whats DJI customer service really like? I'm ready to give up on this hobby

[motopokep]

I recently got into this hobby (GPS photography drones) I'm leaning toward getting the Mavic. After my Upair One just dropped out of the sky after I activated return to landing, and Gten's nonexisted customer service, I decided to go for the best and after reading reviews, even with some fly-aways and fall-downs, almost bought the Mavic Pro. I'm reading about many having gimbal issues with the Mavics. I logged in to Amazon to buy one, and stumbled across 121 bad (1-star) reviews, not even counting the 2 and 3 star reviews.

They are here: Amazon.com: Customer reviews: DJI Mavic Pro

They describe not just defects with the Mavic, which one can live with if DJI backed their product, but horrible DJI customer service, extremely long turn-around fix times, extreme (over 2 hours) hold times, or overall lack of response.

At this point, when I just got into the GPS drone hobby, I'm about to quit and keep flying helis and line of sight drones. I'd hate to do that though, because when my Upair One worked, it was the greatest flying experience. I haven't found anything better than DJI drones out there for consumer drones at this price range. I'm really leaning toward buying the Mavic, but I'm thinking do I really want a hobby that causes this much stress and expense? Is it worth it? Some swear by DJI customer support and unprecedented performance of their drones, while there are plenty out there who regret ever dealing with DJI. Having gone through 2 Upair One defective drones, I know I'm going to be one of the unlucky ones whose Mavic will have issues.

I guess I'm just looking for some feedback about DJI customer service from members on this forum, horror stories. I'd rather be flying then sitting on hold for hours and having a $1,000 useless desk decoration for weeks.

This really sucks, this is all new technology and it's understandable that glitches will arise, but I wish there was a reputable US, European, or Japanese drone company that would offer superior customer service and free drone replacement if it can be proved that the drone is defective due to no fault of the pilot. Any input?

 

[Deleted member 43289]

I’m new to the drone club and haven’t had any real issues with hardware or DJI personally as of late but one piece of advice is to take in the fact that most consumers that have zero issues and or would rate a 5 star just don’t. They’re happy and don’t understand the benefits of positive feedback. Laziness is also to blame. When someone has a bad experience the first thing they want to do is spread the word and help others be informed of the problem. It’s rarely a warning that the experience is awesome and that the service is on point. So for ever 1 star think of all the potential 5 stars you won’t hear about. Good luck man and FYI I love the MP. I’m in New Jersey USA too. Not exactly the free-est of states lol.

 

[ac0j]

The reviews section on ANY shopping site should be looked at lightly.
Almost everyone is quick to post negative reviews at the first sign of trouble with a new purchase. but those very same people will almost never post a positive experience.
If you read here enough you will see a great majority of the "bad experiences" are because of user error, or failing to read and understand instructions.. The reviews only reflect a tiny section of the Mavics sold.
Buy with confidence if you are not against studying the manual BEFORE you power it up and take off.

 

[ac0j]

Noto beat me!

Yeah, NJ is wierd. Dont you have to belong to some sort of union to pump your own gas there?

 

[motopokep]

Well, there are 533 5-star reviews on Amazon compared to the 121 1-star reviews, so that tells me that most people are happy with the drone and in vast majority of cases the drone will do what it's supposed to. I'm just saying that given my "luck", chances are I will be one of those whose drone will malfunction, which I'm prepared to deal with, as long as DJI customer service is not how it's described in some of those bad reviews.

I'm interested to hear stories from members of this forum, for example, what did DJI do after your Mavic flew away and you proved it wasn't your fault? Did you get a free Mavic or did you just get a discount? What about when your Mavic fell out of the sky, did they fix it free of charge? Did you have to pay for shipping? Turn-around time? Is the gimbal glitch common? Is DJI pretty good about about fixing that?

Don't get me wrong, I really don't want to quit this hobby, I'm just getting into it, and I love it, it's a whole different world, and the 4-5 flights I got out of my Upair One before it dropped out of the sky were amazing, I was mesmerized, I'd walk around with a great mood long after those long flights. I'm even thinking to go for the Mavic Pro Platinum. However, the UpAir crashed on me less than a week ago and I've just dealt with lack of customer service both with the manufacturer and the Chinese seller..so I'm weary...I don't want to go through same thing with DJI as I've went with them.

 

[beachcombing]

Most users never have to deal with DJI's customer service. Their drones work fine for them. And the vast majority of those who do have to deal with customer service are dealing with self-inflicted problems.

Don't let "negative reviews" get in your way of enjoying the hobby.

 

[choo choo]

I was always told when I worked in sales that 1 good customer will tell 1 other about their experience, but 1 bad customer will tell, on average, 10 others about their experience. My own experience of DJI customer service has so far been fantastic. I only ordered new propellers, costing just a few ££s but you’d have thought I’d ordered a warehouse full the way I was looked after. They even airfreighted them over from China, following up with emails on the status of my order. My Mavic has been faultless and does everything it should, but then again I’ve never asked it to do anything it really shouldn’t unlike a lot of others who’s flights end in disaster and look for blame elsewhere.

 

[ablack]

Happy with the Mavic Pro, but support is HORRIBLE. Long hold/response times. Techs are worthless and follow up is non existent. If your expecting responsiveness and professional knowledgeable support your going to be disappointed. Also, turn around times for simple things like a shipping label takes 2-3 days. That just ludicrous.

 

[rg155]

I bought an MP last month and it was sent to me with a broken compass so I called and they gave me a label and I had a new one in less than 5 business days.
... on the other hand i ordered a mavic battery and charger and was sent a phantom 3 battery and ended up calling the cc company and they got me the magic battery but still waiting on the charger.

If the problem is with the drone itself they are very helpful over the phone but their sales team does not have a phone number.

 

[Chopperone]

It is reckoned that the 3 star reviews give you the most recognised truthful answers

 

[Colorado_scott]

Go with your gut! It seems to say, this hobby has issues with product support, with products, with reliability. If you are planning to fly out of the line of sight, think again. This is where you get into serious trouble. City, counties, states are restricting drone flight as many abuse the rules. It’s not going to get better, read it again, it’s NOT going to get better. You know in your gut the hobby is being limited in flight areas. Keep flying your helicopter. It takes much more practice / talent to fly a full collective helicopter than a drone.

Don’t get me wrong, I had 2 drones and loved them for the few days I had them. Short flight times and long battery charging discouraged me, but most of all, the lack of quality places to fly was the key factor. And it’s not getting better. Good luck.

 

[motopokep]

Thanks for those who responded on point. It's easy to drift off on a tangent into bad review statistics or no drone zones. I don't think any of those 121 Amazon bad reviews were exaggerated. Why would someone spend the time making up things bashing about what didn't happen? 121 bad customer service reviews, gimbal issues with Mavic, etc, tell me enough to be cautious of even what seems to be the top consumer drone company. With that said, I've watched hours of youtube reviews and read up some about the Mavic so despite the bad rep, I'm gonna get one. 11 years ago I made a decision to buy a souped up German car that everyone caution about, how they have a bad rep for breaking, glitches, expensive repairs....an over a decade and 1/4 of a million miles, it still runs great.

To respond to Colorado Scott (and I'm guilty of starting to derail my own post), I'm actually glad there are drone restriction areas. I think drone flying should be also restricted to non-residential area, i.e., no flying above people's houses, or above people in general. The other day I was in my driveway when I heard a propeller noise, looked up to see a phantom stopped right above me, height of my roof. Back then I was only flying helis, I was naïve not knowing these things can drop like a rock at any time, so I happily waived at the drone. If it happened now, I'd be furious. Imagine that thing crashing on my brand new shiny sportscar (not the old Germanier mentioned above), or even worse, hitting one of my kids with a propeller in the eye...it'd be a freak accident but theoretically it can happen and I don't want to take the chances, esp when my wife and kids are at risk.

Oh, and they should be prohibit drones over any roadway...I was doing 70mph on a freeway the other day when another phantom flew slightly higher than my winshield about 50 feet in front of me. Again, back then, I thought it was pretty cool and envied its pilot who got an amazing view of cars zipping by. But now, knowing these things can drop, imagine what it would do to my car going at that speed...probably wouldn't break the windshield but who knows. What if I was on my motorcycle and this thing dropped in front of my front wheel?

After my Upair One dropped for no apparent reason, I will never fly in an area where people may be around. I will take the time to drive to a remote area, I will fly over water. I must say those drone cloudsurfing videos look amazing, but a pilot or a passenger of an airplane that strikes a drone, or worse, if a drone will gets sucked into the turbine, will not be of same opinion.

And yes, helis are so much more complicated and fun to fly, especially when you get into the 6 channel ones, but the fun with GPS drones is the relaxation, amazing views, and fpv. This train is officially derailed. Here comes my Mavic .....now just gotta decide if the 2-3 extra flight minutes of the platinum are worth the extra $100