Does DJI have secret contract with PayPal?

[ZenSamurai]

The back story, in December I've decided it is time to buy my first drone.
I am going straight to the DJI website, send the Mini 2 to the basket, fill in my card details, the card gets declined. Strange, couple more tries, nothing.
After some chatting with DJI support I've been advised to try a different card, I've tried 2-3 more, both credit and debit, nothing... ( I did try a different browser and deleting cookies)
Basically, I've been forced to use PayPal...
So I went to 3rd party store and had my hands on the drone 1 hour later.

Some days later
Then I gave the DJI website another chance same story, this is where I've decided to give it a deeper search and read the forums, I came to a friend of a friend who works at DJI, this is where I've been told of a "secret" contract DJI and PayPal have signed. DJI would decline debit cards on purpose in favour of PayPal and force you to use their service. Not really surprised, PayPal has some shady business anyway.

Disclaimer, I don't claim this is true and I don't stand behind what I've been told by the DJI employee!

I was wondering, do we have some DJI ex/employees on the forum who would like to bring some light on this story.

 

[brett8883]

The back story, in December I've decided it is time to buy my first drone.
I am going straight to the DJI website, send the Mini 2 to the basket, fill in my card details, the card gets declined. Strange, couple more tries, nothing.
After some chatting with DJI support I've been advised to try a different card, I've tried 2-3 more, both credit and debit, nothing... ( I did try a different browser and deleting cookies)
Basically, I've been forced to use PayPal...
So I went to 3rd party store and had my hands on the drone 1 hour later.

Some days later
Then I gave the DJI website another chance same story, this is where I've decided to give it a deeper search and read the forums, I came to a friend of a friend who works at DJI, this is where I've been told of a "secret" contract DJI and PayPal have signed. DJI would decline debit cards on purpose in favour of PayPal and force you to use their service. Not really surprised, PayPal has some shady business anyway.

Disclaimer, I don't claim this is true and I don't stand behind what I've been told by the DJI employee!

I was wondering, do we have some DJI ex/employees on the forum who would like to bring some light on this story.

I’m sure DJI has a contract with PayPal to use their service just like they have one with Apple to use ApplePay. I don’t see how declining cards using DJI’s credit card processor would benefit them. It creates a barrier to people buying their products and I don’t see DJI getting a lower fee from PayPal then anywhere else and PayPal primarily benefits the buyer.

Just logically I dont see what would be in it for DJI to do this. If anything PayPal costs them more money then using their own payment system.

 

[maelstrom]

this is where I've been told of a "secret" contract DJI and PayPal have signed.

That just doesn’t make any sense. If it was true, DJI would simply lose a sale to anyone without a PayPal account (and there are plenty of people who don’t). It could just as easily have been a temporary system glitch for whoever provides credit card processing for DJI.

 

[RoarRoar]

You don’t need a PayPal account to pay with PayPal. Just click the guest option or the pay with card option.

 

[Brockrock]

I know my credit card was denied many year ago when I bought my first Phantom 4 directly from DJI. It was declined because it was an asian transaction that I had to have my CC company allow. Since then, no issues.

 

[dirkclod]

The back story, in December I've decided it is time to buy my first drone.
I am going straight to the DJI website, send the Mini 2 to the basket, fill in my card details, the card gets declined. Strange, couple more tries, nothing.
After some chatting with DJI support I've been advised to try a different card, I've tried 2-3 more, both credit and debit, nothing... ( I did try a different browser and deleting cookies)
Basically, I've been forced to use PayPal...
So I went to 3rd party store and had my hands on the drone 1 hour later.

Some days later
Then I gave the DJI website another chance same story, this is where I've decided to give it a deeper search and read the forums, I came to a friend of a friend who works at DJI, this is where I've been told of a "secret" contract DJI and PayPal have signed. DJI would decline debit cards on purpose in favour of PayPal and force you to use their service. Not really surprised, PayPal has some shady business anyway.

Disclaimer, I don't claim this is true and I don't stand behind what I've been told by the DJI employee!

I was wondering, do we have some DJI ex/employees on the forum who would like to bring some light on this story.

I’ve never heard of such.

 

[spudster]

Bought mine from Amazon because my CC gives me 5% back on every order from AZ. I did buy the DJI refresh directly from DJI with no problems.

 

[A.O.]

Bought a FPV fly more package 2 weeks ago with a CC , no problems.

 

[JoelP]

Buying from Amazon gives me the peace of mind that any returns that may be necessary will be painless and payment will go without any hiccups. Amazon has enough clout that vendors like DJI pay attention to customer complains for fear of getting a bad vendor rating frim Amazon. About 5 years ago, when I bought my first drone, a former retailer for DJI strongly recommended that I buy my DJI drone through Amazon for exactly these reasons.

 

[Laborous]

My first attempt at a purchase from DJI was denied by my bank because it was posted in China so they thought it was stolen. I submitted it a second time and it went through.

 

[tlswift58]

Buy my stuff from B&H. Fast and usually some of best pricing around. Never had an issue when ordering from them on anything.

I'll pass on Amazon.

 

[Peterson]

Had similar problems with credit cards and purchases overseas mainly China. My bank has an alert on the cc system when a purchase from a Chinese company. It will red flag it as possible fraud. Bank just suggested I call ahead of time and let them know and it has gone through each time. I would guess that is a good thing, maybe.

 

[hiflyer201]

As others have said.. DJI would love to get your money. Your bank denied the transaction. It's seems banks quit doing that when you have previous transaction. I don't think I've had it happen since my first direct DJI buy.

 

[Blairsville]

One up on you. I moved to North Georgia last year from Florida. All address changed with CC company. By groceries and gas with the CC in Georgia. Drive 9 miles to the Lowe’s in NC and the CC is declined. After a talk with the middle eastern CC customer service, I can purchase in both states.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I know my credit card was denied many year ago when I bought my first Phantom 4 directly from DJI. It was declined because it was an asian transaction that I had to have my CC company allow. Since then, no issues.

I've had similar problems with a few big companies because the transaction went through in a different country from the UK so they blocked it however Paypal which looked normal and was accepted.

 

[Papa_G]

The back story, in December I've decided it is time to buy my first drone.
I am going straight to the DJI website, send the Mini 2 to the basket, fill in my card details, the card gets declined. Strange, couple more tries, nothing.
After some chatting with DJI support I've been advised to try a different card, I've tried 2-3 more, both credit and debit, nothing... ( I did try a different browser and deleting cookies)
Basically, I've been forced to use PayPal...
So I went to 3rd party store and had my hands on the drone 1 hour later.

Some days later
Then I gave the DJI website another chance same story, this is where I've decided to give it a deeper search and read the forums, I came to a friend of a friend who works at DJI, this is where I've been told of a "secret" contract DJI and PayPal have signed. DJI would decline debit cards on purpose in favour of PayPal and force you to use their service. Not really surprised, PayPal has some shady business anyway.

Disclaimer, I don't claim this is true and I don't stand behind what I've been told by the DJI employee!

I was wondering, do we have some DJI ex/employees on the forum who would like to bring some light on this story.

I have to call my bank anytime I want to use my card for a purchase in China specifically. It’s some sort of fraud prevention gimmick. They give me a 24 hour window to make purchases online and then lock it down again. Never asked for it and I’ve never tried to remove it. But I remember getting totally pissed as I was missing out on a sale or something silly. But I was still super angry about it.

Can’t speak to PayPal’s shenanigans of being the smooth operator here but I ended up using my student discount which is linked to my PayPal which is how I now buy from DJI, so apparently their nudge toward PayPal worked on me.

 

[neggy]

the discount rate ( percentage taken by the processing intermediary) is a lot less for a debit card than a credit card. Most merchants would take a debit card over a credit card all day long. Plus the money moves into their account faster.

Personally I rarely pay with a debit card, you lose a lot of the protections a credit card gives you (ability to dispute) among other things.

Something goes wrong on a debit card transaction... good luck getting your money back... put something in dispute with AmEx and see how fast the charge is reversed in your favor

 

[spudster]

Something goes wrong on a debit card transaction... good luck getting your money back... put something in dispute with AmEx and see how fast the charge is reversed in your favor

My experience is much different. I used to travel a lot and have had my debit card scanned twice. In both cases my bank notified me before I ever knew, froze the card until I confirmed they were not purchases, gave me a temp card number I could use through their website, sent me a new card overnight express and refunded the charges in two days.

But then I would never use AmEx, I'll stay with my BoA accounts. All I ever have to do is let them know if I am travelling and give them my itinerary.

 

[Thomas B]

My WF and Chase cards, via the websites, allow me to enter dates and locations before I travel. Works like a charm!

 

[Knelson]

The back story, in December I've decided it is time to buy my first drone.
I am going straight to the DJI website, send the Mini 2 to the basket, fill in my card details, the card gets declined. Strange, couple more tries, nothing.
After some chatting with DJI support I've been advised to try a different card, I've tried 2-3 more, both credit and debit, nothing... ( I did try a different browser and deleting cookies)
Basically, I've been forced to use PayPal...
So I went to 3rd party store and had my hands on the drone 1 hour later.

Some days later
Then I gave the DJI website another chance same story, this is where I've decided to give it a deeper search and read the forums, I came to a friend of a friend who works at DJI, this is where I've been told of a "secret" contract DJI and PayPal have signed. DJI would decline debit cards on purpose in favour of PayPal and force you to use their service. Not really surprised, PayPal has some shady business anyway.

Disclaimer, I don't claim this is true and I don't stand behind what I've been told by the DJI employee!

I was wondering, do we have some DJI ex/employees on the forum who would like to bring some light on this story.

And I get hit with a $5 service charge of some sort everytime I use Paypal to purchase from DJI.