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Second hand drone, can't unbind drone

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Sorry, dude, but you got ripped off. The drone was stolen. Of course it worked perfectly, it was still bound to the original account. When you signed out of that account it was locked out for any other account. DJI will not unlock it, if they would, they would be unlocking a lot of stolen drones. It is protection of a sort for the original owner.
He literally sent me a receipt of the drone with his name and credit card, but by the time DJI cared enough to try and do more by asking for more information, the seller already blocked me.

It also makes zero sense, even if it was stolen, why wouldn't he just disconnect from the account and create a new account and bind the drone to it? I seriously fail to see the logic here.
 
I take your story to be true and I am aware that you have acknowledged that mistakes have been made but with regards to the above comment I have to say.

To me it seems a reasonable expectation that someone logging out of the account is going to be the owner of the account and that they know the details that allow them to log in again.
As such I see no real reason that it should be considered necessary to warn the person logging out that there is a risk since, normally, there should be no risk.

I would also consider it ABNORMAL for a screen device to be given to a new owner whilst it is still logged into the original owner's DJI account.
I see no reason why DJI should consider that a likely event, most folks are paranoid about security and would, I think, at least log out. There have been several threads from people asking what information-protection-steps they can, and should, take when selling a drone.
I bought a drone that came with the tablet that the previous owner had used with the drone, they factory reset the tablet.

Certainly I can see a case for saying that it should be highlighted to original owners and binders that there is a need to undo the bindings before selling a drone or returning a drone to a retailer but that may already be done.
I agree you have a point, but second hand drones is something to be taken into consideration here.
I honestly believe the previous owner just had no idea about this, that's why he just sold it 'as is', if he needed help of a friend setting up the drone, it makes sense to me(also considering the fact that the drone was used for mere 21 minutes and had only 2 battery cycles).
 
Not sure if you explored this option yet, but creating a Gmail account requires a valid phone number. And if someone forgets the Gmail email address, the account information can be retrieved by entering that phone number here.

When that Gmail account was created, it would have been created with a phone number owned (or at least accessible) by the seller or technical friend. Between the two of them, they should be able to easily get access to that Gmail account.
That's a very interesting idea. I don't believe I'll manage to get in touch with the seller by this point, but I'll surely give it a try as it's a really really great idea. Thanks!!!
 
I agree you have a point, but second hand drones is something to be taken into consideration here.
I honestly believe the previous owner just had no idea about this, that's why he just sold it 'as is', if he needed help of a friend setting up the drone, it makes sense to me(also considering the fact that the drone was used for mere 21 minutes and had only 2 battery cycles).
I understand the above but still maintain that giving a logged in screen device to the new owner is going to be an extremely rare event.
 
Not sure if you explored this option yet, but creating a Gmail account requires a valid phone number. And if someone forgets the Gmail email address, the account information can be retrieved by entering that phone number here.

When that Gmail account was created, it would have been created with a phone number owned (or at least accessible) by the seller or technical friend. Between the two of them, they should be able to easily get access to that Gmail account.
And the fact that they haven't tells you something, doesn't it? So convenient for someone to play dumb...

Why the OP continues to blame DJI when the evidence points to the OP being scammed by the seller IDK. After all, think of it from DJI's POV - how does DJI know the OP didn't steal the drone? (not implying that he did!). All the evidence for a sham "sale" can be easily faked...even receipts and bank statements.
 
And the fact that they haven't tells you something, doesn't it? So convenient for someone to play dumb...
Something seems off, but I don't want to assume. I am surprised this tech savvy friend doesn't know how to use Gmail. Then again, maybe the original owner didn't ask his tech savvy friend to help recover his Gmail account.
 
I don't want to sound stupid. I am new to this, but what is the advantages of binding the drones to an account? I see this causing nothing but problems for selling drones. I understand that people steal drones, and this happens with anything out there. But it also seems to be more of a headache then anything else for people trying to sell their drones.
 
When you sell the drone you unbind the drone from your account
It's a great idea stops and stolen drone from being sold on ,I would always as the seller to unbind the drone if they can't then stay clear its probably stolen
 
To add one thought: I doubt very much that anyone legit selling an expensive drone wouldn't know the basics of binding and unbinding. And they sure would not "forget" their account details...
Buyer beware...
 
what is the advantages of binding the drones to an account
It's really a requirement. It needs to be bound to an account before flying.
 
Interesting thread, and as one who has yet to buy and fly a drone, I'd like to add a comment and ask a question;
I have read the OP say numerous times that he thinks he and the seller just were too naive to know, and that's believable, but the part about forgetting the gmail account is not. Seller should have something from google when that email was set up, and he should be able to recover that.

As a wanna-be drone pilot, I will add I know nothing about the account binding and unbinding process/requirement. Everything I now know about it is contained in this singular thread. Which now makes me give second thought to buying a more affordable pre-owned drone. If you (I) buy from an online seller, or forum classifieds, what reassurance do we have that everything is legitimate and good to go? and is this binding a thing with all drone manufactures and models, or only dji?
 
what reassurance do we have that everything is legitimate and good to go?
Make sure buy from a reputable website (e.g. eBay/Amazon/PayPal) and use a credit card that will protect you in case the promised goods are not delivered.
 
I don't want to sound stupid. I am new to this, but what is the advantages of binding the drones to an account? I see this causing nothing but problems for selling drones. I understand that people steal drones, and this happens with anything out there. But it also seems to be more of a headache then anything else for people trying to sell their drones.
It is necessary for the DJI Flyaway insurance to be valid, other than that there is none ...... unless you consider potentially grounding a stolen or lost drone to be an advantage.
 
I bought from reputable source - ebay

DJI support goes in circles about "send a message to seller", seller does not reply, DJI is marking "ticket closed, issue solved". $2300 on the dice.
 
I bought from reputable source - ebay

DJI support goes in circles about "send a message to seller", seller does not reply, DJI is marking "ticket closed, issue solved". $2300 on the dice.
If the drone is bound, did you contact the seller and or consider opening a "not as described" case for the return of the drone ..... if the ebay you used has that provision?
In the UK items sold as "used" are supposed to work and I would consider a bound & grounded drone to be not working.
Such a case, if available, against the seller encourages them to resolve matters since they will be "out of pocket" since, if the case goes to its ultimate conclusion, the entire purchase cost is refunded including the postage BOTH ways. Return postage to be pre paid by the seller and must be trackable.
 
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Many of us don't consider private sellers on ebay to be particularly reputable. It's a dice roll.
OTOH, there are a number of commercial vendors on ebay that are good sources of obscure and not so obscure stuff.
I don't intend to hijack this thread. Ebay cautions are well discussed elsewhere, such as a photo forum I frequent.
Maybe a separate thread on ebay?
 
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That's a very interesting idea. I don't believe I'll manage to get in touch with the seller by this point, but I'll surely give it a try as it's a really really great idea. Thanks!!!
I bought someone else’s mini3pro aircraft, but it was also bound and couldn’t take off. The seller didn’t know that there was binding when I bought it from someone else. Finally, I found someone who helped him unbind it remotely. Now everything is perfect, just pay more unbind fee.
 
Did you have to provide any information about your drone to get it unbound?
No, just need to connect aircraft to PC. He completed operation through anydesk, and it took less than 5 minutes. It was amazing that it could take off, but binding of other accounts in device management still did not change.
 
I bought someone else’s mini3pro aircraft, but it was also bound and couldn’t take off. The seller didn’t know that there was binding when I bought it from someone else. Finally, I found someone who helped him unbind it remotely. Now everything is perfect, just pay more unbind fee.
By him you mean the seller? Because as I said, he no longer replies to me sadly.
 
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