3DR Iris - 30 day wait. Huge disappointment!

haha49

Member
Do a charge back on your credit card. Explain what happened nicely tell them do it.. If they don't tell them to cancel your card you won't do busniess with the credit card company because they failed to protect you. I've done that before it works way better then dealing with that. You gave them many chances to fix it but they kept dropping the ball.


The other option is to ask were to send legal paperwork and simply file a lawsuit against them. I've done that for 1 company they really pissed me off and I'm the kind of person to just let things slide allot. For that one they threatened me I didn't responed I simply asked the owner were can I serve you legal paperwork freaked the crap out of him since someone working for him did allot of bad things and he simply didn't know. It's so easy to simply file a lawsuit and the cost of the lawsuit can be put in there as well.
 

Wolfie

High Tech Hippie
Hi 281tx. My name is Vu Tran. I'm the new Director of Support. Let's talk and see how we can work this out. You have my word that this will be resolved asap. PM me, email me (vu@3drobotics.com), or call me and let's get you sorted out. I'm sorry you had to go through all of this.

Or you could contact Mr Tran and give him a chance to make this better. As the "New Director of Support" he might actually want to help. Not everyone is cut out to run a TS section, and in the age of the internet bad CS/TS can kill you quickly. I am TS manager for a high tech company and am well aware of my predecessor's "version" of support. However that didn't stop me from changing it to the best damn support section anywhere. Mr Tran obviously uses his Google Analytics wisely and homes in on traffic from forums to see what's being said. I do the same thing daily. Please give him a chance to make it right and post back here if he does.
And no I don't work for any multirotor company. That would be my perfect job, maybe next life.

Wolfie
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
hi folks, i'm going to get a new thread started for the 3DR Iris. I hope that any users can share positive and negative experiences in order to help each other out and to help out people that may be considering a #3DR Iris for themselves.

Bart
 


Old Man

Active Member
I don't have an Iris but I do have a 3dR RTF quad and one of the new Pixhawk X8's. I've also been responsible for the purchase of two other X8's that are currently being used for filming purposes. All of this and the following activity has occurred since ~January of this year, 2014.

The 3dR quad is quite similar to the Iris, but uses APM 2.6 as the flight controller with the aircraft having a somewhat different appearance using a different type of radial arm. The 3dR quad uses for all intents and purposes the same Mission Planner and computer software installation as the Pixhawk and Iris. The quad and the x8 can be operated without being operated jointly with Mission Planner and a computer. This is something my colleagues and I do regularly, only connecting to a computer/Mission Planner when we need something changed, to review flight logs, or to operate autonomously using a flight plan. We have absolutely no problems with flight operations in any mode but we do take the time to read the manuals and instructions, which are quite informative and extensive in their content. The 3dR documentation is published in a web based format at APM Copter and requires some effort by the user to review.

I have on several occasions had need to contact 3d Robotics for parts and/or information with each contact being handled well. The first time I made contact the individual on the 3d Robotics end spent pretty close to an hour on the phone answering my questions about the product. Delivery of the first quad order took a couple weeks but it arrived well packaged, protected, and 100% functionally intact. The next pair of X8's arrived at their destinations after around 2.5 weeks, again well packaged and functional, with the last X8 (third X8) arriving at my house after only a week from the order date. With every order some extra parts were ordered at the same time as the aircraft order, and in every case the extra parts were shipped within 2 days of the order and delivered well before the aircraft.

So let's just say I've had quite a bit of experience with 3d Robotics, their products, their ordering process, their personnel, and their customer service. Nothing in the 281tx postings is consistent with my experience. Some of the issues described in those posts indicate the user failed to read and/or follow published documentation, and an acute lack of system understanding is quite evident.

I am not aware that customer service at 3d Robotics had taken a turn for the worse since I began doing business with them. My experiences have been quite good. The DIY Drones website is rife with information useful to the consumer. If I had any area that I thought needed improvement it would be for the technical side using direct communications (phone or e-mail) with company staff. Some improvement in that area would be helpful since it could better direct the user to appropriate reference material at the DIY Drones or APM Copter websites. The company should not have to hold a persons hand and walk them through every step of programming and operations. It's presumed that someone purchasing a higher level multirotor will have some level of computer skills or operational experience that enables them to understand the product they intend to purchase. It is also presumable the purchaser will have or intends to obtain computer equipment that meets the minimum system requirements, which are published in 3d Robotics documentation.

So my personal experiences indicate something isn't right in all of this and I'd sure like to know where the missing pieces are that clearly define where the problems are.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Old Man

Active Member
Looks like I may have to eat some words about 3dR customer service I sent them an e-mail help request over a week ago and no response from them yet. This in spite of their statement of expecting a reply within 2 days. Are they heading downhill? I don't know but lack of response is not a good sign.
 

R_Lefebvre

Arducopter Developer
I don't think you could consider them going downhill, like a consistent trend. More like... variable results. I'd try again.
 

Old Man

Active Member
We'll see what happens with this latest help request. The issues just keep on coming with an RTF X8 order. The FPV will not render color imagery regardless of channel or video settings and the Tarot gimbal tries to twist itself apart during power up. No amount of firmware and configuration upgrades is having any impact. I'm not too concerned about a failure to respond with this one since the transaction was performed with a credit card and I'm well within a defective purchase window. Allowing for their two day response policy I won't do anything with the CC company until after Wednesday the 16th. 3dR was informed of the same in the contact note.
 


JustinHardin

New Member
My experience with 3DR products

Just read this thread and was surprised. Want to add my two cents to potential 3DR customers as I'm a big fan.
Me:
- Software Engineer
- Arduino Hobbyist
- own a 3DR hexa (upgraded it to a y6).
- own an IRIS.
- Have flown a DJI Phantom 1.
- Have been an R/C enthusiast for ~20 years.

My reaction to this thread:
- My guess on the horrible customer experience is that it was during their move from Kearny Mesa to Otey Mesa. Not an excuse, but a potential explanation.
- I've had two interactions with customer service, one good and one that was 'meh':
- good: I crashed my Iris (in July) and broke some nylon stand-offs/screws that hold the telemetry board to the chassis. Those parts aren't for sale on their website and I couldn't figure out what size they were.. I emailed customer support and they sent me a half dozen stand-offs free of charge.
- meh: They upgraded from hexa 'A' to hexa 'B' and I asked if I could buy just the new fiberglass plates of the 'B' configuration. They said 'not available for purchase separately' unless you bought the RTF kit. That was kind of a bummer as these things are expensive. To be fair, they now have 'frame only' upgrades that are purchasable and I was eventually able to upgrade to a y6.

To potential 3DR buyers, I'm not sure the 3DR marketing department would want me saying this, but 'RTF' doesn't mean 'simple' or 'easy' or 'for beginners.' It simply means everything is assembled and configured and 'ready to fly.' For example, the Boeing 737s at your nearest airport are 'RTF' but I can guarantee you that I would NOT be able to fly one of those birds!

In my opinion, the DJI phantoms are a better product for folks exploring this stuff for the first time... and the 3DR products are for people who have outgrown the DJI stuff.

With that said, the 3DR stuff is GREAT. I approach each flight as a 'mission', take my time, think things through, and have been flying really smooth auto mode missions and getting great HD video with the Tarot Gimble and my GoPro. If you are willing to go slow and learn, you could very well start with an IRIS as a beginner... take it slow and you'll not outgrow a Phantom as you learn.

Anyhow, my two cents, feel free to discard! =)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Justin,

I see you're a new member and in the SoCal area. Do you have any affiliation with 3DR other than as a retail user?
 

JustinHardin

New Member
Nope... just a retail user.

I've picked up my retail orders directly from their San Diego offices... which were cool to see... but am just a good ol' ordinary customer.
 

Top