What autel did is absolutely insane, PLEASE read this. Am I crazy?

fortnumsound · Dec 8, 2023

I want to show all of you something and you tell me if Im the one out of line or nuts. Its a bit long but please. This affects all of us. EVERYTHING I am about to say is 100% true and accurate, I will also provide ALL the emails here. So this is what happened.

4 years ago I was doing very good. When Biden got elected prices started going up a lot and I started noticing a lot less work coming in. I went from doing very well to having no work and literally only 5k in the bank. Ive been a commercial drone pilot for a while now and I got a job offer for a busy company doing roof inspections but I needed a thermal cam drone which I did not have., My wife is not working because she is recovering from a bad accident. I also have two sons in school. So the house rests on me alone. I got this job offer but needed then drone as I mentioned and after talking with my wife we decided to spend the saving on an autel 640T. I was so excited when I got it. While the batteries were charging I was perusing through the remote settings and decided to set a 6 digit pass code so the boys couldn't get into the drone while I was out. Of course they will be tempted to fly it and I could not take a chance., I used the same pass code I use on everything. You have to type the code twice before the controller (android) accepts it. There is no way I typed in the wrong code. After the batteries charged I went to fly the drone for the first time and could not get past the lock screen. It was telling me I was typing in the wrong code. I for sure was not. It kept locking me out. Now I know there is a software issue. I also noticed the remote doing weird things when I turned it on. It would get stuck on a beep and I would have to turn it off and on again. Not sure if it was related. So I contacted Autel and they told me to send the remote in. Just the remote. Noit the whole rig. I asked them for a label to send it because I had noi even flown this drone yet and its already not working? I figured its on them since the drone is brand new. I got no response on the label and could not wait as I had jobs coming up this week. Now remember, Im out of work, just spent my entire savings on this drone and now I have to pay $50 out of pocket to ship the controller to them, At this point Im hoping they reimburse me. But it gets worse.

So They receive the controller. "Richard" says we will send you a replacement. As you can see he mentions 2 times in the emails (highlighted in green.

Then I get an email AFTER I already paid $50 to send in the remote that all I had to do was follow these instructions. See email.

This was obviously not correct,
Then I bet this email from another person saying I have to send the drone in too.. ON MY DIME.. Which would have cost close to over $100

<a href='6 — Postimages' target='_blank'><img src='https://i.postimg.cc/zbp2t1yY/6.jpg' border='0' alt='6'/></a>

Now Im pissed. At this point I have missed 1 day of my new job due to not having the drone with a thermal cam. They should have taken a credit cards number from me; Put an $1100 hold on it and overnighted me a new one. Then if I didnt send the other one they could charge me. But instead they are making me go through all this. BUT IT GETS WAY WORSE.

They email me back calling me "Bob", thats not my name. And saying it wont be done until next week. Im thinking "done what"? Richard said they are swapping it out. How long does it take to put a controller in a box and print out a shipping label. Now Im furious (But still being nice to them) and I call. Richard pretends to be sympathetic when I truthfully tell him Im missing work and Dont know how Im going to make mortgage next month., I was counting on these roof inspections. He assured me it would get sorted.

Then about 30 min later I get an email saying "its done being repaired", Im thinking to myself "repaired". SO THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY BRAND NEW REMOTE. THEN THE EMAIL SAYS "ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PAY THE INVOICE AND WE WILL SHIP IT TODAY. IT ALSO SAYS THBEY GAVE ME A 50% DISCOUNT!!! HOW NICE OF THEM (SARASM). They WERE gonna charge me $500 to fix a brand new remote I got a week ago that doesn't have 1 single flight on it.

Now they are refusing to give me my controller back. I have no money. Im broke., We are eating ramen right now. And today I was let go from the new job because the guy did not have time to wait around. He ended up hiring someone else. So because of Autel I have lost my job, I have no working drone, and could possible be homeless by the end of next month.

Am I out of line for being upset here? Am I being unreasonable? Or should I hire a lawyer?

DroneRat · Dec 9, 2023

fortnumsound said:
I want to show all of you something and you tell me if Im the one out of line or nuts. Its a bit long but please. This affects all of us. EVERYTHING I am about to say is 100% true and accurate, I will also provide ALL the emails here. So this is what happened.

4 years ago I was doing very good. When Biden got elected prices started going up a lot and I started noticing a lot less work coming in. I went from doing very well to having no work and literally only 5k in the bank. Ive been a commercial drone pilot for a while now and I got a job offer for a busy company doing roof inspections but I needed a thermal cam drone which I did not have., My wife is not working because she is recovering from a bad accident. I also have two sons in school. So the house rests on me alone. I got this job offer but needed then drone as I mentioned and after talking with my wife we decided to spend the saving on an autel 640T. I was so excited when I got it. While the batteries were charging I was perusing through the remote settings and decided to set a 6 digit pass code so the boys couldn't get into the drone while I was out. Of course they will be tempted to fly it and I could not take a chance., I used the same pass code I use on everything. You have to type the code twice before the controller (android) accepts it. There is no way I typed in the wrong code. After the batteries charged I went to fly the drone for the first time and could not get past the lock screen. It was telling me I was typing in the wrong code. I for sure was not. It kept locking me out. Now I know there is a software issue. I also noticed the remote doing weird things when I turned it on. It would get stuck on a beep and I would have to turn it off and on again. Not sure if it was related. So I contacted Autel and they told me to send the remote in. Just the remote. Noit the whole rig. I asked them for a label to send it because I had noi even flown this drone yet and its already not working? I figured its on them since the drone is brand new. I got no response on the label and could not wait as I had jobs coming up this week. Now remember, Im out of work, just spent my entire savings on this drone and now I have to pay $50 out of pocket to ship the controller to them, At this point Im hoping they reimburse me. But it gets worse.

So They receive the controller. "Richard" says we will send you a replacement. As you can see he mentions 2 times in the emails (highlighted in green.

Then I get an email AFTER I already paid $50 to send in the remote that all I had to do was follow these instructions. See email.

This was obviously not correct,
Then I bet this email from another person saying I have to send the drone in too.. ON MY DIME.. Which would have cost close to over $100

<a href='6 — Postimages' target='_blank'><img src='https://i.postimg.cc/zbp2t1yY/6.jpg' border='0' alt='6'/></a>

Now Im pissed. At this point I have missed 1 day of my new job due to not having the drone with a thermal cam. They should have taken a credit cards number from me; Put an $1100 hold on it and overnighted me a new one. Then if I didnt send the other one they could charge me. But instead they are making me go through all this. BUT IT GETS WAY WORSE.

They email me back calling me "Bob", thats not my name. And saying it wont be done until next week. Im thinking "done what"? Richard said they are swapping it out. How long does it take to put a controller in a box and print out a shipping label. Now Im furious (But still being nice to them) and I call. Richard pretends to be sympathetic when I truthfully tell him Im missing work and Dont know how Im going to make mortgage next month., I was counting on these roof inspections. He assured me it would get sorted.

Then about 30 min later I get an email saying "its done being repaired", Im thinking to myself "repaired". SO THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY BRAND NEW REMOTE. THEN THE EMAIL SAYS "ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PAY THE INVOICE AND WE WILL SHIP IT TODAY. IT ALSO SAYS THBEY GAVE ME A 50% DISCOUNT!!! HOW NICE OF THEM (SARASM). They WERE gonna charge me $500 to fix a brand new remote I got a week ago that doesn't have 1 single flight on it.

Now they are refusing to give me my controller back. I have no money. Im broke., We are eating ramen right now. And today I was let go from the new job because the guy did not have time to wait around. He ended up hiring someone else. So because of Autel I have lost my job, I have no working drone, and could possible be homeless by the end of next month.

Am I out of line for being upset here? Am I being unreasonable? Or should I hire a lawyer?

The worst example of customer relations/support. I see no mention of warranty support for a newly acquired/unused product. What did they say re: warranty?

moodman · Dec 9, 2023

Yes, hire a lawyer (pro bono or taken on retainer so you don't have to put out any cash)! This is a justified lawsuit. I am sorry for your situation and will say a prayer for things to improve for you.

fortnumsound · Dec 9, 2023

So after filing a complaint with the better business bureau they sent me this email. Saying they are sending me the remote fixed "to help me out". BUT when I get the money I still have to pay. Which means in the future if I need a repair they will hit me with this repair on top of it. I can't send them money. I don't have any. I think I was pretty clear numerous times that the drone and controller are brand new bought from Autel. I got the drone last Friday. I have not even gotten to fly it once. I'm glad I'm not the crazy one here. I'm not being unreasonable in thinking they should cover the repair correct?

fortnumsound · Dec 9, 2023

So its gets worse if you can imagine. I received the controller today. They sent me a used controller instead of a new one. It has scratches on the back and the left dial that controls the gimble is off axis and does not center back to the middle position. Its in crooked. Looks like it was dropped and landed on that corner and bent the dial axel. I paid $5000 for this drone. But Im being treated like someone who paid $5. These people do not care at all. How does a company like this become successful doing this to people? Is this just a Chinese thing?

DroneRat · Dec 9, 2023

fortnumsound said:
So its gets worse if you can imagine. I received the controller today. They sent me a used controller instead of a new one. It has scratches on the back and the left dial that controls the gimble is off axis and does not center back to the middle position. Its in crooked. Looks like it was dropped and landed on that corner and bent the dial axel. I paid $5000 for this drone. But Im being treated like someone who paid $5. These people do not care at all. How does a company like this become successful doing this to people? Is this just a Chinese thing?

It appears the Chinese do not feel any responsibility to their customers. They seem surprised when an American customer implies they should show some responsible loyalty to their customer base. Particularly when there is clearly a warranty issue. Warranty claims seems to be taken as an accusation that they did something wrong and they will "loose face" by admitting they should be the one to set things straight. This is the most obtuse example I have ever seen!!!!!!

Ezone23 · Dec 10, 2023

DroneRat said:
The worst example of customer relations/support. I see no mention of warranty support for a newly acquired/unused product. What did they say re: warranty?

Wow! Nightmare.
Unfair and unjust.
Banning together is a great idea. Include me.
I'm in the process now. It is taking 5 day average to get a reply from support to my responses to them.
Frustrating and time consuming

fortnumsound · Dec 10, 2023

Ezone23 said:
Wow! Nightmare.
Unfair and unjust.
Banning together is a great idea. Include me.
I'm in the process now. It is taking 5 day average to get a reply from support to my responses to them.
Frustrating and time consuming

What issue where you having with yours? Are they hitting you with an invoice while it's under warranty ?

Ezone23 · Dec 10, 2023

I'm in the process of waiting for analysis.
Here is my message recieved today.

Dear Customer，

The purpose of this email is to keep you updated with the latest progress on the event, no need to respond if there are no questions. I have been notified by a colleague from our department that the App log and RC log you submitted to us have been sent to our R&D department for analysis.

clackey · Dec 11, 2023

I've removed some of these posts that were political, argumentative or degrading. Please keep it civil and on topic or we'll close this dicussion. If you have an issue with someone, click the "ignore" button on their profile and you won't see them again.

Thanks, C.

fortnumsound · Dec 11, 2023

Ezone23 said:
I'm in the process of waiting for analysis.
Here is my message recieved today.

Dear Customer，

The purpose of this email is to keep you updated with the latest progress on the event, no need to respond if there are no questions. I have been notified by a colleague from our department that the App log and RC log you submitted to us have been sent to our R&D department for analysis.

Their way of saying "他们的说法是坐下来放松，朋友。当我们到达时我们就会到达它". Translation- Siit down and relax pal. We will get to it when we get to it.

Ezone23 · Dec 11, 2023

fortnumsound said:
Their way of saying "他们的说法是坐下来放松，朋友。当我们到达时我们就会到达它". Translation- Siit down and relax pal. We will get to it when we get to it.

If they want an American market....it would be wise for them to have happy customers versus unhappy.
Their pattern sure points to pessimism for any prompt and fair resolution. I will remain cooperative and optimistic for 4 more weeks!
Then plan B.

romi · Dec 17, 2023

Wow, you seem really frazzled. Why don't you just return it to Amazon and go buy a ladder?

IceHole8448 · Dec 18, 2023

fortnumsound said:
I want to show all of you something and you tell me if Im the one out of line or nuts. Its a bit long but please. This affects all of us. EVERYTHING I am about to say is 100% true and accurate, I will also provide ALL the emails here. So this is what happened.

4 years ago I was doing very good. When Biden got elected prices started going up a lot and I started noticing a lot less work coming in. I went from doing very well to having no work and literally only 5k in the bank. Ive been a commercial drone pilot for a while now and I got a job offer for a busy company doing roof inspections but I needed a thermal cam drone which I did not have., My wife is not working because she is recovering from a bad accident. I also have two sons in school. So the house rests on me alone. I got this job offer but needed then drone as I mentioned and after talking with my wife we decided to spend the saving on an autel 640T. I was so excited when I got it. While the batteries were charging I was perusing through the remote settings and decided to set a 6 digit pass code so the boys couldn't get into the drone while I was out. Of course they will be tempted to fly it and I could not take a chance., I used the same pass code I use on everything. You have to type the code twice before the controller (android) accepts it. There is no way I typed in the wrong code. After the batteries charged I went to fly the drone for the first time and could not get past the lock screen. It was telling me I was typing in the wrong code. I for sure was not. It kept locking me out. Now I know there is a software issue. I also noticed the remote doing weird things when I turned it on. It would get stuck on a beep and I would have to turn it off and on again. Not sure if it was related. So I contacted Autel and they told me to send the remote in. Just the remote. Noit the whole rig. I asked them for a label to send it because I had noi even flown this drone yet and its already not working? I figured its on them since the drone is brand new. I got no response on the label and could not wait as I had jobs coming up this week. Now remember, Im out of work, just spent my entire savings on this drone and now I have to pay $50 out of pocket to ship the controller to them, At this point Im hoping they reimburse me. But it gets worse.

So They receive the controller. "Richard" says we will send you a replacement. As you can see he mentions 2 times in the emails (highlighted in green.

Then I get an email AFTER I already paid $50 to send in the remote that all I had to do was follow these instructions. See email.

This was obviously not correct,
Then I bet this email from another person saying I have to send the drone in too.. ON MY DIME.. Which would have cost close to over $100

<a href='6 — Postimages' target='_blank'><img src='https://i.postimg.cc/zbp2t1yY/6.jpg' border='0' alt='6'/></a>

Now Im pissed. At this point I have missed 1 day of my new job due to not having the drone with a thermal cam. They should have taken a credit cards number from me; Put an $1100 hold on it and overnighted me a new one. Then if I didnt send the other one they could charge me. But instead they are making me go through all this. BUT IT GETS WAY WORSE.

They email me back calling me "Bob", thats not my name. And saying it wont be done until next week. Im thinking "done what"? Richard said they are swapping it out. How long does it take to put a controller in a box and print out a shipping label. Now Im furious (But still being nice to them) and I call. Richard pretends to be sympathetic when I truthfully tell him Im missing work and Dont know how Im going to make mortgage next month., I was counting on these roof inspections. He assured me it would get sorted.

Then about 30 min later I get an email saying "its done being repaired", Im thinking to myself "repaired". SO THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY BRAND NEW REMOTE. THEN THE EMAIL SAYS "ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PAY THE INVOICE AND WE WILL SHIP IT TODAY. IT ALSO SAYS THBEY GAVE ME A 50% DISCOUNT!!! HOW NICE OF THEM (SARASM). They WERE gonna charge me $500 to fix a brand new remote I got a week ago that doesn't have 1 single flight on it.

Now they are refusing to give me my controller back. I have no money. Im broke., We are eating ramen right now. And today I was let go from the new job because the guy did not have time to wait around. He ended up hiring someone else. So because of Autel I have lost my job, I have no working drone, and could possible be homeless by the end of next month.

Am I out of line for being upset here? Am I being unreasonable? Or should I hire a lawyer?

I'd hire a lawyer, I got a defective drone right out of the box as well and they act like it's my fault or something and want to **** around for 3 to 6 weeks with my brand new piece of **** evo 2 pro v3. Complete waste of time and money. I will just go back to flying DJI. My buddy is all about autel so I let him talk me into it and so far it's been a huge mistake.

DroneRat · Dec 19, 2023

Ezone23 said:
Wow! Nightmare.
Unfair and unjust.
Banning together is a great idea. Include me.
I'm in the process now. It is taking 5 day average to get a reply from support to my responses to them.
Frustrating and time consuming

Count me in as well. I have a wealth of exchanges with enterprise support that I could share re: their treatment of the EVO II v3 platform.

fortnumsound · Mar 9, 2024

fortnumsound said:
What issue where you having with yours? Are they hitting you with an invoice while it's under warranty ?

Thats what they did to me.

DroneRat · Mar 9, 2024

Thats what they did to me as well.

ADOC · Mar 29, 2024

Mind blowing, I'm Disgusted in their treatment of a customer.
If I'd read this thread I honestly would never have purchased my Nano+, let alone a more expensive Autel Drone.

Ezone23 · Mar 29, 2024

ADOC said:
Mind blowing, I'm Disgusted in their treatment of a customer.
If I'd read this thread I honestly would never have purchased my Nano+, let alone a more expensive Autel Drone.

I agree! It is mind blowing that they don't seem to care about how we think or feel.about their products. Yet they offer new drones without completing the current ones to have features they marketed .