Unauthorized sellers on amazon

AlmostTan · Jul 22, 2015

Does this happen?

I just placed an amazon order for a phantom 3 and it is being fulfilled by Portable Guy.

Is this an authorized DJI dealer? I don't see him on the website, but I see him being listed as one here and here.

Help so I can quickly cancel my order if he's not!!

Thanks in advance!

REBELimgs · Jul 22, 2015

I think the word unauthorized is a bit misleading. That would mean they're not allowed to sell them.

What happens if you buy from a seller who isn't an authorized dealer? Would DJI not uphold your warranty or something?

AlmostTan · Jul 22, 2015

REBELimgs said:
I think the word unauthorized is a bit misleading. That would mean they're not allowed to sell them.

What happens if you buy from a seller who isn't an authorized dealer? Would DJI not uphold your warranty or something?

From DJI's website:

"Purchases from unauthorized channels will void any warranty, and repair fees for any such units will be charged in addition to the shipping cost."

REBELimgs · Jul 22, 2015

AlmostTan said:
From DJI's website:

"Purchases from unauthorized channels will void any warranty, and repair fees for any such units will be charged in addition to the shipping cost."

Learned something new.

Darron Brown · Jul 22, 2015

I'm in the process of purchasing one from Amazon, and it's Prime. I can't see how they can't stand behind it because Amazon has always been good about their store. Good question though and would like to know more myself.

AlmostTan · Jul 22, 2015

Darron Brown said:
I'm in the process of purchasing one from Amazon, and it's Prime. I can't see how they can't stand behind it because Amazon has always been good about their store. Good question though and would like to know more myself.

I have an inquiry in to DJI, will let you know my results once they get back to me.

msinger · Jul 22, 2015

AlmostTan, there were a few sellers at PhantomHelp.com who were not listed here.

FYI, only the largest dealers appear in the list. There are many more listed on the map itself though.

Portable Guy was one of the few sellers who are not listed at the above site. Before I added them to PhantomHelp.com though, I checked with them to verify they are an authorized DJI dealer. All confirmed and they had good customer reviews, so I took their word for it.

For now, I decided it was best to remove all sellers who are not listed on DJI's website. I'm working on following up with the few that I removed (including Portable Guy) to get some kind of proof that they are an authorized DJI dealer. DJI's list is not always up-to-date, so I wouldn't be surprised if dealers are missing from the list.

Darron Brown · Jul 22, 2015

Reason I ask, I though using a dealer that was an Amazon Prime dealer should have been listed, I never thought they might not be an authorized dealer. They had over 63,000 comments above 90% good or better. It's suppose to arrive this afternoon so I can't wait to get started. I just hope if there is anything wrong I can get help and support. Dealer was 17th Street Photo.

msinger · Jul 22, 2015

Darron Brown said:
I though using a dealer that was an Amazon Prime dealer should have been listed

Amazon Prime just means Amazon is shipping the item from their warehouse. The only way to be 100% sure the dealer is authorized is by checking DJI's website. Like I said though, I really don't know how often they update their smaller dealers on that list -- or if smaller dealers even know to verify they are listed there.

The list here is currently up-to-date with DJI's website:
https://www.phantomhelp.com/Available

Darron Brown · Jul 22, 2015

Thanks so much for all your help and information - msinger

msinger · Jul 22, 2015

Darron Brown, to answer your question about 17th Street, I did contact them in June and they confirmed they are an authorized DJI dealer. They are not on DJI's list for some reason though.

Darron Brown · Jul 22, 2015

msinger said:
Darron Brown, to answer your question about 17th Street, I did contact them in June and they confirmed they are an authorized DJI dealer. They are not on DJI's list for some reason though.

That's awesome to know! Cheers!

Advexure · Jul 22, 2015

I will mention that we have many 2nd tier dealers that obtain product from us that are not listed on DJI's Website. These retailers are authorized and all of our dealers have a certificate that we have provided them which they can display on their sites or provide to an end user who requests it. Product bought from these 2nd tier dealers carries DJI's Manufacturer's Warranty and is 100% valid. With that being said, there are many retailers out there who are not tier one dealers or obtain product from a tier one dealer. The best thing you can do is ask for them to show proof or have DJI confirm they are authorized. FYI, all second tier dealers are on file with DJI as well even though they are not listed on their website, they would always be able to confirm if a retailer is authorized.

YolevonALLin · Jul 22, 2015

I got my second p3 from amazon prime via portable guy, and it worked great.

msinger · Jul 22, 2015

AlmostTan, I just got an email back from Portable Guy. He confirmed he is an authorized DJI dealer and is waiting for DJI to update their website.

Mark Stevens · Jul 22, 2015

got mine from portable guy and very pleased

ianwood · Jul 22, 2015

msinger said:
Like I said though, I really don't know how often they update their smaller dealers on that list -- or if smaller dealers even know to verify they are listed there.

If it's anything like how they maintain their list of no fly zones, you can expect a lot of out-of-date information!

AlmostTan · Jul 23, 2015

Hey everyone!

So after talking with DJI it looks like Advexure is right - there are first tier suppliers which are maintained on the website, and then there are second tier suppliers which are not on the list.

Mike - thanks for the e-mail! And this is why your website was actually probably accurate. Maybe just leave the list up and post a disclaimer for all consumers to check for valid certificates.

Oddly enough, DJI said they don't maintain a list/records of second tier vendors, which was probably just bad English/translating because I am led to believe that they have to in order to check proof of purchases for validity:

Dear sir,

Thank you for your attention on DJI.

This seller might be our second-class dealers but we can't make sure of it.

Since we can only find the record of the first-class dealers in systerm.

Thanks for your understanding.

Thanks for your help!

P.S. to the Mod that moved this - the list of authorized vendors is apparently unique for each bird - i.e. p2 dealers are not all p3 dealers and so forth, which is why I placed it in the p3 section and not general.

msinger · Jul 23, 2015

AlmostTan said:
So after talking with DJI it looks like Advexure is right - there are first tier suppliers which are maintained on the website, and then there are second tier suppliers which are not on the list.

Here's another important bit of information about the map on DJI's website (as explained by an employee of DJI):

"All the dealers on map, both the red and the blue, are our authorized dealers. The blue dealers only show their information on the map when you click it. The red dealers are also listed on the feature list under the map, and we have MOQ for it. That’s the reason why only several dealers are listed on the feature list. The MOQ to get on P2 and P3’s feature lists is 500 pieces in a single order, and it is 200 pieces for Inspire 1."

REBELimgs · Jul 23, 2015

Here's some good info for you guys...

I just purchased one from an Amazon seller. The seller was not an authorized dealer and I was ignorant of that fact before my purchase and only realized this after reading this thread. On to the juicy bit of the story...

I received the Phantom 3 today and it was poorly packaged. It was in a much bigger box with very little packaging material. Upon opening the box, I noticed the majority of the text on the box was Chinese. I opened the box and the stickers on the motor were different shaped than the ones you'd get with the US version and the text was exclusively in Chinese.

I've processed a return with Amazon and I'll be shipping it back in the morning. I can't imagine DJI would even answer my questions if I had a Chinese market Phantom 3 here in the US. There's a warning to anyone who's still shopping for a Phantom.