I believe DJI sold me a refurbed Mavic as "new"

[ibatman]

Yeah?
What did this Communications Director communicate?

It's actually their Communications Director, he said: " I'm very sorry to hear about what happened. This sounds like it was a horrendous warehouse mistake -- I've never heard of anything like this happening before. Can you send me your order number so we can hunt this down?"

 

[BluesDragon]

Riiiiiight... I believe that would translate to.." Oh chit... we've never been called on this before. This sounds like someone in the warehouse didn't clean it up proper before re-shipping. Can I kiss your arse with a 'really' new one before you take it to an attorney?"

 

[CCDD]

DJI will likely first accuse the buyer of nefarious actions and drag this out for weeks if not months. Be prepared for endless phone calls and a whole bunch of gray hair. If there is a next time, I suggest you think twice about purchasing direct.

 

[CashCache]

DJI will likely first accuse the buyer of nefarious actions and drag this out for weeks if not months. Be prepared for endless phone calls and a whole bunch of gray hair. If there is a next time, I suggest you think twice about purchasing direct.

Amazon. I've never had an issue with returns or exchanges with them - ever.

 

[snowman9031]

Mine got stuck in some Spanish Moss and crashed and my gimbal wouldn't move. They said send it in and this is my nightmare about a refurbished one. Just might spend the 79 bucks and get a new one under the care plan.

 

[JDLouisville]

I purchased my MP direct from DJI, figured it's the best way to buy.

 

[ibatman]

I purchased my MP direct from DJI, figured it's the best way to buy.

You'd think that would be best option, but the fact BB is right down the road is a major plus.

 

[Kestrel]

I bought mine from DJI because back then I would of had to wait till March to get them from a third party source.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

If you read enough on this site, and I see youre new, you will see that DJI routinely sends out refurbed birds as Refresh replacements.

He bought it new - Care Refresh has nothing to do with it.

 

[Former Member]

He bought it new - Care Refresh has nothing to do with it.

That wasnt my point. My point is that DJI doesnt care whether they sell a refurbished Mavic as new or when you send in your Mavic for Refresh they dont care if they send you a refurbed bird back even if your new one had only 1 flight in it.

 

[AlexP]

Had my Mavic for 20 days . had a gimb. vibration error . i sent it back due to what DJI said was a manufact. defect. three weeks later I get a refurb drone back. I just paid 1,300.00 for a new drone. I called explained 6 times to six Idiots my situation got the same scripted answer. They say after 15 DAYS "unconditionally" the have the right to send you a new or refurb drone??? whats' that??? so two weeks in on a brand new drone that has a manufact. defect I get a refurb?? Absolutely Not!! I disputed the charge let them fight with my cc company. They can have the whole package back. Not sure which country the call center is in defiantly not California, USA. Lack of common sense and compassion is astounding. I should get a credit as well for my decal kit I wasted ion a faulty product.

 

[Former Member]

Had my Mavic for 20 days . had a gimb. vibration error . i sent it back due to what DJI said was a manufact. defect. three weeks later I get a refurb drone back. I just paid 1,300.00 for a new drone. I called explained 6 times to six Idiots my situation got the same scripted answer. They say after 15 DAYS "unconditionally" the have the right to send you a new or refurb drone??? whats' that??? so two weeks in on a brand new drone that has a manufact. defect I get a refurb?? Absolutely Not!! I disputed the charge let them fight with my cc company. They can have the whole package back. Not sure which country the call center is in defiantly not California, USA. Lack of common sense and compassion is astounding. I should get a credit as well for my decal kit I wasted ion a faulty product.

Youre not alone in your negative experience. DJI's return policy is abysmal. Thats why I dont buy from them any more. I will still buy DJI products but I would rather get it from a company that stands behind what they sell.

 

[NevadaWolf]

Interesting.

When I went to buy the Care Refresh plan, the DJI store informed me my drone had already been active for over 48 hours. Several emails, phone calls, and hour+ drives to visit the store revealed the timeline between the unopened Fly More shipping box leaving the distributor (Feb 24) to me buying it (Mar 6). DJI, naturally, tried saying I or the shop activated it. Eventually got through to one customer service agent who informed me my s/n had already been activated Dec 13 (!!!). After sending them all the proof I indeed just bought this that week and it was new (presumably, pristine condition and sealed box), they unlocked the serial number and I was able to buy the plan.

Now I wonder...

 

[ZeroG]

I better be able to, I missed DJI's after sales team by a few minutes tonight, will call in the morning. The bottom line though is this practice is illegal, and constitutes fraud...I wonder how many others don't even know?

Ya, when I received my MP in February, during unboxing I noticed the gimbal dome and gimbal clip were both separated from the body. I also noticed that the back right arm hinge was sort of wiggly, like someone tried to open it sideways hard, instead of down and out. It also just looked and felt like it had been used and abused. Sort of a greasy film all over it. Further, and the reason why DJI switched it out for me is that on initialization, the gimbal would hit the body with a loud 'CLICK - CLICK'. When I got my new exchanged MP, It was nice and clean, and very tight in the arm swivels with no wiggly play. So for sure my first MP was either a demo or whatever!

 

[Stuart Wood]

Ya, when I received my MP in February, during unboxing I noticed the gimbal dome and gimbal clip were both separated from the body. I also noticed that the back right arm hinge was sort of wiggly, like someone tried to open it sideways hard, instead of down and out. It also just looked and felt like it had been used and abused. Sort of a greasy film all over it. Further, and the reason why DJI switched it out for me is that on initialization, the gimbal would hit the body with a loud 'CLICK - CLICK'. When I got my new exchanged MP, It was nice and clean, and very tight in the arm swivels with no wiggly play. So for sure my first MP was either a demo or whatever!

Would be interesting to do a problem comp (or has this already been done?) with those that received their machines in the first batch of deliveries and then those after when it became apparent that they were struggling to meet the demand. I got mine back in November, from Amazon, and touch wood, have not had any real probs other that the ones that were obvious design issues.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

That wasnt my point. My point is that DJI doesnt care whether they sell a refurbished Mavic as new or when you send in your Mavic for Refresh they dont care if they send you a refurbed bird back even if your new one had only 1 flight in it.

Selling a used article as new is illegal in most jurisdictions which is why I hope he sends letters to the appropriate AG's and CC to DJI's General Counsel.

I know they have the latitude to do so for a CR return and warranty returns too.

And that was never the point. The OP bought a brand new MP.

 

[NorthGADronePilot]

I've always purchased everything direct from DJI, but now that they have a Care Refresh program, I will no longer do so for this very reason. They build nice products, but I don't trust DJI any further than I could throw them. Moving forward, I'll always buy through a dealer/retailer.

 

[DJI27]

Don't get a warm and comfortable feeling after reading some the stories here...

Doesn't a direct purchase from DJI clearly warn you that the unit you receive may in fact be a refurbished unit???

If not and you receive a used unit (as verified by on-board data logs), DJI is really treating its customers badly.

Even if legal action were initiated, it probably wouldn't make much difference because they're not a US company and could tie things up in court indefinitely.

Best to just avoid direct purchases from DJI and buy from a big box store or authorized DJI vendor that has a good return policy.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

Don't get a warm and comfortable feeling after reading some the stories here...

Doesn't a direct purchase from DJI clearly warn you that the unit you receive may in fact be a refurbished unit???

If not and you receive a used unit (as verified by on-board data logs), DJI is really treating its customers badly.

Even if legal action were initiated, it probably wouldn't make much difference because they're not a US company and could tie things up in court indefinitely.

Best to just avoid direct purchases from DJI and buy from a big box store or authorized DJI vendor that has a good return policy.

No. New is new. Where you might (will, these days) get a refurbished unit:

- a warranty repair beyond x days from purchase (x=15 per some reports - I really don't know)
- a Care Refresh bird.​

Some people have gotten brand new MP's for Care Refresh birds. But I guess that now the "repair facility" back in China has enough crashes/broken/defective stock that they can build from the boneyard all they want to refill the warranty/Care Refresh stock.

The OP of this thread is quite correct in his intention to file complaints against DJI in his own state and in California with the AG (or consumer protection agencies, etc). New is new. New is not repaired warranty parts.

I just fear that the warranty return I'll be getting will not be the pristine machine I sent. It had 120 or so flights with no crashes other than a 1 foot fall into powder snow after hitting a branch. It was a clean mean machine with a nice new skin on it.... probably lose that too.

 

[DJI27]

Not sure if I'm as trusting as you.

There's a big world out there and "what happens in China stays in China"

A company as large as DJI has to do something with all the returns it receives and it doesn't make sense that most of the returns get anywhere near the trash heap.

Kind of like Apple when it gets caught doing something shady.... the only thing that even begins to keep a company honest is REALLY bad press. Too many buyers wouldn't know or for that matter care (or take the time) to verify that they have a new unit.

Ronald Regan was right on the mark when he said "Trust but verify" .... doing anything else lets a company put cost above customer interest.