Return's........what the heck is going on?

Yourviewfromabove · Jun 23, 2015

Stopped at my local BB this afternoon to pick up an HPMI cable. Was talking to the sales person by the Solo display and ask him if their was any word on the gimbal, nothing he said. He also commented about the all of the returns. 9 returns in the last 3 days, I ask him if he knew the reason and he preceded to pull the return paperwork up. Bad computer, no GPS. I was excepting to hear of a least one or two crashes but they had known. Its still on my list, not going to buy again until a month or two after the gimbal is out

ridetime · Jun 23, 2015

Interesting. Has anyone seen an open box at Best Buy for sale or do the go back to 3DR? They are sold out at all 4 of our Best Buy's and the sales guys said they sell within hours of arriving. I just lucked into mine....right place at the right time.

David Weston · Jun 23, 2015

Is it possible that their are inexperienced 1st timers that just are over their heads???,,Just sayin..

GoodnNuff · Jun 23, 2015

I returned mine to Best Buy today. Ordered another online from them and paid $16.95 for expedited shipping so it will be delivered to my home this Thursday.
My return was due to a defective controller as determined by 3DR. I was given an RMA # today, but was told it would take 3-4 weeks for a replacement to ship to me, so I did a return instead.

The engineer in tech support said three interesting things while on the phone:
1) 30,000 units had been sold as of last week (not that many shipped I doubt, but that many sold so far)
2) They were not prepared for the amount of calls they have been getting.
3) "A lot of people are returning their Solos to Best Buy" (when asked if I should wait for the RMA or just do a return).

But this is 3DR and having dealt with them in the past, I know all issues will eventually be resolved and this will be an incredible drone. But they really screwed up this release in my opinion, and will have a lot of damage control to tend to in the coming weeks.

Yourviewfromabove · Jun 23, 2015

David Weston said:
Is it possible that their are inexperienced 1st timers that just are over their heads???,,Just sayin..

If they were like me they were loosing the App, control and GPS. I flew two batteries and new it was time to quit before I either had a flyaway or it crashed. I'll get another after the storm has passed and I see some reviews on the gimbal

Raybro · Jun 23, 2015

David Weston said:
Is it possible that their are inexperienced 1st timers that just are over their heads???,,Just sayin..

Inexperience, not methodically following procedures. I watched a video on YouTube where a guy crashed his Solo. Admitted it was the quad he had ever flown. He starts out nice and calme taking it easy. By the end of the video he was wringing it out. Back and forth, full speed and at low altitude. He was heading straight for a tree and put it in the ground to keep from hitting the tree. He admitted it was his own fault.
Another thing is the 30 day money back guarantee. Maybe some people just wanted to try it and return it.

Yourviewfromabove · Jun 23, 2015

Raybro said:
Inexperience, not methodically following procedures. I watched a video on YouTube where a guy crashed his Solo. Admitted it was the quad he had ever flown. He starts out nice and calme taking it easy. By the end of the video he was wringing it out. Back and forth, full speed and at low altitude. He was heading straight for a tree and put it in the ground to keep from hitting the tree. He admitted it was his own fault.
Another thing is the 30 day money back guarantee. Maybe some people just wanted to try it and return it.

Could be, since this is the first MP being sold at a place like BB

Raybro · Jun 23, 2015

Yourviewfromabove said:
Could be, since this is the first MP being sold at a place like BB

Yes, that was another mistake. I don't think they should have put them in a retail store like Best Buy. Frys maybe. Your average daily consumer doesn't walk into a store everyday that sells $1000 drones. For someone looking for that they would go to the local RC hobby store, and those aren't your average shoppers.

GoodnNuff · Jun 23, 2015

LOL, I've been flying RC for a few years now, own both the Phantom 1 and 2, a few others, not a noobie.
This past January, right after Christmas, I was in Fry's looking for a micro USB to HDMI cable...stumbled on a lone 3DR Iris+ sitting there, had no idea they were selling them, and it was like a puppy at a dog fight, I had to rescue it and get it out of there!

I was having an issue with something and went to one of DIY drone forums with my question, but made the mistake of mentioning I had "rescued" the drone from Fry's...
Wrong thing to do. I was instantly labeled a Noobie idiot who had made an impulse buy at Fry's and was too stupid to even have read directions. LOL. Anyway I had to convince some of the angry members that this wasn't my first flying machine. People upset that box stores are selling drones isn't new, but we'd better get used to it. Both Sam's Club and Costco will have drone displays for this year's Holiday promotions.

rrmccabe · Jun 23, 2015

You can bet based on some of the players inside 3DR as well as the investors behind it that they have every intention of marketing this thing everywhere.

These investors are all lathered up over DJIs success. Go big or go home.

In the end I think it will be bad press.

DodgeP · Jun 24, 2015

1 Best Buy had 9 Solo's? That seems like a lot, especially since I was in a BB yesterday near Princeton, NJ that didn't even have a display case..

Yourviewfromabove · Jun 24, 2015

DodgeP said:
1 Best Buy had 9 Solo's? That seems like a lot, especially since I was in a BB yesterday near Princeton, NJ that didn't even have a display case..

You didn't read what I wrote did you? I said they had 9 returns in three days. When I bought mine on June 7th they had 6 in stock. I never said if the 9 returns were all bought from the same store or online and returned

DodgeP · Jun 24, 2015

Yourviewfromabove said:
Stopped at my local BB this afternoon ....... He also commented about the all of the returns. 9 returns in the last 3 days.....................

I actually read exactly what you wrote.. Stopped being so bitchy.. You mad cause you're having issues with your Solo.. save that sh*t for when you're punching babies or something ... If you want anyone to completely understand the message you're trying to convey, convey a more clear message. It's fairly easy to do.

Yourviewfromabove · Jun 24, 2015

You wouldn't have ask the question if you had read it, nothing hard to understand about ( nine returns in three days

And I don't have any issues with my Solo

You must have been in one of the BB which got left out of the Solo promo

GoodnNuff · Jun 24, 2015

The Best Buy I returned mine to didn't have a display either. They said my returned Solo was the first one the store had seen.
I thought the distribution was odd too. The stores in Seattle didn't get Solos, it seems it was just the odd store here and there starting about 30 miles from the city or further.

rrmccabe · Jun 24, 2015

Actually 3DR said from the beginning that not all stores would carry them. Colins videos mentioned this.

DattaGroover · Jun 26, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Actually 3DR said from the beginning that not all stores would carry them. Colins videos mentioned this.

But you can order one online and get it sent to any store you want in four days. That's what I did.

GoodnNuff · Jun 26, 2015

Well Solo #2 arrived today. I had it shipped Tuesday from Best Buy directly to my house. I'm working 12 hour shifts through the weekend, so probably won't do a maiden flight until Monday.
But I'm in no hurry to fly this drone after reading of other's experiences along with my own.