New guy here with questions about DJI

[Cbourbeau32]

Hello, I have been researching (under $500) GPS drones (DJI, Hubsan, Holy Stone) for the past couple of weeks and even got to the point of creating a spreadsheet showing brand, price, flight distance, flight time on battery, etc., etc.,. In the column for reviews I found (used Amazon for all my reviews) that DJI had the highest number of 1 star reviews of any of the brands I checked out. I also understand that DJI is most likely a step above the other brands I reference above but the reviews on the Phantom 3 standard and some Spark models are less than encouraging with 15%-17% 1 star reviews with the number 1 complaint being lack of customer service and almost non-existent warranty support. I would like to hear from some of the DJI owners on here regarding their experiences with the product and product support when required. DJI is still on my list but I need to feel better about. I appreciate any answers and look forward to reading on this forum.

Thanks, Charlie

 

[ROD PAINTER]

Personally I dont believe reviews such as consumer reports, google reviews etc. You really don't know who really wrote the review. I have had 3 Phantoms and have only had very minor issues with them. DJI is above the rest of the other brands in technology. I have never had to use warranty support so I can't chime in on that. I'm sure other members on here will post their opinions.

 

[With The Birds]

As the overwhelming leader in sales volume at the hobby end you shouldn’t be surprised to see more negative reviews. People are more inclined to comment on bad experiences than good. There is no question DJI’s size gives them earlier access to emerging tech and they have more budget to invest in improving the experience through software development.

As to warranty issues- in my experience I am surprised how good they are. If the flight records reveal hardware/software failure as the likely cause you get a repair/replacement.

My advice would be buy a cheapie to assess your interest then revise your budget to buy one if the more current offerings from DJI. You will be hard impressed to get better performance for your dollar from a competitor.

 

[thegeekunderground]

Hi Charlie. I can’t specifically attest to experiencing DJI customer service or warranty work, but what I can say is that since DJI maintains such a huge percentage of the consumer marketshare, there will inevitably be a larger number of low reviews, purely in terms of volume. In regards to the overall percentage of low reviews, might I ask how many points higher than other brands DJI was?

Have you tried searching the rest of this forum for other warranty testimonies? I know I’ve ready many in the past. You may try searching for hits on the DJI refresh program.

 

[WV. Rootman]

DJI drones are the best bang for the buck. I think they are so huge that their customer service lacks luster. Customer service has tried to cover up some problems that was their fault. If they cover your drone problem with their warranty, you love them. If not even though you have a good documented case, WELL. It's no laugh. They are very legalistic and are strict on their policies.

They have to be.
My first warranty issue, man they are great.
My second warranty issue: They sent me a replacement P4. It was bad with an intermittent problem. They told me what to do to fix it. The "intermittent" problem seemed fixed. 8 days later, it ended up in the bottom of a canyon with no roads or trails to it.
#1 From seem fixed to crash, it went out of warranty.
#2 you have to be able to show them the drone to get it covered.
These are their reasons for not covering it. 4 months later and I'm taking the case to the Attorney General.

Meanwhile I bought another P4 off FleeBay. LOL

I've had Holy Stone and they are a laugh compared to the basic DJI drone. I have a P3 standard, that was under a waterfall for 3 days. I have some health issues and my wife wouldn't let me retrieve it on the opposite side of the river. It is a tad remote and no cell reception. I had to get a friend to go with me. I brought it home and washed it out with water because it was full of a fine brown silt. I bought a P 4 thinking my P3 was toast. One year later I decide to work on my old P3 and it works. I don't expect anyone to believe me. All it needed was a battery and a wifi cable replaced. That's a fact!

 

[With The Birds]

DJI drones are the best bang for the buck. I think they are so huge that their customer service lacks luster. Customer service has tried to cover up some problems that was their fault. If they cover your drone problem with their warranty, you love them. If not even though you have a good documented case, WELL. It's no laugh. They are very legalistic and are strict on their policies.

They have to be.
My first warranty issue, man they are great.
My second warranty issue: They sent me a replacement P4. It was bad with an intermittent problem. They told me what to do to fix it. The "intermittent" problem seemed fixed. 8 days later, it ended up in the bottom of a canyon with no roads or trails to it.
#1 From seem fixed to crash, it went out of warranty.
#2 you have to be able to show them the drone to get it covered.
These are their reasons for not covering it. 4 months later and I'm taking the case to the Attorney General.

Meanwhile I bought another P4 off FleeBay. LOL

I've had Holy Stone and they are a laugh compared to the basic DJI drone. I have a P3 standard, that was under a waterfall for 3 days. I have some health issues and my wife wouldn't let me retrieve it on the opposite side of the river. It is a tad remote and no cell reception. I had to get a friend to go with me. I brought it home and washed it out with water because it was full of a fine brown silt. I bought a P 4 thinking my P3 was toast. One year later I decide to work on my old P3 and it works. I don't expect anyone to believe me. All it needed was a battery and a wifi cable replaced. That's a fact!

I believe you.

Fresh water isn’t a problem.

When your missus tells you you can’t do something do it anyway- she will get used to it. Unless it’s something that really shouldn’t be done.

 

[Meta4]

DJI had the highest number of 1 star reviews of any of the brands I checked out. I also understand that DJI is most likely a step above the other brands I reference above but the reviews on the Phantom 3 standard and some Spark models are less than encouraging with 15%-17% 1 star reviews with the number 1 complaint being lack of customer service and almost non-existent warranty support. I would like to hear from some of the DJI owners on here regarding their experiences with the product and product support when required. DJI is still on my list but I need to feel better about. I appreciate any answers and look forward to reading on this forum.

Here are two articles that explain what you've been seeing
DJI market share: here's exactly how rapidly it has grown in just a few years
Fear of Flying 2016 - The Last Word on Drone Flyaways! - Droneflyers.com

Of course DJI has more complaints than other brands.
They sell way, way more drones than any other company
If they had legitimate complaints at proportionally the same rate as the others, they'd still have 20 times the number of complaints.
Also factor in the complaints from users that don't or can't read manuals and blame the maker.

I've had a bunch of Phantoms and worked them hard.
They've all been real workhorses in professional use.
There's a reason that their machines sell so well.

 

[Kenny1]

Hello, I have been researching (under $500) GPS drones (DJI, Hubsan, Holy Stone) for the past couple of weeks and even got to the point of creating a spreadsheet showing brand, price, flight distance, flight time on battery, etc., etc.,. In the column for reviews I found (used Amazon for all my reviews) that DJI had the highest number of 1 star reviews of any of the brands I checked out. I also understand that DJI is most likely a step above the other brands I reference above but the reviews on the Phantom 3 standard and some Spark models are less than encouraging with 15%-17% 1 star reviews with the number 1 complaint being lack of customer service and almost non-existent warranty support. I would like to hear from some of the DJI owners on here regarding their experiences with the product and product support when required. DJI is still on my list but I need to feel better about. I appreciate any answers and look forward to reading on this forum.

Thanks, Charlie

P4pro v.2 are great and you can’t go wrong [emoji106][emoji41]

 

[Gregg Kielma]

Hi Kenny, DJI phone support, as well as this forum has never let me down. I've always gotten through via the phone and have had good tech support from DJI.

I have 5 drones, all are DJI and in my opinion the best drone manufactured. They are expensive, however, you get what you pay and play for.

Kielma

*Reading all the comments, I must be one of the lucky ones. DJI has always answered the phone to field my questions.

 

[AerialPaolo5286]

DJI have the best drones hands-down AND the worst customer service hands-down. I am talking from personal experience dealing with DJI's customer support team.

 

[wa5tef]

Over two years ago I researched DJI drones and found out they were the best but customer service and warranty was the worst. I bought a Phantom 4 knowing this hoping I’d be lucky. I was not. Three months later my droned flipped upside down and powered into the ground from over 200 feet. No external explanation but DJI claimed operator error and hard landing! I submitted plenty of proof and documents showing a functional Phantom 4 can’t flip like mine did. But I had to pay the bill and they sent me a replacement that had the four prop retainer rings REMOVED because they left the screws loose! I had to submit a video to prove to DJI that these were really missing. It only took five weeks for them to mail them to me!!!
So like me if you buy a DJI product understand who you are dealing with. Their drones are great as I recently bought a P4 Pro V 2.0 knowing this but I’ll never send it to DJI for warranty claim. I’m basically flying with no warranty but so far this one has not flipped!

Good luck
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[AerialPaolo5286]

Preach. Same thing is happening to me right now.

 

[Canyon Mike]

Hello, I have been researching (under $500) GPS drones (DJI, Hubsan, Holy Stone) for the past couple of weeks and even got to the point of creating a spreadsheet showing brand, price, flight distance, flight time on battery, etc., etc.,. In the column for reviews I found (used Amazon for all my reviews) that DJI had the highest number of 1 star reviews of any of the brands I checked out. I also understand that DJI is most likely a step above the other brands I reference above but the reviews on the Phantom 3 standard and some Spark models are less than encouraging with 15%-17% 1 star reviews with the number 1 complaint being lack of customer service and almost non-existent warranty support. I would like to hear from some of the DJI owners on here regarding their experiences with the product and product support when required. DJI is still on my list but I need to feel better about. I appreciate any answers and look forward to reading on this forum.

Thanks, Charlie

Hi Charlie,
I have a P2V+ and a P4A. Here's my experience.
P2V+ -- ia a great product and I still use it a lot. I needed quite a bit of online support in the early days and was always very satisfied with DJI's responses. Very robust. After several tree crashes, it continued to fly well. Then the wifi module went out. I went to a DJI store and learned it was too old to get spares for, but the tech there said if I could find a wifi module he would install and set it up for me. He even showed me where to look online. I found one, ordered it, and he did exactly that. Still flying today. Flight time, image quality, and controllability are just as when new.
P4A -- I've had my P4A about a year, and it is a real step up from the P2. Much better app and screen image, earlier to get GPS lock, higher res camera, lots more flight control features, etc. I use my drones for photography, so features like "tripod mode" are really useful.
Hope this helps.

 

[Cbourbeau32]

DJI have the best drones hands-down AND the worst customer service hands-down. I am talking from personal experience dealing with DJI's customer support team.

If a person is somewhat mechanically inclined can they get parts from some source to do their own repairs after the warranty period is over?

 

[AerialPaolo5286]

There’s a great spot in New Milford CT called The Hobby Hangiut. Yes you can find a RC cars store which will have parts and repairs.

 

[wa5tef]

If a person is somewhat mechanically inclined can they get parts from some source to do their own repairs after the warranty period is over?

Amazon has a good selection of parts also.
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[Russ43Phantom]

DJI's significant market share should say something. I've had a Mavic Air, P3, P4P, and now Mavic 2 Pro. They were all great. I've had not issue with keeping at the latest release of firmware and software. I would say, DJI, in their struggle to maintain leadership in the fast moving technology areas of consumer drones takes significant resources which DJI seems to allocate to development and NOT customer service or support. I also believe a drone owner must be comfortable with digital technology including the maintenance of all up-to-date levels of software. It might be true that other drone providers whose policy is not to be on the leading edge can provide drones that don't need updates as they use older, stable code.

 

[Hendricks]

Hi,

I have posted on this before and I will do so again here.
I have flown DJI Phantoms now for about 5 years........come up through the P2s,P3s, and am now flying the P4P.
Like others, I have followed along with DJI as the company has made advances with their technology.
The P2 and early P3 series of aircraft sure had their issues and DJI worked to correct those issues.
With the Phantom 4 series, for the most part, DJI is at the top of its game. The P4s are great aircraft.
DJI is a big company and produce a large number of aircraft, so it means there will be complaints from people who have ended up with a drone that doesn't work properly.
There are also lots of compliments made about DJI Phantoms.

I can only relate my own experiences with DJI over the 5 years I have flown their aircraft.....

I did have to return one of my P4s as it would not(despite everything I tried) successfully download updates to its firmware.
DJI asked that I return it to them.....which I did......they took a look at it.....and determined it was defective, and they sent me a new one.

So, the one time I needed DJI to look after my problem, they did.

Bottom Line: I feel DJI make a great product and their customer support is excellent.
These Phantoms are technically sophisticated things and there are bound to be problems with some of them........

Overall, I feel that DJI Phantom 4 series aircraft are very good drones and a good choice for you.

 

[wa5tef]

Hendricks, for you to consider DJI’s customer service is excellent is remarkable! It’s good to know that at least one of us had has a good experience! I for sure had just the opposite experience with their indifference and their lies and repeatedly disconnecting the phone call or their transferring me to a dead end phone extension or . . .

They are beyond a doubt the worst ever, but considering they are a Chinese company being closely watch by their “ Big Brother” it is possibly required for their own survival.

Good luck
Jim
WA5TEF

 

[Hendricks]

As I was saying.........there are those out there who have not had a great experience with DJI and their Customer Service.

The bottom line is there are many more Phantom owners out there who have had a positive experience with DJI than there are those who have had a negative experience.

I sure understand those with a negative experience are ticked off and vocal.
You have a right to feel the way you do.

However, to consider my positive experience ' remarkable ' is a stretch......and it leaves a message that, somehow, my good experience is unusual or unique.

It is not.