Once again DJI has served me a lemon and demanded I swallow it.
Long story short(er): Buy phantom 4 pro from authorized dealer. Wait after 14 days but before 30 to make a claim because I was feeling the issue out. My issue is that the battery (multiple) do not stay properly snug in the battery compartment and have a bit of play where they can move around even when snapped in. Here is a youtube video of the problem:
It is problematic for two reasons:
1. it causes a vibration in the drone that makes the video shaky and unsuitable for my professional useage.
2. It is clearly not the intended design to have a battery that moves around in the battery compartment. That is not consistent with industry wide practices in aerospace to have a battery that is moving around in its compartment and may make for a loose or faulty connection leading to power loss.
I did some research, and while a few other people were reporting the problem, this is not how most phantom 4's function, and so I believe that this is a "manufacturer" defect.
So. I send it in to DJI at their request. They have the drone for over 3 weeks. it is in there for about 4 days for repairs. They send the drone back to me and it has the exact same problem, nothing has changed or been fixed. I contact dji customer care to ask what did the technicians do to the drone because it clearly has the same problem I sent it in for. They give me some scripted response runaround and suggest that I send it in to be analyzed and repaired again. I explain to them this is not what I asked, and she told me that the warranty repairs that were done was "replacing the battery". I clearly indicated that the problem was not the individual battery but the battery compartment. But the kicker is. They did not replace my battery. The serial number on the one I sent in and got back was the same. So they lied about what they did to fix my drone.
This is very suspicious. The battery is covered under their warranty, but the frame is not and I believe it is a frame issue. However, they are under obligation to repair or replace something they sell that has a manufactured defect. I believe that they are avoiding acknowledging this manufactured defect so that they do not have to do a product recall which would be expensive for them. They said that they replaced my battery to solve the issue and they did not even do that.
So I got back with customer service, but no one there has any authority and all they can do is put you through the script and suggest you send your drone in. I explained that I wanted to talk to someone who can assure me that they will get me a replacement drone asap to correct the mistake they made, and all they gave me was send it to the technicians and I will make a note you want a new drone.
So. I am done with this companies shenanigans, because this, I believe, is clear grounds for a lawsuit. They sold me a product with a manufactured defect. I sent it to them for repairs, and they did not do the repairs that they claimed to do, they did not even claim to repair the system that I indicated there was a problem in. They sent me back my drone knowingly with the exact same problem I sent it in for. They admitted there was a problem by doing "warranty repairs" on what I sent in, but those warranty repairs did not fix the problem and they were not even done.
I would like to bring legal action against DJI to stop this kind of behavior because I believe it is fradulent and negligent. Furthermore, I think DJI is doing this as calculated unethical business practice to cover up a manufacturers defect that is known to them, and that is a very serious violation of consumer law that could get them hit with serious fines.
Does anyone know anything about this and my legal grounds for a lawsuit? Does anyone know any lawyers that deal with this sort of thing?
Thanks all.
Long story short(er): Buy phantom 4 pro from authorized dealer. Wait after 14 days but before 30 to make a claim because I was feeling the issue out. My issue is that the battery (multiple) do not stay properly snug in the battery compartment and have a bit of play where they can move around even when snapped in. Here is a youtube video of the problem:
It is problematic for two reasons:
1. it causes a vibration in the drone that makes the video shaky and unsuitable for my professional useage.
2. It is clearly not the intended design to have a battery that moves around in the battery compartment. That is not consistent with industry wide practices in aerospace to have a battery that is moving around in its compartment and may make for a loose or faulty connection leading to power loss.
I did some research, and while a few other people were reporting the problem, this is not how most phantom 4's function, and so I believe that this is a "manufacturer" defect.
So. I send it in to DJI at their request. They have the drone for over 3 weeks. it is in there for about 4 days for repairs. They send the drone back to me and it has the exact same problem, nothing has changed or been fixed. I contact dji customer care to ask what did the technicians do to the drone because it clearly has the same problem I sent it in for. They give me some scripted response runaround and suggest that I send it in to be analyzed and repaired again. I explain to them this is not what I asked, and she told me that the warranty repairs that were done was "replacing the battery". I clearly indicated that the problem was not the individual battery but the battery compartment. But the kicker is. They did not replace my battery. The serial number on the one I sent in and got back was the same. So they lied about what they did to fix my drone.
This is very suspicious. The battery is covered under their warranty, but the frame is not and I believe it is a frame issue. However, they are under obligation to repair or replace something they sell that has a manufactured defect. I believe that they are avoiding acknowledging this manufactured defect so that they do not have to do a product recall which would be expensive for them. They said that they replaced my battery to solve the issue and they did not even do that.
So I got back with customer service, but no one there has any authority and all they can do is put you through the script and suggest you send your drone in. I explained that I wanted to talk to someone who can assure me that they will get me a replacement drone asap to correct the mistake they made, and all they gave me was send it to the technicians and I will make a note you want a new drone.
So. I am done with this companies shenanigans, because this, I believe, is clear grounds for a lawsuit. They sold me a product with a manufactured defect. I sent it to them for repairs, and they did not do the repairs that they claimed to do, they did not even claim to repair the system that I indicated there was a problem in. They sent me back my drone knowingly with the exact same problem I sent it in for. They admitted there was a problem by doing "warranty repairs" on what I sent in, but those warranty repairs did not fix the problem and they were not even done.
I would like to bring legal action against DJI to stop this kind of behavior because I believe it is fradulent and negligent. Furthermore, I think DJI is doing this as calculated unethical business practice to cover up a manufacturers defect that is known to them, and that is a very serious violation of consumer law that could get them hit with serious fines.
Does anyone know anything about this and my legal grounds for a lawsuit? Does anyone know any lawyers that deal with this sort of thing?
Thanks all.
