Is this even legal, DJI?

[spamgnome]

So at the end of November, I bought an Air 3 Fly More combo directly from DJI. They charged my CC for the full amount, and the estimated ship date was early January. Instead of the drone, I got an email saying that the shipment was delayed, but they did not specify an updated ship date. I replied to the email asking for more details, and this is what I got back,

"Upon checking with warehouse team, we are sincerely apologies the item is out of stock now and we suggest you can go to the local retailer store to purchase.
We apologies for the experience you have and we have applied 20 DJI Credits on your account and DJI Credit can be used to buy any of the products on the DJI Online Store (shipping costs excluded), please visit https://my.dji.com/credit to view your DJI Credit balance.
We have canceled the order for you as you requested before. The refund has also been submitted and will be completed in a few days."

Is it just me or does this seem a tad shady? They had my (and presumably other peoples') money in their account, but how could they possibly not know that they didn't have stock? Is this even legal?

 

[mavic3usa]

In the US, it's legal. I'm not sure what the complaint is.

 

[spamgnome]

The beef is that they took money for something they could not ship

 

[Bad Santa]

The beef is that they took money for something they could not ship

Happens all the time.

You probably get it done all the time and don't realize it.

How?

Good question. Glad you asked.

You go to the drive-thru. You order a hamburger. They don't have a hamburger to sell you but are confident they can make one before you get pissed off.

You get your hamburger in a reasonable amount of time and aren't pissed.

DJI is/was confident they could make the drone fast enough to meet demands and not have people pissed. They found out they were wrong. Bummer.

 

[mavic3usa]

The beef is that they took money for something they could not ship

You gave your money, they didn't take it. They accepted your order and you agreed to pay in advance to get the goods at a later date. Your laws will dictate and determine what "later" actually means. The normal course of business means it is legally and morally ok for a merchant to accept payment for something he doesn't have immediately on hand but plans to deliver (within the legal guidelines) in good faith. This is essential in order for the market to run smoothly. However, if you don't agree with it, as the buyer, you have recourse which is this case is to get a full refund (as you are not entitled to the goods, this is not that kind of contract).

Unfortunately the age-old complaint that someone took your money but didn't have the merchandise is outdated and those who still believe in that need only make their way down to the central market where you have the tradition of exchanging goods for money by hand still exist (and I mean that in no disrespect). Because entire businesses are ran with the expectation that they seek and find the goods your desire at some point in the future (but sometimes they fail and nothing is perfect). IOW, if internet commerce is to succeed, we need that concept but I agree with you, often it is abused, fraud is rampant, and consumer are taken advantage of. But it doesn't sound like that is the case here, they gave you a $20 credit in good faith; scammers don't do that. DJI is going thru unforeseen issues at this time; much of it is out of their control, they are likely doing the best they can. In the short term, I don't think they can quickly change their payment processing to accommodate the recent issues but they should think about it if this is going to be the case long term.

 

[Cafguy]

There are so many reasons that this could have happened. Legal? Sure it is. No company can anticipate sales or problems with customs for that matter. It is irritating I'll give you that, BUT Its not really shady.
Hope you can find one elsewhere.

 

[spamgnome]

I never said that did it in bad faith, but unfortunately that is not good enough. Read this, please. In summary, they have 30 days. I think the only reason they gave me the $20 is because that I asked them to tell me when it WOULD be shipped.

https://www.findlaw.com/smallbusiness/business-operations/laws-governing-shipping-advertising.html#:~:text=If%20your%20advertisement%20does%20not,shipped%20COD%20(collect%20on%20delivery)

 

[spamgnome]

In the US, it's legal. I'm not sure what the complaint is.

See my 3rd post.

 

[mavic3usa]

I never said that did it in bad faith, but unfortunately that is not good enough. Read this, please. In summary, they have 30 days. I think the only reason they gave me the $20 is because that I asked them to tell me when it WOULD be shipped.

Typically when DJI cannot or believe they will not fulfill orders in a timely and/or legal fashion, they put their website listing on out of stock and unavailable. I believe they also have a mechanism that calculates the expected ship date for you when placing the order to set the expectation.

In the US, it's legal. I'm not sure what the complaint is.

The beef is that they took money for something they could not ship

Sure, I understand it now. DJI takes orders for 100 drones and 90 arrived so 10 people are going to be unhappy; it happens.

 

[spamgnome]

Typically when DJI cannot or believe they will not fulfill orders in a timely and/or legal fashion, they put their website listing on out of stock and unavailable. I believe they also have a mechanism that calculates the expected ship date for you when placing the order to set the expectation.



Sure, I understand it now. DJI takes orders for 100 drones and 90 arrived so 10 people are going to be unhappy; it happens.

True. Their web site does in fact show that drone out of stock now, but when I bought it, they were actively advertising it on black Friday at a discount. I found out about it via an advertising email from them, even. Interestingly, the same drone with the controller that DOESN'T have the integrated screen is showing available. So it would seem that the controller is the issue here.
TBH, I'd much rather have the product than the lousy $20.

I sent them a follow up email telling them specifically that. We'll see what happens. The price I got was pretty good, so I'm fine waiting. Just wish they'd be a bit more transparent about when they think they might have it in stock again.

 

[MARK (LI)]

What I would find not acceptable is that they have the ability to hit your credit card as soon as you "place order".... but for some unknown reason, they can't credit your account as quickly, particularly when it is their own doing ....no reason for it to take a few days......I would hold out for a 3S at the same price....good luck with it

 

[spamgnome]

What I would find not acceptable is that they have the ability to hit your credit card as soon as you "place order".... but for some unknown reason, they can't credit your account as quickly, particularly when it is their own doing ....no reason for it to take a few days......I would hold out for a 3S at the same price....good luck with it

Doesn't the 3S use the same controller? If so, and if that IS the reason for the delay, not sure that will work. I feel like a phone call v. email is needed.

 

[Bad Santa]

I'd definitely send them a message asking for a rain check. You want the same price.

What really sucks is with the price fixing, and DJI selling the drone to the public directly, there's no way you could leverage getting it somewhere else.

 

[Droning on and on...]

The beef is that they took money for something they could not ship

Completely legal.

Morally, not very different from using water or electricity before you pay for it (as we all do), in my opinion.

Circumstances change. Looks to me like that were prompt and attentive to the situation, and made you more than whole (20 credits).

Now, if it had been 3 months since the due date and repeated inquiries were ignored, we'd have something to talk about.

 

[Droning on and on...]

DJI is/was confident they could make the drone fast enough to meet demands and not have people pissed. They found out they were wrong. Bummer.

That's certainly entirely possible, however given the customs issues DJI has been having I'd say there's a good chance that harassment delayed shipments to the US-based warehouse, and screwed a lot of promised ship dates.

 

[Droning on and on...]

@spamgnome, I read your legal reference. What is your evidence that DJI did not have a "reasonable basis" to believe they could ship an order within 4-6 weeks?

Based on DJI's historical shipping performance, I think they could make a slam-dunk defense that the shipping date was very reasonable.

This changed when the US Government started using customs to harass DJI. They certainly could not have anticipated that, so they can't be charged with an "unreasonable basis" for the shipping date they gave you at time of order.

Life sucks sometimes. Things happen beyond our control. DJI didn't do anything unethical. Your ire is misplaced.

 

[TonyPHX]

You see, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding.

 

[atlas-ivy]

TBH, I'd much rather have the product than the lousy $20.

and they'd much rather have made the sale!

 

[MARK (LI)]

You see, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding.

Seinfeld?

 

[atlas-ivy]

no reason for it to take a few days......

Don't fall into the all-too-common trap of conflating "I don't know why" with "there's no reason," and especially if you lack relevant experience that would otherwise have proven insightful. Of course tere's a reason -- are reasons-- for it. At minimum, it's to...

• avoid costly mistakes: If they refund impoperly, clawing that money back can be difficult or even impossible, so there's an additional step or three to review and validate it first.
• prevent fraud: "Hey friend, now that I'm at DUI, how's sbout you place a $5,000 order and I'll process a refund without actually canceling the order! Re-use the same money to do this daily, and we'll split the proceeds from re-selling sll thise drones!" Really, there probably no need to even involve a friend; and depending on DJI's systems, it might even be impossible to see who's personally responsible once (if!) they eventually discover it even took place (unless, again, someone must personally sign off)
• there may also be a delay on the payment processor's (credit card complaint or whomever) end, for their own reasons.

Generally speaking, fully automating the outflow of money is just asking for trouble. I can assure you, DJI isn't benefiting in any way by holding onto someone else's money for an additional 2-3 days... Really, they'd rather have it off their books ASAP, too!