Cannot recommend P2V+

[skulltronix]

I've had my P2V+ for a couple of months and thought it was the best thing ever until the camera broke off on a hard landing. But now I can't get ANY response from support via phone or email. I've been waiting for two weeks. So, if anyone is reading this with the intention of buying one I'd have to say emphatically, DON'T. Eventually you will need support. And it doesn't exist.
If any of you have any contacts or secrets on getting service from DJI please let me know.

 

[Silverminer]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I also ripped the camera off the other day and was bummed to hear about the dreaded black ribbon cable. On a positive note, I wrecked the thing many times before with absolutely no problem except broken props so I wasn't at all shocked that I had to eventually pay the piper.

I suggest you call DJI Los Angeles. I had to wait a bit on hold but it wasn't unbearable. The technician was VERY helpful and said it was a good thing I called because contacting them by email doesn't get you far and you have to call in regardless. Get the RMA, send the bird to them in California and wait. Could be 4 weeks, could be more (or less.) Could be free, might not be. The black ribbon cable is a weak link and I hope they sort that out eventually.

Alternative 1 is to purchase an entirely new camera and get back to flying. $700+ last time I heard. I liked the P2V+ so much I went ahead and ordered a new one, this time from UAVDirect in Texas (the first one came direct from DJI - China.) I was very impressed with UAVDirect and they are extremely helpful over the phone. Yes, it was pricey to buy another P2V+ but I will now have one I can ride hard, I can charge 2 batteries at one time, I have more batteries than I know what to do with, and I can download video and charge the wireless booster at the same time.

As I said, I'm impressed enough with the technology that I think it's worth it. I hope to not crash this second one as much. Hopefully I paid my dues on the first one. It's not a cheap hobby. Best of luck.

 

[rrmccabe]

Hang in there. support will come through eventually. maybe...

They are really swamped (not that I am making excuses for them). I had similar support issues but they ended up making everything good.

 

[Jstic]

It's cutting edge technology and gaining in popularity. I don't think even DJI anticipated selling as many units as they have and will. Most crashes are pilot error, failure to read the manual, failure to train properly, or some other reason that is NOT DJI's fault. I'm sure there are just some bad ones that get sold, like anything else. But patience is a must with something that is very new technology and if you aren't prepared to wait, probably best not to buy the PV2+.

I'm in the same boat as Silverminer and now own two. I am shipping the first one back to DJI and will wait for them to fix broken camera and GPS not working right, hopefully at minimum charge to me. I may keep it when it comes back just to have spare parts available.

 

[YeeaaBoii]

I'm about to be on my 3rd one. First one lasted 2 months, then needed an IMU and Compass replacement. 2nd one I purchased while the 1st was being repaired broke 2 weeks later when an ESC went out. Apparently, the latest batch of ESC's sent out from DJI are faulty, so my 2nd 2 week old P2V+ can't even be repaired for a while until they sort that out.

Also, I paid for all my repairs through DronesETC since DJI said 6-8 weeks before they could look at mine for a diagnostic and repair. I've also sent in 3 swollen batteries to DJI. All they have to do is replace them. It's been 4 weeks and they still haven't shipped new batteries out. The guy on the phone today, which I waited 50 minutes to talk to, said they should be shipped out in a few days. Who knows if that'll actually happen.

Worst company of all time in terms of support and quality control. I'm only using them because I need something small, easy to work with, and quick set up when I'm out on ranches and in the woods. I'm switching to the Walkera Tali H500 as soon as I have the funds but that won't be for another month or so since I've had to blow all my money on the P2V+'s.

Also know that I have never crashed or misused my Phantoms in any way. Always kept in a Tradecraft hardcase. The repair guy even called me and said he could have sworn I had sent him a brand new unit.

 

[JWarren]

No offense to the original poster but I can recommend the P2V+. These aren't made out of titanium, people. You land a 777 too hard and it's nose gear will collapse, so expect a hard landing, of which most are pilot error, to do damage. I'm coming up on 100 flights between 2 different P2V+'s and there has never been a problem that wasn't my creation. So yes, go fourth and buyeth!

 

[marcusdji]

I can't recommend either, mine broke the ribbon cable by itself. No crashes at all. I shipped to China. Yesterday I received an email from DJI asking me to pay for the gimbal!! They told me my gimbal suffered a violent crash, but it didn't!!

 

[Bigdz]

I've had my P2V+ for a couple of months and thought it was the best thing ever until the camera broke off on a hard landing. But now I can't get ANY response from support via phone or email. I've been waiting for two weeks. So, if anyone is reading this with the intention of buying one I'd have to say emphatically, DON'T. Eventually you will need support. And it doesn't exist.
If any of you have any contacts or secrets on getting service from DJI please let me know.

You must be MAD because you post this same thread in another forum, sorry about you bird. when I had issue with mine I called DJI LA waited for 40 minutes and problem was solved. Call them be patient and wait... Sure it will get resolved!!

Operator error= crash(I'm guilty of it)
Landing it, than catch it!

 

[marcusdji]

I've had my P2V+ for a couple of months and thought it was the best thing ever until the camera broke off on a hard landing. But now I can't get ANY response from support via phone or email. I've been waiting for two weeks. So, if anyone is reading this with the intention of buying one I'd have to say emphatically, DON'T. Eventually you will need support. And it doesn't exist.
If any of you have any contacts or secrets on getting service from DJI please let me know.

You must be MAD because you post this same thread in another forum, sorry about you bird. when I had issue with mine I called DJI LA waited for 40 minutes and problem was solved. Call them be patient and wait... Sure it will get resolved!!

Operator error= crash(I'm guilty of it)
Landing it, than catch it!

I am waiting for about 90 days just to receive an email telling me that they will charge for a problem that should be covered by warranty.

 

[detholm]

So Here's my 2 cents.

My V+ started acting really weird gimbal all out of control. I called I was told call back in 2 weeks "we are out of parts". I called back 2 weeks later, was on hold and call dropped A LOT took me a few days to finally get through. I got an RMA number.

1 week of shipping to LA 3 weeks go by i hear nothing. FINALLY i get a reply they are working on it. Once They got to me They were very nice and communicated well through email. It was fixed within a week of hearing from them. AND they gave my a free wifi range extender. (all repairs were free too) I Waited another week for shipping back to me and I finally got it back. I've been flying now for 4 days.

I lost most of the summer and I will never guy a kit from DJI again. BUT and i stress BUT once it was my turn in line it was a pleasant experience. I think they are just way too backed up. My hope is that they will invest in their customer support since they have become to widely popular.

 

[AsiaFlyer]

I am ordering my PV+ tomorrow, I plan on removing the gimbal and camera until I get the hang of flying it.

Is there a way of strengthening the ribbon cable? It seems to be such a common problem.

 

[Meta4]

No on the cable and ..
Think twice before you cripple your P2+ by removing the gimbal/camera.
You'll be removing a lot of the things that make your bird easier to fly.
You'll have no wifi, no FPV and no telemetry so you can't see how many satellites you have, how far away or what direction the Phantom is. You won't know what direction the bird is pointing, how fast it's travelling, how high it is or howmuch battery is left.
The gimbal and camera do a lot more than just take photos.

 

[JWarren]

I too would recommend to not start taking apart your aircraft.

 

[DaveTown]

No on the cable and ..
Think twice before you cripple your P2+ by removing the gimbal/camera.
You'll be removing a lot of the things that make your bird easier to fly.
You'll have no wifi, no FPV and no telemetry so you can't see how many satellites you have, how far away or what direction the Phantom is. You won't know what direction the bird is pointing, how fast it's travelling, how high it is or howmuch battery is left.
The gimbal and camera do a lot more than just take photos.

From my point of view, it might actually be easier to learn to fly without all the gee-whizzy tech stuff. Just you and the bird, so you can focus on FLYIING. Go slow and learn what each control does. The only caveat is to be careful when you do add the camera back onto the rig, because the extra weight will affect the flying characteristics.

 

[rrmccabe]

I love the v+ setup but hard not to consider a black Pearl setup as dji's $680 take it or leave it replacement sucks.

 

[hrosee]

Have any of you guys tried calling any of the listed service centers listed here?

http://www.dji.com/support

A friend of my screwed up his transmitter and also had problems with the SD card slot on the gimbal. He talked to Mike at USA Hobbies in Las Vegas. Sent his whole deal to them and had in back in a week after they got it. Fixed under warranty.

You ought to try and contact them or one of the other centers.

 

[Fritz]

I was fortunate to purchase my Phantom from US Hobby in Las Vegas. When my wifi extender died I spoke with Mike, and he sent me a new one, which I received in two days. I understand that many people have had problems, but far more have been problem free. I can highly recommend the Phantom, just buy it from a good dealer.

 

[Davekyn]

Hmmmmm - Just waiting for the wi-fi extender to charge - then I will be following the quick start guide.

I'm glad I read this thread - I might put in an order for this flawed cable so many people are talking about.

.bummed to hear about the dreaded black ribbon cable[/color]

Surely a large proportion of mishaps are related to user error - specifically those who have money to burn.

I'm not taking the camera off - I'm just going to take it very slow and learn how to simply land. My friend says the battery power has a lot to do with landings coming in too hard. I guess there is a lot of things that can go wrong.

Not impressed to hear about the support - I have heard this from others as well. I guess it pays to be patient. I was a little let down with the "tutorial page" I think more could of been done with that.

 

[Codacious]

As long as you have a quick takeoff and either land in a flat area or hand catch, you shouldn't have any problems. I flew mine in the same boring field for 10 flights before I decided to take it out and fly it anywhere else. I now feel comfortable taking off, landing, catching and everything else. I only flew it on a windy day once, just to see how it flew in those conditions. I don't really see me crashing it anytime soon because I took what I would consider great steps to success. I would imagine that any problems that I might encounter from this point on will be of my own doing. I would completely recommend this product to anyone, I would also recommend to fly safe and smart, and not to crash into power lines or trees, or fly it in dumb places and you shouldn't have any issues. Some of these guys fly theirs at ridiculous heights and distances, around buildings, on crazy windy days, and apparently haven't had any problems because they keep doing it. I ordered mine from DJI in the case that I had a problem, I wouldn't have to mess with a dealer. My only problem with them was that they wouldn't ship to FPO AP addresses, so I had to mail it to the states from China, then to Japan... I seriously could have taken a boat to where it came from, but whatever.

 

[sidebox]

Sorry to hear about your damage. I urge everyone to get a gimbal and camera protector. It cannot help in every situation, and a hard enough crash will certainly still destroy your gimbal and camera, but it will help in certain situations. My plexiglas guard is specifically designed with the fragile ribbon in mind. It has a padded tab that sits beneath this vulnerable piece. The other options is fastsmiles carbon fiber guard.

Here is another option that you may want to take advantage of while awaiting DJI's repair jobs: B&H has a 30 day return policy, no questions asked. If you purchase one and fly it for the month or so that it takes DJI to perform repairs, you don't have to be without a drone for too long. This is risky, of course, as you will be on the hook if you damage the replacement before returning it. All I know is that I have a friend who this worked for. He flew the replacement for 29 days and was able to return it and only be without a P2V+ for about a week.