Phantom DOA what would Tim do?

[niknas]

New here, first posting. I have been lurking here for a couple of months and decided to jump in a buy Phantom. My new Phantom arrived a couple of days ago. My very first attempt at flying was a dud. The Phantom just sat on the ground after it went though its ICU check. The Phantom then gave the green, rapid three green blips. I left the flying field dejected. I then Attached the Phantom to my Mac using Parallels Desktop. No go, the Mac or Windows would not, could not find the Phantom.

Email DJI, no response. Called my dealer, told to leave voice mail. Email my dealer and the next day I got a email reply from support telling me how to set up the Phantom. I called again and connected with a sales rep. He agreed that I have a problem and to return the Phantom for a refund or they would repair it and pay for shipping and include two extra batteries for my troubles.

The sales rep wouldn't exchange it because they are sold out and backordered. He encourage me to have the repair done because of the backorder and the Vision was a couple of months out. He also said the new gimbal with GoPro 3 would blow away the Vision and the upgrade path for my Phantom is a no-brainer. He also promise a discount and first in line for the DJI gimbal.

My questions; should I take up his offer for the extra batteries and learn to fly this Phantom or take the refund and find another Dealer with a Phantom in stock, or wait for a couple of months for the next version to come out.

What would you do?

Thanks,
Nik

 

[auck]

New here, first posting. I have been lurking here for a couple of months and decided to jump in a buy Phantom. My new Phantom arrived a couple of days ago. My very first attempt at flying was a dud. The Phantom just sat on the ground after it went though its ICU check. The Phantom then gave the green, rapid three green blips. I left the flying field dejected. I then Attached the Phantom to my Mac using Parallels Desktop. No go, the Mac or Windows would not, could not find the Phantom.

Email DJI, no response. Called my dealer, told to leave voice mail. Email my dealer and the next day I got a email reply from support telling me how to set up the Phantom. I called again and connected with a sales rep. He agreed that I have a problem and to return the Phantom for a refund or they would repair it and pay for shipping and include two extra batteries for my troubles.

The sales rep wouldn't exchange it because they are sold out and backordered. He encourage me to have the repair done because of the backorder and the Vision was a couple of months out. He also said the new gimbal with GoPro 3 would blow away the Vision and the upgrade path for my Phantom is a no-brainer. He also promise a discount and first in line for the DJI gimbal.

My questions; should I take up his offer for the extra batteries and learn to fly this Phantom or take the refund and find another Dealer with a Phantom in stock, or wait for a couple of months for the next version to come out.

What would you do?

Thanks,
Nik

Personally, get all of his offers in writing, even if it's only through email. That way, you have written proof if anything should go wrong again.

The hunt for the Phantom is pretty much that, a hunt. Just like with spare parts, it would seem that they can not keep up with extremely high demand of this product. If the dealer who sold you the current Phantom is willing to fix it, I would stick with them. It sounds like they are willing to make you a happy customer. There is no guarantee that you will be able to find the same kind of service at a shop that has the Phantom in stock.

As for DJI's releases of the "vision" and the gimbal, I really wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them. I would probably have died about 10 life time over before they will be readily available for the public. Let's face it, DJI is still having issues with keeping up with the demands for their current product so hoping for them to have their new version out in a couple of months is a bit of a stretch. If they do release the new versions in a couple of months, you can be sure there will be a lot of people throwing tomatoes and rotten eggs at them if all of these reported problems are not taken care of before hand.

 

[Audaciter]

Tim would use this opportunity to upgrade the motors to the Binford 3,000's, with larger props, and somehow manage to stuff
a giant battery in there.

It may be a simple fix for your Phantom, and if you are interested in the brushless gimbal for the GoPro, then it may just be a
no brainer after all. 2 extra batteries couldn't be a bad thing either, at least your dealer is trying to work with you.

The Vision is just a Phantom with a low profile anti-vibration mount, and a Sony camera.

Binford 3000 ?

 

[Yeager]

New here, first posting. I have been lurking here for a couple of months and decided to jump in a buy Phantom. My new Phantom arrived a couple of days ago. My very first attempt at flying was a dud. The Phantom just sat on the ground after it went though its ICU check. The Phantom then gave the green, rapid three green blips. I left the flying field dejected. I then Attached the Phantom to my Mac using Parallels Desktop. No go, the Mac or Windows would not, could not find the Phantom.

Email DJI, no response. Called my dealer, told to leave voice mail. Email my dealer and the next day I got a email reply from support telling me how to set up the Phantom. I called again and connected with a sales rep. He agreed that I have a problem and to return the Phantom for a refund or they would repair it and pay for shipping and include two extra batteries for my troubles.

The sales rep wouldn't exchange it because they are sold out and backordered. He encourage me to have the repair done because of the backorder and the Vision was a couple of months out. He also said the new gimbal with GoPro 3 would blow away the Vision and the upgrade path for my Phantom is a no-brainer. He also promise a discount and first in line for the DJI gimbal.

My questions; should I take up his offer for the extra batteries and learn to fly this Phantom or take the refund and find another Dealer with a Phantom in stock, or wait for a couple of months for the next version to come out.

What would you do?

Thanks,
Nik

Hello,

You've probably already checked this, but as far as your Phantom sitting their after the ICU check, did you make sure you followed one of the stick combinations under the "Flight Test" section on page 7 of the Phantom manual? When I first got mine and it went through its warm up/checks, but just sat there when I increased the throttle, and then it dawned on me that I didn't perform one of the stick combinations in the manual. Once I did, the motors spun up then and the Phantom was good to go. I believe the NAZA drivers and NAZA Assistant software are for Windows only at this point so you might be out of luck if you only have a MAC although I would think if you are running Windows via Parallels/VMware or Bootcamp you should be good to go as long as you make sure you install the DJI Windows driver (also install the NAZA Assistant software). If you still can't get it to work via your Windows VM, you might try and find a physical Windows system to plug into rather than trying USB through Parallels and make sure the DJI Windows driver and Naza Assistant software (http://www.dji-innovations.com/download ... downloads/) are installed.

 

[niknas]

Thanks for the come backs. I am leaning toward having the dealer repair the Phantom. On the positive side their tech will repair the unit, do a systems check and return it to me in operating condition.(?) I am guessing it will be a few weeks before I see it again.

As for running the Naza software on a Mac. No it is not a native program, but the Mac with Parallels desk top will recognize a functional USB device. Notice Colin is using a Mac for his demos. The only reason I use Parallels is to program and run non Mac native devices. i.e. GPS receivers, weather stations, etc. Never had a problem connecting and running Windows programs.

Thanks,
Nik

 

[Yeager]

Thanks for the come backs. I am leaning toward having the dealer repair the Phantom. On the positive side their tech will repair the unit, do a systems check and return it to me in operating condition.(?) I am guessing it will be a few weeks before I see it again.

As for running the Naza software on a Mac. No it is not a native program, but the Mac with Parallels desk top will recognize a functional USB device. Notice Colin is using a Mac for his demos. The only reason I use Parallels is to program and run non Mac native devices. i.e. GPS receivers, weather stations, etc. Never had a problem connecting and running Windows programs.

Thanks,
Nik

Cool, I figured you had it all in order with the setup, but just wanted to throw it out there. It makes me nervous sometimes hearing all of the support nightmares folks are having with their Phantoms, but great to see you have some options Nik. Best of luck with it all. Fingers crossed.

 

[niknas]

From the selling dealer after I sent the DOA Phantom back:

we do have it in our service queue to be expedited. Currently the ETA on repairs is 3-4 weeks

Not acceptable to me.

The dealer is sold out and does not know when his next shipment is due so I am getting a refund. Now I am shopping for a new Phantom or maybe some different. (HT-450 Quad RTF with DJI Naza). Or maybe I should wait for Phantom version 2?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Nik

 

[goldfinger666]

Hello Tim

The Phantom has to be armed before thje motors start...Move both joysticks to the bottom left and
the phantom will spring to life.

 

[niknas]

A quick follow up. I received a refund from the selling dealer and found a second dealer with a Phantom in stock.

I the process of setting up the Phantom every thing was going find until I was installing the props. One of the motor shafts was smaller in diameter than the other three. WTF! I call the second dealer and he sent out a new motor overnight. Meanwhile I connected the Phantom to my mac and USB port worked as it should. Upgraded the firmware.

After receiving the new motor and installing it I calibrated the Phantom.

Took the Phantom out for my first flight. WOW, the Phantom was everything I hoped for. After going though 3 batteries and filming my first videos I can see a new addiction taking over my life.

Nik