DroneFly..... DJI are two peas in pod!!!

[Sidewinder]

Oh, and DroneFly's 30 day money back guarantee goes like this ........

You fly it ... you bought it. You can only return it unopened and there will be, I think, a 20 or 30% restocking fee. The website say this:

We fully stand by our products and will refund your money if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

Misuse, abuse, or neglect negates this warranty. If you have any problems with your order, please email us right away - so that we can resolve any issues and work with you to keep your gear in good working order.

Our customers come first!

I had about 10 minutes on the Vision when the camera and wifi took a crap. Didn't even land it, snagged it out of the air by hand. When I called and after seeing all the other problems other users were having. ...... "Sorry that's our policy you will have to get authorization from DJI".

How are you suppose to know everything's working and okay without a test flight. Then, they wanted to send me another vision after I got DJI to agree BUT they wanted my permission to break the seal and update the firmware and do a test flight. How am I to know I would get a new Phantom and not one that had problems and was returned, repaired and sent along to me. Answer: I wouldn't. That would require confidence and trust in them. How much of that would you expect me to have at that point.

All I'm saying is that it's truly Caveat Emptor In this little sector right now.

UPS shows my order on the way ..... but It would still be sitting there in Newbury Park had I not called again this afternoon and complained, yet again, about it not shipping. Thank you William ... the only guy over there that seems to halfway know what's going on.

 

[Ksc]

if the quad/phantom business picked up and people started buying them like they did the AR Drone, we would see a huge drop in price due to all the competition and options. Problem is that companies like drone fly who pull junk like this give the end user a bad taste and they just say "forget this, I was happier with RC Cars" or whatever else they did before. It is a shame. The other problem is that despite their numerous wrong doing to customers, people still buy from them. Probably because people learn about the phantom before reading reviews about drone fly and they go to DJIs website and see drone fly as an option and they just click and buy. They then are unhappy and regret it and leave quads. DJI is happy because drone fly places purchases orders so they have no reason to remove them as a dealer and reaching DJI is impossible to complain about them as a dealer. We can only hope to help people on the forum but people still buy from them. Until they see a decline in sales, they have no reason to change their ways and actually do a better job.

 

[Sidewinder]

I honestly think if everything was "normal" I would have had no problem with DroneFly. AND I still fault DJI as being the direct proximate cause of issues involving myself. Having said that DroneFly dropped the ball the way it was resolved. I can even somewhat understand them billing me when they advertised that billing would only occur when the product was shipped. But the problems just kept coming. I wish no one ill will and don't like to see any business suffer especially, in this economy. But man, there's just so much folks are willing to put up with and if handled wrong the ol invisible hand will give you a smack down.

Colin Quinn touted this Vision at NAB and at trade shows all over the place and before they even had a full working model. Given their past success with the Phantom I thought wow that's clever and innovative think I'll try one. I'm more inclined to build my own stuff but hey, with all the features and extended flight time I'll pay a little premium and try their product. WRONG

I still intend to mess with the P2 when it arrives and the Vision flew quite well and felt solid what little time I had with it but I think they have not completely overcome the battery problem and that's likely because they want to keep it proprietary. Don't fault them for that but at least make it reliable.

Some of the flyaways ...... compass problems, lack of situational awareness on the part of the user? Without question however, there's just too many being reported to cause me to believe that many people screw up. Without stored telemetry data and/or recovery of the lost hull it's hard to prove either way. I know what it sounds like when someone reports one of these uncontrolled crashes and a lot of them sound operator induced but if you aren't there and witness it how can you possibly know. Just because someones new at the hobby/sport does not preclude the equipment failing. It's only natural the dealers and DJI eliminate that the new user didn't cause the loss through ignorance, after all these things are expensive. But if something's just broke, then make it right sans all the frustration.

Sorry for the rant I know some don't want to hear it but today just put me over the edge with the dealer and DJI for wasting so much of my time. I have 4-5 of these things because I enjoy flying and filming with them not so I can argue my case over the phone or worry about losing my investment.

 

[Hiway]

Dronefly has no problems getting promotional vids up on youtube- perhaps they should exercise as much diligence after the sale as they do in acquiring it.... but that would be too much like right.

I sent another email to follow up out of curiosity- this thread prompted me as I wasn't sure how bad it truly was: still no response after 2 days- screw it; I'm a gonna fly.

(I am really thanking my lucky stars I got a good copter and didn't need to return it)

 

[Sidewinder]

Well, hopefully my saga has ended with them. The P2 arrived today and I charged up the battery, put the gimbal together and installed it. I don't have time to fly it today and may not have time until after Christmas but a dry run in the living room for a minute or so indicated that everything works out of the box.

Now for this evening all's left is to hook it to the computer and see what's on it and if I want to bring the firmware up to date. That little gimbal is pretty snazzy, I do like it but for the life of me don't see the value in the pricing DJI has. Hey, I believe in the free market and the old invisible hand so supply and demand rules ..... time will tell.

This foray into DJI world has proved to be a giant PITA and wasted a bunch of my time because of pure BS. They say never say never but this case is as close as I come to just that. Still .... time will tell.

After I've had some time to fly this thing I'll formulate an opinion and pass it on here in a different thread.

 

[Ksc]

I would love for someone to come out with a phantom competitor. Blade tried but its garbage. If we can get a phantom alternative, we will see lower prices and better customer service.

 

[Sidewinder]

Got a couple of those Blade 350QX's and like 'em. One was a crash I bought from another guy and it's now flawless and I bought a new one just in case I get goofy because it is quite nimble and I like to shake it up a bit. Planning on putting a gimbal on the newer one and leave the other a slick for aerobatics and general hooligan flying.

All these things are just a bit different .... just depends on what you want to do with them.

 

[Elginet]

I saw this post and almost spit my Diet Coke out. I ordered something from Dronefly on Wednesday (actually late Tuesday night) last week. Paid for 2nd day air. When it didn't show on Friday, I emailed em. It was supposedly UPS's fault and they were going to refund my shipping. Tonight they emailed me (keep in mind...I did get the package today), and tried to tell me that I didn't order it until the 19th (Thursday), so it wouldn't come til tomorrow. I emailed them a copy of their packing slip that showed the 18th (Wed 1:54pm) as the order date and time.

THEN....

I've been going round and round with DJI about the radio since my P2V won't go more than 150' without losing control. For the 3rd time in a week, they asked me if I got the radio from their website, or a dealer and that if it was a dealer, to take it back to them!
For third and last time....I emailed em back that I got it from them.

Now the complaint process starts. PayPal, then the FTC and BBB, and anyone in between. Time to send it back. This is BS.

The Phantom 2 Vision could have been a great product, with the proper product support. The MFG down to the "Biggest Phantom Dealer in the US" are morons.

 

[Ksc]

"Biggest Phantom Dealer in the US" are morons.

I love this. They did one little video tour inside DJI headquarters and they are the biggest dealer in the US.

I've always wondered where they are located. I had a buddy run an online business and his address was a big commercial area just like dronefly uses. The only thing was that if you actually went to his address you discovered it was little more than a mailbox in a big commercial area. Sure there were big companies at that building but he was just renting a tiny little box mail. He drop shipped most of his stuff and kept a few things on hand in his garage and his toll free number forwarded to his iPhone. He used to always say "people don't want to buy from the guy selling stuff out of his garage, people want to buy from the huge company with a warehouse." I sort of wonder if dronefly is like that. They don't have a huge product selection and they could fit most of it in a two car garage.

The picture of their building looks a little suspect. The "Dronefly.com" looks photoshopped in.

 

[Sidewinder]

That is the building with the return address on my shipping lable. Google Earth is cool. However the google photo is a year or so old so no signage on the front at that time. Then again who really knows because it's always someone else's fault.

 

[rcphoto]

RCPHOTO. How long have you worked for dronefly? It would be nice if you just made your name "dronefly" instead so you can be honest about who you are. 5 posts. 4 links to dronefly. 1 positive review on them.

search.php?author_id=4634&sr=posts

At least B&H has a user name of b&h and doesn't need to lurk in the shadows. If you want positive reviews, listen to what your customers are saying and change your ways. Making fake profiles and giving yourself a positive review only shows us you have the time to be shady but not the desire to be better.

Ps. you SHOULD know how to find the order status. If you don't have that feature, now is the time to add it. If you want business, show us you want it.

I'm not a part of Dronefly. I have done lots of business with Dronefly and I know that they are a very good company. Not to mention, I have a lot of time on my hands and I spend tons of time researching and learning how to use the Phantoms and what goes into them.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Just my experience but I recently used DroneFly for the first time and had zero problems from their service, Fedex on the other hand was a complete fail on this one, but I digress, DroneFly even responded quickly to my emails after my purchase was made. Either they have improved their service or I got lucky.

 

[w0by]

I contacted Dronefly about a few things and they were nothing but nice, and the shipping was quick.

 

[reALIGNed]

I bought my Phantom (1.1.1) last November, and it included a free DroneFly battery. This battery has just died, I sent them an e-mail, got a reply with in minutes saying a new replacement battery is on its way to me......free of charge. Pretty good service if you ask me.

 

[reALIGNed]

I bought my Phantom (1.1.1) last November, and it included a free DroneFly battery. This battery has just died, I sent them an e-mail, got a reply with in minutes saying a new replacement battery is on its way to me......free of charge. Pretty good service if you ask me.

Two days later and my free replacement battery is here. Very pleased.

 

[mike5906]

I placed an order for their combo #2 deal. It shows right on the website IN STOCK in nice green bold letters. I selected Fedex Next Day Shipping.... and nothing. The next day after emailing and hearing... nothing. I placed several calls and left several voice mails and.... nothing. Finally, I called and someone answered.

His excuse? It's not in stock. Two to three weeks leadtime. I said "It says in stock on the site RIGHT NOW." He says "Yeah, but it also says usually ships in two to three weeks." Ooooooo KKKKkkkk.... So I told them no thanks and cancelled the order. I expect... nothing will happen, and I will be calling back multiple times to get them charges off my credit card.

I'd recommend avoiding these guys and looking elsewhere. They are obviously young and inexperienced dudes who don't have a clue about customer service and integrity. Too bad. They could be big if they figured out some basic business skills.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

So you didn't read the ad and expected something different then what they had listed and now your mad at them?

 

[reALIGNed]

I placed an order for their combo #2 deal. It shows right on the website IN STOCK in nice green bold letters. I selected Fedex Next Day Shipping.... and nothing. The next day after emailing and hearing... nothing. I placed several calls and left several voice mails and.... nothing. Finally, I called and someone answered.

His excuse? It's not in stock. Two to three weeks leadtime. I said "It says in stock on the site RIGHT NOW." He says "Yeah, but it also says usually ships in two to three weeks." Ooooooo KKKKkkkk.... So I told them no thanks and cancelled the order. I expect... nothing will happen, and I will be calling back multiple times to get them charges off my credit card.

I'd recommend avoiding these guys and looking elsewhere. They are obviously young and inexperienced dudes who don't have a clue about customer service and integrity. Too bad. They could be big if they figured out some basic business skills.

I don't like these kind of posts, this is your first time on here and you have to complain about a vendor?? This kind of post reminds me of a new pilot that lost his Phantom,..........because he didn't read the instructions..........never got a satellite fix, and off it went. And then to come here and say DJI sucks. LOL

 

[ILoveMyDrone27]

I placed an order for their combo #2 deal. It shows right on the website IN STOCK in nice green bold letters. I selected Fedex Next Day Shipping.... and nothing. The next day after emailing and hearing... nothing. I placed several calls and left several voice mails and.... nothing. Finally, I called and someone answered.

His excuse? It's not in stock. Two to three weeks leadtime. I said "It says in stock on the site RIGHT NOW." He says "Yeah, but it also says usually ships in two to three weeks." Ooooooo KKKKkkkk.... So I told them no thanks and cancelled the order. I expect... nothing will happen, and I will be calling back multiple times to get them charges off my credit card.

I'd recommend avoiding these guys and looking elsewhere. They are obviously young and inexperienced dudes who don't have a clue about customer service and integrity. Too bad. They could be big if they figured out some basic business skills.

If you call Dronefly and ask to speak with someone in customer service they are always very accommodating. Which line did you call when you talked to someone? I have had nothing but positive experiences with them and I would encourage you to not let this leave a bad taste in your mouth after one time.

 

[Dronefly sucks]

In all my years I have never had such an unsatisfactory experience with any electronics or mechanical repair center, EVER! These guys are impossible to get in touch with, let alone get any semblance of a response from. The only time I've gotten anyone on the phone is when I've called ten or more times in a row. They have had my Phantom II for well over a month and have yet to even send the unit to DJI. They keep telling us the unit will be sent out tomorrow, a week later, same F***ing answer. These guys are NOT professionals, they are in over their heads and need to start declining repair orders in an attempt to catch up, or they're just incompetent, more likely the latter. Needless to say, I will NEVER use these clowns again, thank god I've got two Phantoms or I'd be out thousands in billable time. :evil: :evil: :evil:
Sorry for the vent session, but I feel like I have to try and save some people the frustration of working with such a terrible company.
C.