Phantom 4 crash "IMU error"

What is your opinion on DJI's ethics in doing business?

  • Great

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Don't care, they own the market...

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    10
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Age
34
Hi, I have been in the RC modeling hobby for about 8 years now. Started off with a Raptor 30, then went to a Miniature Aircraft Stratus. Have had my fair share of crashes. I recently bought a Phantom 4, and IT WAS AWESOME. the video was stunning, integration of the entire system was pretty much flawless. But sadly it didn't last.

5 days after I bought it, I had a flyaway. I know you are all going to ask did I follow the procedures, and the answer is yes. Down to the pixel in the print in the manual. Luckily I was landing as it happened. I was hovering about 10 feet off the ground and it suddenly started to drift to the left. I applied right stick to correct, the P4 did not respond to any inputs. About 2 seconds after it started drifting it collided with a tree. Long story short, I sent it to DJI for repair. Then found out I could ask them to replace it with a new one rather than a repair. I did this. Probably more than 8 times. Every time I brought it up, they shifted the conversation to a different subject. They are basically telling me they are only willing to repair it, and in doing so not willing to honor their warranty. I don't know about you guys, but if my brand new quad crashed, and the company has a warranty that allows for replacement rather than repair any sane person would choose replacement.

There are too many small parts on these devices, plus they are only going to replace the IMU and a "roll shaft". I examined the craft after the crash, one of the motors had sand between the outrunner and the coils. They are not even mentioning replacing the motors. The battery fell a good 6 feet, not sure if I trust it, and its really not worth the risk. Plus their own manual explicitly states to never use a battery involved in a crash. Who knows how much sand got into the tiny bearings in the gimbal. The whole case is scuffed up and ruined. I know it doesn't affect flight but... its almost a 1500 dollar model. The thing should be immaculate!

Anyway it seems like they are telling me to go pound sand. Not the customer service I would expect from something costing this much.

Just wanted to vent how frustrated I am with this company. Definitely lost a customer.
 
Hi miniairstratus,

Sorry to hear that.

I've had several Heli Boy, Raptor 30, Hirobo 47G, Graupner Jet Ranger, etc. and currently 700N DFC. I can tell you when I bought my P4 I didn't realize how sophisticated are these drones in comparison with our mechanics, little of electronic and rare firmware update.

Hope you will pursue with drones as great experience. I admit in my case feeling a bit disapointed with these potential points of failure. Not a lot if we think the complexity of the product but still a pain when happening.

All the best.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Just curious-does the warranty say that DJI may repair or replace at its option? You have stated that DJI is failing to honor it's explicit warranty because it is not replacing your drone at your request. To be perfectly honest, I have not checked the terms of the warranty, but it would be stunning if that is the way it is written. This is not a defense of DJI or its business practices, but in all fairness we should be careful about misstating facts on a public forum like this if that has happened here. BTW--I agree that cosmetics are very important on a new drone.
 
It is not explicitly stated, but in Massachusetts consumer laws give that choice to the consumer. So either way it is my choice. Does not matter now anyway, they have decided to replace it. :)
 
It is not explicitly stated, but in Massachusetts consumer laws give that choice to the consumer. So either way it is my choice. Does not matter now anyway, they have decided to replace it. :)

That is Great News!.

The story has a happy ending. Congrats.!!
 
Adding to this discussion I am just now going through a disagreement with DJI and perhaps some of you can offer advice.

I purchased my P4 new at a dealer store in China (where I reside) on 7/22/16 for the retail price $1399. Now they discounted it by $200 and so I contacted them about applying this discount to my recent purchase.

DJI emailed me asking for a copy of my receipt and serial number, which I sent to them. Then DJI responded that since my drone was activated on 7/11/16 it would not qualify for a rebate.

First, why is my drone activated 12 days BEFORE I purchased it and left the store with it? I am totally confused what this means. I bought and took possession of it on 7/22/16. My store receipt AND bank card receipt clearly reflect this purchase date.

What I end up with at this point is a new drone with minus 2 weeks warrenty, AND no rebate. They said if the purchase was within 10 of this discount, they would give it to me. It does qualify given the date I bought it, but does not based on the date it was activated!
 
Was your P4 clearly new, or is it possible that store personnel had taken it out of the box and activated it? Or that it was a return? For example, was the controller wrapped in clear plastic that was difficult to remove without cutting it because of the tablet holder? Were each of the propellers wrapped around the hub with clear plastic that you had to tear off before you could mount them?
 
Was your P4 clearly new, or is it possible that store personnel had taken it out of the box and activated it? Or that it was a return? For example, was the controller wrapped in clear plastic that was difficult to remove without cutting it because of the tablet holder? Were each of the propellers wrapped around the hub with clear plastic that you had to tear off before you could mount them?

Everything looked as new. Plastic everywhere, controller sealed.
 
That someone is DJI. This is a factory DJI store where I bought it.
 
Do they or can they read their own receipt?? When you presented it to the store for clarification.....what was the response?
 
The store directed me to contact the headquarters in Shenzhen which I did as I said in my original post.

The sequence of events were 1st I called Shenzhen. They said for me to go back to the store and deal directly with them, which I then did. At which time the store told me I must contact Shenzhen to deal with the matter. So back to Shenzhen I went, where they told me my drone was activated 11 days prior to my purchasing it. My receipt didn't seem to matter to them.
EmaIL quote.......
"Dear Jack,
Sorry for the inconvenience.
According our system, the drone was activated on 7-11 which is out of the range.

Note: This summer sales is only for customers who bought our products in our authorized online stores or authorized dealers during Jul. 29th to Aug.4th (or activated during that time).

Thanks.
Best regards.
DJI Sales dept."


At this point I demanded that this case be escalated to a "manager" that can explain why I bought a drone that was activated almost 2 weeks before I actually bought it. Notice that no mention of my receipt date is included in their response. I am still waiting for a response from DJI,
 
Not sure but I understand drone is activated by also entering personal email address. If activated by someone else before your purchase, then certainly your email was not used.

Then which email address? DJI should be able to find more activation details, not only focus on this date?

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Sometime earlier, maybe a few weeks, I went to the DJI website to study about the product. I did register a membership on the website so I could participate in the forum and ask some questions. I used my email address to register my membership. After studying up as much as possible, I visited the DJI store and looked at the P4. The store salesman attempted to use my phone (Xiaomi MI3) with the RC to connect with a P4 in the store. It did not work. She spent 1 hour trying to get it to work. DJI website even recommends this phone as a proper display device. I left the store as I was not going to buy a product that did not work.

I jumped on this forum and asked about devices and from responses, I ordered a Sheild K1 which took a week or so to arrive. Several days later (7/22/16), I returned to the DJI store with my K1. They used it to connect it to a P4 in the store, and it connected immediately, no problems. So NOW I decided to buy it.They fired everything up, tested, even flew it inside the mall. All systems were go. I paid and left the store with it on 7/22/16.

The first time I went there I did nothing more than watch as they tried in vain to get my Xiaomi to connect. They even called DJI service who could not get it going. Maybe had to do with some software on my phone, who knows. I remember them trying to get me to buy it anyway, and then DJI service would work further to get me connected. (This is Chinese sales logic at work) I told them I will have to look into this myself and would not buy anything until I can see a full functioning system in this store before I would buy anything.

:openmouth:I now remember them asking me to pay $75 deposit and they would hold the P4 for me when I came back to buy. Obviously I refused to pay or buy anything until the connection issue was sorted.
As I write this post, I'm thinking that this 1st go-round in the store using my Xiaomi, they must have registered it themselves while they tried to get it working! Could this be the reason my P4 says it was registered 11 days prior to when I came in again to buy one? They stashed the same P4 in the store waiting for me to return? I never even told them I would be back!
 
Hmm, it seems DJI is quite a shady company. I read the thread about your activation issue. I am also having trouble with the "replacement" aircraft they sent me. They sent an invoice that says it was repaired, yet the aircraft does not have the same serial number. In addition almost all of the screws on the gimbal mount are stripped and there are scratches around the USB mini connector on the aircraft that I haven't even plugged a cable into. Seems like the people in the shop sent a refurbished unit, and on top of that they don't even know how to turn a **** allen wrench. If anyone knows the address of DJI in north america please let me know. I am going to be suing them, because as I said in my previous post the laws in Mass give the consumer the option for a new replacement. Really disgusted by these people
 
Hmm, it seems DJI is quite a shady company. I read the thread about your activation issue. I am also having trouble with the "replacement" aircraft they sent me. They sent an invoice that says it was repaired, yet the aircraft does not have the same serial number. In addition almost all of the screws on the gimbal mount are stripped and there are scratches around the USB mini connector on the aircraft that I haven't even plugged a cable into. Seems like the people in the shop sent a refurbished unit, and on top of that they don't even know how to turn a **** allen wrench. If anyone knows the address of DJI in north america please let me know. I am going to be suing them, because as I said in my previous post the laws in Mass give the consumer the option for a new replacement. Really disgusted by these people

Did you send it in to the factory (China) for service when this happened? I would be very pissed if they gave me a replacement without at least informing you of it.

But before you spend $$ in legal fees, I would read the fine print of their warranty. They may have a clause that gives them this right, you know, like Apple.

But yes, they are a typical Chinese company when it comes to customer service. They don't care, because they don't have to. 99% of all Chinese companies are like this. There are no consumer protection laws in China and companies are free to do as they want here.
 
for anyone who wants to know, this is DJI North Americas registered corporate address in North America
Entity Name: DJI TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Entity Number: C3820986
Date Filed: 09/01/2015
Status: ACTIVE
Jurisdiction: CALIFORNIA
Entity Address: 201 S. VICTORY BLVD
Entity City, State, Zip: BURBANK CA 91502
Agent for Service of Process: C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
Agent Address: 818 WEST SEVENTH ST STE 930
Agent City, State, Zip: LOS ANGELES CA 90017
 
I consulted the MA attorney general, and in mass from what I understood it is the consumers choice about how warranty claims and things of that nature are dealt with. Basically removes all power from the manufacturer.
 
Well that is good to know. DJI must conform to US law to do business here. Me? Well since I live in China, I don't have those choices.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31