Hey, P4 fliers.  I need to get something off my chest.  And really, it's not P4 fliers, it's just people in general.  But since, this forum doesn't have a 'General Talk' page, I figured I put it here.  THis post is not meant to cast a negative light on DJI or any supplier, this is just me ranting/venting about an experience I had purchasing a P4P for work.  

As the title says, don't be a scumbag.  The company that I work for finally relented and allowed me to purchase a couple of drones from some projects we have coming up.  I decided on purchasing the P4P+v2 and the Inspire 2.  The P4P was the first to arrive, and imagine my shock when I open the box, and find a filthy and obviously used device.  There are coffee stains on the gimbal, scratches on the body and landing pads, and--what I can only guess was ketchup--on the remote antenna.  This is, of course, overlooking the fingerprints all over the screen and camera lens.  This definitely took me by surporise considering we don't buy 'used' anything here.  "Fine, whatever. I'll just take evidence photos and deal with it later"  I go to fire up the P4P and get an error that I've never seen before, "inconsistent firmware found. Update firmware."  This message wouldn't allow me to proceed any further and basically forced an update. After updating the firmware and restarting the drone, the same error message pops up, but this time, I'm able to make my way into the "Go Fly" on the screen only to see an error message about the camera not being able to produce a signal.  I turn the drone over and and I can see that the screws have tool marks on them and the body has pry marks on it as well.  Well, there you go.  Someone crashed this drone, tried to fix it, couldn't, bought a replacement, and returned the broken drone.  What this person didn't take into account was that they should have wiped the drone BEFORE returning it, as they left themselves logged into the device.  So, Chase, whoever you are... with your 300K flight experience, don't be a scumbag.  If you crash your drone, don't take it back to the store to essentialy steal an unbroken one.  Man up, face the consequences and buy a new one like a civilized person.  Also, don't treat your gear like garbage.  Who does anyhting with coffee that close to a drone? Don't be a scumbag, Chase.  Luckily, the company we use to procure stuff is sending me out a replacement, but now I have to deal with all of this mess, and more delays to an already delayed project (it's not as easy as asking for a return, I have to bark this up the chain) all because Chase is too much of a scumbag.  Don't be a scumbag, Chase.  Treat you gear better.  Don't eat Fries with Coffee. And, oh yeah, don't be a scumbag, Chase.  
/end_Rant

Seems to me your supplier is the scumbag, sending out a used product and trying to pass it off as new. Who did you buy it from ? (so the rest of us can avoid them).

Yeah i agree with geebax your supplier should have checked the product prior to shipping it out to make sure it was a new item.
As far as chase is concerned well when the drone was in his possession it belonged to him and he could do as he pleased with it.
Im not trying to defend chase by the sounds its pretty bad way to treat expensive equipment but there are peeps out there that just  dont care or have so much money they can throw away items like a p4p without blinking an eye.

The supplier should have checked the return and caught the fraud.  

Must not have been a reputable dealer at all.  Take it back and buy from DJI.

Geebax Posted at 2018-10-25 15:51
Seems to me your supplier is the scumbag, sending out a used product and trying to pass it off as new. Who did you buy it from ? (so the rest of us can avoid them).

Typically, I would agree. But they are essentially middle men. They bought the device from a very well known NYC based photography store that I won’t name and it was drop shipped directly to my office. I’m sure that store didn’t check beyond anything other than a cursory inspection to make sure it was all there. So, sure, that large photography store won’t feel it, neither will the middle man, or the company I work for. But if I was someone who was looking to use this device for something other than a work project, or someone starting a small business, this could possibly be more than just a slight inconvenience.

Like I said, I don’t blame anyone but the dishonest person that decided to pull a fast one. Circumstances be damned. It was a dishonest and a scumbaggy thing to do.

OK ...

1. WHY did you even try to fly the P4P ? It was obviously an item that should be immediately replaced under warranty.

Many dealers - even reputable - would refuse to touch a return if you 'tamper' with it - which you did by trying to update FW ... etc.

2. Why did you buy through a drop-ship seller ? This is not a cheap item to risk that way of buying. There are plenty of over counter stores that sell these and you get visual confirmation of new in box directly.

Lesson learned - sorry  but the guy who messed with it ... is a 'scumbag' ... but in all honesty - I feel buying and then playing with it is completely wrong ... it should have been returned immediately without attempting any action with it.

Nigel

That is sad to hear.
My advice would be to only buy from official resellers.
It saved my day twice already.

(or buy second hand, if you really want cheap)