If his dream was to make as much money as he can while delivering horrendous customer service, and treating his customers like second class citizens when they need something, I congratulate him, he has succeeded. DJI has been living his dream while creating a nightmare for a good number of his customers. Having people throw money at you to get your new product is not the only measure of success. In the real world you need to take care of those customers as well. Having customers order your new product only to be told that it's not yet available and "we dont know when production will catch up with demand, we will just keep your money until we decide we are ready" does not make for a hugely successful business. A good drug dealer can be hugely successful and people line up to buy his product because they are addicted, but that doesnt make the drug dealer a saint, usually the other way around. DJI has the worst reputation for customer service in the industry. Need a few member names? Ask @AlanTheBeast, @kona, and even your own posting on @Caser41 problem of simply trying to get his drone back from repair, when DJI sent it to the wrong person, is ludicrous treatment of it's customers.
I guess Im barking up the wrong tree here trying to explain business ethics to you. After all, the title of this thread is, "Will DJI Spark be the Catalyst for Total Market Domination?,: and total market domination usually refers to a company's victory in establishing itself as #1 in it's field. DJI has established itself due to the brilliant design of it's products, not it's treatment of customers. You "doubt that support matters hurt their bottom line with any significance", spoken like a true dictator, tyrant or monopoly interested in only looking forward and making as much money as it can while ignoring their most important asset, their customers, big and small. If DJI were more interested in their customers, most of the posts on this board would not exist complaining about how they were treated by DJI.
Again, that is only one measure of success. A truly successful company cant focus on one aspect of the business while ignoring another, just as important, aspect. DJI has repeat customer business, but as for customer loyalty, if another company were to come along and produce a similar product at the same price, but offered stellar customer service, you would see DJI lose a substantial percentage of it's customer base. Too bad the Karma failed, because Gopro had a loyal, well earned customer base, and those same customers would never have bought the Mavic over the Karma if it didnt have it design flaws and outdated design. I would be the first and I am always on the lookout for new products that could eclipse what DJI is doing. I dont like being lied to repeatedly, or having my money held for months while a company got caught up with their paperwork.
So what youre saying is that you've gotten used to being treated like this, so it's the new norm. I couldnt disagree more. It's every buyers right to expect accurate delivery times, and to expect full disclosure by the company about when it's release timeline has changed. Im shocked that of the tens of millions of dollars of customers money that DJI held for months back in 2016, they werent brought up on charges of larceny. I thought the company would have learned not to take peoples money in advance before having a hard, solid release date, but DJI is still doing it again with the Spark. Ok, pay us now, and the expected release date is June 15. To the average buyer, he will expect his drone to be delivered on that date. In DJI's world, they determine customer demand by taking peoples money in what they deem a "preorder," but not knowing when they will actually be able to meet that demand is deception. It would be acceptable to allow a customer to preorder and not pay anything, and that would allow DJI to determine what demand they will have to meet. But, no, DJI again demands prepayment, and they will tell you when youre drone is ready to ship. You have no input except to cancel your order, which payment DJI could have held for months already. Some customers know already that the first Sparks to ship will be the flyless arctic white. But DJI doesnt tell their customers this, you can only find out by going on the forums. Bad business, and money hungry mindset.
It doesnt make sense to you because you have become accustomed to, and maybe enjoy, being treated unfairly, as you mention above, "it's not really that surprising anymore." There's a term for that and it's called Stockholm Syndrome. When you have a leader of a company whose business ethics are morally and ethically corrupt, but his products are stellar, there needs to be a change. He is the wrong person to still be running the company, but he should be allowed to keep his designs competitive.
You ask why a company should be taken over by another company when it could simply hire competent help itself? Simple answer. DJI doesnt think like that. They have had years to hire competent organizational staff, but instead decided to ply all their funding into looking forward with new designs. They dont think they have a problem with their organization, but they do, and thats the problem. They are so busy dreaming, planning for the future, being competitive, and destroying their competition that they refuse to acknowledge that they have the worst customer service in the industry.
This statement you wrote really got me. "...because IMO they know full well about the issues, just are taking a well informed decision that for their business it is not the most important thing currently needed." In other words, screw the customers who have complaints, pocket as much money as DJI can, and move forward with new products instead of looking back and taking care of the very customers who have made your company what it is. A recipe for disaster, but DJI's day of reckoning has not come yet. Nothing lasts forever, and people remember how you treated them.
Drone's in general not just DJI drones were a monstrous leap in technology compared to helicopters back in the day , parts were an issue that's why I began making my own parts with a mini lathe.
