Ok I know there are a ton of threads on service. We all know it sucks. If I had a few days to go through all the threads looking for an answer I would but I don't. Yesterday I had a crash. It was my fault. Moving on... I need to get the bird repaired. Naturally I contact DJI because they want to control the repairs on these things... OK then except responsibility for facilitating those repairs!!! I sent an email to support informing them that I crashed and need to set up a repair. Provided info and serial number in the email. Then I get this response back:

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

If you bought your product from an authorized DJI dealer, we suggest contacting them first for your repair or servicing needs. If the dealer is unable to meet your needs or if you purchased your product directly from the DJI Online Store, please contact the nearest support center, which can be found at: http://www.dji.com/support

Thank you for choosing DJI.

Best Regards,

DJI Product Application Technical Support

WHY DO I NEED TO CONTACT THE DEALER I PURCHASED IT FROM!!! They are not authorized to repair it! I have several inspires that I purchased as backups because the repair process is so rediculous I need backups for my backups... I don't know which dealer I purchased this particular unit from. Why is it my responsibility to search for the correct dealer just to contact them to find out what I already know. THEY CAN"T SERVICE IT!

If there are moderators on this forum anymore please help me set up a repair so I can get back to my business and servicing my clients in a manner that they expect.

This is a perfect example of how incompetent they are and what I dealt with on contacting online sales service.   Don't email them.  Just call US Support (not online sales).   The online store is worthless in helping the customer.    They should know that the only service repair place in the USA is in Torrance...No dealer repairs these.  You got a canned response for the phantom, where there are a few places that repair them.  Not so for the inspire.  

Just call 818 235 0789 and hit option 1.  Talk with an inspire tech.   They will take down your information and get the process started on the repairs.    as far as online sales help...abandon them.  It's someone sitting behind a keyboard in china 9 hours difference than can only say "Best Regards"  Nothing pisses me off more than to have real problem that needs to be solved and being told best regards.

I have to agree. I get that many people don't want to take the extra time to wait on hold and talk to a representative but in this case it's the only way to go. It would however make sense for them to train some of their dealers so that they can make necessary repairs and maintenance. Hope everything works out.

InspirelessAggi Posted at 2015-6-17 01:25
This is a perfect example of how incompetent they are and what I dealt with on contacting online sal ...

Thank you for your response. I understand there are other routes around this issue but why is it my responsibility to search them out. I took the time to follow the instructions on the DJI website. I took the time to document the issue. I took the time to take pictures and explain exactly what  I needed. All I need from DJI is a RA # and instructions for sending it in. I am resolved to the fact that I will have to wait a ridiculously long time for the repair process to be completed... Waiting on hold for God knows how long is not an option for me. An email process is easy to set up and Dji's responsibility to facilitate.  I will not sit by quietly and except this.  This is an easy fix and should be addressed!

I've waited maybe 25 minutes at most for inspire help. There are far fewer inspires out there.  Most times no more than 10 minutes.   

Now, my explanation as to why it's your responsibility to search out issues.....it's not your responsibility.   It's a foreign company trying to tap into US sales and basically, US customers won't tolerate the  BS.   They are a growing company.  Someone said the CEO want2 to be ignorant to customer service and focus on the product...so be it.   People don't have to buy crap service.   

When foreign car makers tried to tap into US sales, they didn't do well.. Until they figured out how the customer was first...Same here....   They don't see a person on the end of the phone who has spent hard earned money.    There's not much empathy on the part of the customer.    Until they figure that out....there's going to be friction and frustration with the customer.
that number I gave you is for their LA office.  Mind you, the LA office has only been there since Feb of 2014.  They are still in the infant stages of having a USA presence.   All the rest of it is out if china.

InspirelessAggi Posted at 2015-6-17 02:38
I've waited maybe 25 minutes at most for inspire help. There are far fewer inspires out there.  Most ...

Well said. I understand. Ed has stated that he is taking customer service here in the states by the horns... Well this is first exposure, this is where bitterness begins. This seems like a great place to start on turning things around.  Sure there are plenty of other areas that need addressing but this one just seems obvious. As I stated, I can be forgiving on the length of time for repairs. It is clear that the systems in place are not working efficiently. It is understandable that getting systems in place can take time. As a client I just want to know that the systems are being worked on... Not only did I pay for a product, I expect to have to pay for service on a product that was designed to need service... So yes I demand more for my money.

Ed's taking things by the horns?  let's hope so.   I didn't have a single DJI employee come into my forum post to add any sort of help or support.   don't get me wrong, phantoms are expensive.  Inspires are really expensive.   They should roll out the red carpet for those people putting 2900 to 4000 down on an inspire and accessories.  If one goes belly up, they should have a fix with in 1-2 weeks.   If you recently purchase one and are within 30-60 days, they should just send you a new one.   Billions of dollars profit and they still haven't figured CS out.  Who's going to go purchase and inspire?   It's either people who rely on it for occupational reasons in aerial photography or it's the guy that worked hard and has the income to fly an inspire casually.  You shouldn't piss off the people with the funds to buy an expire .  I personally can take it or leave it and that's what I did.  I sent it all back.   $4300 worth of it.  And it wasn't because I didn't want it.  I did.  It was because I had to deal with incompetent chinese support or inspire techs that wouldn't send me a replacement unit out in a timely manner nor tell me when it would happen.  I just spent 4300 to spend  3 days with the inspire until the electronics failed.  So much for that.  Would it be so hard to just send out a replacement instead of waiting 3-4 days to ship it back...  5-7 days to check it in.  a week to evaluate and then 3-4 days to send one back?  You have my money...think about it.

InspirelessAggi Posted at 2015-6-17 03:03
Ed's taking things by the horns?  let's hope so.   I didn't have a single DJI employee come into my  ...

What I don't understand is their reluctance to either fix their current CS immediately  or hire some one to do it for them. They will only benefit from the returns.

DJeff1 Posted at 2015-6-17 03:49
What I don't understand is their reluctance to either fix their current CS immediately  or hire so ...

Ed's an employee, not an owner.  Everything he does has to be approved by China.  If he has terrific ideas and they act on them at a glacial pace, or if they decide not to act on them, Ed's done what he can.

With that said, we've been told they are moving to a vastly larger repair facility in July - a facility that used to be a Boeing facility.  Until then they don't have the physical space to add more employees, which is the only way to work faster.  Obviously they didn't count on how many of these things they were going to sell, and once they found out, they didn't act quickly enough.  But every time Ed shows up in this forum he's nothing but helpful, and I'm strongly inclined to believe that behind the scenes he has probably lit as big a fire as he can while keeping his job.

I'm hoping the company is learning from experience.  I'm hoping some of the online flame fests regarding horrific service have been shared with top management.  But China is hugely culturally different from the USA and the Chinese essentially consider Americans (and other westerners) to be spoiled children.  I don't know how far they will bend to do things to a level we could consider to be outstanding service.  It has been very frustrating to watch and continues to be.

I'm a huge fan of authorizing dealer repairs in the same way the auto manufacturers do.  That way if my Inspire breaks I don't have to ship it 5,000 miles roundtrip (literally - NY->LA->NY) to get fixed.  But I'm told that's not in the cards.

PeteGould Posted at 2015-6-17 04:16
Ed's an employee, not an owner.  Everything he does has to be approved by China.  If he has terrif ...

Good points Pete, I realize the issue is bigger than you and I and what we want. I am not asking anyone to work faster, I am encouraging them to work smarter. Adding more people does not increase effiency in fact it introduces much more inefficiencies. Having proper systems in place before throwing more bodies at the problem will go much further and much faster. My point is, look at the CS issues from the beginning of the process and fix the system. Having a group of bodies replying mindlessly to emails telling people to run in circles just to come back to point A is not an efficient system... Then add to that a second group of bodies that have to answer phones then email a ra# back to the person that originally contacted the first group of bodies.... Etc etc etc... Now we have a bunch of bodies not solving a thing and creating bad blood with clients...

Marktho1 Posted at 2015-6-17 04:39
Good points Pete, I realize the issue is bigger than you and I and what we want. I am not asking a ...

There are multiple issues.  The core one is that there are significantly more Inspires coming in for repair than there are employees to fix them.  In fact there are more coming in than there are employees to check them in, which is why it can take more than a week before the aircraft is even entered into the system.

Some folks have opined that this means the Inspire is a faulty platform with huge numbers of malfunctions.  I don't think that's the case, frankly, although clearly there's a significant number.  But what I think is overrunning the facility is due to the claim that anyone could fly this aircraft, and that it was marketed as a flying camera.  I work in video, television and film production but I was also a longtime hobbiest going all the way back to the 1970s.  I'm also a private pilot.  And I'm an engineering type so I'm comfortable with a soldering iron, test equipment, computer software, etc.  I was therefore very comfortable with this platform from the start.  But I can imagine large numbers of people who never touched a quad before buying an Inspire, charging it up and having disaster strike before they mastered it.  And I think that is responsible for the largest number of repairs.

Either way they need more space and more people.  Their customer service and intake process certainly do have to improve, but I disagree it's purely an efficiency thing.  I believe they are WAY in over their heads in terms of repair volume.

I agree with you Pete.  And with more people getting drones, it's only going to get worse.   I'm sitting back and watching.   I've got a phantom 3 and plenty of helis to fly.  I'm curious to see what the next inspire will look like.  I've given up on the current one based upon customer service alone.   At least I can rebuild my phantom.   If DJI would make parts available like left and right arms, I'd buy it again in heartbeat.  I could fix it on my own.   I've rebuilt my helis enough.   Why couldn't DJI increase revenue by making parts available for the inspire?  It sure would cut down wait times for those who can't rebuild.   Those of us who have the skills, would certainly decrease that number.   

You know what...without reading more than the original post, I scrolled down, and found exactly what I thought I would!  ...ZERO INPUT/PARTICIPATION FROM DJI!

Ok, now I'll go back and read everyone's response...  

Looks like my post is again being blocked by DJI!  Received this on my post: "the post my the administrator or moderators shield".  

Wonder what I said wrong?

Trying again:  I scrolled through the thread, and saw exactly what I thought I would:  Zero input/response from DJI !

Wow my second response was blocked too!  Ok, let me turn my statement around:  "wow, great feedback from the incumbent!"  (Wonder if they'll catch this one, and read between the lines?)

ROFLOL....yes, I beat the system!  Just reverse my statement above!  That's what was blocked from 'the company'!

GrahamJ Posted at 2015-6-17 21:33
**** The posts are shielded ****

Can you guys see this message from the 'big company'?

PeteGould Posted at 2015-6-17 04:16
Ed's an employee, not an owner.  Everything he does has to be approved by China.  If he has terrif ...

By no means, do I direct any negative commentary towards Ed and appreciate everything thing that he does. I speak in terms of the billion dollar corporation of DJI.

GrahamJ Posted at 2015-6-17 21:37
Can you guys see this message from the 'big company'?

Have you unknowingly barked up the wrong tree?

DJeff1 Posted at 2015-6-17 21:43
Have you unknowingly barked up the wrong tree?

LOL...I'm not sure....as soon as I say anything factual, I get this message.  (Trust me, no statements that one would consider suspect).  Then, if I re-write them in less 'specific' wording, it goes through!

GrahamJ Posted at 2015-6-17 21:57
LOL...I'm not sure....as soon as I say anything factual, I get this message.  (Trust me, no statem ...

As long as I say good things about 'the company' (name removed to avoid removal), then my posts go through.

Update...
Called the support line today. My call went through immediately no waiting. Spoke to a very helpful rep that helped me set up a repair. was informed that it was a 5-6 week turn around. Grade for phone support A+

Once repair was set up and transaction was completed I asked about the email response I received. The rep was apologetic and said he was not sure why that response went out. He then acknowledged that he did in fact have my original email with all the details clearly laid out in front of him....

So back to my original point. I should not be led in circles and forced to call a support line where I have to spell out all the information that was already included in the original email. If email support is not an option then take it off the website.

now off to box up this mess and send it in...

InspirelessAggi Posted at 2015-6-17 09:52
I agree with you Pete.  And with more people getting drones, it's only going to get worse.   I'm sit ...

I agree with Pete on his view of the cultural differences.
Some years ago I read a very interesting column about the failures of joint ventures between western and chinese companies. The essence was, that the cultures have very different sets of values, which lead to substantial misunderstanding. In the west it is basically agreed that a deal has to be good for all parties involved - although not everyone adheres to it. In China it is good business and smart to exploit weaknesses if this increases your revenue. This is not a matter of right or wrong - just different.

We will NOT and NEVER educate our chinese trading partner to change their ways and accomodate our business ethics. If they were that way inclined, this disdainful customer service clearly wouldn't exist.
They have been on the western market long enough to know the rules - and very obviously decided to ignore them. And what's more, it is increasing their turnover. Instead of delivering on promise with the Inspire, they have resources allocated to develop and launch 2 new products. With the P3 being a very good backup for Inspire I would put money on it, that the frustrating service is part of a bigger plan. There are many people here that report to have more than one Inspire and/or P3 as backup for the existing system.
That's how you become a 1 Billion $ business in 4 years. I am not denying, that there also has been an amazing amount of innovation - although frequently plagued by failures. All of us are part of this breathless race for leading edge technology and prepared to jump onto the next new product early. Had there been a competitor with the same drive, the market place would look quite differrent. But once a company accumulated large amounts of funds and market share, they can dominate the market easily and get away with "murder".
The only option we have as consumers, is to turn our back on this manufacturer in large numbers and support startup businesses which share our values.
In addition we should spread the word us much as possible to warn others.

Now, I'm curious how long before I will get censored by the "Politburo"

And that's what I did.   Given option of exchange or refund. I choose refund.  Hit them where it hurts.   If you guys keep buying their products, then quit bitchin about repair times.   Wait til an American company takes up the reins.  It's only a matter of time until we have an exceptional support with modularity to make repairs.   I only wish that Apple would be that company.  Their products and service are second to none. It was a hard decision because it's a nice quad.  Flies great and lots of fun.  Customer service run around with online sales was a complete turn off.  It killed the deal for me.  I'm 44.  And pretty educated.  I work hard for my living and I don't have time for this type of Customer service.   

InspirelessAggi Posted at 2015-6-18 08:18
And that's what I did.   Given option of exchange or refund. I choose refund.  Hit them where it hur ...

In all honesty I have to say, that so far I have not had any major problems with the Inspire 1.
There are a lot of little glitches with the pilot app, poor camera performance, gimbal stabilisation messages, lack of ground station, etc., which make it a frustrating purchase.

However there are also the marginally documented updates, for instance changing the camera settings considerably without mention. So, every update makes me very uneasy until proven to be better than previous version, and safe to fly.

The frequent reports of loss of control, although probably to a significant extent caused by operator trouble, make me increasingly weary of using the Inspire. I may be the next to experience a "Glitch". I dread the day when somthing may go wrong.
I have years of experience in building and flying drones and prefer to fly in ATTI mode, so not relying much on automation.

But the combination of possible loss of control, the inherent risk of flying RC craft and sub-terrainial customer service turn the Inspire from a business asset into a liability - and that is a concern!