Experiences of DJI customer services

[Steve1978]

Hi all. I recently bought a DJI Mavic Air, I was so excited as this was my step up from the Bebop 2 that I have had for the past 3 years. I got a good price from a website called tobydeals.co.uk. 7 days later my shiny flymore combo arrived and from the moment I opened it I was chuffed! I flew it 10 times without any problems.

But... this all changed on flight 11 2 weeks after taking ownership. I got an error on my display saying “gimble motor overload” I frantically googled, tried to perform calibrations and everything including getting in touch with DJI support. Sadly it was determined that the drone had a fault and it would need to go back... then the problems began.

Tobydeals turns out to be a company in Hong Kong, they purchase in China and ship to the UK, that explains the good price (£730).

Anyway. I went to the forum on DJI and made a very loud protest to the company policy that in order to get a warranty repair I had to send it to an address of a friend in China (I don’t have any) and then this mystical person could post it to DJI. I wasn’t aloud to send it to NL or China myself.

After 2 days and 200 views the DJI forum staffed blocked my account and deleted my thread... talk about Chinese’s censorship! I wanted to get the message across to anyone thinking of buying from DJI... think long and hard, the forums are littered with people having problems and the admins there are just deleting threads to get rid of negative publicly.

I know some people will say that I should have bought direct from DJI but like most people I shop around, and I buy from the most cost effective. I have no bones to bear with tobydeals.

 

[Mr. Salty]

When you buy from a shady gray-market importer you get what you get. This has always been the case with gray-market camera equipment, too, back into at least the 1970s and '80s. Nikon and Canon wouldn't honor the warranty in the U.S. of a product that wasn't sold here.

Buying from the "most cost effective" isn't always the best deal.

 

[Thomas B]

Are they an authorized reseller?

 

[Mossiback]

If you paid by credit card you may be able to get the charge refunded due to a faulty product. Contact your card issuer to see what is required. Your DJI communication showing it is faulty should help.

Then buy a replacement from an authorized dealer with a good return policy.

 

[Steve1978]

Thanks all for suggestions. Like I say I have no real gripes with the seller, I do have the option to post it back to them but their after sales support doesn’t look to be the best, hence why I wanted to deal directly with DJI. My gripe is that the Gimble appears to be a known problem and DJI are being resistant to acknowledge it AND they blocked my account and deleted the thread!

How many times have they done this? How many people out there must have had this happen to them? The mavic forum on DJI site is full of people having problems, are they just deleting all unhappy customer posts and whitewashing problems
?‍

 

[RayOZ]

This seems strange to me.
1. If you bought it brand new, where you activate it, would be where it would be registered. I assume you didn't buy DJI Care Refresh. Not sure why it needs to be shipped to China.
2. I think because, as you said "very loudly protest", there's where communication failed. Basically, you became a bit of a hassle to deal with, so they blocked you. You bought their product from an unauthorised channel and demand the same consumer rights that comes with buying from the proper channel.
If you bought a Rolex from a side alley and it stops working, would you demand Rolex to fix it? Well, I guess you would.

 

[Dakarenduro]

Yeah, that sucks in general. But as others have said, if you are buying only based upon the best price you are taking a risk.

It has already been asked and you haven't answered- is the seller a DJI authorized reseller?

I searched and searched for best price before I bought my MA fly more combo kit. One thing I did was to eliminate any sellers that were not authorized resellers from my options. I know when I spend this kind of money it is wise to buy smartly and not purely on price. Exactly for this reason - warranty issues.

Having said that, I too only have a few flights on my MA. I think I have had 20 flights or so, maybe just under 3 hours of total flight time. I have had no gimbal problems. In my on/off reading of forums I have not seen a rash or consistent complaint of gimbal overloads, so I'm not sure you are correct in saying there is a DJI known problem.

Anyway, hope you get it squared away. The MA is an awesome bit of kit to fly!

 

[Dakarenduro]

and it appears your thread has not been deleted, so not sure what you are talking about. I see it on the DJI forums right here-

Gimble Overload - am i being unreasonable?

Hi All I bought a Mavic Air and within 2 weeks, 14 flight i had the dreaded Gimble overload error. No crashes, bad landings etc. I have had drones and RC planes since about 2006 so i am fairly good with looking after my investments. Anyway... I bought the drone from a company called...

forum.dji.com

 

[JoelP]

I bought my MA from Amazon, an authorized reseller of DJI products, and have only had good service from DJI. They replaced a battery that failed 5 days short of 6 months. Can it be that your drone was a unit that was a reconditioned unit from an unauthorized reseller?

 

[Dakarenduro]

Thanks all for suggestions. Like I say I have no real gripes with the seller...

I do not understand how can you say you have no gripes with the seller but are upset with DJI.

Your seller sold you something and shipped it from a different country than you thought you were buying it from. Your own admission.

Your seller's customer service is not that great. Your own admission.

DJI promptly offered you 3 options for handling your complaint within their company's published warranty terms. And you think it is unreasonable for DJI to stick to their terms when you admit the seller was not exactly honest with you???

Yes. To answer your original question I think you are being unreasonable in your DEMAND that DJI deviate from their standard practices.

 

[Steve1978]

I appreciate all your comments, I really do. It helps to get popiniins to get perspective. I think in my naivety that if for example I buy a 1 year old VW and it breaks I can take it to any VW garage for a warranty repair. But I take it all on board. The item is a genuine DJI product, that’s why I believe that DJI should take ownership of the problem.

Authorised seller: no ani don’t believe they are, I haven’t checked to be honest. I never check that kind of thing, I just buy! Addidas from sports shops, do I check if they are authorised... nope!

I complained to DJI on Twitter with a screenshot of my account showing unauthorised to access the forum. Strangely I now have full access and my account my thread is back, at least that’s a minor success

Thank you all for comments and I will be sure to get in touch with DJI and let them know that I’m ok with the outcome and close the case.

 

[Air_Joe]

Hi pal, i had this gimbal overload problem once.

Ok, my issue which i didnt notice was, i took off from a ‘dusty spot on the ground’.
Everything was fine and flying , until a change a batt and took off from the spot i mentioned. Afterwhich i try to take a pano shot , gimbal was all ok until it move the left trying to capture the scene. ‘Gimbal overload ‘ and got stuck.
Brought it down, sees nothing .
Suspected some ‘dust ‘ might be obstructing the rotation.
Went home, used a blower gives it a good blow, all is fine till today.

Also i guess those instructions dji given mostly are to those standard ones, after which if it doesnt resolve your issue, needless to say they will ask u to send it in.

Btw had contacted dji due to a flyaway issue before.
In short, nothing but praise for them.
Understanding , fair and very polite. Awesome cs service.

Good luck.

 

[InvisibleName]

Probably a silly question, but you did take your lens guard off?

 

[Air_Joe]

Probably a silly question, but you did take your lens guard off?

Who bro? Me?... nope lens guard was on. Actually never took off before. [emoji1]

 

[Steve1978]

Lens guard? What’s that?

Lol. Yeah mate I did. Thanks. I have seen this fly away thing mentioned a lot. I have been a parrot user since about 2010. Never heard of this. My drone did reverse in to a bush on its own the other despite me pressing every button on the control and screaming at it at the same time!!

 

[InvisibleName]

Who bro? Me?... nope lens guard was on. Actually never took off before. [emoji1]

I was meaning to ask Steve1978 but forgot to quote him. He wouldn’t have been the first to do this!

 

[BrucenYvette]

Didn't see it anywhere...but did the gimbal overload issue ever get resolved?

 

[Steve1978]

No mate. Not resolved. Basically many issues but I give up with DJI so the product is faulty. That’s life hey

 

[RayOZ]

Lens guard? What’s that?

Lol. Yeah mate I did. Thanks. I have seen this fly away thing mentioned a lot. I have been a parrot user since about 2010. Never heard of this. My drone did reverse in to a bush on its own the other despite me pressing every button on the control and screaming at it at the same time!!

So it reversed into a bush? The 'gimbal overload' didn't just suddenly happen? It wouldn't be manufacture defect then.
Check the gimbal. Maybe it's just debris between the joints. Get an air gun or something.

 

[Steve1978]

Oh no, it reversed it to a bush about a week after the gimbal error first happened. I was explaining to a friend at the time about the sensors and off it went. Obviously there was a lot of laughing at my expense.

Next day I got insurance for the drone! I just don’t trust it yet!