX.

Frank Wang has allegedly hired a Huawei consultant to advise him on how to restructure DJI in these turbulent times. In combination with China now having become DJI's largest market, this has led to more Chinese employees being pushed into strategic positions within the company. Many international employees fear that with these changes, concerns in the U.S. about DJI's treatment of data security might no longer receive the attention they deserve.

DJI's strategic focus now seems to be on producing good hardware and less so on offering the services and software that customers in Europe and North America are asking for. Mario Rebello's recent departure from DJI is an example of how things have changed within DJI. During his time with the drone maker in North America, Rebello was very focused on convincing the various departments of the U.S. government that DJI drones could be safely used. The company worked closely together with the Department of the Interior to develop a special “Government Edition” that would make it impossible for certain drones to transmit any information over the internet and thus possibly back to China.

Besides having hired a Huawei consultant, DJI's founder Frank Wang has allegedly brought a number of ex-employees from shuttered Huawei U.S. offices into DJI's Burbank location. Many of DJI's international staff oppose this move as Huawei's influence and a poor approach to U.S.-China relation has caused their company to be shut out of the U.S. market. And most believe that it would be best for DJI to distance itself from any Huawei association in light of the current geopolitical tension.

We have received information that Mario Rebello will likely not be the last high-ranking U.S. executive to leave DJI, reportedly four more senior people are looking to exit the organization in the near future. Drone-XL's take The layoffs and overall changes in the organization, make you wonder what will be in store for DJI in the next few years. Specifically, in the U.S. market, where trade relations with China have been very tense.

Will enthusiasts and pilots of unmanned aircraft, be able to buy DJI drones going forward? I think so, especially with DJI's recent announcement.

If there ever was a time for an American drone company to get its share of the market now seems to be an ideal time. Skydio Drone, Impossible Aerospace Corp.

Almost all of the information has been presented to me by anonymous sources. These include former DJI employees as well as people who have been working closely for a significant time with the drone maker. I have tried my best to cross-reference the information I received and feel confident that it provides an accurate picture of what is currently happening at DJI.




.
 
You don't leave anyone on the phone for an hour. Customer service is non existent. Even though the warranty had expired they could have offered all the advice they had about any such problems being reported. Their product shouldn't be falling out of the sky as soon as the warranty is over but they are who they are. Make your next purchase without their name on it. That's the only way to handle that. Opinions are like rear ends, everyone has one.
With many companies running little if any customer service operations during the covid -19 issues I am actually surprised you were able to reach anyone! Call Amazon customer service and you get a recording there is no one available during the outbreak!
 
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One interesting difference is that your car doesn't total itself when some part goes out of warranty in most cases. But drones fall from the sky when any part fails.
 
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Terribly disappointed in DJI.
So last week I was flying my Phantom 4 pro on a real estate job, I take off like usual and everything is normal. After about 3 1/2 minutes I climb up to about 300 feet to get an overhead shot of the property when I get 2 quick error messages that said ESC error. So I try to descend and it immediately spirals out of control landing in the water of the adjoining marina. Luckily it didn't hit anything or anyone..
Fortunately I had it insured so will be reimbursed for it. But this is the disappointing part. (to me anyways)
First I contacted DJI support and after waiting online for like an hour texted with someone who stated that because the drone was over a year old that I could send them the flight data and for $65 US they would review the flight logs for me. I told them I already had Airdata and it clearly shows the ESC error message 3 seconds before it went down. So I asked if this was for replacing the Phantom? They stated that if it were from a known issue then there may be something. So I was given a phone number to call which I did. After being on hold for over an hour I was very briefly told to send an email to the support team with all of the details. Which I did and the response I received from that is, We are sorry but your product being over a year old, it is out of warranty. And basically went on to say that they would be more than happy to sell me a brand new drone at full price.
It truly shows that you are basically on your own once the check clears. I have been a supporter of them for quite a few years and have talked alot of friends into getting their products, and then basically being told sorry about your luck. It is making me seriously consider going to the competition with this type of customer service.
Sorry for the rant. Just mad.
Thanks,
which device were u using! DJI publishes compatible devises and only one has 100% Google phone, the rest are not that compatible!
 
One interesting difference is that your car doesn't total itself when some part goes out of warranty in most cases. But drones fall from the sky when any part fails.
And not all drones destroy themselves when an out of warranty part fails....
 
which device were u using! DJI publishes compatible devises and only one has 100% Google phone, the rest are not that compatible!
1. Your phone cannot cause hardware problems in the drone
2. DJI's list of recommended phones is woefully inadequate.
They rarely test any phones or update their list.
There are many very good flying phones and tablets that DJI have never looked at.
 
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Well i have to say i've never bought anything from DJI but i do have a phantom 2 vision +... But i have learned over the years in the auto business that sometimes not always even if the warranty has expired the company or the dealer may take care of it for you , its called customer satisfaction.. And its not just the auto industry... Ive seen it happen in all kind of businesses.. The stupid question is the one that is not asked.... So i think DJI could use some compassion when dealing with the public... One more thought ,everyone in there life should have to work and deal with the public .....
 
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Several fellow DJI folks have sent me this:

The DJI Drone Company’s future is Uncertain.

This will be posted in the next few days- the author is still working on it. But many employees have changed their linkedIn profiles to record the fact that they were laid off:DJI is a privately-held company and, unlike Amazon or Apple, it does not need to provide quarterly statements or annual reports to the public.

The absence of such reports makes it near impossible for outsiders to get a sense of how the company performs. Especially after recent rumors of layoffs and drastic reorganization, many people, including myself, have been wondering what is going on with DJI. To find out more, I have reached out to several people close to the DJI organization, and I have been contacted by former DJI employees to help create a clearer picture of what is happening within DJI.

First, DJI's sales and profits tanked, Information we received from DJI insiders, and people closely related to the company, indicate that sales for March may be down by as much as 80% year-over-year. Profits are reportedly down even more. The dramatic decrease in sales is directly linked to the rapid spreading coronavirus, although sales had been down already due to the implemented trade tariffs and the increasing geopolitical tensions between the U.S and China.

It seems that DJI saw the coronavirus as an excellent opportunity to clean their house and reorganize its business, resulting in a large number of layoffs across its organization.The layoffs appear not only to be limited to the U.S. offices of DJI. We have received reports of similar organizational changes in Europe and in Shenzhen, China.

In the U.S., most of the layoffs seem to have impacted the Burbank, California office, where reportedly mostly older and Caucasian employees were let go. Other DJI offices in Cerritos, CA, Palo Alto, CA, and New York, NY, have seen layoffs as well. Most of the layoffs in the U.S., during which about 30% of total staff lost their jobs, took place unceremoniously around March 27th.

A second round, however, is rumored to take place around April 25th, which may result in about half the total U.S. staff having lost their jobs. “By May 1st, DJI will have laid-off over 50% of U.S. staff. This is support staff, repair staff, marketing staff, and software engineering staff - across all divisions in all U.S. sites from Burbank to Cerritos to Palo Alto to NYC," said a senior legal adviser to DJI who has direct firsthand knowledge. "Large quantities of layoffs have occurred internationally, and more will follow as well. "The Cerritos offices are DJI's primary repair and maintenance facility for the North American market. Even though select repair centers in Canada also perform basic repairs, any issues related to flight log decryption or analysis are dealt with in California or back in Shenzhen, China.In Burbank, CA, where DJI's marketing and sales operations are based, as many as 20 out of 40 employees reportedly lost their jobs. Some of these positions are allegedly now filled by ex-Huawei employees.

DJI's York offices are much smaller, housing only about 15-20 people. About five people reportedly lost their jobs at this location. Many of DJI's long term partners and dealers did not receive any upfront warning about the changes that were about to take place in the organization, leaving many of them wondering what had happened to their account managers. One former employee said that "DJI terminated 30% of its employees without any advance notice, with only a few days left till the end of the month and end of health insurance coverage, during the worst pandemic that has hit the world in recent years. "DJI's heavy-handed and unprofessional approach to the layoffs saw people being escorted out of the buildings by security and without any severance packages.”

The same senior legal adviser, I quoted earlier, said, "DJI showed a remarkable lack of empathy and professionalism in discarding some very loyal employees. Even though economically DJI is seeing a massive reduction in revenue and had to reduce employment positions, the way they handled this was unconscionable and reflects in such a bad way on the culture of this company. It isn't cultural as relating to China- because we deal with many other Asian companies. It is cultural to DJI. "Return DJI's drone hardware or else ... Some of the former employees were asked to return any drone equipment and other hardware belonging to DJI within a week of receiving their termination notice.” This request was nearly impossible to comply with, given the coronavirus lockdown situation in New York and California. Allegedly, some former employees were threatened with law enforcement seizure and legal action for “theft of company property,” simply because they were unable to transport significant amounts of drone hardware back to the offices within the limited timeframe provided by DJI.

The situation at DJI's head offices in Shenzhen, China, is not much better apparently. Many of the drone makers employees, half of whom are still working from home, were asked to come into the offices for a meeting. After the layoffs were announced and after handing over any equipment, they were cut off from work email and escorted out of the building. The layoffs occurred across DJI's consumer, enterprise, and agriculture departments.

While we do not have any specific information about any layoffs in Europe, it seems that they did not escape unscathed. DJI diversifies its product offering to offset diminishing drone sales. As we have seen a dramatic slow down in drone sales over the last two years, it comes as no surprise that DJI has been looking to diversify its product offering.

The company has had the Ronin-S, the Osmo, and the Osmo Mobile products for some time. Still, more recently they added the Osmo Pocket, Robomaster S1, Osmo Action, and made a big push into the “ Light Detection and Ranging unit” (LiDAR) market with its subsidiary LIVOX.

Frank Wang has allegedly hired a Huawei consultant to advise him on how to restructure DJI in these turbulent times. In combination with China now having become DJI's largest market, this has led to more Chinese employees being pushed into strategic positions within the company. Many international employees fear that with these changes, concerns in the U.S. about DJI's treatment of data security might no longer receive the attention they deserve.

DJI's strategic focus now seems to be on producing good hardware and less so on offering the services and software that customers in Europe and North America are asking for. Mario Rebello's recent departure from DJI is an example of how things have changed within DJI. During his time with the drone maker in North America, Rebello was very focused on convincing the various departments of the U.S. government that DJI drones could be safely used. The company worked closely together with the Department of the Interior to develop a special “Government Edition” that would make it impossible for certain drones to transmit any information over the internet and thus possibly back to China.

Besides having hired a Huawei consultant, DJI's founder Frank Wang has allegedly brought a number of ex-employees from shuttered Huawei U.S. offices into DJI's Burbank location. Many of DJI's international staff oppose this move as Huawei's influence and a poor approach to U.S.-China relation has caused their company to be shut out of the U.S. market. And most believe that it would be best for DJI to distance itself from any Huawei association in light of the current geopolitical tension.

We have received information that Mario Rebello will likely not be the last high-ranking U.S. executive to leave DJI, reportedly four more senior people are looking to exit the organization in the near future. Drone-XL's take The layoffs and overall changes in the organization, make you wonder what will be in store for DJI in the next few years. Specifically, in the U.S. market, where trade relations with China have been very tense.

Will enthusiasts and pilots of unmanned aircraft, be able to buy DJI drones going forward? I think so, especially with DJI's recent announcement.

If there ever was a time for an American drone company to get its share of the market now seems to be an ideal time. Skydio Drone, Impossible Aerospace Corp.

Almost all of the information has been presented to me by anonymous sources. These include former DJI employees as well as people who have been working closely for a significant time with the drone maker. I have tried my best to cross-reference the information I received and feel confident that it provides an accurate picture of what is currently happening at DJI.




.
I can't believe the amount of AC falling out of the sky recently, and with people reporting on here, is NOT good publicity for DJI..The years warranty stinks, especially if it's just out of warranty and you lose everything, makes you think that there is a program on board that trips just after the year is up, so as to get you to buy a new one..Paying nearly a couple of grand for a years hobby is not very good value for money..

Keep safe - len
 
I can't believe the amount of AC falling out of the sky recently, and with people reporting on here, is NOT good publicity for DJI..The years warranty stinks, especially if it's just out of warranty and you lose everything, makes you think that there is a program on board that trips just after the year is up, so as to get you to buy a new one..Paying nearly a couple of grand for a years hobby is not very good value for money..

Keep safe - len
But ain't it fun,,,I got drones ,large 1/5 scale rc cars and helicopters,,,it sure beats buying drugs and I'm hooked on rc,it keeps you alive,,the smell of nitro and methonal and castor oil makes me want to drink it,,,,,yes lost a p4 to freefall after a year was up,gutted,,
 
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But ain't it fun,,,I got drones ,large 1/5 scale rc cars and helicopters,,,it sure beats buying drugs and I'm hooked on rc,it keeps you alive,,the smell of nitro and methonal and castor oil makes me want to drink it,,,,,yes lost a p4 to freefall after a year was up,gutted,,

I am a newbie to this flying lark…..And love it!!!

Len
 
I can't believe the amount of AC falling out of the sky recently, and with people reporting on here, is NOT good publicity for DJI.
The years warranty stinks, especially if it's just out of warranty and you lose everything, makes you think that there is a program on board that trips just after the year is up, so as to get you to buy a new one.
Paying nearly a couple of grand for a years hobby is not very good value for money.
The number of reported drones falling from the sky is the same very small number as always.
And there are many that are still flying several years after the warranty has expired.
Contrived to have the product fail just after warranty expires would be a crazy marketing plan.
A company doing that isn't going to get many repeat customers.
 
Several fellow DJI folks have sent me this:

The DJI Drone Company’s future is Uncertain.

This will be posted in the next few days- the author is still working on it. But many employees have changed their linkedIn profiles to record the fact that they were laid off:DJI is a privately-held company and, unlike Amazon or Apple, it does not need to provide quarterly statements or annual reports to the public.

The absence of such reports makes it near impossible for outsiders to get a sense of how the company performs. Especially after recent rumors of layoffs and drastic reorganization, many people, including myself, have been wondering what is going on with DJI. To find out more, I have reached out to several people close to the DJI organization, and I have been contacted by former DJI employees to help create a clearer picture of what is happening within DJI.

First, DJI's sales and profits tanked, Information we received from DJI insiders, and people closely related to the company, indicate that sales for March may be down by as much as 80% year-over-year. Profits are reportedly down even more. The dramatic decrease in sales is directly linked to the rapid spreading coronavirus, although sales had been down already due to the implemented trade tariffs and the increasing geopolitical tensions between the U.S and China.

It seems that DJI saw the coronavirus as an excellent opportunity to clean their house and reorganize its business, resulting in a large number of layoffs across its organization.The layoffs appear not only to be limited to the U.S. offices of DJI. We have received reports of similar organizational changes in Europe and in Shenzhen, China.

In the U.S., most of the layoffs seem to have impacted the Burbank, California office, where reportedly mostly older and Caucasian employees were let go. Other DJI offices in Cerritos, CA, Palo Alto, CA, and New York, NY, have seen layoffs as well. Most of the layoffs in the U.S., during which about 30% of total staff lost their jobs, took place unceremoniously around March 27th.

A second round, however, is rumored to take place around April 25th, which may result in about half the total U.S. staff having lost their jobs. “By May 1st, DJI will have laid-off over 50% of U.S. staff. This is support staff, repair staff, marketing staff, and software engineering staff - across all divisions in all U.S. sites from Burbank to Cerritos to Palo Alto to NYC," said a senior legal adviser to DJI who has direct firsthand knowledge. "Large quantities of layoffs have occurred internationally, and more will follow as well. "The Cerritos offices are DJI's primary repair and maintenance facility for the North American market. Even though select repair centers in Canada also perform basic repairs, any issues related to flight log decryption or analysis are dealt with in California or back in Shenzhen, China.In Burbank, CA, where DJI's marketing and sales operations are based, as many as 20 out of 40 employees reportedly lost their jobs. Some of these positions are allegedly now filled by ex-Huawei employees.

DJI's York offices are much smaller, housing only about 15-20 people. About five people reportedly lost their jobs at this location. Many of DJI's long term partners and dealers did not receive any upfront warning about the changes that were about to take place in the organization, leaving many of them wondering what had happened to their account managers. One former employee said that "DJI terminated 30% of its employees without any advance notice, with only a few days left till the end of the month and end of health insurance coverage, during the worst pandemic that has hit the world in recent years. "DJI's heavy-handed and unprofessional approach to the layoffs saw people being escorted out of the buildings by security and without any severance packages.”

The same senior legal adviser, I quoted earlier, said, "DJI showed a remarkable lack of empathy and professionalism in discarding some very loyal employees. Even though economically DJI is seeing a massive reduction in revenue and had to reduce employment positions, the way they handled this was unconscionable and reflects in such a bad way on the culture of this company. It isn't cultural as relating to China- because we deal with many other Asian companies. It is cultural to DJI. "Return DJI's drone hardware or else ... Some of the former employees were asked to return any drone equipment and other hardware belonging to DJI within a week of receiving their termination notice.” This request was nearly impossible to comply with, given the coronavirus lockdown situation in New York and California. Allegedly, some former employees were threatened with law enforcement seizure and legal action for “theft of company property,” simply because they were unable to transport significant amounts of drone hardware back to the offices within the limited timeframe provided by DJI.

The situation at DJI's head offices in Shenzhen, China, is not much better apparently. Many of the drone makers employees, half of whom are still working from home, were asked to come into the offices for a meeting. After the layoffs were announced and after handing over any equipment, they were cut off from work email and escorted out of the building. The layoffs occurred across DJI's consumer, enterprise, and agriculture departments.

While we do not have any specific information about any layoffs in Europe, it seems that they did not escape unscathed. DJI diversifies its product offering to offset diminishing drone sales. As we have seen a dramatic slow down in drone sales over the last two years, it comes as no surprise that DJI has been looking to diversify its product offering.

The company has had the Ronin-S, the Osmo, and the Osmo Mobile products for some time. Still, more recently they added the Osmo Pocket, Robomaster S1, Osmo Action, and made a big push into the “ Light Detection and Ranging unit” (LiDAR) market with its subsidiary LIVOX.

Frank Wang has allegedly hired a Huawei consultant to advise him on how to restructure DJI in these turbulent times. In combination with China now having become DJI's largest market, this has led to more Chinese employees being pushed into strategic positions within the company. Many international employees fear that with these changes, concerns in the U.S. about DJI's treatment of data security might no longer receive the attention they deserve.

DJI's strategic focus now seems to be on producing good hardware and less so on offering the services and software that customers in Europe and North America are asking for. Mario Rebello's recent departure from DJI is an example of how things have changed within DJI. During his time with the drone maker in North America, Rebello was very focused on convincing the various departments of the U.S. government that DJI drones could be safely used. The company worked closely together with the Department of the Interior to develop a special “Government Edition” that would make it impossible for certain drones to transmit any information over the internet and thus possibly back to China.

Besides having hired a Huawei consultant, DJI's founder Frank Wang has allegedly brought a number of ex-employees from shuttered Huawei U.S. offices into DJI's Burbank location. Many of DJI's international staff oppose this move as Huawei's influence and a poor approach to U.S.-China relation has caused their company to be shut out of the U.S. market. And most believe that it would be best for DJI to distance itself from any Huawei association in light of the current geopolitical tension.

We have received information that Mario Rebello will likely not be the last high-ranking U.S. executive to leave DJI, reportedly four more senior people are looking to exit the organization in the near future. Drone-XL's take The layoffs and overall changes in the organization, make you wonder what will be in store for DJI in the next few years. Specifically, in the U.S. market, where trade relations with China have been very tense.

Will enthusiasts and pilots of unmanned aircraft, be able to buy DJI drones going forward? I think so, especially with DJI's recent announcement.

If there ever was a time for an American drone company to get its share of the market now seems to be an ideal time. Skydio Drone, Impossible Aerospace Corp.

Almost all of the information has been presented to me by anonymous sources. These include former DJI employees as well as people who have been working closely for a significant time with the drone maker. I have tried my best to cross-reference the information I received and feel confident that it provides an accurate picture of what is currently happening at DJI.




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In CCP CHINA! there is no such thing as a private ownership, it may look like it but the CCP COMMIES require any company like that they agree if the CCP COMMIES want that business they take it! On top of everything US Congresspeople want DJI drones banned in some sort of fashion. CCP COMMIE REGULATIONS REQUIRE EVERY COMAPNY ;LIKE DJI, HUAWEI OR SIMILAR COMPANIES TO HAVE THEIR SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE CAPABLE OF GATHERING AND TRANSMITITNG INFO BACK TO CHINA
 
I can't believe the amount of AC falling out of the sky recently, and with people reporting on here, is NOT good publicity for DJI..The years warranty stinks, especially if it's just out of warranty and you lose everything, makes you think that there is a program on board that trips just after the year is up, so as to get you to buy a new one..Paying nearly a couple of grand for a years hobby is not very good value for money..

Keep safe - len
Your view of the data is obviously skewed. You are on a forum where people post problems, issues, and questions. Of course someone will post that their drone "dropped out of the sky" or "flew away". The fact is that the vast majority are pilot error. The other true hardware malfunctions are a miniscule percentage of the total drones out there. If we had a post here every time someone had a successful flight without incident, you would get tired very quickly of scrolling through hundred of thousands of successful flights before coming a cross a failed flight.

Personally I think a year of warranty covering manufacturer defects is fair. You also have the option to purchase Care Refresh and Care Refresh + which would leave you covered for a full 2 years EVEN IF you crash the drone with 100% pilot error.

Nothing of course is impossible but I find it unfathomable to think that DJI or any manufacturer would have programmed code to cause a failure after the warranty expires. How would you see all of the existing drones which are way older than one year? I have several myself that are many years old and never had an issue. Furthermore, there are ways to read firmware and I am sure someone would have found that code buried deep inside the firmware at some point. It would come out and would destroy the company. VW never though anyone would discover the programming to purposely mislead diesel emissions readings but it was found out and VW took a huge hit!

I agree that paying a few grand for one year of usage is ludicrous, but I don't see that being the case. My fleet is all older than one year. I've never had a crash or fly-away and my oldest craft is a P3P with many years of usage on it. If one did occur at some point, I deifinitely would not be happy about it but I would have to pick up the pieces and move on.
 

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