DJI- Worst customer service ever....

[dcchavez]

This is a repost from my submission on the DJI forum, but I thought it was pertinent to share here.... Makes me really wonder about spending any more money with this company...

I dont know where else to file this on the forum other than on the product I have an issue with. After a hard landing, the upper gimbal mount cracked, resulting in the "Gimbal Overload" Error. I took apart the upper mount area and saw the exctent of the damage- cracked upper mount, no severed cables, no broken board, no bent arm. I called DJI and got an RMA # to send in my gimbal. I literally live 3 miles frrom the repair center and offered to take it in, but sending it via UPS is the only way. Sent it in on August 28th and STILL DONT HAVE MY X5 Gimbal back.....


I reeived the estimate for repair- totaling $312 to fix the gimbal! Here is a breakdown of the repair:

ItemQuantityUnit Price（USD）Total Price（USD）
Yaw-axis middle shaft stick11.001.00
Zenmuse X5 gimbal yaw motor driver board124.0024.00
Zenmuse X5 yaw-axis top cover of ESC board18.008.00
yaw-axis inner shaft stick14.004.00
gimbal yaw connection board11.001.00
Zenmuse X5 yaw-axis motor component124.0024.00
Zenmuse X5 yaw-axis arm component120.0020.00
Service Charge370.00/H210.00
Freight：20.00
Total Amount：312.00
Discount：-0
DJI Care deduction：0.00
Total Payment：312.00


You read that correctly, 3 hours to take apart the 6 screws and reinstall them. I laughed when I saw this, called DJI and got my case "escalated" after a long and tedious conversation with Jason, the customer service rep. I asked to have someone explain to me why it takes 3 hours to fix this. He said he would escalate it and someone would call me back in 24 hours. This was September 3rd. I never received a call. Fast forward a few weeks, I realized I never heard from anyone. I got booked for a shoot and needed the gimbal the next day. I purchased a new one and had it overnighted to cover myself for the shoot. After the shoot I called back and again got the same runaround... From the same person.... "So you are disputing your invoice? Your case will be escalated... You will hear from someone in 24 hours." Another week goes by... I call back on the September 21st, get Jason again and immediately ask to speak with a manager. Apparently they ALL were "in a meeting." They found someone else for me to talk to and after a 38 minute conversation- only hold for at least 20- I was told an engineer would have to look at it and would get back to me either later that day or tomoorow.

ITS A WEEK LATER AND I STILL HAVENT HEARD FROM ANYONE.

DJI- what the heck???? How are you guys going to compensate me for holding onto this producut for almost a month??? Anyone else have such great customer service from this company???

 

[Retired2Fly]

I can't speak for DJI not returning your calls, but $310 including return S&H doesn't seem too unreasonable for that type of repair. Based on my personal experience with other pro-consumer camera companies' non-warranty repairs, most, including Canon and Nikon, charge a 4 hour minimum labor to cover overhead of testing the repaired part , front office and back office shipping paperwork on all non-warranty damage repair regardless of how long it takes a tech do the actual repair. Also, I doubt it was a simple as removing 6 screws and replacing the broken part as the repair estimate breakdown shows they would basically rebuild the entire gimbal.

 

[dcchavez]

Well- this just won't go away... After a ton of back and forth, I opted to just pay the $300 and move forward with this terrible ordeal. I was on a shoot in Miami when the repaired gimbal was delivered to my house. A week later, I opened the box and pulled out the gimbal to inspect. I noticed the actual black case the X5 sits in was scratched up terribly, (When this all started, I bought a second X5 and sent in the damaged one to be repaired in the new box.) The other thing that struck me as odd was a gold sticker and a CAS number on the top of the box. The Case number did not match my case number for this repair. Upon removing the gimbal, I noticed the upper mount is was stiffer and more difficult to turn than the new one. I looked at the serial number and it didn't match mine- I think DJI sent me back someone else's product.

When I emailed DJI almost a week ago, I got this canned response back:

Dear DC,

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

We are so sorry to hear what happened to your unit. We do understand how you feel and we are really sorry for this inconvenience you are experiencing right now.

With your concern, we will coordinate with the facility about this matter and as soon there is an update you will be notified through your email.

Thank you for your patience and consideration.

If you have any other inquiry in the future please feel free to contact us back anytime and we will be more than happy to assist you with your concern.

Have a wonderful day ahead.

Best Regards,

Myra

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

As you can guess, DJI has not contacted me back yet. I am currently sitting on hold- have been on the phone for OVER AN HOUR.... After the initial 15 minutes of waiting (despite being #1 in the queue) I spoke to one person and he said he would transfer me to a supervisor. Here I sit, and nothing. I have never had such a horrible customer experience / repair job in any type of product - EVER.

HELP DJI!

 

[dcchavez]

Well, this gets better and better.... Bait and switch from DJI.

Only after posting on this forum did I get a phone call from Marshall - customer service at DJI... For 30 minutes, he talked me in circles- ultimately telling me that the camera in my hand is not my original camera, that the tech decided to replace the gimbal/camera rather than fixing it. He couldn’t give me any sort of solid answer as to why they charged me for a series of parts, 3 hours of labor and instead, sent me a different camera.

Never once was I told they were going to send a new camera, otherwise, I would have never agreed to it. I am EXTREMELY careful with ALL my gear (RED Epic Dragon, Canon CN-E Cinema Lenses, jibs, sliders, drones etc.) so I would not have agreed to have them send me back a refurbished product. I would have wanted my repaired camera- nothing else. I purchased my Inspire / X5 brand new and have taken meticulous care of it- which is ironic, being that I handle the gear with extreme care, and still manage to crack the upper motor mount. Marshall said the product is brand new, but I have a very hard time believing that, as the upper mount on this gimbal is much firmer while spinning than the new X5 I purchased. It sounds like the ribbon cable is binding up inside as it spins.

I am just baffled that even after all this drama, the ONLY way I can get a new case and replacement gimbal is to send it in via FedEx- even though I live under 5 miles from the repair facility. THEN, they have a 7 business day turnaround to “check in, assess product, test etc” before they can send me a replacement gimbal. Now, because DJI is such a terrible company, I have to wait another 2 weeks to get a replacement. Apparently Marshall is the top of the “customer facing” customer service, and no one else could be spoken to in order to make this better. He basically sat there, took all the comments I gave him, and kept going back to the “we can start the RMA process” line over and over again. I have never been so frustrated with a company, feeling like my PROFESSIONAL equipment is being held hostage due to some terrible company. It makes me appreciate working with companies like RED Digital Cinema that actually value their customers, understand they are working professionals and work efficiently to resolve customer concerns.

This is officially the last DJI product I will ever own. Let me know if anyone files a class action lawsuit against these idiots for making an upper gimbal mount not capable of supporting the additional weight of the X5.

Lets see how long it takes to get a “new” camera back in my hands…

 

[x5yo]

You might have more success messaging Tahoe Ed on RCGROUPS.

In all honesty, I bought an x5 professional and I had no problems with the gimbal after 100+ flights, but I was painfully aware if I did anything but good landings I was in for a world of pain and I kept it on the craft for most of the time at all times. Placed it in the boot of the car and blanket underneath to just offer some gentl cushioning. if i used it on OSMO, packed it away, repacked etc, who knows...

That's one of the things that put me off getting the X5R (unless I can get a chunk off it), we are due a big announcement from DJI soon and I'm sure if they release any new cameras, or a remix of the existing X5, they WILL have looked into the problem you discuss because there was a big stink about this when they first came out and rectify it.

The problem with DJI is they are a chinese company (they are used to treating each other like s**t)
and there isn't anyone to touch them in the consumer to pro-sumer field.
and they are hideously successful at what they do which makes them believe how they operate is good.

What DJI do not get about business is, competitors will catch up with them soon, and then it will come down to things like customer service, price and reliability.

DJiI should put some of those billions to good use and spend a few more million working on customer service and look after their customers, as the things they repair they churn out in their millions.

It doesn't pay to upset professionals like yourself who otherwise might have spent 10+k with them over the space of a few years.

Like I said, they are shitting money and dominating the competition. That's the real problem.

 

[dcchavez]

Update- but still the same old BS...

Sent in the replacement- not repaired- gimbal that DJI sent me on Oct 25th. DJI received it on the 28th... Before I sent it in, I was assured that this would be a super quick turnaround, as this was an "elevated" case. After a week with no updates, i called in to see what the status was. Spoke with Jameson in customer service - he apologized and said he would elevate the case. I laughed... He said it was very important to fix this, as my case has been going on since August, and said he would call me back with a response in 2-3 days. Yep, SUPER important... This was Friday November 4th. Today is the 10th, no gimbal, no call, no nothing. Online repair status shows "under repair" despite this being a swap for a new gimbal.

I have completely lost any last shred of hope I had for this company. I thought this time around (swapping out a new gimbal) things would go smoothly and it would be done in a few days. I couldn't have been any more wrong...

I just want my **** gimbal back. Thank god I bought a second X5 at the beginning of this repair process, or else I would have been absolutely screwed.

 

[Tq2Jetman]

I would really like to make contact with the repair shop first mentioned in this thread. Can anybody help with a location, company name, contact person and an email address. Thanks

 

[Ftolino]

Dealing with the same crap . They've had my whole setup for 2 weeks now and sent me nothing saying they have it. After numerous calls and no support it's getting ridiculous. They don't tell you they've received your 5000$ quad I mean come on its not a 20$ prop . Step it up dji before you lose my business. Spoke with Tahoe Ed an Ralph from Flyhighusa there helping me more then the company