DJI may have some fancy drones when they're working properly, but they are an extremely lousy, unethical, immoral and dishonest company.
Their care 24 is a scam, as well. I bought the
Phantom 4 Pro and had problems with device compatibility right from the start, even though my device and version was on the list of compatible devices (Galaxy S7 Edge).
The app just wouldn't stay connected. I finally reached a customer service rep (I use that term VERY loosely) and was told my device WASN'T compatible, to go buy a different device. I told him he was out of his freaking gourd, that I'd just spent close to $4k on everything as it was and that my device was advertised as being compatible. I was directed to a website with an "EXTENSIVE" device comparability list, and lo
and behold, my device was nowhere to be found.
This resulted in a little heated discussion, and while I was trying to decide what to do during the next 2 or 3 days, my Galaxy S7 Edge suddenly and miraculously appeared on the "complete" list.
They may have put the phone on the list, but the bugs were often and many. I couldn't maintain connectivity, picture was inconsistent, and the app would just crash without warning and frequently.
Again, my complaints went unanswered with any semblance to anything logical, and I was good to uninstall the app and reinstall repeatedly, always with the same outcome.
This is my first DJI drone, but I've been flying drones for over five years and have never had problems with equipment or with a company like this before. Everything was a waiting game.
Well, two months ago, I was in my fenced-in back yard taking the craft up and down to about 10 feet and returning it to land to check some adjustments I had made with the global speed.
Without warning, my hovering Phantom 4 began to accelerate vertically quickly, and I had no control. The Go 4 app crashed, there was no response to the RTH request, and I had lost all GPS tracking (which I later learned from my flight data). My craft flew NNW of my position until I lost sight of it. However, my flight data shows that my very next flight began at 176 ft, in a neighborhood NE of my position that is clearly visible from my back yard, and is no where NEAR where my drone was - or was headed - when I lost sight of it. According to my flight data, that flight lasted a little over two minutes and NEXT - again according to my flight data, I flew once again, this time starting my flight 1/4 mile away and at an altitude of 397 ft. Amazingly, my highest altitude recorded with my DJI Go 4 app still says 397ft. But if you check the so-called stats on that last flight that obviously my Phantom was doing of its own accord, it says the poor thing reached an altitude of over 9,900 ft.
I know the DJI Care 24 has a clause in it excluding lost drones, but my drone was not lost, I watched it plain as day fly off like it knew what it was doing.
Fast forward two months. No answer. Many complaints via phone calls, chard, and emails, but all I've ever been told is that I'll have to wait. No follow up, no straight answers that were coherent to the issue, and every time I DID get through to a rep on the chat line, it would take forever for them to verify my credentials, and sometimes is have to repeat my entire story as if it was both of ours' first day. Many times the chat would "time out" as if they just fell over dead on their end.
UNTIL June 29th, I FINALLY reached a guy on chat who spent a couple hours trying to help, and showed real empathy towards the situation. I even received an email explaining how he had personally walked my case through to the appropriate parties that needed to be involved to resolve my problem. I was told my replacement drone should be shipped within 5-10 business days.
Last night as the 18th of July, so I thought I'd better do another chat follow up.
Again, I was told that I would have to wait for the investigating team to complete their data report, or some BS. along those lines.
I explained that that wasn't good enough, that I had been waiting for two months and had received nothing but the runaround from them.
This "Tech Rep" then informed me that they didn't replace "Fly-away drones", even WITH the DJI Care 24 insurance package. I kindly explained to him that he was chatting with a former attorney, and that he was mistaken. The drone was not "LOST", the app was defective. I asked him that If what he was trying to feed me was true, why had I just been informed of this, and by him? Why did I have to supply my flight data, my proof of purchase, a copy of my Care 24 receipt, and why did the ONE EMAIL I DID RECEIVE from DJI contained an actual apology for the technical problems I had encountered and promised me a speedy and expedited resolution?
He then changed his story again and says that these type of issues take longer, that I would have to wait for the adviser from the data team in an email that I should receive in a couple of days.
I then asked him which of the stories he had just told me were true, because they contradicted each other. He wouldn't answer me. I informed him that if my automobile insurer offered me a policy, I purchased that said policy, and they were still telling me two months later that I was going to have to keep waiting, we would already be in court.
No reply. I am now discussing my llegar options with a couple of friends and former colleagues, but it's a **** shame it has to come to this.
I believe DJI, or some of those in their employ, are intentionally deceitful, strategically unethical, and morally bankrupt.
I hope you have better luck with them than I and many others have that I've discovered through a little online research, but this is one old fart they're going to regret taking as an easy mark. I hate bullies and I'm going to let them know that some of us little guys can put a substantial dent in their bottom line and their profit margins if they don't begin to treat us with the respect we deserve...
Sincerely,
David H.
DaGateKeeper
