How do you guys feel about the latest gimbal update from 3DR?

erikgraham · Aug 18, 2015

Flying Squirrel said:
My opinion is very simple ... 3DR promised and did not deliver. Questions?

Solo is incomplete - it was released with known defects....

Solo is capable of flight - check
Solo is incomplete - check

All this chatter is smoke in mirrors and excuses for bad business irrespective of Solo's present day performance and capability. Solo works, but not as promised.

Solo and gimbal were marketed as a unit knowing the gimbal was not ready for production

3DR promised a spare battery for those who preordered and even the battery has not materialized.

I received an email from 3DR that sums up there sentiment - quoted from a 3DR email: "we are busy working on Solo's gobal launch ... Sorry ..."

3DR is "sorry" ... they are "busy"

You need to turn that critical eye around onto yourself. Blame yourself for believing all the reports and rumors. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true. At one point people were saying the gimbal was going to arrive early mid-July. Then it was delayed until September. Then BestBuy had canceled the contract with 3DR. It's been all over the place and it's all a bunch of BS noise that you apparently believed. I can just imagine you firing off some furious email to 3DR about all the delays and the awful job they are doing. They are probably rolling their eyes as they read your angry little diatribe, and then trying as best as they can to respond in a polite way.

What is there to email them about anyway?
When you pre-ordered your Solo it was made clear that the gimbal would not ship until the end of July, and then it would goto the first people who ordered. It's been delayed 2 weeks. That's it. End of story. Big deal.

No one is making excuses. Some of us are just trying to keep you guys in check because you come on these boards with nothing useful to add. Your not helping anyone with technical questions. You are just working yourself into a lather and complaining over hyped up BS that other people like yourself are puking out on these boards without helping a single person with any questions.

Relax. You'll get your gimbal. Nobody forced you to pre-order it.

Del · Aug 18, 2015

erikgraham said:
You need to turn that critical eye around onto yourself. Blame yourself for believing all the reports and rumors. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true. At one point people were saying the gimbal was going to arrive early mid-July. Then it was delayed until September. Then BestBuy had canceled the contract with 3DR. It's been all over the place and it's all a bunch of BS noise that you apparently believed. I can just imagine you firing off some furious email to 3DR about all the delays and the awful job they are doing. They are probably rolling their eyes as they read your angry little diatribe, and then trying as best as they can to respond in a polite way.

What is there to email them about anyway?
When you pre-ordered your Solo it was made clear that the gimbal would not ship until the end of July, and then it would goto the first people who ordered. It's been delayed 2 weeks. That's it. End of story. Big deal.

No one is making excuses. Some of us are just trying to keep you guys in check because you come on these boards with nothing useful to add. Your not helping anyone with technical questions. You are just working yourself into a lather and complaining over hyped up BS that other people like yourself are puking out on these boards without helping a single person with any questions.

Relax. You'll get your gimbal. Nobody forced you to pre-order it.

Well put.

kneel23 · Aug 18, 2015

In defense of people who are impatient, 3DR promised multiple different times in july. And then first week of august. They werent internet rumors. End of august is here and its been confirmed that no gimbals have even shipped yet.

rrmccabe · Aug 18, 2015

kneel23 said:
In defense of people who are impatient, 3DR promised multiple different times in july. And then first week of august. They werent internet rumors. End of august is here and its been confirmed that no gimbals have even shipped yet.

Actually, first promise was end of June!

When people are told one thing (several times) and it doesn't happen they have the right to be pissed.

Those that want to be patient, then so be it.

If I did not finally order a P3P I would have missed 90% of my flying season here in Iowa. My only mistake was not ordering the P3P sooner.

Now if I ever get my money back. I am about ready to jump to the credit card dispute process.

erikgraham · Aug 18, 2015

kneel23 said:
In defense of people who are impatient, 3DR promised multiple different times in july. And then first week of august. They werent internet rumors. End of august is here and its been confirmed that no gimbals have even shipped yet.

NO that is the whole point. They NEVER promised multiple different times in July. Someone else made that up and posted it.

Since day one at NAB, 3DR has clearly said shipping end of July. That is what they said in countless interviews. That is what it said on their website. It never changed until they announced the delay to mid August.

erikgraham · Aug 18, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Actually, first promise was end of June!

When people are told one thing (several times) and it doesn't happen they have the right to be pissed.

Absolutely 1000% false. They never said end of June. It was always end of July. Until the one and only delay of a couple weeks.

Whatever else you think you heard was a flat out fabrication, or misinterpreted by someone.

rrmccabe · Aug 18, 2015

Well you think what you want. This is based on conversations with 3DR personally.

erikgraham · Aug 18, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Well you think what you want. This is based on conversations with 3DR personally.

It's not just what I think....
Go look at videos from NAB.
Use the way back machine to look at 3DRs website before the delay. It always said end of July.

rrmccabe · Aug 18, 2015

I am sure you will agree there are hundreds of screen shots posted online where one CSR told someone one thing and the next told someone something different.

In my case they personally told me when I placed the ordered it would ship the end of May. They never said it will partially ship. When they charged my credit card they told me it was still the end of May however the gimbal would be about 2 weeks later. And I paid for my gimbal almost 3 months ago.

In my case about everything possible was screwed up.

I ordered in April and got mine a week after the best buy crowd. I never got my free battery as promised, I never received replacement props for the GPS glitch as promised and I am still waiting for refund as promised.

So call it what you will. I can assure you that not only do they have a few unhappy customers I know from a conversation with investors they are not happy either.

CanadianSolo · Aug 18, 2015

The reason 3DR had to announce all the shit was because DJI beat them to market with P3/A/P/S. Even though the equipment wasn't ready they had to announce it and start collecting money.

Retired2Fly · Aug 18, 2015

erikgraham said:
Absolutely 1000% false. They never said end of June. It was always end of July. Until the one and only delay of a couple weeks.

Whatever else you think you heard was a flat out fabrication, or misinterpreted by someone.

Think what you want but you are wrong. Here are the gimbal updates 3DR gave to investors (These are NOT some random 3DR CSR comments)...

May 15, 2015, Gimbal Launch Delayed - (3DR creates plan to offer Best Buy customers a free battery as compensation for the gimbal delay at the official launch of solo during BB Father's Day promotion)
May 30, 2015, Official Gimbal Launch Delayed
June 6th (Best Buy Free battery offer announced as compensation for the delay)
June 15th 3DR expands free battery promo to all 3DR customers through July 15
June 30th Gimbal once again delayed - DVT begins
July15 - Gimbal once again delayed , Free battery offer expires
July 30 - Gimbal once again delayed PVT Begins EVT Begins
August 8 Gimbal once again delayed EVT2 Begins
August 17 Gimbal PVT2 units ready. Manufacturing can begin upon confirmation PVT2 builds.

Battle_Tested25 · Aug 18, 2015

I think it is great that the company decided to hold off. Sacrificing the quality of what could be a great product just to release an ok product is NEVER a good idea. There have been a lot of people showing impatience towards the release of the gimbal, but I would much rather wait to have the gimbal perfected especially after investing $400 towards it. Look at the bright side, the majority of us received a free battery due to a delayed gimbal release and there is a extended 30 day money back guarantee on everything after you receive your gimbal. What more can people ask for. I would say 3dr is on the right track to a long successful business.

Ian [P13] · Aug 18, 2015

I was just going to add @rrmccabe was correct, the original communications made no mention of the gimbal being released later, this transpired over time.

I can see however, @Retired2Fly has done a good list from investor communication, I wonder if that means @Retired2Fly might just be Sir Richard Branson.

JonW · Aug 18, 2015

I wasn't at NAB so I don't know where anyone heard the information there that the original ship date for the gimbal was supposed to be late July. At the time I bought through B&H on 5/5 I wasn't given any indication that there would be a delay on the gimbal. B&H told me that 3DR had promised that Solos would be shipped in late May. That was pushed back to late June, then early July. At that point they said the gimbal might be delayed until mid July, then late July, then mid August. Now they are saying they hope to fulfill orders by late September. So to me, that's hardly a single 2-week delay.

But don't take it from me. Here's video from NAB of a 3DR rep stating that Solo will ship in late May. He goes on to explain all of the functionality of the Solo with gimbal "straight out of the box." No mention at all of separate release date for the gimbal. He also explains how users can practice flying first using the controller and the included flight simulator before using their Solo.

David Weston · Aug 18, 2015

OK, Here's THE OFFICIAL Statement June 25th: You can check it out for yourselves,

When will the gimbal be out, by the way?

Right, a most important question! We’re targeting the end of July, about a month from now, and it’s looking good so far. Like we said, we want to get it right, so we always prioritize quality over schedule. Plus, the schedule has extra buffer time built in for any unknowns that may arise, so we’re feeling really good about making that delivery date.

thetac · Aug 18, 2015

erikgraham said:
NO that is the whole point. They NEVER promised multiple different times in July. Someone else made that up and posted it.

Since day one at NAB, 3DR has clearly said shipping end of July. That is what they said in countless interviews. That is what it said on their website. It never changed until they announced the delay to mid August.

And now mid August has come and gone and we are hearing September/October (but maybe that's not "official")

Toiletbowl · Aug 18, 2015

cmon guys give a little patience we all know 3dr very hardwoking to make this gimbal accurate and perfect solid, maybe because of high demand so the first batch is not enough to deliver those such many orders

Ian [P13] · Aug 18, 2015

@David Weston That statement was after the initial 4 week delay, to say it was being delayed into July.

JonW · Aug 18, 2015

Aaaah! Now I get it. So the people who knew at NAB (April) that the gimbal would be delayed until July (updated on June 25th) are psychic.

JonW · Aug 18, 2015

David Weston said:
Plus, the schedule has extra buffer time built in for any unknowns that may arise, so we’re feeling really good about making that delivery date.

Plus, I'm really glad they built in that extra buffer time so they could be sure to hit their target shipping date of late July, errr, early August, wait, mid August, I mean late august, never mind, maybe September...