Hi everyone. I'm writing on behalf of my 73 year old ex-wife who has innocently been victimized with her purchase of a 2nd hand DJI Mini 3 Pro from Facebook Marketplace. I'd really like to have some feedback that doesn't involve blame or 'shoulda, woulda, coulda', so thanx in advance for that. As stated above, she purchased the Mini 3 Pro and several months later subsequently decided to sell her Mini 3 Pro and upgrade to the Mini 4 Pro. She advertised the Mini 3 Pro on Marketplace and sold it for $800. The buyer called her a week later and informed her that the drone was bound to an email address - not hers and not that of the person who originally sold her the drone. She hadn't been previously educated on binding and so knew only that what had transpired wasn't right. She decided that the honorable thing to do would be to refund the money she had received in the sale and retake possession of the Mini 3 Pro. She contacted the person from whom she'd bought the drone and asked if he had the original bill of sale from Amazon. He did and he provided to her his bill of sale totalling $1,301.69 Cdn. As things unfolded, she called DJI and explained the situation. DJI informed her that the drone had been bound 2 months prior to Amazon selling it. They told her that Amazon owns the drones it sells to the public. DJI informed her that they would try to communicate with the owner of the email address shown as the address to which the drone was bound. They did that and were told that the person who owned the email address said they'd never owned the drone, and that it wouldn't be ok to unbind it. DJI then says that they're not willing to unbind the drone even though it was apparently never owned by the email addressee due to "privacy issues". Amazon won't talk directly to my ex because she wasn't Amazon's customer, but they say something is very wrong with the drone having been bound prior to its sale by Amazon. The bottom line is that my ex is now stuck with a drone she no longer will use and that she won't sell. Is there anything in this story that you folks reading this think doesn't add up? I sure do. Thanx for any helpful comments that maybe can be applied in this situation - like where did Amazon get this already bound drone and how did it get bound prior to being sold?
Where does Amazon acquire DJI drones?
- Thread starter KLJ5
- Start date
Nope, everything makes sense (even though it is wrong). Someone is going to be screwed because of this well-known "issue" and it's just a matter of "whom" not "if" gets left holding the bag. I read your entire paragraph and I understand it well what you wrong. But I can only weigh in on what little I'm given here. Obviously there are too many owners and too many change of hands for this to be resolved outside of DJI but it's not easy to declare this as as illegitimate sale because most buyers and sellers are simply unaware of the binding process and the ill-effects it has. So, the "paperweight" continues to pass hands until someone raises the red flag. Unfortunately it's the often the most vulnerable buyers who usually becomes the victim so anyone who thinks DJI puts this binding process into place to stop the bad guy and protect that innocent are naive; DJI is mostly screwing over the honest and innocent drone buyers with their ill-conceived "permanent" and likely illegal locking scheme. But of course, KLJ5 could be simply another one of those hundreds of "innocent" posts we see here from time to time from someone with a "sad story" asking the expert drone community if there is a secret back door or a workaround or a trick to social engineer the codes out of DJI. But I doubt it; this appears to be sincere but the answer is still the same, there's nothing you can do about it for now.
As a last resort, a couple of things come to mind. If you paid with a credit card or paypal, you might have some recourse depending on the timing, etc. I know you didn't ask for this but others reading might take heed, if you buy second-hand and you ask for a bill of sale at that time and you are presented with a $1300 bill of sale which you are being asked for only $800 a couple of months later, might be a red flag. What I find strange is the fact this drone was apparently sold on Amazon while already bound and it appears DJI is trying to make that issue? Because DJI has been known to unlock drones when a reputable merchant unknowingly sells the drone already locked. This could be another avenue you may want to address this. I've never heard of "it's not my drone but it's not ok to unbind it" that's ridiculous. Not your drone then you don't have a say! If DJI sends a email to the "owner" and the owner replies "not my drone; never was"....then unlock it DJI. Otherwise it sounds more like someone is not being candid.
That's my take on this. I would never ask you to pass the drone off to someone else, let it be their problem, but you can always sell the drone AS IS or for parts with full disclosure so it's not a total loss. There are hackers out there. Good luck to you.
ETA: Also you should know that everything you see when you go to amazon.com is not always sold by Amazon. Your purchase must say "Ship and sold by Amazon" or equivalent otherwise it is likely you could be buying your drone from someone other than Amazon so all bets are off at that point. You will need to check with Amazon to see what rules apply.
As a last resort, a couple of things come to mind. If you paid with a credit card or paypal, you might have some recourse depending on the timing, etc. I know you didn't ask for this but others reading might take heed, if you buy second-hand and you ask for a bill of sale at that time and you are presented with a $1300 bill of sale which you are being asked for only $800 a couple of months later, might be a red flag. What I find strange is the fact this drone was apparently sold on Amazon while already bound and it appears DJI is trying to make that issue? Because DJI has been known to unlock drones when a reputable merchant unknowingly sells the drone already locked. This could be another avenue you may want to address this. I've never heard of "it's not my drone but it's not ok to unbind it" that's ridiculous. Not your drone then you don't have a say! If DJI sends a email to the "owner" and the owner replies "not my drone; never was"....then unlock it DJI. Otherwise it sounds more like someone is not being candid.
That's my take on this. I would never ask you to pass the drone off to someone else, let it be their problem, but you can always sell the drone AS IS or for parts with full disclosure so it's not a total loss. There are hackers out there. Good luck to you.
ETA: Also you should know that everything you see when you go to amazon.com is not always sold by Amazon. Your purchase must say "Ship and sold by Amazon" or equivalent otherwise it is likely you could be buying your drone from someone other than Amazon so all bets are off at that point. You will need to check with Amazon to see what rules apply.
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MARK (LI)
Well-Known Member
What does not make sense to me is that you say The bottom line is that my ex is now stuck with a drone she no longer will use and that she won't sell. ......indicating that she did use it in the past.....how did she do that if it was bound to a different account ? Also I believe the drone is bound to a dji account....not an email...any one else clear on whether it is email, or dji account?
Also ...how did the lady pay the person from whom she purchased it?....if by credit card or pay pal.....check with them to see if there is any protection
Also ...how did the lady pay the person from whom she purchased it?....if by credit card or pay pal.....check with them to see if there is any protection
Macinfo
Well-Known Member
If I recall the process correctly, which I may not, if your going to un-bind a drone your selling, you need to do it in the Fly App while connected to a powered on drone. Someone correct me if I am wrong.
If this is the case, and DJI really won't help someone that purchased a drone in good faith from a seller that may have totally unaware to unbind it, that's just poor customer service. I am sure that drones are stolen and sold perhaps all the time.. and thats the pits too.. But who is DJI protecting here?
Maybe I miss the point of the binding process? In the box there should be a large print notification that spells out binding to start and unbinding if you sell, if they read it at least a little bit and are remotely honest, they'll make sure its unbound before selling it.
But if you go to fly, get prompted to bind and then set and forget, because there's no added info for when the drone may be sold, and if the seller needs the drone to unbind it, its just a bad process and DJI should fix it.
If this is the case, and DJI really won't help someone that purchased a drone in good faith from a seller that may have totally unaware to unbind it, that's just poor customer service. I am sure that drones are stolen and sold perhaps all the time.. and thats the pits too.. But who is DJI protecting here?
Maybe I miss the point of the binding process? In the box there should be a large print notification that spells out binding to start and unbinding if you sell, if they read it at least a little bit and are remotely honest, they'll make sure its unbound before selling it.
But if you go to fly, get prompted to bind and then set and forget, because there's no added info for when the drone may be sold, and if the seller needs the drone to unbind it, its just a bad process and DJI should fix it.
DJI will NOT unbind a Drone for any reason. The agreement you signed with DJI when you took off the shiny plastic tells you so. It also explains that they are not responsible if you sell your Drone in bad faith by not unbinding it. DJIs website gives you the information you need to unbind your Drone before you sell it. I don't read these agreements word for word either, lol for all I know google owns the house.
So what I get from this is: DJI won't unbind a drone, but it will allow you (the person who first bound it to an account) to unbind it at any time? I wonder what would happen if I forget my email/password.
Macinfo
Well-Known Member
Yeah, reading the fine print a policy that should be in big letter page in the box is sort of annoying, I am still not clear on exactly what DJI is protecting against with this policy, if its just theft, how many people have drones stolen per year? Is it more than the people that maybe hit by this policy in inadvertent ignorance?
Seems like two levels of theft... 1. The drone bag in the back seat of the open car, or 2. the user that buys a used drone that gets locked out of using it because of it being still bound to the last owner that won't help to unlock it or never intended to do it the 1st place.
MARK (LI)
Well-Known Member
No one else is wondering how the ex wife used the drone if it was bound to someone else's account?...Seems like there is a piece of the puzzle that is missing
As I mentioned, a locked drone that is plainly locked or at least thought to be locked will not stop a thief from grabbing it if it's easy to steal and then re-selling it to a victim who will probably end up being the ultimate victim. Vehicles get stolen all the time without the key and so will drones. The difference is 90% of the drone buyers are not aware they need the "keys" or they cannot even have a key made. This DJI locking scheme has little impact on criminals and major impact on the innocent buyers. It's partially disingenuous to claim the buyer should know how to dive deep into the drone to discover if it's a brick and it's wholly disingenuous to support the notion that DJI will do nothing to rectify the situation despite readily having both the capability to resolve it and a clear means to determine if you are a true victim or not. There's no American consumer who will standby the decision to refuse such service regardless how much proof is provided; which is why we have courts and credit cards to roundly defeat the stupidity that is the DJI unlocking process.
OP, take them to court, please. I've never been burned by this but so many others have and at the point, there's no telling what other nonsense games DJI has up their sleeve. DJI should unlock drone unless they have information that tells them otherwise not to do it. Honestly, I believe DJI does it under certain circumstances (since I refuse to believe they are that dishonest). At a minimum, put a master reset under your login/password that clears everything out so victims can at least stand a chance. If you forget your password, it can be sent to the email addy. If you forget your email addy, DJI should be able to provide the "address only" to the true owner with proper proof.
My understanding is either you can fly a limited number of times before you get warned or locked out *OR* while locked out, your activity is limited. It's only until you eventually get "logged out" that you are unable to log back in and then you're toast. Ridiculous.
Hi Mark. I'm the ex wife. That is of interest to me as well. I have owned this drone for almost a year, flew it approximately 100 times, with absolutely no problem at all. So I too am confused. What exactly is the principle of binding supposed to do? It sounds like there is no way I should have been able to fly this drone....is that correct? If so what the heck??
Macinfo
Well-Known Member
I concur, which is why I don't readily understand DJI's stance on this locking mechanism? While I think I've seen some reports that DJI had resolved some of these issues, If I can prove that Joe X was the original owner that sold me Y Drone model, and he forgot to unbind it, DJI should just delete whatever they delete to free that up..
If DJI is reluctant to do that, I guess you could sue or find some other legal means to pursue, but even if you spent a couple thousand for a used DJI Drone thats bricked because of this process, legal fees could dwarf that in nothing flat. Even if you do eventually win.. (hopefully)
You can...... Simply provide the password Joe x agreed to with DJI. IF he forgot it simply click on the forgot my password and follow the Email or text they send you. If you have no idea about that my guess is you are not the original owner. I don't always agree with the policy but it is the way they want to do it.
I think it is easier than that. If the original owner forgot to unbind, they can still unbind the drone by using their account and password without having the drone anywhere near them or in their possession. But it appears the owner has said "no way" and DJI has decided to honor that. Perhaps the original owner doesn't know they can keep their password secret and still unbind and I'm pretty sure DJI is not going to tell them that after they get a negative or try to convince them it's ok. Unfortunately if original owner did not sell you the drone (while it was still bound) yet you ended up with it second hand, can't see how the original owner is obligated to unbind it for you (or anyone except the person they sold it to). However I do believe DJI should step it.
Honestly I think it takes awhile before the drone is logged out and rendered useless, it could easily take longer than a year. The problem is the DJI process is a bit secret and we just don't know exactly how it works. A drone is not rendered un-flyable just because it is sold. The binding process has to do with making sure the controller and the drone are tied together in the event the drone experiences a failure and it is lost or flyaway and therefore cannot be recovered and re-used once the flyaway insurance (called DJI Care Refresh) is paid out. We don't know when or if this happens under some sort of timeframe, in any case, this locking and binding is simply a nasty side-effect of a confusing process which has noble intentions but just poorly executed (i.e. no follow-thru). I'm not there so I don't know for sure, maybe they had little choices.
Most states have conciliation court where you can litigate your case for smaller amounts without a lawyer and the cost is minimal especially if you win. So it's not exactly a lawsuit but a small civil claim (often called small claims court). I don't know the details in each state but I would try to go thru the state attorney general or the BBB first so you have a better story to tell to the referee or hearing officer.
I have the same issue with an Air 2 i bought second hand but even after finding out it was bound and the owner forgot the email he used to bind it, it still flies. The controller is original to the drone so I assume that as long as the two stay together it should be fine. I could be wrong but I've had no problems so far. Worse case scenario, I sell it for parts.
If the original owner tries to log into their old account they will see a "forgot Password" option. If they click there DJI will either text or email them a code that will allow the accounts password to be changed The O.G. can then log into the account with the new password and unbind your Drone from their account. You don't need the Drone to do it just the account password.
So, folks, the original question was 'from where does Amazon get its DJI drones?' Why do I ask that, you say. Well, if there was an intermediary between DJI and Amazon, might DJI then have cause to 'jam' the works? In discussion with DJI, they have maintained that they don't own the drones that Amazon sells. What I really wanted to focus on with this post was how a new drone sold by Amazon already has been bound to an account - especially when the 'owner' of the email address has said to DJI that he or she never did own a drone. So, where did Amazon get that drone? Why did the holder of the email address that it's bound to say they'd never owned it? DJI told my ex that they had asked the owner of the email address if it was OK to unbind it and that the owner of the email address maintained that they'd never owned it, but that it wasn't ok to unbind it. Now, why would anyone do that? There's way more to this than meets the eye. Something other than what's been discussed in these previous threads is going on. My ex notified the local police who told her that people sell fake emails for various reasons. I'm almost 80 years old and all this is just way beyond my comprehension, but what I do know is that it's created a victim and the people that could help won't.
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MARK (LI)
Well-Known Member
DJI itself sells on Amazon....and amazon has vendors that have deal with them...the vendor secures and sells items using amazon's connections with shipping companies...when you buy something through amazon.....you are not necessarily buying FROM amazon
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Thanx for that input, Mark. Would that mean, then, that DJI does, in fact own the drone that's being sold .... that Amazon is, in fact, acting as an agent?? That's what I would have thought, but DJI informed my ex that DJI doesn't own the drones that are sold on Amazon.
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