Beware of FireBolts

[bbedsole]

I'm really not one to go out of my way to post negative reviews of a product online, but I feel that consumers should be fully aware of the trouble I have had with this product.

I ordered a set of FireBolts (or Fire Bolts) in late October. At the time, I didn't recall seeing anything about delays due to the product being out of stock. My order went through just fine, but almost three weeks later, I still didn't have any email notification about shipping and nothing had arrived in the mail.

When I emailed the "Save My Phantom" website to ask about my order, I got a response from someone named Jacob saying they were "upgrading their manufacturing" and would ship mine soon. At the same time, I saw that "thedjiguy" posted on this forum that the FireBolts were taking 1-2 weeks to ship. Obviously, that was not accurate.

After another week and a half, I gave up waiting and politely asked for a refund. Jacob said he understood and would issue a refund "in a day or so".

That was 10 days ago. No refund. I emailed him back late Monday night to ask about the refund again. Today is Wednesday, and no response at all yet.

Sadly, I think these quick release attachments for prop guards would have been nice, and judging from a few Youtube videos, they work very well. It's just too bad that the company was not prepared for the demand nor the responses from unfulfilled buyers.

To "thedjiguy", this is not personal. This is a factual account of my experience. Good luck with your product, but please put your customers first.

 

[rivest266]

Also ordered mine in late October. Not arrived yet. More info tonight.

 

[mixstreme]

Sounds like the 3D printer is working overtime.....

 

[rbhamilton]

Well... if you bought on a credit card most of them give you 90 days to start a Chargeback. Non delivery is grounds for a chargeback for sure.

 

[rivest266]

Ordered on October 9th, not arrived as of December 3rd to my Montreal mailbox.

The newsletter claimed that the order will ship within the next two weeks. (December 10th ish)

How are your other orders from Savemyphantom.com ?

 

[Fantomas]

People, DO NOT BUY THESE PIECES OF JUNK!!!!

You will NOT "Save Your Phantom", you'll rather "Kill Your Phantom" if you even think of flying with these on!

Totally useless. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow, if I can.

DO NOT BUY!!!!!!!!

 

[Fantomas]

As promised.

Here's what happened after my very first install (and YES I was very carefull):

Broken in 3 pieces...WOW! I even broke a second one also!


BUT that's not the worse part...
If you just slightly and I mean slightly push on any side (left or right), this piece of junk detach and the props guard hit a prop
They are WAY TOO EASY to detach.

Just imagine this happening while flying and hitting some turbulence!!!!

 

[HailStorm]

As promised.

Here's what happened after my very first install (and YES I was very carefull):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rpk4awqwrnahdne/Broken.jpg?dl=0
Broken in 3 pieces...WOW!

BUT that's not the worse part...
If you just slightly and I mean slightly push on the left side, this piece of junk detached and the props guard hit a prop
They are WAY TOO EASY to detach.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mxtlevu3f2fpi0o/Detach.jpg?dl=0
Just imagine this happening while flying and hitting some turbulence!!!!


P.S. Anyone knows how to attach a picture to a message?

I can't get your links to open.

 

[Fantomas]

I uploaded the pictures correctly this time

 

[HailStorm]

I uploaded the pictures correctly this time

Thanks. Quality certainly doesn't look very good.
I've never seen the need for prop guards, so I guess I don't need to worry, but thanks for the heads up.

 

[rbhamilton]

3D printed by any chance? Typically 3D printed objects are printed with little dots in layers. That means they have a lot of horizontal stress lines through them that make them very prone fracture. I wouldn't put any 3D printed part on a drone anywhere it would be subject to stress.

If they aren't 3D printed then I have no idea what's wrong with them.

 

[HailStorm]

3D printed by any chance? Typically 3D printed objects are printed with little dots in layers. That means they have a lot of horizontal stress lines through them that make them very prone fracture. I wouldn't put any 3D printed part on a drone anywhere it would be subject to stress.

If they aren't 3D printed then I have no idea what's wrong with them.

They are 3D printed.
I have several pieces I use from ShapeWays (Industrial/commercial 3D printing service) on my Drones without problems. But a small consumer grade 3D printer doesn't create a strong product.

 

[dbfletcher]

They are 3D printed.
I have several pieces I use from ShapeWays (Industrial/commercial 3D printing service) on my Drones without problems. But a small consumer grade 3D printer doesn't create a strong product.

Thats not really fair. It is all about the right extrusion temp, speed, and layer height settings to avoid delamination. It will never be as strong as an injection modeled part, but you can make some very nice and strong 3d printed parts.

 

[HailStorm]

They are 3D printed.
I have several pieces I use from ShapeWays (Industrial/commercial 3D printing service) on my Drones without problems. But a small consumer grade 3D printer doesn't create a strong product.

Thats not really fair. It is all about the right extrusion temp, speed, and layer height settings to avoid delamination. It will never be as strong as an injection modeled part, but you can make some very nice and strong 3d printed parts.

I quess there is always an exception, huh?

But I agree with rbHamilton, I wouldn't use a consumer grade 3D printed part on my drone.
YMMV.

 

[MapMaker53]

Going back to a comment I made a while back, my concern regarding the firebolts was that the ragged plastic nibs looked in the picture like they could easily break off after a handful of uses. I bought a different set http://www.shapeways.com/model/2276697/4x-dji-phantom-prop-guard-connector-v3.html?materialId=62 from Shapeways in anticipation of training sessions for someone else and I find the plastic of mine to be quite dense and generally well-made. I have no skin in the game and am simply posting my comment as a consumer's opinion. One does need to buy some small bolts and nuts at a hardware store to attached the snap-ons to the prop guards and I wish I could say what size, but at this point I have forgotten what I had bought. Old age. Personally, I think they should come with the required hardware in the bag.

 

[Fantomas]

When I sent the pictures shown earlier to Jacob (Save your Phantom), here's what he replied:

I'm not quite sure how that happened considering I personally tested your pieces before shipment.
The "base" with the 2 holes is attached to the main part via super glue, so you can fix it yourself if you wish.
I can refund you or can send you replacements.

WHAT? They're not built in one piece :shock: :shock:
He used superglue to fit four pieces together (top/bottom and the 2 little pins)...COME ON! No wonder they break apart so easily!!!!

But again, that's not the MAIN issue.
They're simply NOT designed/manufactured properly to hold on tight. They fell off WAY TOO EASILY!

DO NOT BUY OR EVEN THINK ABOUT FLYING WITH THESE ON...YOU WILL TRASH YOUR PHANTOM!


And about my refund, I think I can kiss that goodbye. I'm getting no more reply from this Jacob guy!

 

[Fantomas]

Going back to a comment I made a while back, my concern regarding the firebolts was that the ragged plastic nibs looked in the picture like they could easily break off after a handful of uses. I bought a different set http://www.shapeways.com/model/2276697/4x-dji-phantom-prop-guard-connector-v3.html?materialId=62 from Shapeways in anticipation of training sessions for someone else and I find the plastic of mine to be quite dense and generally well-made. I have no skin in the game and am simply posting my comment as a consumer's opinion. One does need to buy some small bolts and nuts at a hardware store to attached the snap-ons to the prop guards and I wish I could say what size, but at this point I have forgotten what I had bought. Old age. Personally, I think they should come with the required hardware in the bag.

And may I ask how they're holding?
Do they come off easily. If so, they're useless.

 

[bbedsole]

I'm the one who started this thread a few days ago.

I just wanted to say that I got my refund last night. Ironically, the refund came at the exact same moment that I opened a case through Paypal, so maybe it was an automatic refund, or maybe someone with Save My Phantom happened to issue my refund at that exact same time. I'm not sure.

But I did get my refund. I thought it was important to say that.

 

[Fantomas]

I'm the one who started this thread a few days ago.

I just wanted to say that I got my refund last night. Ironically, the refund came at the exact same moment that I opened a case through Paypal, so maybe it was an automatic refund, or maybe someone with Save My Phantom happened to issue my refund at that exact same time. I'm not sure.

But I did get my refund. I thought it was important to say that.

Great for you

What do you mean by "Opening a case with Paypal" ?
How do you know you got a refund (maybe I'm not checking at the right place...)

 

[bbedsole]

Fantomas,

Paypal offers the same "buyer protection" as Ebay. If you have a problem with a purchase (defective or non-delivery), you can go to the Paypal website, click on the transaction, scroll to the bottom, and click on "Resolution Center". Similar process as Ebay. Just state your issue, and they give the seller a time limit to respond.

From past experience, it's my understanding that Paypal will reach into the seller's account and withdraw the funds if there is no response or a ruling in your favor.

I just checked, and TECHNICALLY the money has not been refunded yet, but I did get some type of automated email from "Save My Phantom" saying my money was refunded. I'm guessing it takes a day or two for the money to transfer. As soon as the money is refunded, I will close the case with Paypal.