Our company sent our Ronin away for a service through the DJI service rep in Melbourne back in May this year(RMA160418411). When we finally got the Ronin back in late June we noticed a few things that seemed out of place and have since had on-going performance issues with the gimbal. After weeks of eratic behaviour I checked the unit's serial number and discovered it was not the same as our original Ronin. I immediatedly contacted the service centre to alert them that they had sent us back the wrong unit and we were told that the changing of serial number during repair and sevrice is not unheard of and that DJI often do this.

I have never heard of such a thing and am dumfounded by this reponse. Is there any merit at all to this? Would DJI change a serial number on one of their products?

Replacing units is not an uncommon practice if the original unit was deemed unrepairable. Could you clarify what issues you're having with this Ronin?

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-8-19 02:50
Replacing units is not an uncommon practice if the original unit was deemed unrepairable. Could you  ...

Hi,

It certainly was not a replacement as far as we know. The nature of the repair was replacing the IMU board and a standard service. (The problem we were having was the gimbal being intermittantly unresponsive and once we had a 'spin away' where the started spinning around at high speed) We were never informed about replacing the unit OR changing serial numbers (which seems to me an important bit of information considering our insurance policy is linked to the serial number!). We were just told our Ronin had been repaired and was being sent back.

And if they did replace it they sent back a very dirty, non-working unit.

So you're saying the only way the serial number would have changed is if the whole unit was replaced?

BrokenYellow Posted at 2016-8-19 07:51
Hi,

It certainly was not a replacement as far as we know. The nature of the repair was replacing t ...

In my experience, yes. There are only two instances where a unit can be replaced. It is either replaced because the unit was deemed unrepairable, or to expedite the repair process if there is a extensive part delay. Could you please clarify how this is a non functional Ronin?

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-8-19 23:28
In my experience, yes. There are only two instances where a unit can be replaced. It is either rep ...

Hi again,

Well the functioning status of  the ronin we have in our possession is becoming somewhat irrelevant as this situation goes on, but at this stage I believe the gimbal does not operate at all. The power is on but nothing happens.

The bigger issue is that this is clearly not our Ronin - apart from the S/N there are other physical difference that our operators have noticed - and the one we did get back is in worse condition than the one we sent away.

The purpose of my query is this:

IF the service/repair centre determined - for either of the reasons you mentioned above - that a unit needed replacing, wouldn't they:

A) Inform the customer of this and seek approval

and

B) Replace the unit with a NEW Ronin? Or offer the customer the opportunity to inspect and test a refurbished replacement?

Can you think of any scenario where a Ronin would be replaced with some used unit without the customer being informed in anyway?

BrokenYellow Posted at 2016-8-22 14:26
Hi again,

Well the functioning status of  the ronin we have in our possession is becoming somewhat ...

After further digging, I've found out some more information on your case. In order to not delay you any further, your dealer supplied you with their demo unit until the repairs on your Ronin were complete. Your actual unit is currently finishing up the repair process. They have been attempting to contact you about this, but it seems to no avail. If you can get in contact with your dealer, they would be able to get this straightened out for you.
The repair facilities would normally notify the customer that a replacement was provided, but there can be instances where it can be unfortunately missed when it's a warranty repair at no cost to the customer. Not every replacement from the repair center is a retail "new" unit, but it can be a unit that was built from new parts.

Firstly thank you very much for looking into this for us. We really appreciate getting at least some help in this manner.

As for the information given to you by this dealer, I can only find it all grimly amusing. We have had MANY discussions with this company, both via email and on the phone. What they are telling you and what they have told us - and indeed the reality of the situation - a completely separate things. They have changed their story so many time now we can only assume everything they say is fiction. They have never told us any thing of the sort, certainly no mention of a "Demo' unit!. First they said that this was our Ronin with a new S/N  then they changed the story to this being a permanent replacement. All this after the fact of the discovery of the different S/N. They even told us once that its likely DJI had LOST our Ronin!. If required we are able to supply email and phone records showing the extensive corrspondance we have had with this company over the past week and prior. We have also reached out to our original DJI supplier for assistance in this matter.
We paid over $500 Australian dollars (it was NOT a warranty repair) Plus the considerable costs of hiring replacement Ronins to cover our work while it was 'in the shop'' PLUS the incalculable losses due to having a malfunctioning Ronin while out on shoots for clients.

As far we are concerned this is the situation: We sent a Ronin we owned for repair to an official DJI dealer. We PAID for said repairs and were returned some strange and faulty unit with absolutely no information or consultation with us.

Can you please supply me with contact details for the appropriate department at DJI head offices? We are no longer interested in dealing with this dealer who we consider incompetent and untrustworthy.  DJI need to step in now and make this right - we need to address this issue as a matter of urgency as it is effecting on-going productions.

Again thanks for your help!

EDIT: they just sent us an email NOW to say they will send us a 'temporary' DEMO repalcement Ronin if we sent the one we have now - i.e. NOT our Ronin  - for repair. No mention of returning our orginal unit or admission they returned the wrong Ronin. Why would we want to repair a Ronin that doesnt belong to us???

BrokenYellow Posted at 2016-8-23 09:21
Firstly thank you very much for looking into this for us. We really appreciate getting at least some ...

The contact information we have for our Headquarters is as follows:

+86 0755 26656677
support@dji.com

I have also reached out to the appropriate department to try to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-8-24 00:24
The contact information we have for our Headquarters is as follows:

+86 0755 26656677

You're a champion. Thanks!

BrokenYellow Posted at 2016-8-24 08:00
You're a champion. Thanks!

You're welcome. I'm sorry to hear of this negative experience, and hope to get this rectified as soon as possible.