DJI's horrific support in unbinding a drone - SHOUT OUT

[Droning on and on...]

I do apologize for your experience really but While the binding procedure is a HUGE P.I.T.# DJI likes it that way, and there are times when I do too!

Statements like this really damage credibility. DJI doesn't "like" a difficult binding process. What a childish thing to say.

DJI is trying to solve several different issues with binding. Theft, and Care Refresh flyaway proof. And others. This is the best, least intrusive method they've come up with. It's not about some sort of juvenile desire to sadistically punish their customers.

As someone who's run a software company, it's impossible you don't understand this.

 

[mavic3usa]

DJI has a similar page detailing their binding process here:

DJI Fly App Account and Device Binding/Unbinding Guide

After unboxing your new product, it is important to promptly bind it to your DJI account. Failure to do so will result in your inability to produce a DJI Care Aircraft Flyaway Report in case of a flyaway incident. To bind your aircraft and remote controller, or to perform an unbinding operation...

support.dji.com

They have another page here on the topic of rebinding when buying second-hand drones:

Precautions for Rebinding Second-hand Drones

Precautions for Rebinding Second-hand Drones

repair.dji.com

This is good information and I'm glad DJI finally decided to document that process and explain it fully. Many of us have been associated with DJI drone for many years and this information has only been recently been made available with it too bad for the thousands of customers who have been impacted by the process.

I have no doubt the DJI process works, it's just poorly implemented. With Apple products, you cannot use the product if they aren't prepared properly. Plus, the seller has an incentive to properly prepare the item they sell else they compromise their own details. There is a clear signal to the buyer that the product you just purchase is not yet yours without having to dig thru a website or learn it thru some other method. All DJI needs remaining is to STOP you from using a drone you don't fully own.

As Americans, we abhor substandard processes and we don't tolerate mediocrity and we should continue to push for DJI to improve a process that basically does nothing for the customer and benefits DJI 99%. I'm glad thru our complaints, we finally were able to convince them to lay out the process in clear language so at least the victim has a chance against the predators that could be using the binding process against them. And I also believe DJI is changing their tune on refusal to unbind as we have several reliable reports otherwise. This is good news but it doesn't help those who are already hurt and I believe a class action lawsuit is in order. Americans who have zero tolerance for such poor implementation should support this; nobody else does this.

If DJI needs help with making this possible, I have plenty of inexpensive ideas that can be quickly and securely implemented and is best in class for the tech world and fully works for both the buyer and the seller. DJI will reduce their support calls on this topic and they just might avoid a class action lawsuit.

 

[msinger]

And I also believe DJI is changing their tune on refusal to unbind as we have several reliable reports otherwise. This is good news but it doesn't help those who are already hurt and I believe a class action lawsuit is in order. Americans who have zero tolerance for such poor implementation should support this; nobody else does this.

It likely depends on the circumstances. In this specific case, I don't think we can rule out the possibility that the drone was stolen. While DJI might confirm it hasn't been reported as stolen, that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't.

Isn't Apple taking a similar approach? In the link you shared, they explicitly warn that they won’t provide assistance if you purchase a second-hand product linked to another Apple account.

 

[MARK (LI)]

I am afraid my friend IT IS THEIR RESPOSIBILITY.

I have ZERO allegiance to dji, I really don't like them because of a customer service issue with my first drone ( a Phantom) but how is this their problem? They have no responsibility in this matter at all...they sold a drone to someone, not you....Everyone is saying blame the seller.....I blame you for failing to perform your due diligence. If you mentioned it, I did not see what model you bought, but none of them are cheap.....I think it is incumbent on you to do the research and heed the warning "caveat emptor" before spending that kind of money..... One of the reasons for binding is to limit a stolen dji drone's value to the thief ...or to the thief's customer if he sells the drone.....this is possibly the scenario in which you find yourself. I believe that is why one of the responses you saw on here commended dji for the way they handle this situation as it does kill the incentive to steal an expensive drone....Unfortunate that you had to find out this way, but now you know so you should just take the course of action prescribed by paypal, get your refund and look for another one closer to home that you can actually observe getting unbound in front of you....good luck with it....go fly the next drone you get and blow off the steam while getting some good video......I saw somewhere in this thread that you are from Greece...you have some fabulous sites there, to record...go get them, post on here and have some fun.

 

[mavic3usa]

Isn't Apple taking a similar approach? In the link you shared, they explicitly warn that they won’t provide assistance if you purchase a second-hand product linked to another Apple account.

Sure, that's what they are saying but for good reason: Apple has done everything they can to ensure you have every reasonable chance to know what you are purchasing. Apple has made it easy for the ordinary consumer to know when they have stolen merchandise or unauthorized merchandise in their hands. If you have to call Apple, it is almost for sure that you ignored all the warning signs and Apple can almost be assured that you're likely the bad guy trying to get over. Apple can feel good about denying help on a 2nd hand product because at this point, you're probably not the honest, innocent buyer.

As opposed to the throngs of honest DJI drone victims who get caught up in a substandard, unprofessional process that have proven to harm more innocent buyers than it has stopped people from getting their drones stolen. I suspect DJI is aware of this since they have started unbinding these drones. The DJI process stops criminals from flying drones, it doesn't stop criminals from stealing drones. Stop flying helps DJI (flyaway process) and stop stealings helps DJI drone pilots. The DJI process helps DJI only and nobody else. DJI isn't protecting sensitive and confidential information (like Apple seeks to do). I personally think DJIs need to protect [inexpensive] private property using the binding process is misplaced just like their need to control the drone via geofence (i.e why would DJI care who's flying the drone). DJI can easily unlock the drone without compromising the safety and security of the owner's details.

 

[mavic3usa]

I have ZERO allegiance to dji, I really don't like them because of a customer service issue with my first drone ( a Phantom) but how is this their problem? They have no responsibility in this matter at all...they sold a drone to someone, not you....Everyone is saying blame the seller.....I blame you for failing to perform your due diligence. If you mentioned it, I did not see what model you bought, but none of them are cheap.....I think it is incumbent on you to do the research and heed the warning "caveat emptor" before spending that kind of money..... One of the reasons for binding is to limit a stolen dji drone's value to the thief ...or to the thief's customer if he sells the drone.....this is possibly the scenario in which you find yourself. I believe that is why one of the responses you saw on here commended dji for the way they handle this situation as it does kill the incentive to steal an expensive drone....Unfortunate that you had to find out this way, but now you know so you should just take the course of action prescribed by paypal, get your refund and look for another one closer to home that you can actually observe getting unbound in front of you....good luck with it....go fly the next drone you get and blow off the steam while getting some good video......I saw somewhere in this thread that you are from Greece...you have some fabulous sites there, to record...go get them, post on here and have some fun.

I have to ask, if what you say is true, why does Paypal support the buyer? Why does Paypal immediately and instantly recognize that selling a drone without unbinding it is automatically 100% responsible the seller at fault?

I'll tell you why. In America, when you sell something and you represent it as a drone, it had better be a drone. it's cannot be a brick in disguise. When you make the exchange and the buyer didn't get what he bargained for, the deal is cancelled. And the deal (contract) has zero to do with a buyer's research or knowledge or skill or being smarter than the seller. You cannot sell a "drone" to your victim whether it self-destructs in one day or 100 days. If you are ok with this then you have to be ok with the person who gets one of these locked drones to turn around and sell it to the next unsuspecting person.

eta: strike out 6 words

 

[BlueHeeler]

I have been watching this from the start, is is unfortunate for the OP to end up an unhappy drone owner,
I am not here to take sides on the situation, gmatj, you have been given lots of advice and insight on the matter to resolve, I really hope there's a happy ending.

As for others thinking about buying a DJI Drone in the secondary market, give it lots of thought and perhaps read this thread over a few times, let it sink in.

 

[MARK (LI)]

I have to ask, if what you say is true, why does Paypal support the buyer? Why does Paypal immediately and instantly recognize that selling a drone without unbinding it is automatically 100% responsible the seller at fault?

I'll tell you why. In America, when you sell something and you represent it as a drone, it had better be a drone. it's cannot be a brick in disguise. When you make the exchange and the buyer didn't get what he bargained for, the deal is cancelled. And the deal (contract) has zero to do with a buyer's research or knowledge or skill or being smarter than the seller. You cannot sell a "drone" to your victim whether it self-destructs in one day or 100 days. If you are ok with this then you have to be ok with the person who gets one of these locked drones to turn around and sell it to the next unsuspecting person.

What exactly did I say that you are asking about?

 

[mavic3usa]

What exactly did I say that you are asking about?

I adjusted my previous comment.

 

[mavic3usa]

As for others thinking about buying a DJI Drone in the secondary market, give it lots of thought and perhaps read this thread over a few times, let it sink in.

not taking sides either and not answering directly to your comments but luckily the US secondary market is not a free-for-all and a mine-field for used drones (or any other products) even if it is rife with fraud, misrepresentation, and dishonesty. Those who run those markets, those who take payments in that market, those who ship the goods from those market, and those who products are [mis]represented in those markets are aware of their legal responsibility and ultimately realize every product is not sold as it.

There are numerous protections built into the process and it not based on the people in charge looking the other way until the victim cries foul. Unfortunately this has led to a market where the seller is totally disadvantaged and most cases defaulting to the buyer but personally I vote for a managed environment the helps everyone. I prefer eBay not becomes a swapshop or a flea market online.

We need to do better. The buyer said he will seek a refund but as American, we don't approve of such mediocrity and we call out incompetence when we see it. Now would be a good time to call it out rather than supporting and defending this ridiculous implementation (some, not all). We didn't accept geofencing, we don't have to accept this.

 

[MARK (LI)]

I adjusted my previous comment.

OK...I see that....but why are you asking me why paypal does something?.......curious why you think I would know why someone else....anyone else does something.

 

[mavic3usa]

OK...I see that....but why are you asking me why paypal does something?.......curious why you think I would know why someone else....anyone else does something.

nothing in particular, it's just part of the conversation; you are free to answer or not, anyone can respond if they know or have a comment.

folks, everyone in this thread, if you do what is being condoned (or not called out as insane) in this thread, PayPal and the credit card companies will slap you down immediately. They WONT write back to the buyer and ask them if they did their research or if they WONT ask you to reach out to dji or the account owners. THEY recognize it as a shady practice and so should the drone community. If you don't, you provide tacit approval to the criminals who seek their victims on platforms like Ebay. They know they can come to these platforms and offload their broken drones and they know they have a potential outlet for stolen drones and other drone pilots who run across those with this issue provide aid and confront to the failed process and railing against unsuspecting victims who cry out because they have been sold a bill of goods and in effect, have been cheated. People don't just want to undo the deal they made, they want what they bargained for. Or they want the proper protection in place ahead of time. If I were PayPal and DJI doesn't want to fix this, the buyer must certify the drone is unlocked or he loses both the drone and the money. We won't keep sending back locked drones just so you can be forced upon the next person and the next person until we get a sucker.

Why aren't we sending a message to DJI to cut the b.s. and find another way to protect their flyaways without hurting buyers? I get it if you have to make sudden changes and the code is limited in what it can do and time is not on your side so we'll get there eventually. But this business about "so sorry there's nothing we can do....go elsewhere for help?" That's unacceptable.

 

[JoelP]

A friend of mine owned 3 drones when passed away last year. How does one unbind a drone for someone who no longer is alive to do this himself? I want to sell these drones for his widow, but this seems to be an impediment. We can guess at his DJI password, but beyond that it seems to be impossible to unbind these drones.

 

[mavic3usa]

A friend of mine owned 3 drones when passed away last year. How does one unbind a drone for someone who no longer is alive to do this himself? I want to sell these drones for his widow, but this seems to be an impediment. We can guess at his DJI password, but beyond that it seems to be impossible to unbind these drones.

Condolences. Usually when someone passes away, control over their email account(s) goes to someone, perhaps the executor. If you can get into the associated (correct) email account, you can reset the DJI password....apparently; I haven't done this personally. Or sign out.

Or, you can "answer" the email request from DJI to unbind.

 

[MARK (LI)]

nothing in particular, it's just part of the conversation; you are free to answer or not, anyone can respond if they know or have a comment.

folks, everyone in this thread, if you do what is being condoned (or not called out as insane) in this thread, PayPal and the credit card companies will slap you down immediately. They WONT write back to the buyer and ask them if they did their research or if they WONT ask you to reach out to dji or the account owners. THEY recognize it as a shady practice and so should the drone community. If you don't, you provide tacit approval to the criminals who seek their victims on platforms like Ebay. They know they can come to these platforms and offload their broken drones and they know they have a potential outlet for stolen drones and other drone pilots who run across those with this issue provide aid and confront to the failed process and railing against unsuspecting victims who cry out because they have been sold a bill of goods and in effect, have been cheated. People don't just want to undo the deal they made, they want what they bargained for. Or they want the proper protection in place ahead of time. If I were PayPal and DJI doesn't want to fix this, the buyer must certify the drone is unlocked or he loses both the drone and the money. We won't keep sending back locked drones just so you can be forced upon the next person and the next person until we get a sucker.

Why aren't we sending a message to DJI to cut the b.s. and find another way to protect their flyaways without hurting buyers? I get it if you have to make sudden changes and the code is limited in what it can do and time is not on your side so we'll get there eventually. But this business about "so sorry there's nothing we can do....go elsewhere for help?" That's unacceptable.

What do you mean "nothing in particular"? just part of the conversation?...... my conversation was with the OP. I don't know where you came from with this, but you are doing it again, hijacking a thread...you seem mad about everything and satisfied with nothing. You keep coming up with these imagined scenarios and then when you get called on it you say that you don't want to discuss it further because it would be off topic.....don't bother responding to me because as soon as I am finished with this I am going to figure out how to block you

 

[mavic3usa]

What do you mean "nothing in particular"? just part of the conversation?...... my conversation was with the OP. I don't where you came from with this, but you are doing it again, hijacking a thread...you seem mad about everything and satisfied with nothing. You keep coming up with these imagined scenarios and then when you get called on it you say that you don't want to discuss it further because it would be off topic.....don't bother responding to me because as soon as I am finished with this I am going to figure out how to block you

Have a good day, sorry I triggered you (I tried not to but you insisted). If you can't block me, just try to ignore my posts; no problem.

 

[TonyPHX]

Can you explain your thoughts ?

Pretty simple. Binding is what keeps a stolen drone from being easily repurposed by somebody. Binding is a well documented and expected feature. Thus, my conclusion that DJI is to be commended for not just overriding a bound drone.

 

[Cafguy]

A friend of mine owned 3 drones when passed away last year. How does one unbind a drone for someone who no longer is alive to do this himself? I want to sell these drones for his widow, but this seems to be an impediment. We can guess at his DJI password, but beyond that it seems to be impossible to unbind these drones.

When a person first creates an account, DJI will email them their account information. It is the Owners responsibility to keep that handy or better yet Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.
Perhaps the husband gave the wife his Email info and you may find it saved somewhere. I am sure there are ways for a wife to recover their deceased husbands Email info?

 

[moldorf]

I actually think DJI's binding/unbinding policies are good policies

there are other things that DJI does I'm certainly not a fan of, especially the auto log-out feature after 90 days. If I pay $2000 for a drone, it should be my drone. I shouldn't have to share custody with DJI

anyway, I've watched the prices of DJI drones (and other drones) Ive watched them on the DJI website, Amazon, Drone Nerds, etc. And I've watched the used drones on the classifieds here, EBay, etc.

what I've seen is that the difference in price between new new and refurbished drones at those online stores and the used market is almost never enough for me not to buy from one of those reputable sellers that has refund & warranty policies. Peace of mind is worth quite a bit

 

[AYKO HK]

I bought a PC software with 3 licences to install in 3 computers. One of them was installed in my friends PC and his PC later broke down and can never recover. I, myself needed to send email to the software developer, providing documents to release that licence, not my friend. It is a real story.

I tried to marry a woman, but later I found she has already married to someone. I have no right to "un-bind" their marriage. It is not a real story but the logic behind is straight forward.

Sorry for your experience but don't blame DJI, just like I could not blame the software developer or the marriage department.