ebay purchase H damaged in shipping? Big deal or not? Guidance.

[iSkyInAC904]

Hello, this is my second post. I have been reading the forum for a while now and I conclude that as a collective you are all brilliant! I learn here every day, thank you.

I’ve been flying a Q-4k. It’s my “go to school and learn” copter. I decided to move up to the H’s extended features mostly for the 360 camera.

I’m looking to this forum for some guidance about a Typhoon H/RS I purchased a week ago from an eBay seller. It was listed as flown twice and came with a lot of groovy (SKB case, 4 batteries) extras and is still under warranty until December. 1380.US It arrived with damage to the camera/gimbal/mount. I have documented with photos and my comments on this web page (no spam/ads – just a personal site). It’s sort of in letter format as I am sending this to the seller. My questions to the group, are my concerns valid? Considering the viewable damage, could there be copter damage to consider beyond the camera/gimbal/mount? Should I send it back to the seller? OR Am I "over Reacting" just fix it again and move ahead. Thanks for your comments. iSky(-M)

 

[BillyTexas]

I would contact the seller and express your concerns.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

I have. I'm waiting for a reply. He's got to feel like he got kicked.

 

[Shadowolf]

If it waw damaged in shipping I would have seller file a claim. Take pictures and when all is settled get your share back from the seller.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

The seller shipped the H in a Drone Crate case, then in a box through USPS. My first question was about how much insurance he had. His answer was nothing could hurt it in that case. My alarm went off but it had already been shipped. I don't know what to say about that.
I took several pictures. The link in in my first post. Thanks -

 

[Shadowolf]

Usps has insurance up to 50$ on all package I believe. I know not a lot but might be enough to fix?

 

[Buddy Collins]

Contact eBay and ask how to initiate a return, they will instruct you how to do it. IF there is Insurance on the package for shipping then it is the SELLERS insurance so he should initiate a claim with the Post Office for the damage, not you. That is NOT your responsibility. Dont waste your time with repairs, and be assured that after you send it in, have it repaired and get it back, you will have a heck of a lot more than $50 in it for repairs/shipping.
Return the whole Kit and get your $$ back. Buy another.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

OK, but really, how do you blame the USPS or any shipper? When I transport my Q for flying I don't remove the camera but I do a rubber band to keep it from bouncing around. For carrier shipping, a different procedure. I don't want to sh

 

[artlewis]

Did you find any rubber mounts in the bottom of the case? If not then the seller new it was damaged before shipment. If you found the mounts it is possible it was jarred during shipment. If all the wires are connected the repair is simple. You can order new mounts and locking pins from a number of suppliers. It is an easy fix.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

Buddy Collins - that was my thinking too. This seems to be the second broken mount indicating there may be a bigger problem. If the seller covered the costs to send the copter and not just the camera to Yuneec for a service, i may be ok with that. We'll see what the seller says.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

Did you find any rubber mounts in the bottom of the case? If not then the seller new it was damaged before shipment. If you found the mounts it is possible it was jarred during shipment. If all the wires are connected the repair is simple. You can order new mounts and locking pins from a number of suppliers. It is an easy fix.

Sorry you guys, I just learned to use the quote button -
artlewis - Really, this is the answer I want it to be! The rubber mounts were in the bottom of the case, and I detected no malice on the part of the seller before shipping but that unit sure took a beating dangling by the wires.

 

[artlewis]

You will still need to obtain a couple of the locking pins and washers. They almost always break when there is stress on the camera assembly.. The easiest way is to order the complete set of rubber mounts and pins. Carolina Dronz, Terrestrial Imaging and others all carry the parts. However, if you feel there is further damage, I would contact the seller to arrange for an insurance claim. If he did not insure the shipment you might be on your own for repairs, other than the USPS standard 50-bucks.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

Thanks everyone, this is what happened -
The seller told me that this was the second time this has happened. The first time was while in flight. he had it repaired and then it happened again shipping to me. The seller agreed to accept the return and credit my account in full. They plan to send it to Yuneec.
Now I'm back to looking.
Thanks again! -M

 

[Steve Carr]

Thanks everyone, this is what happened -
The seller told me that this was the second time this has happened. The first time was while in flight. he had it repaired and then it happened again shipping to me. The seller agreed to accept the return and credit my account in full. They plan to send it to Yuneec.
Now I'm back to looking.
Thanks again! -M

That sounds like a reasonable solution. I think the camera is suspended in the foam case and it needs some additional foam under the camera for shipping. Without that additional foam to support it, you can see what will happen when it's dropped during shipping.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

Definitely a good lesson about inspecting everything. I'm learning that details are the nature of this hobby. And it's pretty serious. It's also pretty cool. -M

 

[Quagmire LXIX]

I had the same thing happen to this problemed child I'm dealing with. Box was fine, I even opened it up at UPS for a witness in case of fake item issue, looked fine until I got it home and pulled it out. Looked just like yours, hanging on by 1 of 4 connectors, it didn't cause any noticeable damage to the gimbal or cam, but took some time to put it back together.

The shipper put it back in the original packaging, but did not do anything to make sure the clamshell halves stay closed, just 2 pieces of duct tape would have been smart handling as there was a gap in the box and the clamshell separated and as the box flipped and shipped, the bird was loose and had enough room to leave the cam unsupported. I was upset of course, the seller so far is useless and hasn't even bothered apologizing, simply said "Thanks for taking the time to work the problem.". That was my second mistake as the problems just continued. I'm willing to bet when Yuneec packed those units, they had something that made sure those clamshell halves stayed sealed inside the box.

Glad your seller is taking control and making it right, I am getting the impression my seller is going to be an issue, but we'll see.

 

[ThunderChicken]

Hello, this is my second post. I have been reading the forum for a while now and I conclude that as a collective you are all brilliant! I learn here every day, thank you.

I’ve been flying a Q-4k. It’s my “go to school and learn” copter. I decided to move up to the H’s extended features mostly for the 360 camera.

I’m looking to this forum for some guidance about a Typhoon H/RS I purchased a week ago from an eBay seller. It was listed as flown twice and came with a lot of groovy (SKB case, 4 batteries) extras and is still under warranty until December. 1380.US It arrived with damage to the camera/gimbal/mount.

If I were you I would raise **** starting with eBay and hopefully you used PayPal. I purchased two "H's" off of eBay. Both were claimed to be flyable. The first one would only fly if you tossed it like a Frisbee. The one I bought to replace it with claimed to be flyable, It in fact was ready to fly, I put in my charged battery and bound it to the controller. I took it out to the place I fly test runs and it flew perfectly.
I sent the first one back just hours after opening and testing. It spent less than three hours here at the house. Got a total refund including shipping and return shipping was paid by the seller.

 

[Christopher Philips]

Hold on I think that your drone is okay. It just looks like the rubber dampers separated while being transported. What I would do is take the camera off, put the rubber dampers back in and turn it on. If the camera stabilizes it is fine. I really do think that that drone is good.

 

[iSkyInAC904]

Thanks everyone, this is what happened -
The seller told me that this was the second time this has happened. The first time was while in flight. he had it repaired and then it happened again shipping to me. The seller agreed to accept the return and credit my account in full. They plan to send it to Yuneec.
Now I'm back to looking.
Thanks again! -M

Ok, so a new update to this post -
After much consideration of everything everyone had to say, I decided that if I was going to "groove" on this hobby, I should be able to accept (some of) the associated advertises. One post here suggested the case might have been the problem so I measured the Drone Crate case bottom and found that the camera hangs 2 inches above the bottom of the case. For the camera, dropping the case from 3 feet was no protection for the camera. The wire were not broken, just a bit stretched, so I replaced the mount, rubber dampers, and pins. I tested the camera and gimbal and it was successful. I fitted the bottom of the case with some Sonex and a little velcro to keep the lock cover in place. I dropped the request for return with ebay. The seller was grateful and this week I'll go fly. It all turned out to be pretty Zen. I got a lot of information here that made me feel like I could do it so thanks. -M

 

[Dr Delta]

Ok, so a new update to this post -
After much consideration of everything everyone had to say, I decided that if I was going to "groove" on this hobby, I should be able to accept (some of) the associated advertises. One post here suggested the case might have been the problem so I measured the Drone Crate case bottom and found that the camera hangs 2 inches above the bottom of the case. For the camera, dropping the case from 3 feet was no protection for the camera. The wire were not broken, just a bit stretched, so I replaced the mount, rubber dampers, and pins. I tested the camera and gimbal and it was successful. I fitted the bottom of the case with some Sonex and a little velcro to keep the lock cover in place. I dropped the request for return with ebay. The seller was grateful and this week I'll go fly. It all turned out to be pretty Zen. I got a lot of information here that made me feel like I could do it so thanks. -M

Great, happy flying!