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Parrot -Best Buy Warranty Issues

AnafiFlyer

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I am curious if anyone else has had an issue getting warranty support on an Anafi purchased at BestBuy? Three weeks after purchasing an Anafi, I had an incident where the drone came strait down from about 50 feet up and landed in snow. The drone had no visible damage, but snow caked the motors and made its way into the battery and internal structure. I called Parrot Support , and they requested information and asked for pictures of the drone and several controller pages. After about a week, they sent an email indicating the claim was approved, the drone had a defect, and should be taken back to BestBuy for exchange or a refund. Two days later, I went to Bestbuy with the extended kit and the letter from Parrot, but was told Bestbuy only offers a 30 day warranty, and it was covered under a factory warranty, but they would not accept the letter from Parrot, because “they Need an AR” number. I called Parrot Support back, and they said they don’t issue AR numbers, they should accept the letter. My first reaction was to blame Bestbuy, and made several calls to their corporate offices, only to be told BestBuy will not accept the letter, and that “Parrot does this all the time”. Parrot says they elevated it corporate offices in France. It’s been three months since the Anafi crashed, and I keep getting “ we can’t help you, it has to be resoved in France“. There is “no time frame, we don’t know”. This was my second Anafi and third Parrot drone. I have hundreds of flights and over 100 hours flying them. I never had an accident before. I want to stay loyal to Parrot, but they do not seem to care about fixing this issue or customer service. I recently purchased a used Mavic Air. The Anafi has a lot of good features the Mavic Air does not, but I don’t like giving my money to a company that treats customers poorly. And I have a feeling if I purchased it from Amazon, the issue would be resolved in days. Seeing how they have treated the Canadians, I will stay clear of Parrot. Anyone have a similar incident that reached resolution?
 
Have you read this?
 
Sorry to hear about your probems however it is what is normal lately. I have had 11 Parrot drones over the past 5 years and there support has gotten worse year after year. I deal with it since I really like the automation which is tightly integrated in software. I have found the best way to get support in the past 3 years is buy another and break the failed one down for parts on eBay. It is a shame to see a well engineered product go with little support. They do sell repair kits for some systems however, I prefer parting out and buying replacement that works. I have had 3) Bebop 2 1) Thermal 5) Anafi and and 2) discos. The first 3 years from 2015 to 2018 support was excellent.
 
Sorry to hear about your probems however it is what is normal lately. I have had 11 Parrot drones over the past 5 years and there support has gotten worse year after year. I deal with it since I really like the automation which is tightly integrated in software. I have found the best way to get support in the past 3 years is buy another and break the failed one down for parts on eBay. It is a shame to see a well engineered product go with little support. They do sell repair kits for some drone landed in systems however, I prefer parting out and elf, buying replacement that works. I have had 3) Bebop 2 1) Thermal 5) Anafi and and 2) discos. The first 3 years from 2015 to 2018 support was excellent.
Thanks for the suggestions . I will let this play out a little longer, but may end up using the eBay suggestion ( but will probably buy a Mavic Air 2). I did file a Better Business Bureau complaint, and noticed a lot of other people have had similar issues with Parrot. Since it appears they seem to be moving away from the consumer market, they really have no incentive to keep a customer base (Anafi USA to government’s.). Thanks again for the feedback (from a fellow Northern IL pilot).
 
Have you read this?
I did, thanks for responding. Tried the same path, with no luck. I see a DJI or Skydio in my future. I did love the Anafi.
 
As somebody just considering a purchase, why do you think the service has slowed down? I am in Africa so well outside of most support chains.
 
My assumption is they are concentrating on other profit centers. Parrot makes quite few product groups.
It is sad because they are one of the few drone makers that has not been taken down. by DJI.

On the other had still a great product escpcially if you want to use automation .
 
Thanks for your reply IronSky1, I would have thought they would exactly have an advantage over DJI these days.
 
The parrot support issue is not good to hear as they should be standing behind their products period.
 
I am happy to report that four months after my Anafi crashed, a manager at a different BestBuy had sympathy on my issue with Parrot, and offered a store credit for the the price paid for the Anafi. I ended up purchasing a DJI Mavic Air 2 fly more kit. While I loved the Anafi (especially its autonomous flight planning options), I just could not get past Parrots lack of support and arrogance. I will give credit to BestBuy for (eventually) honoring a manufactures warranty that was not really their responsibility. it has been very windy where I live in northern Illinois, so I have only made two flights with the MA2, but I am very impressed. I highly recommend anyone looking at buying their first drone to avoid Parrot. Good drone, bad support. And eventually, all drones need support. And if you live in Illinois, use the Best Buy in Algonquin, IL. Unlike the store in Rockford, IL, they practice good customer service.
 
Glad to hear you resolved it (and with the BestBuy 1 mile from my house. I have had about 20 drones in 6 years 50% DJI/Parrot. The Anafi has the best built in automation of anything in it class. The support is horrible. Be careful with the MA2 they have very long range and can fly away. I have lost two MM in the past year to this problem.. They can get you in trouble on a windy day always check your altitude wind map before taking off. (i use Airdata for that). On the otherhand the Anafi does not have this problem there design handles wind much better. (DJI now has Flyaway support on all the small drones which should tell us something).

The Anafi is the only drone I feel comfortable with using automation in (Dark Territory). I have let min go many times and watche d it fly into a complete loss of connection and yet 10mins later its back. Great engineering on the HW and SW side (with 0 support)
 
Glad to hear you resolved it (and with the BestBuy 1 mile from my house. I have had about 20 drones in 6 years 50% DJI/Parrot. The Anafi has the best built in automation of anything in it class. The support is horrible. Be careful with the MA2 they have very long range and can fly away. I have lost two MM in the past year to this problem.. They can get you in trouble on a windy day always check your altitude wind map before taking off. (i use Airdata for that). On the otherhand the Anafi does not have this problem there design handles wind much better. (DJI now has Flyaway support on all the small drones which should tell us something).

The Anafi is the only drone I feel comfortable with using automation in (Dark Territory). I have let min go many times and watche d it fly into a complete loss of connection and yet 10mins later its back. Great engineering on the HW and SW side (with 0 support)
Thanks for your feedback. Perhaps I should be more careful suggesting new owners stay away from Parrot. I really did love the Anafi ( and the Bebop 2 which I still own). I flew both of my previous Parrot drones without any issues, and I really got a kick out of building a flight plan and watching them fly it precisely completely hands off. The first time it went out of Wifi range and everything stopped updating, I was convinced it would never come back. But it did every time. i have noticed I had more interference when flying the Anafi compared to the MA2 (Occusync is nice). But I appreciate the advice on fly aways with the MA2. Since I work for a major airline and have other FAA Certificates besides Part 107 SUAS, I really make sure I avoid even the appearance of BVLOS since a violation from the FAA could impact my other Certificates and my livelihood. It was very tempting to let the software fly the Anafi far away, since I had so much confidence it would always come back. So if the risk is understood on Parrots support issues, it may still be the right drone for many people. Thanks again !
 
I am curious if anyone else has had an issue getting warranty support on an Anafi purchased at BestBuy? Three weeks after purchasing an Anafi, I had an incident where the drone came strait down from about 50 feet up and landed in snow. The drone had no visible damage, but snow caked the motors and made its way into the battery and internal structure. I called Parrot Support , and they requested information and asked for pictures of the drone and several controller pages. After about a week, they sent an email indicating the claim was approved, the drone had a defect, and should be taken back to BestBuy for exchange or a refund. Two days later, I went to Bestbuy with the extended kit and the letter from Parrot, but was told Bestbuy only offers a 30 day warranty, and it was covered under a factory warranty, but they would not accept the letter from Parrot, because “they Need an AR” number. I called Parrot Support back, and they said they don’t issue AR numbers, they should accept the letter. My first reaction was to blame Bestbuy, and made several calls to their corporate offices, only to be told BestBuy will not accept the letter, and that “Parrot does this all the time”. Parrot says they elevated it corporate offices in France. It’s been three months since the Anafi crashed, and I keep getting “ we can’t help you, it has to be resoved in France“. There is “no time frame, we don’t know”. This was my second Anafi and third Parrot drone. I have hundreds of flights and over 100 hours flying them. I never had an accident before. I want to stay loyal to Parrot, but they do not seem to care about fixing this issue or customer service. I recently purchased a used Mavic Air. The Anafi has a lot of good features the Mavic Air does not, but I don’t like giving my money to a company that treats customers poorly. And I have a feeling if I purchased it from Amazon, the issue would be resolved in days. Seeing how they have treated the Canadians, I will stay clear of Parrot. Anyone have a similar incident that reached resolution?
Just curious...this is now middle of July and you posted in April...any response from Parrot...its been a month for me...my drone came down in a hurry and bounced like a basketball with my hands completely off the controls. I've lost TWO Parrots...can't prove it, but it seems like it was just after the last firmware update.
 
Just curious...this is now middle of July and you posted in April...any response from Parrot...its been a month for me...my drone came down in a hurry and bounced like a basketball with my hands completely off the controls. I've lost TWO Parrots...can't prove it, but it seems like it was just after the last firmware update.i
 
No, Parrot has made no attempt to contact me. I did find a manager at a BestBuy 40 miles from my house that had sympathy on my battle with Parrot that gave me a store credit for what I paid for the Anafi. I replaced it with a DJI Mavic Air 2, and have been VERY happy with it. I use to be a big Parrot supporter, and sort of liked supporting a company that offered an alternative to DJI. As much as I loved my Anafi, the Mavic Air2 blows it out of the water in just about every way. My crash with the Anafi was also not long after a software revision . In my last call with Parrot support, I was told by the representative that the was helpless to do anything, and suggested I take Parrot to small claims court, it would probably be the only way to get them to respond. They don’t care about the consumer market anymore. Au Revoir Parrot. You lost a big supporter.
 

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