| Below is a recent letter submitted to DJI. I hope that those of you who experienced a sincere loss of control, make yourselves heard and write this company. 2 experienced pilots lost their phantoms this week and BOTH of these guys knew what they were doing. Also I was told to steer clear of FW 3.14 by Atlanta Hobbies until this company can figure out whats going very wrong. My letter below: " These fly aways are pathetic! There are forums dedicated to fly aways with these phantoms and your company has done NOTHING to date to correct it! Im a corporate attorney in the state of NJ and you have my word that If one of these fly aways results in damage or injury I will bankrupt your company in court! I am compiling all the anecdotal and forum data as well as names and numbers of people experiencing total loss of control. Your dealers are dissuading people from using your latest firmware as its UNSTABLE. Yes, Im sure there is some user error associated with these fly aways but many seasoned RC pilots are experiencing random, unexplained fly aways and a total loss of control! Your hardware/ software/ firmware is NOT functioning correctly PERIOD. Either get this under control and address your customers concerns or I promise you, you will be headed for a legal battle that will wipe you out financially. Do not view this as a threat, but a promissory letter of intent. Below is a link to a thread. Do some reading for God sakes, in the meantime my flying friends and I will dissuade as many people as we can to steer VERY clear of your offerings!" http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1872000 | |
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Open Letter to DJI (PLEASE READ)
- Thread starter hidaven
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Kilby
Active Member
While I 100% agree with the underlaying message, that letter sounds like the rantings of an upset 13 year old rather than a corporate attorney. I wouldn't hold my breathe waiting for a reply. Just out of curiosity, where was it sent and how? Did you author the letter, or are you just sharing it here?
-Terry
-Terry
My anger is apparent Terry. This last incident involved a very experienced pilot that is meticulous about safety. This Phantom fell into a local town pool and could have very well hit a "13 year old" Do some research and try to see the "Forest through the trees" pal and understand that you have an obligation to fly safe with your equipment! My letter was sent via email and registered US mail on company letterhead. A class action law suit will commence if this is not treated with urgency. And assume that it can happen to you when your choosing your flying location......
Kilby
Active Member
I think you are confused about what I am trying to say. Make no mistake, I 100% agree with your underlaying message. I have been flying DJI equipment since the very first Wookong hit the market. I'm very, VERY informed on their shortfalls, but that is not the point I'm speaking on. I'm simply saying that you didn't present yourself very well in that letter and I'm surprised that you let your emotions get in the way of a legal matter such as this, especially considering your profession. Personally, if I got that letter in the mail, I would automatically assume that you were in fact not an attorney and dismiss it immediately, even if it was on company letterhead (anyone with photoshop can make a letterhead in 2 minutes). That's just my 2 cents.
Did you send this to their North American distributor, or their HQ in China? I'm assuming the North American office since it was sent certified mail (not available in china from my understanding). I'm just curious, since DJI is a Chinese company, how is the class action process different than if they were a US company? I've always wondered that and assumed that it was one of the ways those companies were able to get away with so many things like this. Just to make it clear, I'm actually asking that question and not being sarcastic. It's something I've always wanted to ask an attorney.
That letter doesn't sound to me remotely like something written by an attorney. It sounds like a rant. As for choosing flying locations, perhaps people flying Phantoms should follow the UK's prescriptive regulations for commercial flying with regard to distance from structures and people. I am also surprised many experienced RC operators are operating Phantoms at all to be honest, but each to their own I suppose.
It was meant to be an emotionally charged letter. I'll go through the distributor for legality. My choice of words are meaningless, it will be my actions that prevail if there are damages that result from a crash. DJI can and will be held responsible for ANY damages or injury resulting from loss of control. Normally it would be an uphill battle if we were only talking about a few cases. But the almost 25% failure rate cannot be attributed to pilot error alone. A class action suit would incorporate a multitude of informational sources from a significant number of customers. By the way, instead of dissecting my choice of grammar, why don't you head on over to the support site and voice your support? Unless your the type to not get involved which raises more concerns.....
Let me save dji the trouble-
"Please to thank you Hidaven for your interest in Phantom Ready to Fly Aerial Filming Multirotor System with Gopro Mount. Please advise that you have read and agree to the terms listed on page 3 Disclaimers and Warnings in user manual for the Phantom Ready to Fly Aerial Filming Multirotor System with Gopro Mount , http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom/en/PHANTOM_Quick_Start_Manual_v1.6_en.pdf
How did your phantom fly away Hidaven? I have yet to read any one blame lack of flying experience or improper radio setup for their fly aways. Every radio is always "properly setup" and all flyers have had "several successful flights". Anyone who buys a Phantom Ready to Fly Aerial Filming Multirotor System with Gopro Mount can in my humble opinion, look at it has nothing more than your first tuition payment at the school of This $hit Aint Easy University. Be careful making claims and threats on the innerwebz, people are getting arrested every day now for it.
"Please to thank you Hidaven for your interest in Phantom Ready to Fly Aerial Filming Multirotor System with Gopro Mount. Please advise that you have read and agree to the terms listed on page 3 Disclaimers and Warnings in user manual for the Phantom Ready to Fly Aerial Filming Multirotor System with Gopro Mount , http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/phantom/en/PHANTOM_Quick_Start_Manual_v1.6_en.pdf
How did your phantom fly away Hidaven? I have yet to read any one blame lack of flying experience or improper radio setup for their fly aways. Every radio is always "properly setup" and all flyers have had "several successful flights". Anyone who buys a Phantom Ready to Fly Aerial Filming Multirotor System with Gopro Mount can in my humble opinion, look at it has nothing more than your first tuition payment at the school of This $hit Aint Easy University. Be careful making claims and threats on the innerwebz, people are getting arrested every day now for it.
tstrike your wrong. The law regarding disclaimers is not as "plain and simple" as you seem to think. Check out that thread I linked to, there are more than a few people who lost control and it was NOT from improper radio setup. That's just koolaid drinking nonsense. Good people have lost control with stock, JR, spectrum and Futaba radios. They have lost control in MANUAL mode for Pete sakes! Some clown is blaming GPS interference on the solar flares.....lol. For laypersons sake, you can NOT put a device on the market that's unsafe and dodge a lawsuit due to some ill devised disclaimer. Have you ever signed a non compete clause at your place of employment? Think a company will ever sue you over it? let someone get injured with all of this fly away banter that was "known" before hand and you will be looking at one sorry company. I'm not going to go back and forth on this......Those of you who have had loss of control, write letters and hope this company addresses these concerns before its too late. Those of you who want to believe this is all due to user error, good luck in your reality and PLEASE keep away from any populated areas as your potential projectile can injure or kill someone. One last point, my Phantom is parked until I get a corrected FW and some assurance that this problem has been addressed. otherwise I am just as complicit as the company itself. Shame on DJI. I'm done, the choice is now yours.
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"why don't you head on over to the support site and voice your support".
I don't own a phantom so I can't get involved, other than to discuss the matter which is what I'm doing here.
I have owned various DJI controllers for 2 years and fly them regularly and professionally. I've never had a fly away. I'm not saying they don't happen but I've not had one.
Anecdotally it would seem to be more of a problem with Phantoms than with other DJI kit. Perhaps it's a problem with their radios, though you say you believe it's not that and I am not disagreeing as I have no information either way. One wonders, therefore, whether the "low end", inexpensive and ready-to-fly nature of the Phantom attracts a certain type of pilot with a certain level of experience and whether that has a causal relationship with the fly aways.
For the record, I wasn't criticising your grammar, but I was pointing out that if it didn't sound like a letter written by an attorney. My view is that if you want your concerns to be taking seriously they might be more effective if they sounded more considered, measured and legitimate.
I don't own a phantom so I can't get involved, other than to discuss the matter which is what I'm doing here.
I have owned various DJI controllers for 2 years and fly them regularly and professionally. I've never had a fly away. I'm not saying they don't happen but I've not had one.
Anecdotally it would seem to be more of a problem with Phantoms than with other DJI kit. Perhaps it's a problem with their radios, though you say you believe it's not that and I am not disagreeing as I have no information either way. One wonders, therefore, whether the "low end", inexpensive and ready-to-fly nature of the Phantom attracts a certain type of pilot with a certain level of experience and whether that has a causal relationship with the fly aways.
For the record, I wasn't criticising your grammar, but I was pointing out that if it didn't sound like a letter written by an attorney. My view is that if you want your concerns to be taking seriously they might be more effective if they sounded more considered, measured and legitimate.
From your thread you linked to-
| This 20-25% fly away rate is pathetic to say the least! I'm wondering if a solution would be to change out the tx and RX. Maybe a much more proven system like spektrum or futaba would cut down on these fly always. Loosing GPS should not interfere with the control ability of ANY RC. My question is how many of you all had fly aways with the stock radios and did anyone have a fly away with a spektrum or futaba setup? No way I'm buying one until I see better numbers. |
tstrike, put your money where you mouth is........Send me your email address along with 3 random letters and i'll snap a pic of my phantom with that sequence. Then champ, you come back on here and tell that other rocket scientist "deanot" that I have the goods. I have NOTHING to gain by lying. But again you divert from the issue. Did you not read that thread?????
janoots2
Member
LOL, I've noticed the phantom threads tend to be tainted. And more screen names are migrating over.
Kilby
Active Member
Not to keep this thread going on any longer, but I couldn't resist when I saw this post by op just 12 days ago in the thread he linked.
I bought one last week you potato heads WHY?? Because I was assured that FW 3.14 fixed the fly away issue.......That cat is licking where the 3 of your heads are stuffed. And Kilby who has a documented phobia of anything that makes sense, can continue his quest for the same item the scarecrow from the wizard of oz was looking for. And don't worry Stacky whats "missing" on your anatomy even Oz himself cant help you find : ) Lets get those letters written to DJI ladies.......Go on chop chop!
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