Repair Nightmare - The Uncontactable Repair Centre

Let me get down to it - don't think that buying from "the largest authorized distributor and retailer in South Africa" will get you any half-decent after-sale service if you experience any problems with your drone. It seems that after these guys have your money you are no longer a priority to them.

I purchased my drone about 4 months ago and had some small erratic flight issues from the start - I put this down to compass calibration that might have been off and didn't think too much of it. Eventually, these issues became progressively worse until I decided to send my drone in to DroneWorld for repair. Here is a timeline of events thus far:

5 February - Drone Delivered to DroneWorld 7 February - Notification that the drone was booked in 13 February - Still no further update from DroneWorld so I followed up 15 February - I get a quote for R6700 odd for repair (even though the drone is only 4 months old and both still under warranty and has crash protection from DroneWorld). I refused to pay this since a) the drone is still under warranty and it is clearly a factory issue, b) the drone was not crashed or damaged and c) even if it was and this was a directly related issue, the included crash protection should then cover it. 15 February - I am told that they will investigate a warranty claim 18 February - Still no updates, so I follow up again 19 February - I am promised an update by 22 February. 26 February - Still no updates, so I follow up again. Also try calling but am told that the repair department as no phone line, but the person on the phone will follow up. 28 February - Still no updates, so I follow up again by email and phone. Now suddenly the person on the phone can put me on hold and follow up with the repair department. 28 February - Eventually someone gets back to me to say that the repair has been approved under warranty. The customer service person phones back and promises that repairs will be completed by 8 March at the latest. 8 March - Still no updates. Have followed up again.

My drone has now been at DroneWorld for over a month and I still have no idea if the problem was fixed or when I will receive the drone back. I have already not been able to use the drone for its intended purpose for over a month and have had to try to make other plans to get around this.

Essentially I purchased this drone specifically from DroneWorld thinking that I would get proper, reliable service from a company that so heavily advertises that they are officially authorized and offer all sorts of warranties and protections. It is easy to make promises, advertise things and give good customer service before purchase, but the real reflection of a company is how they treat you when things go wrong.

If you expect any after-sale service DO NOT BUY FROM DRONEWORLD. I understand that repairs or authorizations may occasionally take time but they have proven to me that they are not at all interested in even offering the most basic updates or responding to any queries that I, as a paying customer, may have.