Has anyone had any personal experience with the refurbished Phantoms being offered by DJI? The price seems right, but "refurb" always makes me leery. They are still claiming to honor the same warranty as a new unit, but I've also heard good and bad things regarding that matter as well. So what do you think, is the refurbished tag worth the saved dollars?
Okay, so I attempted to purchase a refurbished DJI Phantom 3 Pro directly through DJI (hong kong). Unfortunately, my bank through a tissy, and after attempting to work both with my bank and DJI, I was unable to get a clean transaction going that route. To put it short, Hong Kong is on a block list for my bank, and DJI allows orders to sit open for up to 28 days. That means a temporary authorization (max 7 days) from my bank to pay DJI will still not be completed since they do not process their orders right away. Basically, I can send a payment to DJI, but if they don't collect the payment within a week, my bank takes the money back. Then, when DJI finally decides to process the order, the money isn't there to fill the request, and DJI refuses to expedite filling orders... stupid, right? But why do any of you care? That leads to what I really wanted to share with everyone. After failing to place an order direct from DJI, I decided to scour the internet in an attempt to find another option for my ordering issues. I found a lot of options for DJI products, and even the refurbished option that I originally was looking for. But none of the prices were as good as ordering directly from DJI. That is when I came across http://www.dronenerds.com/products/refurbished.html that offers the DJI Phantom 3 Pro (refurb) for $599. DroneNerds is a stateside (FL) authorized DJI dealer with a full service center, and great reviews from their customers. Their refurbished DJI products come with the same warranty as new and puts the customer support aspect in the hands of a stateside DJI dealer (again, great customer reviews). No more dealing with the sub-par customer service provided by DJI, and I should have my new Phantom next week as opposed to next month. They also have a whole slew of services, accessories, and other products (not just DJI) for a competitive price.
Weird. I have paid cc and paypal and had no problem at all - ever. But some cc companies and bank may have tighter security. That's a good find - the drone nerds. Newegg occassionally has the refurbs too and so does Amazon or eBay (both are DJI, but I am fairly sure it's all run stateside).
I thought it was strange too. And I'm sure that I could have used a different credit card, but I personally wasn't willing to go that route (unless it was my only option). I guess the biggest win for me personally, is that I will have my Phantom next week instead of after xmas. And I'm also pretty happy with DroneNerds having such a large service center. DJI customer support is jam packed right now with the holidays and their success with recent sales, so hopefully if I have issues, DroneNerds can react a little faster.
My new (refurbished) Phantom 3 Professional came early! So a quick review of my experience thus far with a Refurbished Phantom 3 Pro purchased through www.DroneNerds.com Price $599 for a refurbished Phantom 3 Pro (free shipping/no taxes) You can't beat that price. I couldn't even find used Phantom 3 Pros on Ebay for that price. Shipping As I stated, FREE DroneNerds had a shipping confirmation and tracking number to me (Dec 8) the day after I placed the order and submitted my payment (Dec 7) Promised delivery date (FedEx) of Dec 12, actual delivery date of Dec 10 That is delivery of my Drone three days after I submitted my order! Had I gone through DJI, my estimated ship date was 21-28 days after placing the order (that does not include delivery date). I see that the refurbished Phantoms on DroneNerds are now on backorder, so I would guess that the holiday rush will have an adverse effect on delivery. Quality Could not find a single blemish on the drone or accessories (I really tried hard) All glossy surfaces still had the protective plastic stuck to the surfaces, just as the manufacturer would ship a new product I was called a dork by my wife (probably because of the headlamp) as I searched every square millimeter of that drone for any signs of mistreatment by prior owner or refurbish technician. I couldn't find anything, not even fingerprints! Flight Test Successful upgrade of firmware Acquired GPS signal despite being stuck inside Successful hover test in living room, without drifting (snow storm kept me inside) I was really hoping to get outside for the flight test, but eastern Iowa got hit pretty hard with snow this weekend. So I settled for a simple and safe hover test in my living room. I was able to acquire enough satellite signals to get me off the ground and hover without any drifting in my living room. Everything seemed to be functioning properly. At this point, I can't find any reason that anyone should shy away from the refurbished DJI products. They come with a full warranty as if new, and you even have the option to purchase the DJI Care plan for that extra insurance. My unit is free from any signs of this being refurbished or even handled by a human prior to me. I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase and cannot wait to get this thing outside to start capturing some aerial photos!
