NEVER ordering from DJI again. Angry as hell

[akdrone]

I'm coming through Juneau in July, if you want me to bring anything along. Then you could have Era Alaska bring it in for the last leg.

Very kind of you, but it’s all finally sort it out in the Drone is on its way. I’ll be ordering off Amazon at this point.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

For some strange reason it has something to do with being in Alaska. I’ve never had to do this before either although Fedex has failed to ship them on to Alaska and returned them to Hong Kong and then had them shipped from DHL but from now on I will order from BH oh yeah or somebody.

Yea ALska and your remote location seems to be the issue. Like others here, I just use the store and dont have any issues. Its usually only a day or two behind something I would order on eBay. Pretty reliable. I would NEVER think about ordering straight from China unless forced to.
I'm sorry you're having these issues and I think you hit the nail on the head assuming it must be because of your location.

 

[antlahall]

it’s because you’re near the ice wall

 

[akdrone]

it’s because you’re near the ice wall

Hadn’t thought of it. I hate looking over that edge into the abyss.

 

[Walleye Hunter]

it’s because you’re near the ice wall

Is that anywhere near the DEWline?

 

[offtheback]

Both FedEx and UPS changed their shipping policies and will not carry lithium batteries to Alaska anymore. Because of that B&H ceased shipping anything with batteries to Alaska and Hawaii about 2 years ago. Amazon did as well.

The last time I needed batteries, I found someone who was traveling down to America to visit family, had batteries shipped to them c/o where they were staying, and they brought them back up in their carry-on luggage. It’s the only way we can get lithium anymore.

That stinks!

 

[akdrone]

The saga continues. I am currently in the deep south…Anchorage. Yesterday I saw that my Mav3 Pro, having been released after I filled out a lengthy form for FedEx, was scheduled to arrive the next day (today) when I would not be home. It’s a 365mi drive. I contacted DJI by Chat and they assured me that it was “Signature Required”. Today I got an email from FedEx with a picture of it sitting on my porch. I was (am) livid. I called FedEx and was assured it was NOT sent with a signature requirement. I then got on a chat with DJI and can you guess? They said it WAS sent with a signature required. I will bet that had it been stolen I would have had no recourse. Luckily I had a friend go over to my house (interrupted her dinner preparation) and pick up the package. For eff’s sake. I had 5 items in my DJI cart that was going to order shortly. They are no longer there.

 

[PAW]

A happy ending... Now get it in the air and give us some of those great photos you take

 

[Walleye Hunter]

That's good that you got your drone. Is porch piracy that big a thing up there? When mine came, I got notice that it was signature required but they didn't make me sign for it, they just gave it to me.

 

[Torque]

The only 'renewed' or 'refurbished' or used items that I could find in the DJI Store on Amazon.com were from third party sellers. Sadly. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

An Amazon "renewed" drone is not the same as a DJI ""Refurbished". I am not sure of the difference, but have been told that a renewed drone may have issues that DJI may not repair without billing you.

 

[BobaFut]

The saga continues. I am currently in the deep south…Anchorage. Yesterday I saw that my Mav3 Pro, having been released after I filled out a lengthy form for FedEx, was scheduled to arrive the next day (today) when I would not be home. It’s a 365mi drive. I contacted DJI by Chat and they assured me that it was “Signature Required”. Today I got an email from FedEx with a picture of it sitting on my porch. I was (am) livid. I called FedEx and was assured it was NOT sent with a signature requirement. I then got on a chat with DJI and can you guess? They said it WAS sent with a signature required. I will bet that had it been stolen I would have had no recourse. Luckily I had a friend go over to my house (interrupted her dinner preparation) and pick up the package. For eff’s sake. I had 5 items in my DJI cart that was going to order shortly. They are no longer there.

The FEDEX website will tell you when a delivery requires a signature, and I would trust that more than the shipper because that's the info the delivery driver is getting when they make the dropoff.

 

[akdrone]

Well…when you order directly from DJI there is no option to choose signature required as far as I recall. I think it’s the default shipping method although I can’t say that for sure. I certainly would not/did not choose shipping without signature required. FedEx did say that’s how it was sent. I don’t know who screwed up but I had a friend pick it up off the porch and it’s charging now.

 

[LoudThunder]

DEWline?

"DEW line" That's a term I have not heard in a long time… For the uninitiated, it means "Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line). It was known as the Cold War Defense at the Top of the World.

It was a series of Radar Stations scattered throughout Alaska and Canada, way up the northern regions…

But they all did not like the cold… In the mid '90s I was stationed at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, Texas and we had a "Top-secret" PAVE PAWS site that sat on the side of U.S. Highway 277. It was about 35 miles south of San Angelo in Schleicher County, it was dubbed the Eldorado Air Force Station.

And it's "Top Secret" location is 30°58′44.68″N 100°33′9.59″W,,,

Here are two photos, one of the structure and the other the structure on Google Maps…

 

[Rich Sugden M.D.]

My shipment has been held in Tennessee for the last week because they had to get me to fill out an import form and I had to provide my SS# which has never happened before. Last time it was turned around and then shipped by DHL taking a month longer than necessary. I assume everyone here does not have to fill out a lengthy import form. I will never order from DJI again except batteries are pretty much only available from them to ship to Alaska. SO ticked off.

I’m going w. Amazon from now on too. Had DOA Mini 3 that wondered off into a tree on first flight right after all calibration … not responding to controls, and verified by DJI. Drone was delivered while on a trip so not flown for a couple of weeks, but first flight a few minutes after activation. DJI says DOA Warranty only good for two weeks after delivery … huh??

 

[OklabyGodhoma]

Personally I believe you were scammed. By law the only places you must give your social security number are your financial institution, your employer, the IRS. At one time it was clearly printed at the bottom of SSN cards "Not to be used for identification". Your doctors, the hospitals and all the others who want it can go pound sand and you can tell them just that. Far too many people do not know or understand their rights when it comes to their SSN. And yet people still wonder why there is so much identity theft. By the way you can also demand that your number be expunged from any of the others you have given it to and if they fail to do so they can be sued and you will win every single time.

I sorry for your difficulty with ordering from DJI but it sounds like someone has overstepped their bounds.

 

[Mid-AtlanticDroneServices]

I purchased a Mavic three thermal and had to fill out an import form. And that was not directly from DJI, but a different vendor.
You basically have to attest that you’re not going to transfer it to North Korea or, ironically, China. It must be a new requirement at the federal level.

 

[New England Droning]

My shipment has been held in Tennessee for the last week because they had to get me to fill out an import form and I had to provide my SS# which has never happened before. Last time it was turned around and then shipped by DHL taking a month longer than necessary. I assume everyone here does not have to fill out an lengthy import form. I will never order from DJI again except batteries are pretty much only available from them to ship to Alaska. SO ticked off.

Sorry to hear about all your troubles, it makes mine seem really paltry in comparison. Can't you wait till the release date and order from Amazon or B&H? It seems like they would do a better job. Opps, just read the above items... So Amazon and B&H are out... ****...

 

[akdrone]

Sorry to hear about all your troubles, it makes mine seem really paltry in comparison. Can't you wait till the release date and order from Amazon or B&H? It seems like they would do a better job.

I will from now on. I just ordered the RC Pro and guess where I ordered that from? When the ND Filters come out I will wait for Amazon or BH. I leave an ND on all the time so I'm jonesing for that. Flying without it seems odd as I always try to fly at 1/120 as a matter or course cause who knows when I might want to fly low and have some nice blur? My recent "first test" with the Mav3 Pro ended up at 1/1450 for pete sake. I could have forced it lower but now way to get to 1/120 without an ND filter so I'm looking forward to that availability. I'm heading to a waterfall soon but realized I have no ND filter...sigh...I will take my old Mav3 which I haven't sold yet just for that ND filter set. Some day....

 

[Talon360]

Ahhhh... it's the ground-only transportation that eliminates AK.

Uh, don’t boats still go to AK? And what about all those poor drone enthusiasts in Hawaii? Or Puerto Rico (the HQ of Red Hat Holdings - a great drone innovation company)? Or any location that can’t be reached via land.

if you read their shipping requirements (including the USPS), I think that you can ship lithium batteries almost anywhere when properly packaged and identified as such.

 

[akdrone]

Uh, don’t boats still go to AK? And what about all those poor drone enthusiasts in Hawaii? Or Puerto Rico (the HQ of Red Hat Holdings - a great drone innovation company)? Or any location that can’t be reached via land.

if you read their shipping requirements (including the USPS), I think that you can ship lithium batteries almost anywhere when properly packaged and identified as such.

You would think that you can ship Li batteries almost anywhere but if you lived in Alaska and tried to order Li batteries you would find that virtually no place will send them. Not Amazon, not B&H, nobody will send them. DJI WILL send batteries. Any company -could- send them but it apparently requires actual training certification and the application of stickers and such which is why FedEx failed in their attempt to send me a Combo kit when I ordered my original Mavic 3. It was refused at some point and sent back to DJI who then shipped it by DHL. I recently tried to order a few more batteries for my GoPro and could not find ANYBODY that would ship to Alaska. I had to have them sent to my daughter in Seattle who reboxed them and sent them up to me. Of course boats come here but it's not a reasonable option for a battery. A crate of batteries perhaps... I would bet Hawaii may suffer similarly but I don't know.