So guys, this is my story and the issues I've had so far. I know some of you guys have never had issues and have always had a smooth ride, but please take the time to read this as not all of us are so lucky with these large corporations.
I purchased my first Mavic Air Fly More Combo (£1000+) on the 24th July 2018. I was extremely excited to fly this drone and take all of these wonderful photos and videos with it. This excitement quickly turned into anger and upset as little did I know, there would be countless issues.
I flew the Mavic Air a handful of times and had nothing but errors and lag. Trying to fly this anywhere past 50 metres would cause the drone to disconnect, have video transmission lag, compass errors, signal interference, weak signal and the record/photo buttons to be completely disabled. Just to add, I don’t have a great deal of time to fly and it’s normally breaks away or holidays so it was spread over some time.
I contacted DJI on 5th October 2018 and created my first repair case through the live chat and website (CAS-***). With this I sent back the drone and controller (Completely bubble wrapped and packaged for protection).
On 26th October 2018, I received an email telling me that the drone had no damage and a core board defect. Of course I thought I was just unlucky and these things happen but was overall satisfied with DJI’s handling of the case.
I received a new drone on 31st October 2018, or at least, what I thought was a new drone. It was in fact a refurbished drone that may have already had some form of crash damage or issues, hence being sent back to DJI in the first place. This is something they are known for. So obviously now, I have just had my brand new drone swapped for a refurbished one?!
I tested this drone over the space of a few months as again, I didn’t have a great deal of time to fly it but assumed everything would be good since it was a new drone (How likely is lightening to strike twice?). It was only when I took it on holiday to South Africa that I realised how bad it really was. I had constant errors every time I was flying it. Compass errors, video transmission lag, black flashes across my footage, signal interference in a number of different places in the middle of nowhere and attitude is too large constantly flashing on my screen. This time, the worst thing was that it disconnected and nearly landed itself in the sea (Not where I took it off from). I decided not to fly it anymore for half of my holiday as it was just unbearable.
Naturally as soon as I got back, I created my second repair case & return on 31st May 2019 (CAS-***), again sending back my drone and controller.
On the 18th June 2019, I received another email telling me the drone had no damage and AGAIN had a core board defect. I started to think that maybe there is a manufacturing issue with the Mavic Air or at least with a certain batch. I contacted DJI via live chat and email explaining my dissatisfaction and worry that I’ve spent all this money on something I was unable to fly.
I then received my second brand new?! (refurbished) drone on 24th June 2019. While staying in touch with DJI via email, I explained that I was planning to test this drone and let them know if there was any issues. I took this drone to a local heath by me which has nothing around and is a large open space for me to really give it a test. I had the usual problems, Attitude is too large, signal interference, weak signal, compass error contact DJI support, sensors were going off in the sky telling me I was near objects etc, you get the gist! I then posted on the forums in which I received a message from one of the moderators saying they would help me, ofcourse I got 0 help and nothing from them as most of the time they comment for show.
I emailed DJI on the 26th June 2019 telling them again about these issues as well as sharing screenshots that I had taken on my iPhone. They were quite confused by these screenshots and were not sure what these errors were. I spoke to Jim (Supervisor) on the phone who asked me to submit my flight logs through the app, which I did. At this point I was extremely frustrated and asked to speak to the manager, to which I was told they would not call me.
After a large number of emails, calls and general lack of understanding from DJI, I was once again told to send back my drone as an escalation case. At this point I’m stuck in a constant cycle of sending back my drone, only to get a new one with the same problem, leaving me completely stuck but to look at pursuing action to get reimbursed for my money lost. I was asked to send back my entire fly more combo and that I would either get a brand new sealed unit or have to pay for an upgrade to a Mavic Pro 2! Completely holding me to ransom and refusing to offer me any kind of refund.
I then sent back this drone on the 17th July 2019 with my entire fly more combo and everything I had originally bought (CAS-***, Escalation case CAS-***). They asked me to let them know when DJI had received it so that they could prioritise my case. A few days later, my UPS tracking said delivered, so I went on to reply to the long email thread I had with them, only to receive a new case number and a robotic reply from their customer service telling me that it will be looked at and repaired?! I had to go onto live chat, to ask Supervisor Jim to call me so that I could ask him to again, lookup the case and and locate my parcel and prioritise it as promised.
So today 23rd July 2019, I received an email from DJI, telling me that I had self serviced this drone myself, that it had been opened and damaged! Screws had been tightened too much, the tamper tape on the screws had been broken, glue had been removed from the FPC holder and soldering and the fan/lower shell had been damaged. Now I have only had this drone for a few weeks, flown once and have absolutely no idea let alone the tools to be able to take this apart and make these changes. This is clearly a refurbished drone that DJI have tampered with and have then sent me as a ‘Brand new’ one. I’m honestly disgusted and appalled that through all of the trouble I have had and the money spent, that I’m constantly sent refurbished drones and then accused of opening and damaging this drone. Why would I service a drone that I know has issues and will need to be sent back, yet never did it with my other two. Part of me genuinely thinks that DJI had sent me a botched drone with these issues, just to try and get out of the fact that they know there is an issue with these drones and it’s the only way to shut me up and break this cycle. I believe this drone was sent to me on purpose and they knew there was these issues under the hood.
I went on to contact Jim the supervisor, who asked me if I had tampered with the drone and serviced it myself, to which I then got a little heated and explained that I have no idea how to even open it. So now I’m waiting for their next decision and I’m looking to take action through other avenues due to the poor customer service, false advertising and lack of transparency.
Just to add, I’ve seen a large amount of other people also saying they have the same issues with their Mavic Air and problems flying it more than 50 metres without issues. I have also seen some people saying they haven’t had any issues. I believe there is a manufacturing issue with some of their Airs and DJI are not willing to admit it.
This is my frustrations and I will update with my case and replies from DJI.
Buyer beware, I would honestly avoid them like the plague. If anyone else has had similar issues with their Air or DJI, please get in touch as I’d like to add you to my case against DJI.
Images of apparently tampered drone.
UPDATE:So it gets worse, here's an update in an email I got from DJI today. Just to reiterate, I had this drone for 2 weeks, still in warranty and with DJI Refresh Care. In the middle of a case where I was testing it and sending it back if there was any issues (DJI were aware of this). I've been completely setup. I repeat, I NEVER touched this drone, I never opeend it. This was refurbished drone that they sent me as a replacement which had clearly been refurbished badly.
Dear Dan,
Thank you very much for your patience and waiting.
We have consulted our upper departments in Production department, Quality control department, and FAE department. We will write you our investigation result and a conclusion for you in this case:
Investigation: - The anti-tampering sticker
1. The anti-tampering sticker is damaged. Our company policy, as it is stated and printed on the sticker: damage on sticker thus will void your warranty. The damaged sticker is an irrefutable physical evidence that your aircraft was opened by someone other than certified DJI personnel.
- Glue
2. The removed glue is still in the aircraft and it is most unlikely that our Engineer has left the removed glue in the craft, against our explicit repair procedure.
3. If your current product was forgotten to be glued on this specific soldering part during manufacturing process, it is most unlikely that the other soldering parts were glued perfectly.
4.The color of the removed glue and the applied glue are the same. This means that the glues were applied in the same time. This means that the removed glue belongs to this craft, and someone forgot to throw it away after removing.
As result, this case has been concluded by our damage assessment engineers that this is a case of self-service or shell opened by non-DJI certified third-party. Therefore the warranty on this craft is considered voided, in accordance to DJI after sales policy.
However, as your current Mavic Air is found self-service and disassembly, we are sorry that the repair fee should be shouldered by customer side. But as our company's goodwill, and you, as our friendly and loyal customer, we can remove this repair fee, and you pay the price difference between Mavic Air and Mavic 2.
In short, we provide an offer for you is paid upgrade to a Mavic 2 pro/zoom.
We would like to know do you accept this offer and we will be more than happy to discuss with you about this in the next email.
If you have any other requests or questions, please contact us.
Thank you.
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