Beware Buyers - Autel’s End of Life (EOL) Product Realities

[jlanni]

Autel Robotics does what Autel Robotics wants to do, regardless of the impact upon their customers. Unlike DJI and Amazon, they don't have a long term view of the customer, and therefore have a very high churn rate, losing previously loyal customers with all of their poor policies and decision making. It's an unsustainable business model, as everyone knows it is far more expensive to acquire a brand new customer to sell to, than to sell another product to an existing customer! It's why DJI still owns the market, despite GEO, and Autel Robotics' only real distinguishing feature currently is no GEO. Should Autel Robotics start enforcing their already installed GEO, either voluntarily, or by being compelled to do so, it will be game over for them!

Sticking it to the customer is not good practice out of fear the product they sold to them will keep flying forever and will reduce new sales. All things wear out to the point it becomes economically not feasible to replace parts weekly, monthly etc. Some people can get by with what they have and maybe even love what they have so those people will try to keep them flying. Some people need the latest and greatest and will purchase for the sake of having the latest. People are just different with different needs. What is not sound practice is, to make a substantial purchase full well knowing the manufacturer would go out of its way to get you out of the air and looking for a new drone. Would anyone rush out to buy another car from a company that stopped making parts a very short time after introducing the model. Hasn't anyone ever heard of auto parts companies that are doing quite well just selling parts and not cars? People can still buy reasonably cheap parts for a 1955 Chevy. Has that hurt Chevrolet? I think the opposite. I think people would buy a car knowing it can be kept running by replacing some cheap parts when the rest of the car is fully functional. Autel just made some bad decisions. They could have made a whole EVO 1 cottage parts industry. I just watched something about a Honda Golding Motorcycle that had over 600,000 miles on it. Do you think that owner is bashing Honda or Honda is upset the owner has purchased countless part or visited dealers service shops? If I have to keep commenting, I'll keep saying it. Never again will I give Autel one penny. Before I buy another thing for that EVO 1, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, I will put it on there floor and crush it then throw the thing in the trash heap.

 

[Brock Inspector]

My EVO purchase was around Sept 2019 but don't hold me to that because that is an educated guess. I did not realize I would need that information years later. For the record I read everything that was readily available regarding the EVO at the time of purchase and I can safely assure you that I never would have made this purchase knowing what I now know. As I said previously, I basically have no complaints with the drone. This is not my first rodeo and I will chock it up as a lesson not to be repeated with this company. These things happen however there was no need to shut it off like a light switch. There were options available to take care of the customer. Just bad management. This will hurt Autel more than it will hurt me but that is their choice. I joined January 18th 2021 so it says and that sounds about right. I am not going to rehash my battery issues but in short they began around last July 2021. I have 10 batteries now and one is bad two are questionable and not to be trusted. When I learned of these issue and Autel's moving on from the EVO 1 I took advantage of the sale Best Buy had on batteries. 49 dollars each. They will run another sale sometime. I check so I can post it here when it happens. Other than that, had no issues.

your profile says "Joined Jul 20, 2021". Sorry if it sounds like I'm jumping to conclusions, but you'd have heard it here at least a month earlier had you been keening up on matters related to Evo since January. (you've stated the date I joined, incidentally.) Glad you found a bunch of cheap batteries

 

[kenautelevo2pro]

California Lemon Law​

1793.03.

• Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), shall make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
• Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, shall make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product

 

[ORANGE CRUSH]

your profile says "Joined Jul 20, 2021". Sorry if it sounds like I'm jumping to conclusions, but you'd have heard it here at least a month earlier had you been keening up on matters related to Evo since January. (you've stated the date I joined, incidentally.) Glad you found a bunch of cheap batteries

The X-star premium, then the Evo 1, watch out, your Evo 2 is next. I moved on to a mavic 2 pro & smart controller which has so many more 3rd party options. I am also done with Autel. The DJI app has so many more options, is much more polished & flies
much more stable than Autel offers at the production time. Sorry Autel, you lost me to! Your buisness practices pushed me away forever, good luck, you lost all of us!

 

[G_G]

California Lemon Law​

1793.03.

• Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), shall make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
• Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, shall make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product

Autel Robotics is more likely to prevent Californians from buying their products than to comply with the CA Lemon Law! Be careful what you ask for. HAH!

 

[jlanni]

your profile says "Joined Jul 20, 2021". Sorry if it sounds like I'm jumping to conclusions, but you'd have heard it here at least a month earlier had you been keening up on matters related to Evo since January. (you've stated the date I joined, incidentally.) Glad you found a bunch of cheap batteries

Love this drone. I'm just disappointed at the approach Autel has taken. They are not the first and won't be the last.

 

[Brock Inspector]

California Lemon Law​

1793.03.

• Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than fifty dollars ($50) and not more than ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents ($99.99), shall make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at least three years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the three-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product.
• Every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product described in subdivision (h), (i), (j), or (k) of Section 9801 of the Business and Professions Code, with a wholesale price to the retailer of one hundred dollars ($100) or more, shall make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of a product for at least seven years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the seven-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product

Much as I like the movement toward Right-to-Repair, the Internet Barrister in me asks what remedy would be available to the plaintiff in such cases where the manufacturer cannot obtain the parts due to a pandemic? Or, if the manufacturer were guilty of binning a product before the terms expired, would there be any remedy beyond replacing the product after a long and arduous civil process? Show me a phone or a laptop still in use from 7 years ago... then ask me if it would be worth the bother for a NOS replacement to make me whole again if I could no longer find someone to repair it? This is not your mother's Maytag...

 

[jlanni]

Much as I like the movement toward Right-to-Repair, the Internet Barrister in me asks what remedy would be available to the plaintiff in such cases where the manufacturer cannot obtain the parts due to a pandemic? Or, if the manufacturer were guilty of binning a product before the terms expired, would there be any remedy beyond replacing the product after a long and arduous civil process? Show me a phone or a laptop still in use from 7 years ago... then ask me if it would be worth the bother for a NOS replacement to make me whole again if I could no longer find someone to repair it? This is not your mother's Maytag...

The lap top I am writing this on is 10 years old, I do have another that I use mainly for processing video, and my phone is exactly 7 years old and never replaced the battery and has been dropped hard at least 20 time. That phone works better today than it did the day I got it. Those I would have no complaint if they both died today but the EVO 1 is another story.

 

[YuKay]

jlanni, did you join this forum on July 20, 2021 prior to or after purchasing of your Evo? Autel gave 6 mos fair warning in June that the Evo was slated for EOL come Dec

In my experience, the EVO 1 batteries have been unavailable internationally for much longer. I tried diligently but without success to buy a couple in the UK since late 2020 when I had owned the EVO 1 for just two years. Best Buy in the US got stock from somewhere for occasional availability but that didn't help international buyers.

Imho, anyone buying an Autel product now would be well advised to first get written confirmation from them of the guaranteed parts/service life of their new drone and batteries. And if they still want to go ahead and purchase an expensive product which has a service life of 2-3 years then they will at least be doing so with their eyes open.

 

[aebiv]

As someone who has/had Parrot, 3DR, Yuneec and DJI drones, I encourage you folks to not just hyper focus on DJI and remember this has been a fast paced and brutal rush to a new market for new products.

 

[Freedom]

This message is for potential buyers of Autel’s UAV consumer retail products:

Ever since the sale of X-Star, Autel’s first drone, I’ve watched Autel create and sell high quality drones with excellent customer support during the manufacturing warranty period. I think product quality and customer support during the warranty period has differentiated Autel from its competitors.

Since the X-Star, Autel has launched next-evolution drones like the X-Star Premium, EVO 1, and EVO 2. When the X-Star approached EOL, the company stopped selling parts to focus on the sales of their next product. That’s not unusual as companies need to address the changing demands of their customers. What was unfortunate at that time was that since the company was small and the user base for X-Stars limited, there were no third-party manufacturers of critical parts like batteries, propellers, etc. At that time, I gave Autel the benefit of the doubt since the X-Star was their first drone - after experiencing their first sales cycle I thought Autel would learn and improve their sales and support for their future products.

As Autel announced the sales of the X-Star Premium and subsequently, the EVO 1, as each of these drones approached EOL (the EVO 1 will approach EOL in December 2021 for parts availability), there was/will be no change in the unavailability of critical parts, leaving these customers holding some nice expensive drones with eventually no way to fly them (e.g., because of the technology used, these drone batteries last 2-3 years even when treating them with the best care, whether they are used or stay new in the box).

I thought the EOL issue with the X-Star was just one single bad data point with Autel, but 3 data points about what Autel does regarding EOL with their drones suggest a sad consistent trend - I’m confident that if Autel continues this current practice with EOL products, their latest drone, the EVO II, and future drones like the EVO III and the Mini/Light will endure the same fate as their 3 previously launched drones.

This iterative cycle of winning new customers for each drone (I own the EVO 1), then losing them and starting all over to win new customers for Autel’s next drone is inefficient and exhaustive for a small company like Autel – I think this is one of the reasons why Autel cannot become a successful drone company. Instead of focusing resources on the creating the next drone so that the company can win new customers while losing its existing customers, I think the company is missing one important step in the sales cycle, which is to create an EOL parts eco-system so that current customers can continue to use their current drones, while building trust that these customers can safely purchase the next drone from Autel when they are ready to do so and use them without the fear of EOL parts abandonment. I’m not suggesting that Autel commit factory resources to manufacture legacy products indefinitely, but rather, I think they can have forge agreements with third parties to create these critical parts to appease their customer base so that Autel can then focus on their next line of products to then increase their customers on top of their current customer base.

Now, will some customers not want to purchase the next line of drones with Autel because their current drones will still be flying in the air? Of course. But the marketing advantage of building brand loyalty and encourage future purchases will outweigh any revenues lost by allowing current customers to hang on to their current drones. It’s not like creating an EOL parts eco-system manufactured by third party companies hasn’t worked before – it’s a common practice for technology hardware companies. In fact, I can’t think of ANY reputable tech hardware company that is surviving today without some EOL parts eco-system in place.

Another disturbing point (not related to EOL but you can infer when EOL happens to EOV II) – due to the chip shortage Autel has had to resort to creating a “V2” version of the EVO II which render users of “V1” EVO II’s incompatible with components of the EVO II “V2”. In other words, there are no additional V1 components being produced (and this is during the current sales cycle of the EVO II). Think about all these V1 users who purchased the EVO II before this announcement on 6/4/21 – since there are no compatible parts for their Smart Controller and/or Live Deck – they are all out of luck if these parts fail. To be fair, Autel is saying the chip shortage is what led to this “V2” version, but I would at least think that Autel should better support their EVO II customers by offering them an incentive to switch up to the V2 version.

I guess all this EOL management stuff wouldn’t matter much if we were buying toys. But these drones are expensive and regulated by the FAA, with safety first as the utmost priority. Some customers use these drones for commercial purposes and so making sure they are safely flying the skies is that much more important. I fear that without an EOL parts eco-system that Autel will see more of their older drones malfunction and cause harm – with the current sentiment towards drones as the “bad guy” I don’t think Autel would appreciate that kind of negative media.

So potential buyers - Please consider this point above when making your purchase.

To Autel Management:

Continuing to perpetuate current practices on unavailability of EOL parts is making your resources work inefficiently by creating these stellar products only to have them “fall off a cliff” at EOL. This compels your company to resort to perpetually restart the sales cycle with the next shiny drone hoping to capture a new group of customers rather than reaping dividends from all the hard work done earning your existing customer base (think of it as trying to increase the value of your investments without the benefit of compound interest, or at best, a lower interest rate than what you deserve). How many more sales cycles do you think your brand can survive until your potential customers realize that your products’ parts are abandoned at EOL and, at best, become nice-looking models on desks or hanging off ceilings?

I sincerely hope someone from Autel is reading this message because I’m really rooting for this company to be around. However, without taking an honest introspection of themselves and addressing EOL parts concerns I don’t think Autel can consider themselves a serious long-term player in this market as existing competitors evolve and new competition emerges.

Agree with you 101%

 

[moodman]

Although you wrote a lot with passion, and I agree with you, as do most other Autel users, your thoughts will fall on deaf ears at Autel.
Why? Because the people running things are taking care of the low hanging fruit at the company in their day to day work. They are not thinking strategically for the long term survival of the company. They are trying to get quick profits, not sustainability.
This is their company culture. Wherever you work, it is likely the same way. Short term profits always trump long term strategies because shareholders demand it.
Unfortunately, the customers feel it and no matter how much they protest, it will not change things.
I very much doubt that management who could do anything about it are reading this thread. This forum is here to vent our frustrations, but it was never designed to truly speak to the management at Autel. If you think it does, then you don't know how corporations work.

 

[jlanni]

Although you wrote a lot with passion, and I agree with you, as do most other Autel users, your thoughts will fall on deaf ears at Autel.
Why? Because the people running things are taking care of the low hanging fruit at the company in their day to day work. They are not thinking strategically for the long term survival of the company. They are trying to get quick profits, not sustainability.
This is their company culture. Wherever you work, it is likely the same way. Short term profits always trump long term strategies because shareholders demand it.
Unfortunately, the customers feel it and no matter how much they protest, it will not change things.
I very much doubt that management who could do anything about it are reading this thread. This forum is here to vent our frustrations, but it was never designed to truly speak to the management at Autel. If you think it does, then you don't know how corporations work.

Even if Autel did a complete reversal in business practice and support current owners of older models, they would not rekindle the love of the product. Would they sell parts, sure. I will never forget what Autel did with EOL and would be very reluctant to give Autel any more of my money. I have already promised myself that I would never purchase another product the the Autel name on it. I believe reputation aside, Autel could build ans sell even the EVO 1 to this day. I wonder if VW had cut off the Beetle so cleanly would they have grown to what they are today. They are probably still making money from that thing. Autel could have third partied their parts and support and took a small percentage for doing nothing but they chose to stab the customer in the heart. Selling parts never hurt Harley Davidson over the years and did not hurt their new bike sales either. No matter how anyone looks at it, I don't see anything Autel did as being considered a smart move.

 

[kenautelevo2pro]

Even if Autel did a complete reversal in business practice and support current owners of older models, they would not rekindle the love of the product. Would they sell parts, sure. I will never forget what Autel did with EOL and would be very reluctant to give Autel any more of my money. I have already promised myself that I would never purchase another product the the Autel name on it. I believe reputation aside, Autel could build ans sell even the EVO 1 to this day. I wonder if VW had cut off the Beetle so cleanly would they have grown to what they are today. They are probably still making money from that thing. Autel could have third partied their parts and support and took a small percentage for doing nothing but they chose to stab the customer in the heart. Selling parts never hurt Harley Davidson over the years and did not hurt their new bike sales either. No matter how anyone looks at it, I don't see anything Autel did as being considered a smart move.

yet somehow they beat the largest drone manufacturer in the history of mankind to the market with a sub-250 drone with OA.

 

[Dale EVO 2 V2]

This point of view should be put on ALL OF THE EXECUTIVE DESKS AT AUTEL to make them understand that we as customers DO NOT WANT TO BE ABANDONED because of their shortsighted approach to customer support and legacy of their products. BRING IN third party builders of batteries, drone control boards and controllers to support the customer base you have in place with all your past, present and future sales. I have owned the Autel Evo, the Evo II V1 and now the Evo II V2 with a S. C. V2. Am I worried about my support even though I bought my drone from Autel last summer and last fall? Damn right I am!!! I strongly believe everyone who owns any Autel drone products since their inception in 2016 should be flooding their desks as well to get the support we deserve. Step up Autel. We are waiting on you!!! Put this into place before you build any “new” drones or “new” versions of drones. I am sure the third party builders of DJI drones and their hardware make a profit from that building of third party parts in support of their customers. Are you as a company not willing to move ahead or are you willing to leave our loyalty behind?

 

[jlanni]

You all need to go to NAB in Vegas next month!
Autel and DJI execs will be there.
I'm going!

I hope someone sucker punched one or all of the Autel exec's

 

[Dsixty6]

This message is for potential buyers of Autel’s UAV consumer retail products:

Ever since the sale of X-Star, Autel’s first drone, I’ve watched Autel create and sell high quality drones with excellent customer support during the manufacturing warranty period. I think product quality and customer support during the warranty period has differentiated Autel from its competitors.

Since the X-Star, Autel has launched next-evolution drones like the X-Star Premium, EVO 1, and EVO 2. When the X-Star approached EOL, the company stopped selling parts to focus on the sales of their next product. That’s not unusual as companies need to address the changing demands of their customers. What was unfortunate at that time was that since the company was small and the user base for X-Stars limited, there were no third-party manufacturers of critical parts like batteries, propellers, etc. At that time, I gave Autel the benefit of the doubt since the X-Star was their first drone - after experiencing their first sales cycle I thought Autel would learn and improve their sales and support for their future products.

As Autel announced the sales of the X-Star Premium and subsequently, the EVO 1, as each of these drones approached EOL (the EVO 1 will approach EOL in December 2021 for parts availability), there was/will be no change in the unavailability of critical parts, leaving these customers holding some nice expensive drones with eventually no way to fly them (e.g., because of the technology used, these drone batteries last 2-3 years even when treating them with the best care, whether they are used or stay new in the box).

I thought the EOL issue with the X-Star was just one single bad data point with Autel, but 3 data points about what Autel does regarding EOL with their drones suggest a sad consistent trend - I’m confident that if Autel continues this current practice with EOL products, their latest drone, the EVO II, and future drones like the EVO III and the Mini/Light will endure the same fate as their 3 previously launched drones.

This iterative cycle of winning new customers for each drone (I own the EVO 1), then losing them and starting all over to win new customers for Autel’s next drone is inefficient and exhaustive for a small company like Autel – I think this is one of the reasons why Autel cannot become a successful drone company. Instead of focusing resources on the creating the next drone so that the company can win new customers while losing its existing customers, I think the company is missing one important step in the sales cycle, which is to create an EOL parts eco-system so that current customers can continue to use their current drones, while building trust that these customers can safely purchase the next drone from Autel when they are ready to do so and use them without the fear of EOL parts abandonment. I’m not suggesting that Autel commit factory resources to manufacture legacy products indefinitely, but rather, I think they can have forge agreements with third parties to create these critical parts to appease their customer base so that Autel can then focus on their next line of products to then increase their customers on top of their current customer base.

Now, will some customers not want to purchase the next line of drones with Autel because their current drones will still be flying in the air? Of course. But the marketing advantage of building brand loyalty and encourage future purchases will outweigh any revenues lost by allowing current customers to hang on to their current drones. It’s not like creating an EOL parts eco-system manufactured by third party companies hasn’t worked before – it’s a common practice for technology hardware companies. In fact, I can’t think of ANY reputable tech hardware company that is surviving today without some EOL parts eco-system in place.

Another disturbing point (not related to EOL but you can infer when EOL happens to EOV II) – due to the chip shortage Autel has had to resort to creating a “V2” version of the EVO II which render users of “V1” EVO II’s incompatible with components of the EVO II “V2”. In other words, there are no additional V1 components being produced (and this is during the current sales cycle of the EVO II). Think about all these V1 users who purchased the EVO II before this announcement on 6/4/21 – since there are no compatible parts for their Smart Controller and/or Live Deck – they are all out of luck if these parts fail. To be fair, Autel is saying the chip shortage is what led to this “V2” version, but I would at least think that Autel should better support their EVO II customers by offering them an incentive to switch up to the V2 version.

I guess all this EOL management stuff wouldn’t matter much if we were buying toys. But these drones are expensive and regulated by the FAA, with safety first as the utmost priority. Some customers use these drones for commercial purposes and so making sure they are safely flying the skies is that much more important. I fear that without an EOL parts eco-system that Autel will see more of their older drones malfunction and cause harm – with the current sentiment towards drones as the “bad guy” I don’t think Autel would appreciate that kind of negative media.

So potential buyers - Please consider this point above when making your purchase.

To Autel Management:

Continuing to perpetuate current practices on unavailability of EOL parts is making your resources work inefficiently by creating these stellar products only to have them “fall off a cliff” at EOL. This compels your company to resort to perpetually restart the sales cycle with the next shiny drone hoping to capture a new group of customers rather than reaping dividends from all the hard work done earning your existing customer base (think of it as trying to increase the value of your investments without the benefit of compound interest, or at best, a lower interest rate than what you deserve). How many more sales cycles do you think your brand can survive until your potential customers realize that your products’ parts are abandoned at EOL and, at best, become nice-looking models on desks or hanging off ceilings?

I sincerely hope someone from Autel is reading this message because I’m really rooting for this company to be around. However, without taking an honest introspection of themselves and addressing EOL parts concerns I don’t think Autel can consider themselves a serious long-term player in this market as existing competitors evolve and new competition emerges.

I couldn't agree more, Unfortunately, I think the issues you mention are falling on deft ears. I think it is just a matter of time before the name Autel drones will be nothing more than a bad word in the drone community.

 

[VdoMemories]

When I found the $30 cable from Best Buy did not work, the Dollar Tree had one for $1.25 and worked " Great " After more than a year of complaining to Autel, finally today I shipped both my Autel EVO2 Pro 6K for repairs, no they did not provide the shipping back label and UPS got me with double the shipping rate then it showed on the rate chart ! Even the FAA site over charged me for Registering my DJI Air 2 S $30 instead of just $5
Its a " Scammers World "

 

[Detritalgeo]

yet somehow they beat the largest drone manufacturer in the history of mankind to the market with a sub-250 drone with OA.

I agree with you is a way but on the other hand I have a feeling DJI could have but they had a big plan of slowly adding the technology to very incrementally enhance their products and keep the customers buying more and more for slightly more spec. Just like Apple. Only now is Autel almost making them think their plan is not certain. We will see if Autel will make the needed changes and investments to turn this launch into a success... I don't know why they thought slamming their teams with launching 2 brand new products at the same time was a good idea. Everyone must have been stretched to get it to market and a few are likely burnt out.

 

[G_G]

Even the FAA site over charged me for Registering my DJI Air 2 S $30 instead of just $5 Its a " Scammers World "

You did get scammed, but that was not the FAA site you registered at, or you didn't register under the correct category of pilot.