So let me tell you a story...a Phantom story.

[Ghost696]

Since I'm new here I would like to say Hi to everyone and hope you all have much good fortune and happiness in your lives! So hi to everyone!

Now if you ever are feeling like your having a bad day or just unlucky listen to this. This is my Phantom 4 story trying to just own one. Nothing more nothing less.

incident One:

Never owned a DJI Phantom before and heard great things about them so I found a deal on Amazon on a factory refurb Phantom 4 (not the pro) I ordered it and a clear rubber IPad case (value $7), the orders were delivered fine. So wow! I get to fly a Phantom! Took it out of the box and it was very nice...looked new really. After looking it over I noticed it had a couple holes on the back of the landing gear and I could see wires. At first I thought maybe its supposed to be like this. After checking into it I find its missing plastic plates/caps! So I decided to return it because its missing parts. Amazon gave me a return label and I sent it back. My refund never came, then I got an email showing a refund for $7. Well come to find out they refunded me the $7 rubber IPad case for the drone I returned! I went many days talking to CS reps and managers that they made a mistake. But they said I returned the rubber case and would not believe me even thought the shipping label shows 10lbs! I still have the rubber IPad case on my IPad to this day. I have sent pictures and copies of the return label's, but they still did not believe me. So I file a dispute with the bank and still waiting as of now to their decision. So I'm still on the hook for the drone I do not have but got a refund on the rubber case I do have! I will never ever combine another Amazon order together again! So.....on I go....

incident Two

After being completely bummed by the Amazon flub up and waiting a bit I found another really good deal on eBay from B..Dig on unused open box Phantom 4 Pro...oh boy that's for me so I ordered it. About after 4 days of the order, and it was already in transit to me and was going to be delivered next day. I was looking on eBay and noticed that the seller dropped the price by $100 for the same open box item! I get in touch with them to see if I can get a price adjustment right. They tell me they can't adjust the one I bought and to refuse it and just order another one at the lessor price. OK, I'm good with that, so I refuse the first one and got a credit. Took another week but hey I just saved $100! the next one came in and I was very excited! saved more money got a PRO model...open it up and its dirty, cracked landing gear leg, bugs on it, the battery was for the P4 and not Pro looked very used. So the description said unused open box, to me that means the box was opened and the AC is unused right? its USED! and not even the correct battery! So it gets returned for refund. Now I'm very frustrated on my Phantom 4 quest......So on I go...

incident Three

After stewing about wanting a Phantom I in my infinite wisdom decided to hastily order a NEW one from DJI store on eBay and I did. Feeling good about the purchase I went back read the description and realized what I just bought was just the AC only and did not include the RC or Battery! My heart dropped like a rock! Canceled the order waited for the credit. So....on I go....

incident Four

Now I starting to have Phantom burn out! But because I'm the smart person I think I'am I end up going back to Amazon and buy another NEW Phantom 4 Pro thinking this is the one... right? I mean brand new, different Amazon vendor...everything! week later it shows up! Open it up and its USED no plastic on anything scuff marks! bugs! had the right battery though! Now I'm ready for the Funny Farm right? Well...not quite yet. So I returned it because I paid for a new one and got a used one. Where ARE my meds!...So on I go...

incident five

Now I'm in need of a wheel chair to get around because I have lost all my motor skills due to mental anguish!

Well I'm still not done! Everyone still feeling ok? I hope so and thank you for listening!

Here we go, remember I think I'm going to make my Phantom ownership happen right? Now let me plan this out carefully ..ok make sure I buy from an authorized DJI dealer...got it! I email them and asked to make sure I get a SEALED factory new P4P Yes they answer back! Great! Ordered! Got it! NEW! SEALED ! Flipping PERFECT! not a mark on it! All plastic and hang tags in place! Love it! DOA flipping battery! bought another battery locally! Battery works! AC does not connect to the RC...see my other post NEW P4P issues. OK if you got horror story that tops this I'm all ears!

*thanks for tuning in I really appreciate it!

I'm jumping off a cliff now

 

[ROD PAINTER]

Thats why I buy everything from Best Buy. Bought 3 Phantoms, 4 batteries, numerous accessories and all came brand new. Never any issues.

 

[WV. Rootman]

Hey, before you jump, will you make a good deal for me on your p4 p? Lol

 

[Ghost696]

Hey, before you jump, will you make a good deal for me on your p4 p? Lol

LOL, with my luck I will probably survive and still be dealing with P4P situations! I will save you the anguish and keep ahold of it.

 

[Ghost696]

Thats why I buy everything from Best Buy. Bought 3 Phantoms, 4 batteries, numerous accessories and all came brand new. Never any issues.

Your a smart person! trying to save a buck online is proving not to be the wise choice.

 

[shockwave199]

Your a smart person! trying to save a buck online is proving not to be the wise choice.

Unless you buy from a good authorized dealer such as drone nerds. Buying online and avoiding the tax at your local best buy is more than saving a buck- it's saving a lot of bucks. But Amazon is to me, not the best option.

 

[CameraMan65]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I'm hoping I have better luck with the one I bought. I ordered a brand new one directly off the DJI website so I am hoping that their direct warehouse quality control is going to above and beyond anyone else.

On that note, DJI should know that dealers and resellers are not living up to DJI standards. I would be really upset if my product looked like s#!t coming from dealers. I would have something done about that. That's a logistics problem for DJI. And the refurbishers should also be held to the same standards. Your first one was a joke. They should have never shipped that. I would have been p!$$3d.

Anyway, I wish you luck and hope you get this straightened out and you can start flying and having some fun. If you do get one that flies, I'd be careful around water for the first few flights if I were you.

Again, good luck!

 

[KingDad1985]

I'm sorry man. I truly am. I feel so bad, I'm about to send you my P4P so you can finally fly one ! Well I would if it wasn't in dji repair lol. Hopefully I get it back soon. I seen on your other post you also have a Mavic which is treating you well! Me too! I've been flying the Heck out of mine! But I do miss my P4P! It's alot better bird all around. Don't get me wrong I enjoy my Mavic greatly ! I just miss that "Phantom " feeling

 

[jeffames226]

So by my calculations in looks like you are still out about $7000 for a P4P without a guarantee of getting it all back for the defective ones? Man I just dont think I could have bought another one until I was darn sure I was credited first before buying again. You are a brave man!

 

[Ghost696]

So by my calculations in looks like you are still out about $7000 for a P4P without a guarantee of getting it all back for the defective ones? Man I just dont think I could have bought another one until I was darn sure I was credited first before buying again. You are a brave man!

Or an idiot, like I have been feeling lately.

Been on the phone with DJI this morning trying to get my P4P to link up...even though he kept calling it my Phantom 3 Plus we could not get RC talk to the AC. So he wanted me to download the RC FW from the support site and I did but its only a .bin file and no .exe file I would need for Win 10. And your supposed to copy to an SD card and put it in the controllers SD slot which I don't have on the pro's controller. Now the Pro + model has the slot but he said it would work on mine too...WRONG! Anyways I'm about done with all this....again.

 

[Rocktopper]

DJI does not give a crap if "DJI authorized dealers " are selling used and abused crap. I went thru hell with DJI warranty with a crashed P3P and case broken RC. I was informed the air craft was crashed and so they would not even look at the RC. Informing them that the authorized dealer was selling used crap got no action at all. EBay got my money back. The sd card in the drone was wiped when it was returned. General McArthur was right when he wanted to bomb China back into the Stone Age.

 

[bkushner]

There is NO SUCH THING as an UNUSED Open Box....I like the ebayers that claim it's brand new they just opened it to take pictures. Again, repeat, no such thing as a new open box. If it's open no store can sell as new and it isn't going to be NEW. DJI does not refurb, they simply pass someone else's problem along to others. As others said buy BRAND NEW from Authorized dealers, there's enough problems with those too but at least you'll start from new!

 

[Ghost696]

There is NO SUCH THING as an UNUSED Open Box....I like the ebayers that claim it's brand new they just opened it to take pictures. Again, repeat, no such thing as a new open box. If it's open no store can sell as new and it isn't going to be NEW. DJI does not refurb, they simply pass someone else's problem along to others. As others said buy BRAND NEW from Authorized dealers, there's enough problems with those too but at least you'll start from new!

Well...I can tell you being retail store manager for 12 years in the day there are unused open box items out there. Ask me how I know...but you are correct that when an item has a factory seal broke it is no longer a factory new sealed unit. In the case of a drone has it been flown or activated is the real question. Ones I purchased was from a well known dealer B**DIG and was noted as open and unused. So maybe the person received it as a Birthday gift opened it up looked at it and play with but changed their mind and returned it for whatever reason. This situation would qualify it to be a new open box item. Which is what I was expecting.

In regards to DJI does not refurb their products, that's incorrect. DJI does factory refurb their products...ask me how I know... You can tell a factory refurb by the "R" at the end of the drones serial number. This was the very first P4 I bought from Amazon that was missing landing gear caps and was sent back. See my incident 1, that refurb had the R and was in new shape with all plastic and was not activated. Just missing the caps. I do hope the bank finds in my favor on that mess up! Gives me a headache.

So just some advice for anyone wanting it regarding online returns. Take pictures of everything you send back, including the box with the return label on it and all the contents with a piece of paper showing your name and that days date. Because whoever receives it back and says it missing stuff or you sent me a piece of rubber instead of a drone your going to need to prove it!

 

[bkushner]

The refurbs dji sends from repair are not refurbs. Read all the stories. Kind of puzzled how you list all the problems then argue against my post explaining why maybe you had problems. Hmm

 

[Ghost696]

Yeah I agree buy from authorized dealers and factory new. As I did and now that one is going back today as its defective. But yeah no harm. Its all good.

As long as get what I'm paying for and it works I'm happy. Sure seems like I'm going through a knot hole to get there though.

 

[stitch0852]

Purchased all three of mine from Amazon. No Best Buy or any other electronics store here.

The first two were perfect. My P3P was new and sealed, but when powered up, not all the motors operated. They sent replacement and I sent defective one back. No problem with it since.

 

[pomonabill220]

This is a joke, but....
Maybe you could start a gofundme? NOT!

Boy have you had a time with yours!
Sure hope you get things straightened out! Flying these things is TONS of fun!

 

[Ghost696]

This is a joke, but....
Maybe you could start a gofundme? NOT!

Boy have you had a time with yours!
Sure hope you get things straightened out! Flying these things is TONS of fun!

I did decide to hold off on a Phantom for now...I'll let this streak end. I'll keep an eye on DJI online reviews and later maybe try it again. Everything sent back and credited except for the very first Amazon refurb I purchased and returned. Still waiting for the bank to give me a decision on that. Flipping Amazon, they lost a ton of creditability with me. I canceled our PRIME membership as well.

 

[wa5tef]

Have you considered taking up fishing?

Jim
WA5TEF

 

[Beachcrazy]

Sorry to hear about your dilemma. I got my entire P4P setup from Amazon. From Sure RC. They have very positive reviews. I got lucky I guess. My bird arrived just as advertised.