Inspire = Great but be WARNED, DJI customer care and service = WORST

[Braddb]

Wow! Just Wow!
The Inspire truly is a remarkable bird but be warned, DJI has the WORST customer care and service policy I have come across.
I am a professional UAV pilot in Australia. I have spent $7,500+ on my full kit (drone, batteries, chargers, tablets, cases etc) and had an issue with my Inspire (which has 5 months left of warranty). Basically it fried itself sitting on my coffee table.
I have attached my letter (with supporting photographic evidence) to DJI about this issue, to this post if anyone wants to and can be bothered reading it. It outlines exactly what happened and DJI's response (DJI's response was basically that they would not honour the warranty and make good on the repairs as they claim the craft had been crashed which caused it to burn itself out randomly. This in spite the fact of me sending them photographic evidence to refute this claim). So it cost me $867 and 2 months with no drone.
I am trying to be reasonable and come to some satisfactory solution to this with DJI and I have to wait 30 days from initial contact before I can initiate legal proceedings to recover my funds. DJI's latest response was an email with this statement in it "in your case, the technician has proved that the gimbal camera was damaged due to the crash, and it needs to be fixed." and an offer "we would love to offer you 2 sets of propellers for free after fixing considering the troubles and inconvenience which has brought during those days."
My latest response "I have provided you with 4 pieces of photographic evidence which were taken of the craft prior to sending to EEHobbies in Melbourne. (I took photos before shipping the drone for repair in case it got damaged during transit) These photos show NO damage to the craft. I have more photographs taken on the day which I can supply if requested and they show the same, that is, the craft with NO damage. You state in your email "the technician has proved that the gimbal camera was damaged due to the crash, and it needs to be fixed". I am requesting you produce this evidence and not producing it will be regarded as an unreasonable refusal to supply."
so far, nothing back.
Having good products will only get you so far. If there was another drone out there that was as good as the Inspire I would ditch DJI quicker than lightning. If they had good customer care and service I would be a customer for life. Instead I am a reluctant user in the absence (at this time) of something comparable.
DJI, take a leaf out of Apple's book. They have exceptional customer care and service. They have loyal customers who will be with them for life because of this and it has helped make their brand one of, if not the most valuable brand in the world. Wake up and support your customers better!
I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH TO ANYONE CONSIDERING BUYING A DJI PRODUCT;
Yes, their products are good when they work BUT, if you have a problem with one of those products, in my experience I can tell you, DJI's customer care and support is absolutely AWFUL !!!

 

[InspireAggie]

yep. It's why I asked for a refund instead of keeping mine when it burned out on day 3. No crash. Just smoke from the mainboard. All I can say is don't buy any more products. Something better will come along. Either DJI will get it, or they won't. Or some other company will come up with a solution. The inspire is something you are married to for better or for worse. DJI would rather quibble over little stuff and loose customers than just take care of them and keep the purchases coming.

 

[Machoman]

sending to EEHobbies in Melbourne.

Did you buy it from DJI or EEHobbies?

 

[PO4963]

I'm concerned about the customer you guys have had. I'm thinking canceling my order that I placed with the DJI store a few days ago. It's showing up as authorized but they then sent me an e-mail asking for more credit card info. Has anyone had the same experience when they purchased from the DJI store?

 

[InspireAggie]

I'm concerned about the customer you guys have had. I'm thinking canceling my order that I placed with the DJI store a few days ago. It's showing up as authorized but they then sent me an e-mail asking for more credit card info. Has anyone had the same experience when they purchased from the DJI store?

Cancel it ASAP. My recommendation should you choose, is to purchase it from amazon..fulfilled by amazon. That way you have 30 days to return it. If you buy from online, it's a horrible experience to get any communication. I'd never buy another DJI product unless it was from amazon prime. That way you have some time to figure out if it is ok and good to go. Dealing with onlines sales, you get no help. My inspire burned up on day 3. Didn't get a refund for 3.5 weeks. I had to have paypal side in my favor. They did not voluntarily credit me back.

 

[PO4963]

I cancelled it a little while ago. Thanks for your reply.

 

[InspireAggie]

I cancelled it a little while ago. Thanks for your reply.

I just saved you heartache. Enjoy the new bird if you get it from amazon. Customer service repairs times are not up to my liking. Any sort of repair takes 8 weeks. THey are working on getting that down. So, I'll wait and work with my phantom 3. Maybe an inspire 2 if it comes along. I'm just burnt out on DJI right now. When it flies, and many have not had problems, it's a dream.

I've had a DJI tech tell me not to purchase big ticket items from online sales. So, that says something.

 

[brad90631]

I had an issue with my phantom and I must say DJI stepped up repaired my phantom at no cost and had it back to me in about 3.5 weeks.

my craft took off on its own, 4th flight of the day battery getting low started to bring it in. when it took off forward climbed then dove into a roof. bounced off and then hit the ground.

I asked DJI to review and tell me what happened. I did not ask them to fix for free and blame them. just explained I am in southern CA and fly around building and houses all the time and wanted to know what happened so I could try to avoid it happening again.

maybe it was my approach but what ever, they helped me and I have nothing but good things to say about DJI.

I did find out what caused it to freak out. I had a prop balancer in my tool box which a placed under my phantom. it had 2 very strong magnets.

thank you DJI for giving us products like the phantom and inspire.

 

[Braddb]

I had an issue with my phantom and I must say DJI stepped up repaired my phantom at no cost and had it back to me in about 3.5 weeks.

my craft took off on its own, 4th flight of the day battery getting low started to bring it in. when it took off forward climbed then dove into a roof. bounced off and then hit the ground.

I asked DJI to review and tell me what happened. I did not ask them to fix for free and blame them. just explained I am in southern CA and fly around building and houses all the time and wanted to know what happened so I could try to avoid it happening again.

maybe it was my approach but what ever, they helped me and I have nothing but good things to say about DJI.

I did find out what caused it to freak out. I had a prop balancer in my tool box which a placed under my phantom. it had 2 very strong magnets.

thank you DJI for giving us products like the phantom and inspire.

That's great Brad. I am glad to hear you were looked after. Don't know what you mean by "maybe it was your approach" though. Not really sure how to read that statement.
Since the cost to repair typical Phantom damage is about the same as the cost of a couple of motors for the Inspire, it would appear DJI are a little less accommodating to us Inspire customers.
In any event, one's approach to a company should not affect that company's moral obligation(s) towards it's own warranty policies and it does not and should not affect it's obligations under consumer law in Australia.

 

[brad90631]

Well I do run a large customer service department with a large call center and I can tell you 100% that if you call my department and ask for help I will go way out of my way to help you. you start tossing lawyer word around and calling the product junk and pointing your finger at the product, well you end up on the bottom of my list. my grandfather always told me, you catch more bears with honey than salt.

All I am saying DJI took care of me, and if I have a problem with my inspire I have no doubt that they will step up and do the right thing.

 

[Braddb]

Well I do run a large customer service department with a large call center and I can tell you 100% that if you call my department and ask for help I will go way out of my way to help you. you start tossing lawyer word around and calling the product junk and pointing your finger at the product, well you end up on the bottom of my list. my grandfather always told me, you catch more bears with honey than salt.

All I am saying DJI took care of me, and if I have a problem with my inspire I have no doubt that they will step up and do the right thing.

Fair call Brad. I certainly see your point. But if you read the letter which is attached to the original post you would see that I initially sent the Inspire back for repairs in good faith with no malice or mention of lawyers. DJI responded untruthfully and improperly as I have shown with photographic evidence and charged me where no such charge should have been applied. It was at that point I got my back up and sent the letter to them and that letter contains no emotion, pure facts, timeline and a suggestion of how to resolve it amicably. After receiving the negative response I posted here and despite what you may think, it was not done to argue with other customers who were not brushed aside. I have a feeling that if DJI had of repaired my Inspire as they should have and in a timely fashion, I would be happy and full of praise too but unfortunately, my drone was not back in 3.5 weeks, fixed and for free! It was 8 weeks and it cost $867 dollars.

 

[InspireAggie]

Hey, Brad......that's great..... Maybe a few of us forgot to say please

 

[Joe Costanza]

Wow! Just Wow!
The Inspire truly is a remarkable bird but be warned, DJI has the WORST customer care and service policy I have come across.
I am a professional UAV pilot in Australia. I have spent $7,500+ on my full kit (drone, batteries, chargers, tablets, cases etc) and had an issue with my Inspire (which has 5 months left of warranty). Basically it fried itself sitting on my coffee table.
I have attached my letter (with supporting photographic evidence) to DJI about this issue, to this post if anyone wants to and can be bothered reading it. It outlines exactly what happened and DJI's response (DJI's response was basically that they would not honour the warranty and make good on the repairs as they claim the craft had been crashed which caused it to burn itself out randomly. This in spite the fact of me sending them photographic evidence to refute this claim). So it cost me $867 and 2 months with no drone.
I am trying to be reasonable and come to some satisfactory solution to this with DJI and I have to wait 30 days from initial contact before I can initiate legal proceedings to recover my funds. DJI's latest response was an email with this statement in it "in your case, the technician has proved that the gimbal camera was damaged due to the crash, and it needs to be fixed." and an offer "we would love to offer you 2 sets of propellers for free after fixing considering the troubles and inconvenience which has brought during those days."
My latest response "I have provided you with 4 pieces of photographic evidence which were taken of the craft prior to sending to EEHobbies in Melbourne. (I took photos before shipping the drone for repair in case it got damaged during transit) These photos show NO damage to the craft. I have more photographs taken on the day which I can supply if requested and they show the same, that is, the craft with NO damage. You state in your email "the technician has proved that the gimbal camera was damaged due to the crash, and it needs to be fixed". I am requesting you produce this evidence and not producing it will be regarded as an unreasonable refusal to supply."
so far, nothing back.
Having good products will only get you so far. If there was another drone out there that was as good as the Inspire I would ditch DJI quicker than lightning. If they had good customer care and service I would be a customer for life. Instead I am a reluctant user in the absence (at this time) of something comparable.
DJI, take a leaf out of Apple's book. They have exceptional customer care and service. They have loyal customers who will be with them for life because of this and it has helped make their brand one of, if not the most valuable brand in the world. Wake up and support your customers better!
I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH TO ANYONE CONSIDERING BUYING A DJI PRODUCT;
Yes, their products are good when they work BUT, if you have a problem with one of those products, in my experience I can tell you, DJI's customer care and support is absolutely AWFUL !!!

 

[Joe Costanza]

Customer support is even worse than in the past. DJI has not answered their phones all week! You get a message saying due to high call volume please call back later. After 30 tries I called my dealer and they said try chat. CHAT IS EVEN DOWN and the dealer had no idea why.

DJI was the worst customer support I have ever dealt with in the past and now they cannot even be contacted?

DJI products are incredible when working but if you buy one, pray it never develops a problem.

 

[InspireAggie]

Customer support is even worse than in the past. DJI has not answered their phones all week! You get a message saying due to high call volume please call back later. After 30 tries I called my dealer and they said try chat. CHAT IS EVEN DOWN and the dealer had no idea why.

DJI was the worst customer support I have ever dealt with in the past and now they cannot even be contacted?

DJI products are incredible when working but if you buy one, pray it never develops a problem.

I agree. They make a nice machine. I'm just uneasy about any more purchases. If they can fix their CS, I wouldn't have a problem with another purchase. Until then, I'll make do with what I have.

 

[mikael]

We had an issue in may when the battery started to burn in air. The whole back part of the I1 melted. Now two months later we got a new bird, no charge. Took a while but DJI is not impossible to talk to. Am happy we had one more I1 while waiting.

 

[Lofty Visions]

In any event, one's approach to a company should not affect that company's moral obligation(s) towards it's own warranty policies and it does not and should not affect it's obligations under consumer law in Australia.

I was thinking about this - Inspires are big ticket items so do they have statutory 2 year warranties in Australia like mobile phones and computers do? I bought mine second hand (it was 4 months old) so I'm trying to figure out how much warranty I have left. I bought mine from a store by the way.

When I asked if I could transfer the warranty to my name DJI told me this:

Dear John,

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

I am sorry that the register email for the inspire 1 is not available to change currently. For the warranty, the inspire 1 starts to count the warranty period once it has been activated. To decided whether the inspire 1 is under warranty or not, we will decide it depends on the activation date and the warranty period is one year.

According to the SN and the activation email provided by you, the inspire 1's warranty date starts at: 2015-04-05(GMT+8)

Thank you for choosing DJI.

Best Regards,

Sally

 

[The Editor]

To all you guys out there having 'problems' how many of you purchased your Inspire using a credit card?
If you did, use the rights you have against the credit card company.
You will need to read up on consumer law/rights for buying goods under credit but basically your cc company has joint and several liability for purchases (you are using the credit cards companies money to make your purchase)
Your credit card company is jointly liable as the retailer meaning if you are unable to get a refund from your supplier the cc company will have to cough up.
Section 75 of the consumer credit act affords individuals in the UK this protection from any purchase made from £100 to £30,000 and there are similar laws in other jurisdictions.
Look them up folks - you will be surprised and what you find!
You may have to do some digging as credit card companies do not advertise this fact and would rather consumers do not know their rights against them.