DJI Mini 4 Pro Drone (Refurbished) w/ RC 2 Remote $769, w/ Standard Remote Expired

I'm leaving my comment here as a warning for others about DJI and their refubished drones. Every time I shared this story/opinion on DJI reddit or Facebook group the bandwagoners come out of the woodworks defending DJI.

I ordered a refurbished Mini 3 Pro last year directly from DJI. I had a trip coming up and I wanted to bring a drone. Shipping took almost a week. Drone arrived, turned it on, and long story short, it was missing a vital internal piece and it didn't work. So I went to send it back to DJI. Because it was a refurbished unit, they said they had to open a case number, I had to send it back, they had to repair/inspect the defunct device, and they were going to send me another refurbished unit. The whole process was going to take 2-3 weeks. I said please, just give me a refund, I can't wait on another refurbished unit. My trip was the next week. I immediately ordered a new one from BestBuy, picked it up, and it worked flawlessly.

They REFUSED to give me a refund. They said they had to resend me a drone. I said, per your own return policy, I should be able to get a refund. They said no we have to ship you back the drone since you opened a case number. I said no, YOU opened the case number and return process when I told you that the drone I bought refurbished didn't work.

So they send me another refurbished drone about 3 weeks after I first purchased. I told them I want a refund. They said ok, here's your shipping label, when we get the drone back we will give you your refund.

2 weeks after they received the drone, still no refund in my Paypal account, no updates on my Case # with this drone. They then tried to say they never received the drone, they had no record of ever receiving the drone, even though I had screenshots and tracking numbers, and thankfully I wrote all that down. I spent hours between the phone and online chat. This went on for a few weeks. This went on so long that the tracking number from UPS actually expired, and thank God I had screenshots of the UPS site showing delivery. Finally they said they did have the drone, my refund would be processed within 60 days.

I finally get a refund 2 months later, and then a week later, DJI re-charged my Paypal account for the same amount as my first purchase. I was furious. That took more hours on chat and phone and talking with Paypal as to how this was even possible.

I think it took close to 6 months for me to finally get my refund.

DJI makes the best drones on the market and I absolutely love flying them. But my GOD I had such a horrible experience. I will never buy a refurbished drone again that I couldn't immediately return to a 3rd party reliable seller like Amazon or Bestbuy.

My IG is @clarkefishing if you want to see some of the content I've captured with the Mini 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Classic

Yes, it doesn't seem normal. But I am telling you this is what happened. I have nothing to hide and nothing to gain by bashing DJI. And I like their drones! I am sharing my story as what happened when I tried to return a defective product within the return window.

What doesn't seem normal is why every time I share this story someone like you has to come out and defend DJI? I'm the consumer and I'm sharing you my awful experience where they held $1,000 of my money hostage for 6 months.

Always go with the remote WITH screen. The connection speed and the experience is better than having to TIE up your phone for drone use. Buy once cry once!