I’d like to describe my recent experience with DJI’s customer service department, adding to other reports available on various sites. I am posting to make fellow users aware of DJI business practices and to get it off my chest, I guess.
My DJI Phantom 3 Advanced functioned without problems until a day after the last flight, I was prompted by the DJI App to update firmware on both aircraft and the controller. I had updated firmware a number of times before, so this wasn’t anything new to me. The update on the drone seemed to go well with the expected sequence of beeps indicating completion. The text file on the microSD card indicated that it already had the latest firmware. This begs the question why I would be prompted to update FW if it’s already up to date but it gets worse from here. After I updated the FW on the RC, it completely lost connection with my tablet and with the aircraft. I followed protocols on the forum sites and recommended by DJI customer service chat with the goal to recover the RC to no avail. In the end, the DJI chat customer support person told me to send in both aircraft and RC.
A week later I get a repair quote of $289, later reduced to $245. The repairs call for a replacement of a Video Downlink Module V14 and a Phantom 3 Advanced Gimbal Video Downlink Main Board V10. I have no idea if those parts are in the aircraft or the RC.
I challenged the charges by contacting customer support, escalating to a “manager”. Customer service agents on the phone appeared ill informed and unable to provide any response other than telling me that the drone is out of warranty and therefore repairs would not be covered.
Of course, it is difficult to prove a causal relationship between the firmware update and the malfunction but the likelihood of a coincidence; i.e. the drone spontaneously breaking while a DJI mandated FW is being installed seems far-fetched to me. The manager speculated that the drone must have already been defective and that the FW update just brought that defect to light. This explanation appears implausible to me.
Needless to say, I am disappointed and angry. I am generally not a conspiracy theorist but it would be a pretty interesting business model to force customers to install faulty FW and then charge them to fix the damage. Analogous to the ransomware attacks, I guess. If you google the topic, you’ll find a class action lawsuit against DJI in early 2017 alleging exactly that. I am not a big fan of litigation and I don’t know the fate of that specific law suit. I suspect that indifference and incompetence are a lot more likely than a nefarious conspiracy but take your pick.
I was planning to purchase the Mavic Air or the rumored Mavic 2 to get a more portable drone option but I will not hand my money to a company that does not respect its customers and engages in these dubious business practices.
Any suggestions?
My DJI Phantom 3 Advanced functioned without problems until a day after the last flight, I was prompted by the DJI App to update firmware on both aircraft and the controller. I had updated firmware a number of times before, so this wasn’t anything new to me. The update on the drone seemed to go well with the expected sequence of beeps indicating completion. The text file on the microSD card indicated that it already had the latest firmware. This begs the question why I would be prompted to update FW if it’s already up to date but it gets worse from here. After I updated the FW on the RC, it completely lost connection with my tablet and with the aircraft. I followed protocols on the forum sites and recommended by DJI customer service chat with the goal to recover the RC to no avail. In the end, the DJI chat customer support person told me to send in both aircraft and RC.
A week later I get a repair quote of $289, later reduced to $245. The repairs call for a replacement of a Video Downlink Module V14 and a Phantom 3 Advanced Gimbal Video Downlink Main Board V10. I have no idea if those parts are in the aircraft or the RC.
I challenged the charges by contacting customer support, escalating to a “manager”. Customer service agents on the phone appeared ill informed and unable to provide any response other than telling me that the drone is out of warranty and therefore repairs would not be covered.
Of course, it is difficult to prove a causal relationship between the firmware update and the malfunction but the likelihood of a coincidence; i.e. the drone spontaneously breaking while a DJI mandated FW is being installed seems far-fetched to me. The manager speculated that the drone must have already been defective and that the FW update just brought that defect to light. This explanation appears implausible to me.
Needless to say, I am disappointed and angry. I am generally not a conspiracy theorist but it would be a pretty interesting business model to force customers to install faulty FW and then charge them to fix the damage. Analogous to the ransomware attacks, I guess. If you google the topic, you’ll find a class action lawsuit against DJI in early 2017 alleging exactly that. I am not a big fan of litigation and I don’t know the fate of that specific law suit. I suspect that indifference and incompetence are a lot more likely than a nefarious conspiracy but take your pick.
I was planning to purchase the Mavic Air or the rumored Mavic 2 to get a more portable drone option but I will not hand my money to a company that does not respect its customers and engages in these dubious business practices.
Any suggestions?
