of course. you are correct, there are no factories located in the usa that manufacture autel drones. the country of origin is china. no one is blaming you or saying it's your fault for not knowing or appreciating the difference between buying the same product from different available sources. it's all about personal choice and risk. your call, i can respect that.
www.autelpilot.com - BUYER BEWARE - Shame on Autel
- Thread starter bkushner
- Start date
I'm in the market for a Lite+ I'm in New Zealand. So this post has me a little worried. I can buy from a New Zealand supplier that will stand by the drone (I'm waiting for a future batch though) but am I right in thinking all the Autel Drones come from the same place originally? Just because you order through AutelPilots (not this site) doesn't mean your drone could come from some random manufacturer it's just the back up service that is in question? Or not??
Cheers
Cheers
Do a search on "autelpilot" and you will find a variety of issues across several threads on this specific distributor. Any discussion in this or other threads on autelpilot, should have no connection to other Autel distributors... including any in New Zealand (unless they are sourcing from autelpilot).
from what we can tell, it appears all drones come from the factory. i think the question is "when." if you are waiting for a future batch, i think you'll be fine. if you pull your "new" drone out the box and you fire it up and as you are preparing to update the software and you look to see that the software version already in the drone is 0.0.2.1 or something else that looks like beta software, then you might be concerned about old stock.
personally i would never buy a drone from any chinese merchant selling drones on amazon. for me, buying a drone is more than just the price, after support, warranty, etc. i'm concerned about safety and if that particular drone has been tested, has the proper fcc (markings), what kind of battery it has, etc. this is usually only of concern when that merchant has very early pre-release inventory and is selling the drone at a price other than msrp.
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Twoheadlines
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Consumer guarantee are probably pretty similar in you country as they are in mine (New Zealand); the merchant must remedy any manufacturer defects or damage caused in transit, does not have to provide a refund on the grounds a purchaser has changed their mind, or because they do not think a product is worth what was paid. When a merchant puts a price on the product being sold, the essence of that price is setting up a starting point, called an offer to treat. The purchaser can accept that (as mostly happens), or they could bargain with the merchant, such as 30 day conditional approval, or on stipulation of specific performance outcomes.
While "value for money" may have a different perspective for the purchaser compared to the merchant, if the goods have been supplied by the merchant in good faith, using a tenuous argument to dispute the credit payment should not be an acceptable means of getting money back on a product that performs as it should, but not to your expectations. Ultimately, that approach only serves to push up the price for everyone - the merchant covering their butt, the credit card company covering costs relating to disputed transactions.
Don't like it? Put it on eBay or the like; if it has remained in mint, boxed condition someone else may be happy to pay a similar price as they would have through a retail merchant. Don't blame the manufacturer or merchant though!
Shockey7979
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Well I've been fighting with them since I prepaid for my Smart controller in April of 21 and now they just dont even reply to my emails or chats or phone calls at all and now i have no idea what i am suppose to do i am furious and feel like i have no way to get either my controller or my money and I just recently found out they are not a autel supported or suggested retailer either so yes BUYER BE WARE.
Agreed... the merchant being Chinese, is not subject to US consumer protections, but your bank certainly is. As has been suggested earlier in this thread, initiate a chargeback. You will have to be proactive... but the bank that issues your credit card will comply with the request, once you supply them with supporting documentation.
While I understand some of you may be upset with less than favorable situations, they are (or at least do appear to be) an authorized dealer:
www.autelpilot.com
-and-
Now, I do wonder about US customers since they do not appear in the US list (but rather the APAC list)...
Luckily, knock on wood, I didn't personally have a problem with them or the product as received... Counting my blessings since it sounds like so many people have had issues with this vendor..!
About Autelpilot
Autelpilot is Autel Robotics' Authorized Dealer. We are specialized in drone-industry. No matter you are outdoor travelers, faithful photographers, cinematographers, or aerial photographer lovers, Autelpilot.com offer great selection of drones and cameras for any of your needs.
www.autelpilot.com
-and-
Now, I do wonder about US customers since they do not appear in the US list (but rather the APAC list)...
Luckily, knock on wood, I didn't personally have a problem with them or the product as received... Counting my blessings since it sounds like so many people have had issues with this vendor..!
sparc, i think the problem here is that autelpilot sold drones to customers in america before the drone was officially launched in america. we had people saying "got my drone" at the same time as autel was saying "we're almost ready, give us another week or two." duh!
ordinarily that might be ok if there is a false start or the launch was delayed or paused. but customers received drone with questionable software and questionable issues which would lead someone with some amount of awareness they might have received pre-release or pre-production drones; early samples maybe even beta. again, not a huge problem except these particular drones were full of issues and bugs and you still see those issues being reported in the forum today. lots of people had trouble updating their software, making connections, reformatting sd cards....a ton of stuff.
the worse part is autelpilot is not exactly taking these drones back for refund. lots of people having trouble getting them to respond to emails or issue credits. too many people have had to pay big money to ship a drone back to china which is sketchy. if it's too much of a bother, weary customers who find out about their unfortunate situation end up selling their drone to the next "victim" who is unaware.
the good news is autel seems to be handling this snafu when contacted but the bad news is a lot of youtubers pretended like they were the first person to get their hands on the brand new drone launched by autel and then they proceeded to lambast the drone makers while reviewing their beta devices (which is irresponsible). if you go to the chinese vendor and get your hands on an early sample, you can't pretend like it's production device just because it's shrink wrapped in the same gift box. too many reviewers were either unaware or in denial. gave rise to really bad press, comparison to the mavic 3 disaster, i even heard rumblings of a non-existent recall b.s. look at the december and january stellar nano reviews on autelpilot, nobody talks about jello. yeah right!
i could be way off base here. maybe autel launched with a bunch of broken drones and then put a halt which they cleaned up best they could. i doubt it. buy a drone from an authorized reseller in your country that you can trust and you'll get a good drone and a good experience and you'll be happy instead of disappointed and feeling cheated. this is especially true out the gate for new launches.
ordinarily that might be ok if there is a false start or the launch was delayed or paused. but customers received drone with questionable software and questionable issues which would lead someone with some amount of awareness they might have received pre-release or pre-production drones; early samples maybe even beta. again, not a huge problem except these particular drones were full of issues and bugs and you still see those issues being reported in the forum today. lots of people had trouble updating their software, making connections, reformatting sd cards....a ton of stuff.
the worse part is autelpilot is not exactly taking these drones back for refund. lots of people having trouble getting them to respond to emails or issue credits. too many people have had to pay big money to ship a drone back to china which is sketchy. if it's too much of a bother, weary customers who find out about their unfortunate situation end up selling their drone to the next "victim" who is unaware.
the good news is autel seems to be handling this snafu when contacted but the bad news is a lot of youtubers pretended like they were the first person to get their hands on the brand new drone launched by autel and then they proceeded to lambast the drone makers while reviewing their beta devices (which is irresponsible). if you go to the chinese vendor and get your hands on an early sample, you can't pretend like it's production device just because it's shrink wrapped in the same gift box. too many reviewers were either unaware or in denial. gave rise to really bad press, comparison to the mavic 3 disaster, i even heard rumblings of a non-existent recall b.s. look at the december and january stellar nano reviews on autelpilot, nobody talks about jello. yeah right!
i could be way off base here. maybe autel launched with a bunch of broken drones and then put a halt which they cleaned up best they could. i doubt it. buy a drone from an authorized reseller in your country that you can trust and you'll get a good drone and a good experience and you'll be happy instead of disappointed and feeling cheated. this is especially true out the gate for new launches.
I had to do a Paypal dispute with them, just to get my money back .. lie after lie, but never sent the nano drone.. I know others too.. my advice.. avoid autelpilot
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