My Inspire is in a black hole, AKA DJI service center. I received delivery notification from FedEx of successful delivery at 9:07am on 3/12/15. I called yesterday and waited 42 minutes to get a live person to explain my situation. I sent an email this morning as a followup and it shows on the Zendesk system.
And yet, no confirmation email, no response to the phone call (Oscar), and no response to the email this morning. 12 days since confirmed delivery and I get NOTHING. This is NOT good, to say the least.
Today, I saw a post for parts in Germany. They show a camera/gimbal (what I need) as being available. I've scoured the US ebay sites and no availability for that package.
All I can do is shake my head in disbelief at this F-n fiasco.

This is typical. During my month long repair process i only received auto emails when a status was changed. Phone calls resulted in me being told my questions could not be answered and that I should email instead. None of my emails were ever answered, not one. So I think it is safe to assume that they simply do not look at emails in Zendesk and only send out auto emails when you move through the process.

Sky,

My Inspire arrived at the Torrance location on 6 March.  On 16 March (10 days), it was checked into the ZenDesk.  Just yesterday, 23 March, my repair queue position showed "AR1 D".  Then today, it shows "RI Shelf".  I called the help desk to ask what these codes meant, and they said they are not sure because it's not their department.  I asked if they could just walk down to the tech department and ask a technician and they said the door to that part of the building stays locked.  WRT phone calls and emails to their help desk, they will not tell you the status or give you any updates.  They are only allowed to tell you that it can take up to 6-8 weeks for repair.  

bostonlines@gma Posted at 2015-3-25 02:10
Sky,

My Inspire arrived at the Torrance location on 6 March.  On 16 March (10 days), it was checked ...

My status on my Inspire 1 repair also says "RL Shelf".... I have no idea what that means...Maybe "Repair Line Shelf?"

I am not sure why they have a phone number at all. The guys who answered will always tell you that they cannot answer any questions or provide any status. They are disconnected completely from the other departments whether it be repair or shipping or anything. This is not my assumption, this is what they actually tell you when you ask questions.

They should be called RMA providers instead of tech support.  Or maybe they should manage our expectations by placing a disclaimer on the website for Inspire repairs, "Please do not call on the status of your repair.  The techs will not be able to tell you the status, nor will they have any information on your repair".   Something like that will save me 30 minutes of time wasted holding in their queue.

I did get phrasing like that in the email I received with my RMA information.

The problem for me is there was no Zendesk account registered with my email so even though I've now set that up I don't see anything in there, so I'm not sure how to get status updates.

Well, the parts dam seems to have finally let some sorely needed parts flow into the market. I paid a premium for a camera/gimbal assembly, but will hopefully have this Friday. The repair cycle will now be for my spare, so I won't loose sanity over it.
I have over 10 hours in air so far and need/want to get back. Next 2 days preparing sect.333 waiver submission.

skyvideoct Posted at 2015-3-25 05:59
Well, the parts dam seems to have finally let some sorely needed parts flow into the market. I paid  ...

sky,

Here's a good resource for sec. 333 work if you need it.
Flight School Association of North America attn: Gregory S. Hayes

I'm not telling you what to do, Sky - but I'd suggest you read the COA requirments once you get your waiver. Most of them are over 20 pages long. They can be seen on the FAA sec. 333 website.

I usually advise people to read the existing COA's issued for similar waivers before the application process.

Again, I'm not intending to be intrusive in your business. You do exactly what you want, of course, but after reading the COA's I found them quite unreasonable at this time.

wow, all I've heard are these bad stories of DJI, I really hope they step up their game.  If I was an Exec at DJI and I saw all this crap being posted all over the internet on how bad the company is when it comes to customer support, I would have things changed the very next day.  Seriously, hire 1 additional person to at least provide updates to people.  Come on DJI smarten up!!

The quad copter technology is starting to become mainstream, there will be a TON of competition in the following years, now is the time to get your foot in the door DJI . . . don't lose it before you've even started it!!

I usually advise people to read the existing COA's issued for similar waivers before the application process

I agree that the process is cumbersome and extremely backlogged. The press release yesterday was a small step, but there needs to be a defined path ASAP to allow those of us who want to be on the forefront to prepare for readiness to be compliant.
I'm pretty sure that the knowledge test is the right place to start for an airman certificate. I 'm sure enough that there will be little in the content changed to accommodate UAVs.
The interesting thing about the blanket 200' altitude discussion released yesterday is that it addressed the proximity to the various airport types rather than the previous absolute 5nm radius. The comments process should hopefully allow the FAA to issue an interim guideline package that sets a defined path for those of us who want to comply and fly for revenue safely. We're not taking passengers here.

skyvideoct Posted at 2015-3-26 00:28
I agree that the process is cumbersome and extremely backlogged. The press release yesterday was a  ...

Thanks Sky,
I'm looking for that press release - hopefully I can find it.
Let me reinforce the knowledge of Greg Hayes. He is a nice guy and pretty darn knowledgeable.

I met him at the International Drone Day in Vegas and hew was a speaker/presenter.
He is Drone friendly and has a lot of contacts throughout aviation including the FAA.

Best of luck to you!

I'm looking for that press release

rfrye, Here's the FAA release link: http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=82245
J

skyvideoct Posted at 2015-3-26 00:53
rfrye, Here's the FAA release link: http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=82245
J

got it - thanks anyway, Sky!

Well, I'm convinced the DJI service center lost my camera and gimbal package under RMA# 3915238107062 amongst all of the full Inspire 1 returns. It has now been 21 days since DJI received my package and several tickets  trying to get acknowledgement and some type of movement in the repair process. I'm just plain frustrated that even a followup phone call did nothing to help alleviate my worry.
To date, all I have is proof of delivery by Fedex on 3/12 at 9:07 am. (21 days now)
I do not think this is acceptable. Does anyone disagree?