Horrible DJI customer service

[Aerial Entertainment Studios]

FYI, I live in Hong Kong and purchased the P2V+ directly from DJI who ships the units from Shenzhen. I've had to send the unit to them due to camera issues and I have not received my unit in more than 7 weeks. The original communication with customer service was not answered for 7 days so I wrote the same email to all DJI customer service centers worldwide in the hope someone would answer.

I eventually got the name of a human being and have been communicating directly with him since. However, the customer experience is extremely brutal as no timeline for repair is provided EVERY time I get an answer. What I get is 'please be patient' . Not what I expect. At the minimum, an estimated timeline for repairs should be mentioned, but no, I have to resort to being patient.

7 weeks later, still no news about my unit so I just went out and bought another one instead. I am now facing major compass and camera issues on my replacement unit and fear the customer service experience will be the same when I send this one in for repair. The camera on is thing is VERY fragile and no repairs can be done in shops. Replacement cameras cost $800 which is almost eh price of the Phantom itself.

So I just decided to buy a third unit as I travel extensively and need this for footage. Hopefully I will get my first unit back in the foreseeable future.

All this to say the DJI customer service in Hong Kong is horrible. Emails don't get any returns and when they do, are of absolutely no use. Someone from the customer service industry should slap some sense into them.

DJI needs to address this IMMEDIATELY.

Has anyone dealt directly with DJI and what kind of turnaround time have you experienced ?

 

[HunterSK]

Hi pgaucher,

Yeah I know the feeling. OK here is my story with a bit of positive news at the end.

I purchased my first Vision+ from an authorised dealer (lets call them Dealer A) in my country (Australia) about a month ago. After about a week I had major issues with the WiFi network so I contacted the dealer and sent it back. It was been three weeks and according to their emails they are blaming DJI for the delay in the warranty process.

In the mean time about 2 weeks ago I purchased a second Vision+ (I'm not made of money but I have a personal project that I require the Vision+ for). I decided to purchase this from another authorised dealer (Dealer B) in my country as I had doubts about Dealer A's level of service.

My second Phantom has issues with the FPV video dropping out randomly after 2-8 minutes straight out of the box.

I spoke with my Dealer B today and they say that it is likely that I will be issued a replacement as they consider it Dead on Arrival. I will get confirmation over the next day or so (I've been told). Dealer B has also told me that he will personally arrange for a replacement regardless of his distributor or DJI's determination because of business reputation.

As for Dealer A, as they keep blaming DJI for the warranty process, I decided to contact DJI myself via Twitter. Within 10 mins I got a response and was exchanging messages with a person from DJI's Global Sales & Marketing department. I have relayed them the situation and they are investigating.

So what I've found is that DJI via Twitter appears very responsive. If you want, I can private message you the email address of the person from DJI Global Sales and Marketing.

https://twitter.com/joeztan/status/486355539568242688

Throughout this 4 week process, I get this impression that DJI rushed the testing and product development on the Vision+. I have never had this many problems with products that are considered commercial-grade tools (it's not a toy). I find this unacceptable.

In Australia we have very clear Consumer Laws. Suppliers and manufacturers of goods must guarantee that goods are of acceptable quality and match any description. They also guarantee that any express warranties will be honoured.

 

[Aerial Entertainment Studios]

Yes, please send me the coordinates of your customer service person. I can't take this unacceptable level of service (or lack of).

 

[illiceman11]

Overal DJI service here in the US is the same very very poor. I have found finding a good dealer is the best way to get a unit.GO NOT
buy one directly from DJI.
Looking into other UAV producers on their forums it seems like there service is not any better.Again it seems like buying from a good dealer is best route.
This forum might be a good one to recommend good dealers and good service.

 

[andrew]

And yet we still buy from them, again, and again...

 

[illiceman11]

Their product is cutting edge.

 

[Aerial Entertainment Studios]

Yes, but that's only a question of time. Others will catch-up/surpass them soon and if they don't have the customer service piece in place, their market share will suffer.

If Apple offered crappy customer service, they wouldn't be where they are today. My patience has limits and we should all just hope they get their act together.

 

[illiceman11]

Very very true.

 

[illiceman11]

You don,t need that type of language to get a point across.

 

[srandall25]

7 weeks later, still no news about my unit so I just went out and bought another one instead.
...

So I just decided to buy a third unit as I travel extensively and need this for footage. Hopefully I will get my first unit back in the foreseeable future.

you dumb bastard, you think DJI will ever be motivated to handle their customer services, when idiots like you keep buying new copters to replace the shitty ones?

YOU'RE at fault. stop buying. everyone stop buying. then maybe something will happen.

There is no need for immature name calling in this forum.

 

[detholm]

Here's my story.
I flew for about 2 weeks no major issues. Turned it on one morning and my gimbal was twitching. Called DJI and their phone line kept hanging up on me over and over and over. Finally I get through. They say they are not accepting ANY repair prodcuts before they get shipment to parts. I wait 2 weeks. Call and it hangs up over and over. Finally I get through and send my unit it. 2 weeks go by (AFTER they recieved my unit, i had ups tracking on it so 3 weeks for me) i call and call finally get through and they say they're behind schedule. Another week, i get this email title. Request received: We have received your unit and logged it into our system for tracking. Please note that your unit is not currently in the repair que...
[/b]
So Now I wait some more.


I had a bad feeling about buying this unit. and i can promise that the next one I'm building myself so I can fix it myself.


Maybe I'll be able to fly by the fall. :| :| :|

 

[Aerial Entertainment Studios]

KulliLutku, I hear what you are saying, but as long as I need the camera for footage and DJI products remain superior (at this pricing point), the choice we have out there is not that big. The day DJI products lose their edge over the competition, then for sure I will shift my purchases to that company.

Having said this, I get your point but not sure the wording was appropriate. Fun read though. Cheers.

 

[kymedic121]

Ye, that language was a little uncalled for. I am like many others here, I so wish another company would offer the same technology and flight times for the same or less price point. Especially if their quality control, customer service, and overall reliability was better. I would buy that unit tonight.

 

[D_Tshudy]

He's baaaaaaaaaack.

 

[KulliLutku]

He's baaaaaaaaaack.

hey shut up ya wanker.

 

[Mesopelagic]

You don,t need that type of language to get a point across.

My thoughts exactly. I get the point but there is no need to express yourself like this.

On topic; I seriously hope my Phantom will never have any issues. Customer support really is bad. A friend of mine had problems with his camera and had to send it to Germany as no-one is able to fix it in NL. He hopes it will return in 4 weeks.....

 

[jman]

DJI customer service and repair dept. is a joke! In these times of tight money and slow economy I purchased a DJI Phantom Vision 2 in March, 2014 for taking low altitude aerial photos/videos for a specific business project due to occur in mid-June, 2014. My thought process was that I would have plenty of time to learn how to use the Phamtom Vision 2 in 3 months and be ready to photograph my project from 125'-250' above.
I started having problems with the unit in April, 2014 and contacted DJI Customer Support in mid April, 2014 and went through the specific instructions of DJI customer service only to find that things got worse with completion of each repair attempt given to me by DJI Customer Support. In each case I was forced to wait on hold for very long hold periods of time just to get a DJI Customer Support Rep. on the phone. OK, just figured they were swamped. Finally, after things got worse with my Phantom Vision 2 Unit, on 5/14/2014 DJI Customer Support requested that I return ship the unit to DJI for warranty repair under DJI issued RMA No. I immediately 2 day shipped the unit to DJI and confirmed their receipt on May 19th. In all my conversations with DJI Customer Support I had expressed concern for having the unit repaired and back in my hands before my Mid-June Business Project. DJI Customer Support told me that repair should take no longer than 4 weeks to be back in my hands. I called in after a week to confirm how the process would work and who would be contacting me when they started to work on my unit. Basically they told me to sit tight and Tech Support would be getting in touch with me. Waited 2 weeks with no word, then contacted DJI Customer Support again to express concern that I had heard nothing (now after 3 weeks total) and that my business project was fastly approaching (and I'll leave out the unbelievable details of many 1-1/2 hour telephone hold times to get a person in DJI Customer Support on the line). It was at this point that DJI Customer Support Rep. started making excuses that Repair Dept. was running several weeks behind due "delayed receipt of parts from China". At 3-1/2 weeks, no contact, no word, NADA! I started to find after 3-1/2 weeks that DJI Customer Support support number would prompt to caller to hold to speak with with a DJI Customer Support Rep., then just hang up on the caller. I started emailing in inquiries about the status of repair of my unit (with RMA No.). Again, no answers just sit tight. At 4 weeks - After being ignored I called into DJI Customer Support and (as usual) would receive telephone hold message "your No. 34 out 36 on hold", again I would wait my turn and move up the line after a long hold.....get to "your No. 2 out of 30 in line for a Rep." and then out of the blue, the line just went dead. I called back and got back in line FIVE TIMES IN A ROW only to have the phone hold hang up the line when I got down to being #2, #1, etc. in line. Finally on June 23, I received an email telling me the Repair Dept. was working on my unit, then on June 24th received a call with them telling me they had worked on my unit for four hours and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with my Phantom Vision 2 and were going to send me a new one. I asked if there was a way to have it shipped priority delivery back to me, they said they were the Repair Dept. and couldn't do anything and that I have to get with their shipping dept. quickly (more long hold times and I just gave up). In this call I also asked what the costs for repair / replacement / return shipping would be, the tech told me zero and that they would be shipping the replacement unit to me the next day! Following week, I received any invoice for $100 for repairs which told me I had to pay to DJI in China and present them the receipt for payment before they would ship the unit. I emailed them to ask what had changed only to hear some B.S. about how I had used wrong screws for "prop. protectors" that damaged two motors. Yes, I tried a prop. protector back in March, 2014, didn't like em and removed next day with motors working fine afterward removal.

Its July 8th, my project is over and I still have received nothing from DJI. Bottom-line is DJI Customer Support and Repair is joke! They could care less about their customers and this was my final purchase of any products from DJI. I don't care if only one of their units will wake me up and fly in and get me a cup of coffee! In my experience with DJI Phantom Vision 2, I've had two fly aways. Am I mad as hell at DJI, you bet I am! My Business Project is over, I'm out the $1200 with still no DJI Phantom Vision 2 and only service I got from DJI was frustration and the shaft! Adios DJI! OTHER POTENTIAL BUYERS BEWARE!

 

[Phantom_Menace66]

Their product is cutting edge.

Yeah cutting the edge of my fingers is about the extent of it.... :lol:

 

[Aerial Entertainment Studios]

Ok, here's a tip for everyone. Flood their Twitter account with a mention that customer service is horrible. After 7 weeks of waiting and going through similar issues as what jman described above, I decided to go to twitter (which is public) and send them a note regarding the 'horrible customer service at DJI'. Within a few hours, I received a reply from someone at DJI asking me for the work order number. I provided it to them and within 1 hour, the guy in China sent me an update as well as a quotation for repairs with PayPal payment system.

Now let's wait and see how much time it takes for the repair to be completed and the item shipped back to me.

So basically, if you make them lose face (which is a big thing in China) you may be able to trigger a faster response time. It shouldn't be like this, but sometimes you need to take the bull by the horns to get things moving.

 

[HunterSK]

Ok, here's a tip for everyone. Flood their Twitter account with a mention that customer service is horrible. After 7 weeks of waiting and going through similar issues as what jman described above, I decided to go to twitter (which is public) and send them a note regarding the 'horrible customer service at DJI'. Within a few hours, I received a reply from someone at DJI asking me for the work order number. I provided it to them and within 1 hour, the guy in China sent me an update as well as a quotation for repairs with PayPal payment system.

Now let's wait and see how much time it takes for the repair to be completed and the item shipped back to me.

So basically, if you make them lose face (which is a big thing in China) you may be able to trigger a faster response time. It shouldn't be like this, but sometimes you need to take the bull by the horns to get things moving.

Hi pgaucher,

+1

I agree. I was getting very little help from my first dealer and DJI, until I made my situation public on Twitter. BTW did you get my private Message that I sent to you about DJI's Global Sales and Marketing person that I was interacting with? I didn't get an acknowledgement or anything back.

I just found your Tweet - well done I hope you get the service that you expect.

The company can't censor Twitter, and they obviously want to use Social Media to promote the company.

On a personal level, I'm really disappointed in this whole situation. When I first got into this I really thought "DJI, now here is a company that is going to worth Billions in a future IPO. They make great quality products and really show that they care about their customers.".

Now my impression is that they are probably making so much money (both of us bought multiple Vision+ units to try and get working units), they are don't care about individual customers and taking things for granted; UNLESS someone makes them lose face.

On another personal note, I'm ethnically Chinese and I feel if DJI is letting their customers down like this - they are giving all Chinese people a bad name through poor service (until someone speaks up).