I went into the DJI Factoria store today to finally put my hands on a Mavic Pro. Until today I had not seen one in person, but now that I have, I'm even more excited about picking one up after watching one of their employees fly it for me. That said, I will not go back to that store...I'll deal either with DJI direct or another retailer.
Since orders direct from the DJI website are shipping within a week, I walked in there thinking for sure I could order one through Factoria and it would ship at the same time. I was wrong...she said they may get them sometime in February but was very noncommital. Now you may be thinking to yourself, why in the world you even order from them locally knowing you'd have to pay tax? Well, I like supporting local businesses and it is definitely convenient having that store locally for batteries, props, service, etc, even if it costs a bit more upfront. I wanted to do my part to make sure they stay local. That said, I left the store with a weird feeling that DJI Factoria is a separate entity from the broader DJI and perhaps having them locally isn't going to be as big a bonus as I thought.
Why do I say that? Well, I already mentioned that they couldn't get me one any faster than Amazon could...and even their date appeared to just be a guess. Even though their store says DJI all over it, they act as though they are a retailer or distributor, not the manufacturer.
Secondly, I asked about the DJI care as I am still pretty unfamiliar with what it does for you. She said the store owner hasn't provided a price yet or even said they would offer it for the Mavic, but it was one upfront fee with one free replacement and two free repairs within one year. Does not sound like what DJI direct offers based on what I've read on this site. Sounds better actually, but of course that woud depend on the upfront price.
She also told me, after I had explained that I wanted one now-ish and was just going to order from the website, that if I did that I would have the ship the Mavic back to China for repairs instead of being able to bring it into the Factoria store. It's like they are competing for business against the DJI direct website. Why on earth have a local store if you're going to refuse to repair units purchased directly through DJI?
I left that store a bit confused....I still can't wait to get the Mavic Pro in my chubby little hands but I want nothing to do with the Factoria store. Has anyone else come away with a similar impression? Maybe I was just dealing with a horribly uninformed employee?