Hi All

I bought a Mavic Air and within 2 weeks, 14 flight i had the dreaded Gimble overload error. No crashes, bad landings etc. I have had drones and RC planes since about 2006 so i am fairly good with looking after my investments.

Anyway... I bought the drone from a company called Tobydeals.co.uk after doing a bit of research i found out that theiraftersales care is quite poor and people often send stuff back to them and then it is never seen again, I would hate for that to happen so i decided to deal direcrt with DJI.

DJI have said that as in order to get a warranty repair I need to return it to the seller or to an address in China as I have bought the drone from China (What the...?!?!). So it appears that the british registered website actually sources its stock from the China market, thats fine by me as its no concern to me where they aquire their stock as long as its not stolen!

I have a second option, I can post it to a repair centre in NL (i am in the UK) for a chargeable repair. now this is less than 2 weeks old.... Am i being unreasonable to expect to be able to ship it to my nearest DJI repair centre for a free WARRANTY repair or replacment?

Yep - steer well clear of these on line sellers - great prices but now you know why!

AJC-W Posted at 6-14 05:51
Yep - steer well clear of these on line sellers - great prices but now you know why!

So you believe I am being unreasonable and i should just bin the Mavic?

Are you expecting the repair/replacement to have an associated cost for some reason if you ship it directly back to DJI?

Steve1978 Posted at 6-14 07:15
So you believe I am being unreasonable and i should just bin the Mavic?

No, just that you should never buy from these unauthorised on line dealers

Hi, Steve1978. We're sorry to know the troubles you had. I will formally seek the attention of the team that is handling your query. Rest assured that you will surely be notified with the updates. We thank you for your patience.

It's a grey import by the sounds of things...your contract is with the seller, who is based in Hong Kong according to their website. Buy from a UK retailer and it's easier to get redress. Am not sure what the law is, but I don't think it unreasonable for DJI in Europe to charge postage for a product of theirs sourced outside of Europe.

I am more than happy to pay for postage to NL and have it looked at by DJI, in fact I would pay for postage to China to have it looked at by DJI, what I am not happy with is the that DJI have said that if I return it to DJI then I will have to pay for the repair.

Quote from DJI email:
Please consider one of the solutions below to solve your issue:
a. To claim warranty repair, please contact the seller to see if they can offer help.
Or please deliver it to an address in China Mainland first and then send it to our Shenzhen service center.
because of a customs clearance issue, please do not send it to our Shenzhen office directly from your country.
b. Ship the unit to the nearest service center in the Netherlands for a chargeable repair.

That all seems a bit off for me, If I buy a product brand new then I buy a product brand new. regardless of who it is bought from it bears the DJI brand mark and their certification of being fit for purpose. if I take an apple product to a store I can get it repaired regardless of where it was purchased, because that's excellent customer services and faith in their product and their customers.

Forgetting all about where we stand legally, this is about the reputation of your brand and product.

Yes, granted Toby Deals have pulled a fast one, they should have it listed on the site that its an import from China (isn't everything from China anyway??) either way I am left with a drone that's 2 weeks old with a broken Gimble, the footage is horrific, reminds me of my 2013 Parrot AR drone fixed camera!

DJI DIANA: Would you like my ticket number or anything? I would be grateful if this could be rectified to everyone's satisfaction?

Terrible.  Yes as a consumer you have to be careful, though if you're expecting a service or product from an entity that is advertising those things, then those expectations should logically be met or be compensated properly.

Steve1978 Posted at 6-14 10:21
I am more than happy to pay for postage to NL and have it looked at by DJI, in fact I would pay for postage to China to have it looked at by DJI, what I am not happy with is the that DJI have said that if I return it to DJI then I will have to pay for the repair.

Quote from DJI email:

Unless there is other unquoted communications from DJI, I read that as "talk to your seller guy first, if they can't help, send it to us for warranty repair" -- all of that is under solution a. In any event, I'm sure DJI Diana can help clear things up. Good luck and hope you get back in the air soon!

Steve1978 Posted at 6-14 10:21
I am more than happy to pay for postage to NL and have it looked at by DJI, in fact I would pay for postage to China to have it looked at by DJI, what I am not happy with is the that DJI have said that if I return it to DJI then I will have to pay for the repair.

Quote from DJI email:

I managed to get your ticket number via the forum information, and sorry to tell you that we cannot offer you warranty service in EU service center due to the non-global warranty policy. Upon checking your SN, the unit should be only available in China Mainland market where the warranty located. You may refer to the policy here: http://www.dji.com/service/policy Hope for your understanding.

DJI Diana Posted at 6-14 18:19
I managed to get your ticket number via the forum information, and sorry to tell you that we cannot offer you warranty service in EU service center due to the non-global warranty policy. Upon checking your SN, the unit should be only available in China Mainland market where the warranty located. You may refer to the policy here: http://www.dji.com/service/policy Hope for your understanding.

Wow, Just WOW!

I am sorry but am I the only person that finds this appalling customer service? are you 2 different companies? I work for a multinational and can honestly say that this is really poor, my first ever DJI product Dead in a fortnight.... no warranty repair in NL and i cant send it to DJI in China either?  I think you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Ex Machina Posted at 6-14 16:55
Unless there is other unquoted communications from DJI, I read that as "talk to your seller guy first, if they can't help, send it to us for warranty repair" -- all of that is under solution a. In any event, I'm sure DJI Diana can help clear things up. Good luck and hope you get back in the air soon!

b. Ship the unit to the nearest service center in the Netherlands for a chargeable repair.

Buddy, how much did you pay for the grey import? I'm not surprised if you only pay half.
After all, DJI offers a two-year warranty in Europe if you purchased from their local authorized channels.

Steve1978 Posted at 6-15 00:59
Wow, Just WOW!

I am sorry but am I the only person that finds this appalling customer service? are you 2 different companies? I work for a multinational and can honestly say that this is really poor, my first ever DJI product Dead in a fortnight.... no warranty repair in NL and i cant send it to DJI in China either?  I think you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Think that you'll find this standard policy by most multinationals - grey imports are a huge issue for them; the big camera companies like Canon, Nikon, Olympus etc all take the same stance -

https://www.canon.co.uk/about_us/serial-number-checker/
https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/ ... ed=1&lang=en_GB
https://www.olympus.co.uk/site/e ... _imports/index.html

Drones sold by DJI in Europe will have a % of the price built in to support their service centre, yours didn't.

I hope you find a solution soon.
Chris

Steve1978 Posted at 6-15 01:00
b. Ship the unit to the nearest service center in the Netherlands for a chargeable repair.

Right, so send it to China instead. Or am I missing something?

Yep. I can’t send it to China because I don’t know anyone that lives there!
Quote:
Or please deliver it to an address in China Mainland first and then send it to our Shenzhen service center.
Because of a customs clearance issue, please do not send it to our Shenzhen office directly from your country.

Either way I have learnt a valuable lesson here and I hope others have. I have looked on you tube and all over the net. I see this fault is very common, people refer to the gimble as the weak point of this drone and I have to agree. DJI have provided a 1 star service when they had a chance to go above and beyond. I won’t be buying another DJI product and this mavic will now just be sold on or Just sit with my other old kit.

They say, on average, when someone receives a poor service their reach on the internet is 1000 people. I will post my experience on every flying and gadget, social media outlet and forum that I come across.

Just to answer other question I paid £730 for the flymore combo.
My issue is not with the seller they delivered the product in full working order for a great price, 5 stars to them. My issue is that the product quality is so poor that DJI are doing everything g they can to sherk a warranty repair on a 2 week old defective mavic air.

I just wonder how on earth they are getting away with this!?!

Steve1978 Posted at 6-16 01:36
Just to answer other question I paid £730 for the flymore combo.
My issue is not with the seller they delivered the product in full working order for a great price, 5 stars to them. My issue is that the product quality is so poor that DJI are doing everything g they can to sherk a warranty repair on a 2 week old defective mavic air.

In DJI's online store, the price is £949 for Mavic Air Fly More Combo. There is at least a £200 price difference.
I'm not sure if the price difference is enough to pay the chargeable repair in Europe, but you may have a try. Good luck!

Steve1978 Posted at 6-15 00:59
Wow, Just WOW!

I am sorry but am I the only person that finds this appalling customer service? are you 2 different companies? I work for a multinational and can honestly say that this is really poor, my first ever DJI product Dead in a fortnight.... no warranty repair in NL and i cant send it to DJI in China either?  I think you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Your case has been escalated to the management for better assistance, the team will review and contact you during the working time soon. Appreciate your patience.

Thanks Diana, the customer care team has just reiterated  what you have said, verbatim. It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s that I don’t agree that the warranty is fair, it’s basically saying that you want to charge £200 more for EU and US customers than you do for China customers. We don’t get anything more for our £200 do we? It’s the same product right? (I bet that doesn’t get the dignity of a response).

DJI is a Chinese company, all the drones are made in China. I understand the basic economics of it. You can get more money out of us. That’s fine. But I can buy DJI products from hundreds of online resellers, how am I supposed to know who gets what, from where? Who is authorised and who isn’t?

Personally, I think it’s embarrassing and DJI should be ashamed of themselves. This is your product, you should back it up with a warranty that reflects the reputation of DJI and look after your customers.  

Steve1978 Posted at 6-17 13:31
Thanks Diana, the customer care team has just reiterated  what you have said, verbatim. It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s that I don’t agree that the warranty is fair, it’s basically saying that you want to charge £200 more for EU and US customers than you do for China customers. We don’t get anything more for our £200 do we? It’s the same product right? (I bet that doesn’t get the dignity of a response).

DJI is a Chinese company, all the drones are made in China. I understand the basic economics of it. You can get more money out of us. That’s fine. But I can buy DJI products from hundreds of online resellers, how am I supposed to know who gets what, from where? Who is authorised and who isn’t?

The repair cost can be confirmed after the designated service center received the unit and did the damage assessment. You may refer to the price list here: https://repair.dji.com/repair/price-inquiry Hope for your understanding.

Hi, after some time to reflect I have come to the conclusion that your terms are your terms and that I have fallen foul of them. This is a lesson learnt for me.

The drone still works and functions fine, just the camera appears almost in a race like position most of the time

Please go ahead and close the case

Steve1978 Posted at 6-17 13:31
Thanks Diana, the customer care team has just reiterated  what you have said, verbatim. It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s that I don’t agree that the warranty is fair, it’s basically saying that you want to charge £200 more for EU and US customers than you do for China customers. We don’t get anything more for our £200 do we? It’s the same product right? (I bet that doesn’t get the dignity of a response).

DJI is a Chinese company, all the drones are made in China. I understand the basic economics of it. You can get more money out of us. That’s fine. But I can buy DJI products from hundreds of online resellers, how am I supposed to know who gets what, from where? Who is authorised and who isn’t?

Working in the bike industry where grey imports from internet sellers are also rife, I can understand both points of view. The Tobydeals.co.uk web address makes you believe you may have been buying from a UK seller, but the facts are the facts, however much you may feel hard done by because of them.

When something goes wrong, regardless of what it is, your 1st port of call for remedy is always the entity you bought it from (Tobydeals.co.uk).  They took the money, it is for them to sort out.  If you choose to go elsewhere you may always be liable for a cost from the other entity you go to - they need to pay their bills somehow!


You ask what we get for our extra £200?  2 year warranty with a local repair centre is what.  Some of that £200 goes to the EU service centre to pay for this via the official distributor.  If buying from China (even unknowingly), you haven't paid for that service centre, distributor or any local support network, so you don't get that service for free.  You still have the option of returning to your supplier (Tobydeals.co.uk) or the China service centre for free warranty repair, however unpleasant or awkward that may be.


I know it is sometimes very difficult to see the downsides of cheap online deals until something goes wrong, but I deal with customers every week who have bought grey imports from cheap online sellers and expect me to supply my free labour to install/repair and/or postage to a repair centre for them as I also sell the product.  If I did so, I wouldn't be in business for long.  I do, however supply that service free for me customers.  It comes out of my profits, but that's profits gained by their custom.