Mavic Pro Build Info - Serial Number?

[jerryb773]

Hope so! I would think B&H wouldn’t give a refurbished one as a new one unless it was bought as a refurbished one. Your right it’s just confusing with the R and -R and where it’s located. I guess we have to go with what they say. Just hard when we are getting different answers from different support personnel.

 

[Jyunte]

I posted this on another thread, actually by mistake as I meant to post it here...

My THIRD Mavic Pro arrived today. This is to replace a BRAND NEW, but defective Mavic Pro that I purchased in December 2017. The two previous aircraft were both defective, with the same problems. DJI told me they repaired the last Mavic Pro I returned, but then sent me back a totally different aircraft!

The replacement that arrived today has serial number 08QDE4NxxRxxAS.


Note the "R" in the 10th position? There has been much discussion about whether or not an "R" in the 10th position in the serial number means "Refurbished", or not. Some people believe an "-R" at the end of the serial number means it's a refurbished unit, and an "R" in any other position in the serial number is just a random coincidence.

I can confirm this is a refurbished aircraft. How?

• It has flight logs, on the aircraft itself, going back to 5th June 2017, then a bunch in November 2017, and more in January 2018.
• There was no packing tape on the gimbal, the back of the aircraft, or anywhere else on the aircraft.
• The SD card I sent back to DJI with the defective aircraft, was taped to the nose of this replacement.
• The firmware was version 01.04.000, which didn't exist in April 2017 when this Mavic was manufactured!
• DJI has not denied that it's a refurbished aircraft, instead, they've repeated their policy that they can exchange aircraft with refurbished units.
• This replacement Mavic Pro was sent back to me in THE BOX FROM THE MAVIC PRO I SENT BACK TO THEM, the box has the previous aircraft's serial number on it!
• It also thought it was in China and asked me to supply a Chinese mainland phone number. None of my 3 previous new Mavics ever asked for that.

I've been very clear with DJI -- I told them I would not accept a refurbished aircraft in exchange for my BRAND NEW, but defective purchase.

I am very tired of being jerked around by DJI. I've told them that DJI needs to clarify the serial number "confusion". Telling customers that refurbished serial numbers end in "-R" and that all other versions of serial numbers, including those with an "R" in the 10th position, are New aircraft, is a lie.

After more than a month in the general discussion forum on the DJI Forums, and 3 pages of posts and responses from DJI and forum contributors, DJI decided to move the thread to the Service forum... effectively hiding it from everyone who was watching it or contributing to it. The forumsearch feature doesn't work there either, so, well done DJI!

If you're interested, here's the link to the main thread on the DJI Forum.

 

[jumper17]

@Jyunte Thanks for the post! TBH all this thread about the serial number and replacements is scary, as we didn't buy something cheap. Maybe mine is a new one, not refurbished, but as I read your thread, now I'll try to fly my MP today and check the issues about the rotation and I wish it doesn't because now I got doubts about returning it.

 

[WilliamG]

Jyunte, what a nightmare. This is part of the reason I wish there were more competition with DJI because their customer service is up there...I mean down there - with the worst in the industry.

Do keep posting, though. I really hope to see your saga come to a happy end.

 

[Jyunte]

I got a phone call today from someone at DJI (an American, calling from a New York number). He was very apologetic and said the support person who created my last trouble ticket, wrote it as a "repair" ticket, not a "replace" ticket, and so I was sent a refurbished aircraft instead of a new aircraft. It was good to get an official confirmation that I got a refurb.

He emailed me a UPS ticket and said if I could get it shipped tonight, they would expedite a new, sealed-in-the-box aircraft and I should get it by Tuesday or Wednesday. Of course, I got home too late to do anything today. I emailed back, asking for another call on Monday, as I'd like to discuss the rising/drifting issues I've experienced. Will see if that happens.

 

[Jyunte]

Just a quick update:

Ultimately, I went through FIVE replacement Mavic Pro aircraft, two refurbished (returned immediately), and three new aircraft.

One of the refurbs I returned without flying it. When it got back to DJI, for some reason it went to their repair line, where they found the problem I was having (I didn't fly it, remember!), and replaced the defective gimbal controller board! This, of course, begs the question, "Why wasn't the problem with the gimbal controller board found during the refurbishment procedure?" A clear example of why you should never accept a refurbished aircraft in exchange for your new aircraft... You just don't know whether the refurbished aircraft was ever truly fixed, or just cleaned up and shipped out to a new owner.

A supervisor at DJI said he'd take a new aircraft off the shelf, unbox it, do a full physical and electronic quality control check, then have his flight team test fly it, and record video (leaving the video on the SD card). He said he'd analyze the video on his computer to make sure everything was 100% working. I sent Mavic Pro #4 back to him, and 2 hours after it was dropped offof at UPS, he shipped my new Mavic Pro to me. When I got it, I found the following:

• No flight records on the Mavic Pro aircraft
• Firmware was updated, but there was a firmware mismatch between the battery and the aircraft
• Battery had never been charged
• Packing materials still in place on the gimbal, back of fuselage, camera lens and covering the Forward Collision Avoidance sensors
• No video footage on the SD card

Clearly, the supervisor has done none of the things he promised to do.

I updated the firmware (it arrived with 4.01.0200- on it... I assume the "-" implies beta firmware?) to make everything consistent, charged the battery, and did some test fights. Result... Same issues as before.

I wrote email to the supervisor detailing my findings, above, and asked exactly what tests were conducted on it prior to shipping, and where the video was. My email was ignored!

A week or so later, I received an email from someone new at DJI. The email said that based on my description of the problem (they clearly had not read the entire email thread, or the ticket information, or looked at the flight logs, or the DAT files, or watched the videos I sent them)... my Mavic Pro was "behaving normally"!!

I've kept that Mavic Pro. The problems with it, while still present, are less pronounced than any of the other replacements I'd received, and it is a new aircraft, not refurbished. I've updated the firmware on everything,,, aircraft, batteries, controller, and the DJI Go 4 app... all to the latest versions (firmware 4.01.0200 was replaced after only 10 days, so something must have been really bad with it!). The latest firmware and software versions seem to have reduced the problems a little more, though they are still present. DJI is basically ignoring me now.

I later found threads on the DJI forums that describe the exact same problems that I am experiencing. One thread has been active since February 2017, with just one comment from DJI! All in all, I found something like 7 threads all describing the same problems, none of them with any solutions from DJI. With the introduction of the Mavic Air, there have been several new threads started where problems with rotation of the Mavic Air during hovering and drifting to the right when flying "straight" has been described.

And so the saga continues.

 

[Rampant]

DJI SERIAL DECODER

 

[neokill175]

Just got a Mavic pro like yesterday. And the decoder said that mine was manufactered August 10th of 2017?

Are these not selling well or am I getting an old unit in a new box ?

 

[Starz]

Came from where? And what part of the planet r u in?

 

[neokill175]

Came from where? And what part of the planet r u in?

Came from target online website. Shipped to my place in nc

 

[Starz]

Does seem odd. I would check with someone at targette and maybe they will replace with a newer product. Serial number is on the outside of the box so you can check it while you’re there.

 

[neokill175]

Does seem odd. I would check with someone at targette and maybe they will replace with a newer product. Serial number is on the outside of the box so you can check it while you’re there.

Does it matter if its built from august of 2017? i heard that they started building better gimbals in august 2017?
none of the target near me carries new mavic pro, so it would be a pain to try to swap back and forth for the same quality?
did the mavic pro acquire any new recent hardware updates?

 

[KhakiDrone00]

Has anyone noticed discrepancies between the serial number in the battery section and the Flight ID found in the DJI app?