Buying E2P from Amazon Question

[Retired In FL]

EDIT 5/4: See post number 15 in this thread for the "official answer" from Autel.


Autel says "Amazon" is an "Authroized Reseller" but it seems "AMAZON" does not sell any of the products as they would be listed as Shipped by and Sold By Amazon.com and none of them are. They are all 3rd party sellers like: "Autel Official" and "Coolmade" and "Autel Store" and others and they are all Amazon Prime with Free 30 day Returns and are shipped direct from Amazon not the reseller so there would be no return shipping fees or restocking fees or having to deal with the 3rd party sellers directly. There are some 3rd party US sellers who sell direct on Amazon. THOSE might have issues with restocking fees etc because they are not "Shipped from Amazon." They all "CLAIM" to be authorized resellers but they all are located in China according to their info. Of course that is where these things are made so it doesn't surprise me! They do offer pretty good packages that the independent guys don't. I do like to support local business but sometimes money talks.

Are there any warranty issues buying from these alleged "Authorized Resellers" ? Not just ASSUMING but is there any actual DIRECT KNOWLEDGE of warranty issues? I understand Autel is no great shakes when it comes to warrnty support either. I need to purchase before the fire-sale is over. These big discounts usually mean something new is in the works as those are huge price drops.

 

[Txfirecop]

Just buy from Advexure | Drone Systems & Unmanned Solutions Or any other verified company on this forum. They are all reputable and have outstanding customer service.

 

[Retired In FL]

Just buy from Advexure | Drone Systems & Unmanned Solutions Or any other verified company on this forum. They are all reputable and have outstanding customer service.

Thanks but that doesn’t answer my question.
It also Would cost me $200+ more.

I fully understand your reasoning and actually agree in principle but unfortunately they don’t pay my bills.

 

[herein2021]

Thanks but that doesn’t answer my question.
It also Would cost me $200+ more.

I fully understand your reasoning and actually agree in principle but unfortunately they don’t pay my bills.

I think the only one who can answer that directly is Autel themselves. Also, I know this may not be a popular viewpoint but I truly do look at drones as having no support whatsoever. I've been flying drones since 2014 and fortunately never needed a single thing from support to date nor have I expected anything. With my viewpoint in mind, I do buy and treat my drones a little differently from the rest of my equipment.

• I only buy from a seller that lets me return the drone immediately with no restocking fee and no questions asked for at least 30 days if needed; the way I figure if the problem doesn't happen in the first 30 days I am probably in the clear.
• I never update firmware or the app until the version has been out for at least 3 months unless it fixes a problem that is impacting paying jobs or adds a feature that will really save time for paying jobs. With my DJI drones I literally stopped updating the firmware and app back in 2017. Even my iPad mini tablet has gotten no updates since 2017. If it ain't broke don't fix it I say
• I am also very careful about how I fly....I've never lost or damaged a drone due to my own actions in 7yrs.
• Last but not least, I never take off from cement. Only grass and even then only from the top of the rugged case.

Maybe I've been lucky, I'm sure there are plenty of drones out there where flyaways weren't caused by rebar in the cement, and where they really did develop a problem over time due to a bad circuit board or something like that. But I also see endless posts about collisions with many different objects, multiple flyaways, etc. and feel like a lot of problems are caused by the way the drone was treated and the way it was operated. I say all of that to say that if warranty support is your main concern with buying from Amazon sellers; I personally would consider that the least of my concerns.

If you truly want to know if buying from an unauthorized Amazon seller will void your warranty....why don't you send an email to Autel tech support? If you don't get a satisfactory reply that might be your first indication of how much that warranty support is worth (Note I said Tech Support...not Pre-Sales support...everyone knows Pre-Sales is the most responsive department of any company)

 

[Retired In FL]

I think the only one who can answer that directly is Autel themselves. Also, I know this may not be a popular viewpoint but I truly do look at drones as having no support whatsoever. I've been flying drones since 2014 and fortunately never needed a single thing from support to date nor have I expected anything. With my viewpoint in mind, I do buy and treat my drones a little differently from the rest of my equipment.

• I only buy from a seller that lets me return the drone immediately with no restocking fee and no questions asked for at least 30 days if needed; the way I figure if the problem doesn't happen in the first 30 days I am probably in the clear.
• I never update firmware or the app until the version has been out for at least 3 months unless it fixes a problem that is impacting paying jobs or adds a feature that will really save time for paying jobs. With my DJI drones I literally stopped updating the firmware and app back in 2017. Even my iPad mini tablet has gotten no updates since 2017. If it ain't broke don't fix it I say
• I am also very careful about how I fly....I've never lost or damaged a drone due to my own actions in 7yrs.
• Last but not least, I never take off from cement. Only grass and even then only from the top of the rugged case.

Maybe I've been lucky, I'm sure there are plenty of drones out there where flyaways weren't caused by rebar in the cement, and where they really did develop a problem over time due to a bad circuit board or something like that. But I also see endless posts about collisions with many different objects, multiple flyaways, etc. and feel like a lot of problems are caused by the way the drone was treated and the way it was operated. I say all of that to say that if warranty support is your main concern with buying from Amazon sellers; I personally would consider that the least of my concerns.

If you truly want to know if buying from an unauthorized Amazon seller will void your warranty....why don't you send an email to Autel tech support? If you don't get a satisfactory reply that might be your first indication of how much that warranty support is worth (Note I said Tech Support...not Pre-Sales support...everyone knows Pre-Sales is the most responsive department of any company)

Thank you for your well thought out response. I fully agree with your service (or lack of same) comments on virtually everything these days and don’t think I have ever requested service on anything I have purchased in the last 25 years !!! Amazon does offer all the “easy and free” 30 day no restocking fees returns option, even from most 3rd party sellers as long as the sellers are tagged as “ships from Amazon.com”.

 

[Sjs]

Just buy from Advexure | Drone Systems & Unmanned Solutions Or any other verified company on this forum. They are all reputable and have outstanding customer service.

Yes I ordered from autel and got the wrong stuff in April and I called it in , customer service is as far as I can call it non existent.why don't they even tell you to down load firmware to a sd card and reload it for every battery,found that out here, after pulling out the little hair I got left.to me autel just gives you a case number then leaves you hanging, learned more here and on videos from internet and a great show based in our 50th state.dont want to say these names ,trying to be political correct.thanks

 

[Txfirecop]

Order from Amazon then. Think your mind was made up before your original post. Good luck

 

[advexure]

Just buy from Advexure | Drone Systems & Unmanned Solutions Or any other verified company on this forum. They are all reputable and have outstanding customer service.

We appreciate the support @Txfirecop, thank you! ?

@Retired In FL, the decision is all yours. To help you make an informed decision, we can leave you with the following:

• You will see a handful of 3rd party sellers on Amazon who claim to be "official", but when you review the seller profiles, they are China and Hong Kong dealers, mostly Autel Automotive dealers that must have a line to Autel Robotics products. An Asia region dealer is technically not permitted to sell to the US, and vice versa as it is not within their contracted sales territory.
• Majority of the kits sold on Amazon are the international versions. The easiest way to tell is by the case that is included in the Rugged Bundles. Autel Robotics USA bundles come with a GPC case and not the Autel OEM (made in China) case. We've dealt with GPC cases for 7 years, safe to say that the majority of the consumer and commercial market prefer a high quality GPC case to protect their investment, plus they fit way more.
• Autel does not have an international warranty. Not saying this would happen, but you run the risk of Autel's USA subsidiary denying warranty for non-USA serial number.
• You would not have the ability to purchase Autel Care (if you you were wanting to).

It's a free country and a free market, so it's your freedom to make your own decision! If it was a larger investment and a commercially used system, I would recommend ensuring you've got a serial number and warranty for your region as well as a support structure to ensure your company, agency, department's system has a close to 100% uptime as possible.

Whatever route you choose, enjoy the new new bird, and fly safe!

 

[Sjs]

Yes I ordered from autel and got the wrong stuff in April and I called it in , customer service is as far as I can call it non existent.why don't they even tell you to down load firmware to a sd card and reload it for every battery,found that out here, after pulling out the little hair I got left.to me autel just gives you a case number then leaves you hanging, learned more here and on videos from internet and a great show based in our 50th state.dont want to say these names ,trying to be political correct.thanks

I went right to autel not autel pilot thanks

 

[UasDriver]

It's a free country and a free market,

?

that said, any new purchases will be from on of the authorized dealers I see here

 

[Retired In FL]

@Retired In FL, the decision is all yours. To help you make an informed decision, we can leave you with the following:
It's a free country and a free market, so it's your freedom to make your own decision! If it was a larger investment and a commercially used system, I would recommend ensuring you've got a serial number and warranty for your region as well as a support structure to ensure your company, agency, department's system has a close to 100% uptime as possible.

Whatever route you choose, enjoy the new new bird, and fly safe!

Actually, in the end, I made my decision and ordered from you folks last night because it seemed your pricing became more competitive from the last time I checked. I even got a "free" !!! $69 !!! YIKES! landing pad! Now I have to wait a week for UPS to make it to the furthest reaches of central Florida!

I have my eyes on that new controller but will wait for some "hands on" reviews as I just got a Tripltek anyway.

 

[MCss454]

Just make sure the 3rd party selling it is authorized by Autel on their web site. I purchased mine from an Amazon 3rd party listed on the Autel website and had no trouble registering the Autel Care product.

Getting the new controller from Advexure. Just waiting for it to ship.

 

[Yodamaster623]

Autel says "Amazon" is an "Authroized Reseller" but it seems "AMAZON" does not sell any of the products as they would be listed as Shipped by and Sold By Amazon.com and none of them are. They are all 3rd party sellers like: "Autel Official" and "Coolmade" and "Autel Store" and others and they are all Amazon Prime with Free 30 day Returns and are shipped direct from Amazon not the reseller so there would be no return shipping fees or restocking fees or having to deal with the 3rd party sellers directly. There are some 3rd party US sellers who sell direct on Amazon. THOSE might have issues with restocking fees etc because they are not "Shipped from Amazon." They all "CLAIM" to be authorized resellers but they all are located in China according to their info. Of course that is where these things are made so it doesn't surprise me! They do offer pretty good packages that the independent guys don't. I do like to support local business but sometimes money talks.

Are there any warranty issues buying from these alleged "Authorized Resellers" ? Not just ASSUMING but is there any actual DIRECT KNOWLEDGE of warranty issues? I understand Autel is no great shakes when it comes to warrnty support either. I need to purchase before the fire-sale is over. These big discounts usually mean something new is in the works as those are huge price drops.

Bought both mine from Amazon once in March and again from the same vendor this week for the sale. No problems with activation or anything. Pretty sure they are Authorized dealers

 

[Rubik3x]

Bought my E2P in June of last year from an authorized dealer in Bothell, Washington State; KRinc.net (Kuker-Ranken). They are a well established brick and morter company that specializes in survey equipment and engineering supplies. I've had no issues with the drone so no experience with post-sales service.

 

[Retired In FL]

Just to update this thread I started. While I DID order from ADVEXURE I did also email Autel regarding the other sellers on Amazon who are NOT LISTED on AUTEL'S website as "authorized dealers" and they did say they ARE AUTHORIZED DEALERS. At least the 2 I asked about. Here is the email chain: