DJI gained a customer and lost a customer in 3 days

[GunSurgeon]

I ordered a DJI Phantom 3 pro on Wednesday. I was super excited when it arrived on Friday !! I did all my firmware upgrades and got it all ready to fly Saturday morning. I head out to the field by my house calibrate it get ready to fly and it says I am in a " No Fly Zone". I figured it was some kind of mistake the nearest major airport is 20 miles away. So I go back to the house start digging online and find out every where around our house is a no fly zone. I live in Greenbelt Maryland which is 13 miles outside DC. The no fly zone is ridiculously large.... I am disabled and have no way to drive everytime I want to fly. I am so dissappointed... When you order a Phantom if your shipping address is in a no fly zone you should be notified at check out. So I am done with DJI !! I understand the small no fly zones around airports, but it should stop at that. A 40 mile circle around DC is so extreme. This is a terrible stomp on our freedom to enjoy things we love to do. It should not be DJI's job to tell me where I can and can't fly. All that being said I am looking for a Drone similar to the DJI, but with out this stupid no fly zone crap. Any suggestions ?

 

[madpilot27]

Look at the newly released 3Dr Solo. Cost a little bit more but has no, no fly zone restrictions. Asks buyers to fly responsibly. I to have a P3 and am in a NFZ. Looking to get a class action lawsuit started against DJI for DRM violations and false advertisement and deceptive sale practices.

 

[beauyoung85]

That's a crappy situation, but for what it's worth, and no offense but why blame the manufacture for implementing a feature that's gonna save you a lot of hassle should some G man decide to pay you a visit for flying in probably the most highly monitored no-fly zone in the country. Seems like common sense not to. Just take a trip an additional 20-30 miles from where you are now and enjoy the new toy. Just my take

 

[Ed209]

With all due respect, DJI is looking at FAA no-fly zones and quite frankly, 40mi is nothing for a jet, prop plane or heli. Those no-fly zones are there for a reason. Now, there isn't anything out there differentiating drone no-fly zones and aircraft no-fly zones so we are all lumped together. It sucks but I wouldn't complain about it. We all know what the deal is. Complaining doesn't get you anywhere.

 

[envisionabove]

Can a mod put this crap in the general forum please?

 

[Chris Vedeler]

Not DJI's fault. All of DC is restricted airspace.

 

[Farmer]

The dji phantom image has become synonymous with "negative media drone stories"
This has a negative effect on Dji and all of us Phantom flyers in the public eye.

Oh, but I am sorry for the OP - that really must have sucked.

 

[blade strike]

Not DJI's fault. All of DC is restricted airspace.

Exactly and pretty soon any gps craft will be mandated to have them if they want to be sold in the US.

And yes I live in a nfz.

 

[MrG]

I'm from the UK and to be honest you should research before you buy as to whether you can fly or not it's certainly not DJI's responsibility - and for gunsurgeon and madpilot is going to be people like yourselves that will get drones banned we have enough issues with people flying drones near or in airports in the UK so the gps nfz is a must. These are not toys and should not be treated as such. Sadly the media has jumped on this and all drones are being tarnished with the same brush (and they always show the Phantom image) when in fact it's one of the safer drones out there for sale

 

[GunSurgeon]

I didn't know the deal this was my first jump into the hobby. I can't drive myself I am disabled. 3 miles from my house is an R/C airfield where they fly huge gas airplanes and helicopters. It's in the no fly zone, but no one gives them issues. When I purchased this I knew there would be a no fly zone near airports, but the entire DMV is just stupid. Why is DJI the only company implementing no fly zones ?

Can a mod put this crap in the general forum please?

Glad to see nice folks in the forum...

 

[madpilot27]

I support responsible flying and this hobby for all UAV owners, but allowing vendors to push DRM on fair use products, enabling them inoperative is wrong! We live in the USA and should be free to express our decenting views and intolerance for this illegal continuing practice. It's starts here and ends with vendors limiting what you can do inside of your own home, etc. stand up for your right people!!!

 

[Kman]

You're mad at DJI because of the permanent no fly zone around Washington DC and surrounding areas put in place by your government? That makes no sense.

 

[MrG]

Hmmm except you're not limiting it at home you're out in public space with the potential to cause some pretty serious destruction! DJI don't make the rules on airspace they are merely adhering to it and providing the function to prevent something catastrophic from happening...it's only time before an aeroplane gets taken down by a drone (either accidentally or deliberately) because someone flew a DIY drone or some other make without the NFZ function. I totally get your frustration I'd be peeved but I had to do my research into the area I live and what the restrictions were on the phantom before parting with my cash!

 

[rwakins]

I ordered my P3P from Amazon, it would be pretty ridiculously for me to blame DJI if I lived in a no fly zone, how would they know where you plan to fly your drone?

 

[bobmyers]

I support responsible flying and this hobby for all UAV owners, but allowing vendors to push DRM on fair use products, enabling them inoperative is wrong! We live in the USA and should be free to express our decenting views and intolerance for this illegal continuing practice. It's starts here and ends with vendors limiting what you can do inside of your own home, etc. stand up for your right people!!!

Simply said--

We live in the USA and free to express our views, but not free to control government policy and regulation....... We can fly in government restricted areas against these regulations and if we do, we subject ourselves to further enforcement actions-- DJI probably could not market their products here, unless they met certain federal criteria. If they didn't meet all those criteria, the imports would be stopped from entering the country and would not be available here. DJI is also a Chinese company and probably operate in this country under additional restrictions.

 

[GunSurgeon]

I'm from the UK and to be honest you should research before you buy as to whether you can fly or not it's certainly not DJI's responsibility - and for gunsurgeon and madpilot is going to be people like yourselves that will get drones banned we have enough issues with people flying drones near or in airports in the UK so the gps nfz is a must. These are not toys and should not be treated as such. Sadly the media has jumped on this and all drones are being tarnished with the same brush (and they always show the Phantom image) when in fact it's one of the safer drones out there for sale

People like yourselves ...? You don't know me. Why because my name is GunSurgeon ? That has been my gamertag since 2003. You sir are making ignorant assumptions !!

 

[GunSurgeon]

I ordered my P3P from Amazon, it would be pretty ridiculously for me to blame DJI if I lived in a no fly zone, how would they know where you plan to fly your drone?

I ordered from DJI and they could use your shipping address it would be a very easy process to implement.

 

[rwakins]

DJI has hundreds of distributors that would make it impossible to check addresses, if you ordered one from me, I would assume you planned to drive 20 miles where it would be legal to fly.

 

[MrG]

People like yourselves ...? You don't know me. Why because my name is GunSurgeon ? That has been my gamertag since 2003. You sir are making ignorant assumptions !!

No not at all, no assumption at all on your gamertag we can only take a person on what they express on a forum...but why would oppose controls on a system that protect you and others? If you want total freedom to fly then the DJI is not for you - the controls in place are default for the P3 it's not like it has ever been offered for sale without them.

 

[GunSurgeon]

Is there any other DJI no fly zones in the U.S. the size of the one over DC ?