Is my new solo used ?

[Nellu]

Just got my solo today from B and H. There is no strap around the black box and no cardboard labels on the motors. It looks new and has all the protective plastic on it and the box did not look open. Looks like new but i think it may be a return. Opinions ?

 

[Freebird32]

Contact B&H, they have pretty good customer service and usually label open box and returns pretty methodically. I'm sure they will work with you.

 

[Nellu]

I posted in a facebook group and a user said he received one the same way and has heard of a few others all so. B and H told him it must have been missed at the factory.

I checked the log files and there are logs from my power up today and some from 2015 which must be from the factory.

 

[Nellu]

Guess i will try it out on slow speed and see how it performs. For 199 it looks like new.

 

[E M]

Is my Solo New ??????? You read my mind. This is a long story, grab a coffee.

@Nellu Hi there. Been lurking since last year, and learned so much. Thank you to all the Solo enthusiasts out there that contribute so much value to this drone. Because of all the great members of this forum and their shared knowledge, I too jumped on the various BestBuy deals last year, and owned my first drone!

I added the GPS mod and Solex. And have a great system. Even flew in Europe last year. Did orthogrametry and 3D models from the photos and videos. I love my Solo.

I too have recently received my 2nd "new" Solo. But.... mine came from Amazon.com (not a reseller) as New. After I opened the shipping box, I was met with the brown box with dark tape, with some stickers on the outside.

I looked the stickers over to guess how old my bird would be. And I see "Firemall LLC" as a shipper to Amazon distribution center. How can that be? I made sure I ordered the Solo direct from Amazon, and as New. But that's not the whole routing of this bird.......


After carefully opening it up, and realizing that no one opened this before, I saw the actual Solo box. Not remembering which packaging scheme I had from last year's BB purchase, I didn't figure anything was different.

The Solo box was sealed with the round tape, no other signs of being opened and re-shut. Once I opened the Solo box, I noticed that the wide, black-box strap was missing. I then opened the black box and noticed the paper circles were not on the motors, nor I believe (but can not rememeber) was some additional plastic protective tape. The battery was "second generation", with all the Chinese writing, and a later date code than all my last year's Best Buy battery purchase.





I believe everything else is in tact, supplied with the extra add on leg extensions, and all the packaging.

I was puzzled at this point and re-inspected the outer box and the old "unboxing videos" from early last year. I noticed two things, there are other Solo boxes with solid white inside covers, and others like both of mine that have the sea water picture on the flaps.

I looked at the stickers again on the outer brown shipping box, and noticed another UPS sticker under the one that says From: Firemall To: Amazon Dist Center. After peeling the top sticker, I found this:

From B&H Returns (warehouse) in Brooklyn to Firemall LLC. In September B&H sold this unit (along with a pallet of others) to Firemall, and then in October Firemall sent them to Amazon. What the heck.






I have two problems with my transaction - I ordered from Amazon directly a New Solo, but Amazon may have picked a unit out of their warehouse that at some point was tagged as Firemall inventory, not Amazon house inventory. My guess. Since this unit came from B&H via Firemall, how does this constitute New?

This item could have been a return to B&H, albeit seems unopened, but then wholesaled to another vendor.

To the comment about someone saying that it was a factory problem, I surmize that:

1) B&H knew what they are sourcing, and sold a "second", as we used to call it in NYC, as "first" quality. Strap or no strap, what else could be different about this series Solo? Leftovers from 3DR, bundles being split up some how...nothing new in the photography business, but B&H usually is above board.

2) A quick Internet search shows Firemall is part of a group that sells many Refurbs. What is the partnership between them, B&H and Amazon? Did the Amazon robot pick my Solo from the wrong bin? Did Firemall wholesale to Amazon directly to fill their oversold stock/ surprisingly high fullfullment demand?

The NYC photography market has been dominated by a certain group of people, who all know and deal with one another. The folks working at B&H, Firemall, Toner Zoo, and other companies in the market all know and "deal" with one another. What else do they do while sitting on their private bus commute to their subburb town. I won't go further on that. It's one big family (sometimes litterally). Sort of like the 3DR company/engineering community, and what it turned into. Just the dollars are larger in NYC.

As an aside, B&H set a new low price recently, and eventually Amazon price matched. That's how we bought our recently low-priced Solo's. Me at Amazon, the others apparently from B&H.

I visited the B&H store near the end of October to check stock, and sale duration. See - there is a reason to walk into a "store" these days. What I found out is that the special deal was through Oct 30, and there were a few Solos in store and 400+ in one of B&H's two warehouses. I wanted to time my purchase at Amazon, to hedge another price drop or increase after Oct 30.

After Oct 30, B&H reset to an inflated price, Amazon followed then dropped out of selling directly, only other merchants were now sellers on Amazon, then B&H dropped the price back down. I then received my foster child Solo.

I need to pop it open to check GPS build, and link up to it to check logs. My BB bird from last October has a sub 5000 serial number, my Amazon/Firemall/B&H bird has a sub 7000 serial number, and a different style sticker on the Solo box.

Thank you for posting! Now I know that I am not the only one who is perplexed by what went on. I see your concern and raise you one with my odd spin on this, as this now effects Amazon purchases also.

I'm not on social media, but would be interested to hear from those other folks on Facebook group who also ended up with this odd package. Perhaps they could comment here.

 

[Nellu]

Thanks for the very detailed reply. This describes exactly what i received minus all you extra shipping labels.
I have flow my solo today for the first time during a work break and had an amazing first flight experience. My first thought when the motors powered on was this thing is awesome, big upgrade from the hubsan 501s that i purchased to get acquainted with flying multi-rotors.
Have you flown yours yet and noticed any problems ?
I have not checked my gps module to see what version it is but i locks 9 sats in no time and seen 13 during landing.
My logs only show entries from 2015 and my 2017 entries but i would not know what I would have to look for.
Used refurbished or new I can say i am very pleased with the solo so far and find myself wondering why i didn't buy one earlier now that winter is almost here.

 

[Ky Flyer]

Hey guys, I'm the one that replied to nellu on the Facebook group mentioning my recent "NEW" B&H Solo came missing the carry straps and motor stickers. Everything was sealed up and all protective plastic on. yes, was told by customer service that in fact it was new and just must have been missed at the factory during boxing. Well reading EM's post made me curious about the labels. Here's what I found, The shipping label is directly from B&H's return building. Bldg 664 Door A 63 Flushing Ave. WTF!!!!! Upon closer inspection of labels see that the lithium battery caution sticker is placed directly over a RMA return sticker. There is definitely something fishy going on here and I don't think B&H should be selling these as NEW even if they are unopened sealed returns. They should at least state that on the website. But wait the real kicker is I emailed them few days ago trying to get them to price match the then current $199 price and was told they couldn't do anything for me because it was 3 days out of the 30 day return period. Man, The main reason for me ordering from B&H over the eBay seller was all the great things I kept hearing about them and the way they always take care of their customers. I will be emailing them again to state my disappointment as soon as I'm done writing this post and I will update with the response I get. Although I must say The Solo I received does fly great and have had no major issues out of it. My solo came with the rev A gps and gets 8-9 sats. After boot up and 12-13 during flight while keeping good lock. So definitely no complaints out of the bird just feel like B&H should be a little more honest about reselling the returns.

 

[Jag]

My storey is slightly different but I bought what was supposed to be a new, but open box Solo, 2nd battery and backpack from an ebay seller by the name of titan.deals. To be fair we had already bought two New Solo's from them with no issues. Unfortunately this time was different.

I have one of the battery checkers from Mad Hacker and when I checked the batteries I noticed that one had less than 5000mah capacity available as a max, when the design capacity is 5200mah. This got me thinking that maybe the unit was not new.

I then connected up to it to download the logs and I found a number of flights in North America, and I live in Australia !!

I have tried to resolve this with the seller with no luck. They did offer a US$50 refund but given that there are no replacement batteries available here in Australia to buy, and the unit has an unknown number of hours of wear and tear on, we didn't think that was appropriate compensation. If we had wanted a second hand or refurbished unit we could have paid a lot less for one.

Does anybody know how returns on eBay work when the item received a clearly not as described. Does the seller have to pay for the return shipping ? It doesn't seem fair that we will have to pay $100 or more for the return shipping, and even then we can't ship the batteries via post. If we include them in the return and use a courier the shipping will be over $200 !!

Thanks

 

[Ky Flyer]

Hey guys, I'm the one that replied to nellu on the Facebook group mentioning my recent "NEW" B&H Solo came missing the carry straps and motor stickers. Everything was sealed up and all protective plastic on. yes, was told by customer service that in fact it was new and just must have been missed at the factory during boxing. Well reading EM's post made me curious about the labels. Here's what I found, The shipping label is directly from B&H's return building. Bldg 664 Door A 63 Flushing Ave. WTF!!!!! Upon closer inspection of labels see that the lithium battery caution sticker is placed directly over a RMA return sticker. There is definitely something fishy going on here and I don't think B&H should be selling these as NEW even if they are unopened sealed returns. They should at least state that on the website. But wait the real kicker is I emailed them few days ago trying to get them to price match the then current $199 price and was told they couldn't do anything for me because it was 3 days out of the 30 day return period. Man, The main reason for me ordering from B&H over the eBay seller was all the great things I kept hearing about them and the way they always take care of their customers. I will be emailing them again to state my disappointment as soon as I'm done writing this post and I will update with the response I get. Although I must say The Solo I received does fly great and have had no major issues out of it. My solo came with the rev A gps and gets 8-9 sats. After boot up and 12-13 during flight while keeping good lock. So definitely no complaints out of the bird just feel like B&H should be a little more honest about reselling the returns.

Well, I received a reply back from B&H about my concerns and was told this:
"This item is brand new and not from a return. B&H writes on all outbound packages that it is coming from the B&H return department, this is done in case a package is not able to be delivered and must be returned back to us, it will go back to the return department. This is similar to how many stores will write on their outbound packages".
Please let us know if you require any further assistance.
Thank you, we appreciate your business.
Jake B
B&H Photo Video and Pro Audio
The Professional's Source.
E-Mail Customer Service Department

So there you have it. Still no explanation on the carry straps that are not coming with theses solos. I know the carry straps are a minor issue but for those of us that don't have a backpack it sure would be nice to have the straps.

 

[just_bruce]

If anyone is just in search of a carry strap , I have one from my first bird which now lives inside a GPC case. The paperboard has basically disintegrated, but the strap is still quite good.

PM me.

 

[Perspective]

My storey is slightly different but I bought what was supposed to be a new, but open box Solo, 2nd battery and backpack from an ebay seller by the name of titan.deals. To be fair we had already bought two New Solo's from them with no issues. Unfortunately this time was different.

I have one of the battery checkers from Mad Hacker and when I checked the batteries I noticed that one had less than 5000mah capacity available as a max, when the design capacity is 5200mah. This got me thinking that maybe the unit was not new.

I then connected up to it to download the logs and I found a number of flights in North America, and I live in Australia !!

I have tried to resolve this with the seller with no luck. They did offer a US$50 refund but given that there are no replacement batteries available here in Australia to buy, and the unit has an unknown number of hours of wear and tear on, we didn't think that was appropriate compensation. If we had wanted a second hand or refurbished unit we could have paid a lot less for one.

Does anybody know how returns on eBay work when the item received a clearly not as described. Does the seller have to pay for the return shipping ? It doesn't seem fair that we will have to pay $100 or more for the return shipping, and even then we can't ship the batteries via post. If we include them in the return and use a courier the shipping will be over $200 !!

Thanks

I sell a lot of stuff on Ebay. If the item was described as new but you have proof the item isn't then they should have to replace it or accept a return. Did they list the serial number in the listing? Did they sell it as new (other) after they tested it? The seller would be responsible for shipping. You need to go through the proper procedures and file a dispute if the seller won't work with you. You always want to give the seller a chance and benefit of the doubt. I once sold several Garmin fitness bands I bought on clearance at a big box store. One of them ended up being a used return the store accidently put on the shelf. I offered a huge discount but told them to test a few days before they accepted. They determined it didn't work properly and I accepted the return. It's time for you to file the dispute but remain calm, realistic, and understanding. The seller can buy the return label through Ebay and get a good discount. Good Luck!

 

[E M]

Thanks for the very detailed reply. This describes exactly what i received minus all you extra shipping labels.
I have flow my solo today for the first time during a work break and had an amazing first flight experience. My first thought when the motors powered on was this thing is awesome, big upgrade from the hubsan 501s that i purchased to get acquainted with flying multi-rotors.
Have you flown yours yet and noticed any problems ?
I have not checked my gps module to see what version it is but i locks 9 sats in no time and seen 13 during landing.
My logs only show entries from 2015 and my 2017 entries but i would not know what I would have to look for.
Used refurbished or new I can say i am very pleased with the solo so far and find myself wondering why i didn't buy one earlier now that winter is almost here.

I was able to test my Amazon/Firemall/B&H foster child Solo this weekend, and it did fly fine, maybe a bit louder. GPS rev B gave it about 9-11 Sats and 1.1 HDOP. It drifted a bit while hovering. No wind during flight. That is a far cry from the mRo on Solo 1 which is almost twice a degree better in Sats and HDOP. 20-ish Sats and .6 HDOP. And it sticks the hover and RTL.

Mission Planner logs showed no errors. Vibrations were just within threshold. I'm not technical enough to figure more out from the logs.

But, with props off, at least one motor does not have the same sound as the others. Sounds loud and garbled, unlike the hum or whiny buzz sound of all motors on Solo 1. Bad bearing right from the start? Any ideas on how to investigate further? I figured it may show up in the MP logs analysis. Did I look at the correct type of analysis?

My Solo 2 has a serial under 7000. To my fellow colleagues missing the strap - what is the serial number range on yours? Maybe this is an odd batch, or does thing get stranger.

Thanks for all the extra info!

 

[Perspective]

My theory after receiving two:

My first one didn't have the strap or paper over the props but appeared to be brand new. Flies great. My second appeared to have been opened but new plastic seals were placed over the old ones. It came with carry strap and paper over props. In addition it also had the UK and American plugs.

I think B&H Photo is helping 3dr liquidate their stock. 3dr appears to be integrating with DJI more and more. Because of this I received a drone meant for the UK market but was opened and the American plugs were added. For those that are missing the carry strap and paper over props, I am going to assume that they are just trying to pinch pennies on the drones as they liquidate the stock. Just think, if they eliminated every carry strap, how much they could save. Just a thought. My conclusion is that they are very much new.