So a little background on my Solo situation. To make a long story short...I was part of the original preorder. I ordered directly on 3DR's website. On that day (go figure), they had a problem with their website. I ended up placing 3 orders and my order was flagged for fraud. After a lot of back and forth we cleared it up with my bank on 3 way with 3DR. So, order was placed. Solo, gimbal, extra battery and props. Late May i heard a few were shipping. Hoping i was one of the lucky ones i called 3DR to check up on my order. Come to find that my order was cancelled by 3DR because of fraud. Yea....despite clearing it up with the bank the 1st time i still ended up with a cancelled order. Anyways, i sucked it up and fixed the order then was told all was ok and that it should ship within 1 week. Week later...no Solo. So i took the liberty to look at a local Best Buy to see what the possibilities were that they would have one. The one closest to me had 1...just one. So I went over and purchased it. But something told me not to cancel my 3DR order until I test things out. So, I get home charge everything up and an hour later I take it out to go fly. From the start i had massive issues with calibration and GPS. I have an Iris+ and a P3P and both had no problems grabbing sats and flying. After about 30 minutes i was able to get the Solo up and flying. For the 1st week i kept the Solo close and low...because each time i powered it up i would have errors or the app crashing...something was always delaying a smooth start up. Finally, 2 weeks into things i noticed the app crashing was becoming frequent and i think my GoPro cable was faulty. The nail in the coffin was the fact that i couldn't get further than 1500 feet away from me without it coming home. No matter what altitude i was at. Meanwhile, the P3P and Iris+ were flying further with no issues. Packed it up and returned it to Best Buy. With much hassle from the reps at Best Buy they returned my money. During all this time i was constantly checking up on my 3DR order. I was told at one point that it was shipping on June 23rd. That passed and finally i had it and this past Friday I called 3DR to cancel. Rep picked up and i asked to check the status of my order. Rep said it still had not shipped and that it would within the next week or so. So i asked to cancel the order. Rep said they would be right back and after about 5 minutes on hold something amazing happened....IT SHIPPED! What an amazing coincidence. So I ask for a tracking number....it was like pulling teeth but with a little bit of patience i got one. Here is the odd thing...it was coming from China ...NEXT DAY AIR. This was Friday...so I was due today(Monday). Shaking my head the entire weekend about just how crazy all of this is.
So today, the Solo shows up. 2 boxes show up. one, obviously the Solo and the other I am thinking is the extra free battery. Half right. Solo was there but the other box was just the extra set of props i ordered. Now when i hung up with the rep on Friday he said my entire order except the gimbal was shipping. So, now I'm missing the extra battery i ordered and the free one that was offered by 3DR due to the gimbal issue. I call 3DR....after 20 minutes on hold just to get a rep they tell me that the batteries ship from the US. So when i ask when i will be receiving them the guy tells me that he needs my credit card number. I ask.."Why do you need my credit card number?" After a bunch of stuff he reads off of a card because he is supposed to say it....he finally says it is because we have only charged you for what was shipped. Really?! So i ask him..."had i not called....what would have happened here?". He says that they would have eventually called me. I highly doubt that because they never called me to tell me about my order coming up as fraud ....as a matter of fact the only time anything got done with my order was because i called them only to find things out and I fixed them on the spot. This entire ordeal on the phone with the rep took over 1 hour. I am beyond disbelief. I am just stumped as to how this entire order has been nothing but a disaster. Now i have lost all daylight to test out this new Solo. I am hoping for the best but at the same time I know what it might be based on my previous Solo.
I should have listened to my gut and just cancelled but i keep trying to be a happy 3DR customer. I have had my opportunities to cancel but I am trying really hard to love this machine. As of right now i have zero trust in 3DR customer service. It has been bad information from day one. And the sad thing is, my previous experience with 3DR customer service and my Iris+ was top notch and the real reason i wanted the Solo. But not anymore. I do not trust them anymore than DJI. I hope all goes well with this 2nd Solo. I will post results tomorrow on its first flight. BTW, rep told me the 1st batch of gimbals are shipping July 16th. We shall see....
So today, the Solo shows up. 2 boxes show up. one, obviously the Solo and the other I am thinking is the extra free battery. Half right. Solo was there but the other box was just the extra set of props i ordered. Now when i hung up with the rep on Friday he said my entire order except the gimbal was shipping. So, now I'm missing the extra battery i ordered and the free one that was offered by 3DR due to the gimbal issue. I call 3DR....after 20 minutes on hold just to get a rep they tell me that the batteries ship from the US. So when i ask when i will be receiving them the guy tells me that he needs my credit card number. I ask.."Why do you need my credit card number?" After a bunch of stuff he reads off of a card because he is supposed to say it....he finally says it is because we have only charged you for what was shipped. Really?! So i ask him..."had i not called....what would have happened here?". He says that they would have eventually called me. I highly doubt that because they never called me to tell me about my order coming up as fraud ....as a matter of fact the only time anything got done with my order was because i called them only to find things out and I fixed them on the spot. This entire ordeal on the phone with the rep took over 1 hour. I am beyond disbelief. I am just stumped as to how this entire order has been nothing but a disaster. Now i have lost all daylight to test out this new Solo. I am hoping for the best but at the same time I know what it might be based on my previous Solo.
I should have listened to my gut and just cancelled but i keep trying to be a happy 3DR customer. I have had my opportunities to cancel but I am trying really hard to love this machine. As of right now i have zero trust in 3DR customer service. It has been bad information from day one. And the sad thing is, my previous experience with 3DR customer service and my Iris+ was top notch and the real reason i wanted the Solo. But not anymore. I do not trust them anymore than DJI. I hope all goes well with this 2nd Solo. I will post results tomorrow on its first flight. BTW, rep told me the 1st batch of gimbals are shipping July 16th. We shall see....
