My Typhoon H Experience

[bbasham]

I’m a 3-year drone pilot and consider myself tech savvy. Started with DJI then switched to Yuneec beginning with the Q4K, then added the H in September 2016. What a train wreck product and deteriorating customer service in the last year. Done, already went back to DJI products. You let me down big time Yuneec. To bad, I was one of your greatest evangelist.


4 official cases filed with Yuneec on the H since purchasing new 6 months ago. I live in Illinois so return to California takes a minimum of 3-week turnaround. Issues started first flight out of the box. Wasted time, lost income opportunities, and hours of frustration dealing with this product and customer service.


Case #1 – Calibrated, by no means flying in a congested area, a place I have flown many times. Put in the air to about 15 feet and hover. With no stick input, beeline sideways into a tree. Returned to Yuneec under warranty. Received the same unit back.


Case #2 – Same issue put it up to about 15 feet let it hover and with NO stick input beeline and crash. This return to Yuneec they installed a new GPS board.


Case #3 – Won't land, erratic jerks to the side with no stick input. Yuneec finally replaces the drone only, not the ST16. New drone body has some wires hanging by the camera that weren’t on the original drone. I assume they where antenna modifications. I should also mention that on this third trip to Yuneec they forgot to include the Cgo3 camera when they returned it. That cost me an additional 1.5 weeks downtime.


Case #4 – Erratic jerks to the side again with no stick input. Came very close to another crash. Contacted Yuneec and tried to transmit my telemetry files to them. That is when I gave up. Zipped the telemetry file was 150 mb. Yes, they swear they need the entire file from the ST16. My email system wouldn’t let me send that large of a file. I ask if Yuneec could use Drop Box to view the telemetry files. No, they can’t. Surprising from a supposed technology company! Back to California. 6 months $1200, no quality flight time, lost income opportunities.


Buyers beware – something is going wrong in California, customer service is deteriorating rapidly and in my opinion this H was not ready for release. I prefer not to be on the bleeding edge of their “product development”.

 

[CraigCam]

Not looking for any credibility verification from you Ray. BTW I see you are a member since 2016. Funny how I posted this under my original membership dated June 2015 and it oddly disappeared last night? It's a real experience and frankly I don't care what you think, the cases are documented with Yuneec USA.

Another one bites the dust.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[CC Rider]

I’m a 3-year drone pilot and consider myself tech savvy. Started with DJI then switched to Yuneec beginning with the Q4K, then added the H in September 2016. What a train wreck product and deteriorating customer service in the last year. Done, already went back to DJI products. You let me down big time Yuneec. To bad, I was one of your greatest evangelist.


4 official cases filed with Yuneec on the H since purchasing new 6 months ago. I live in Illinois so return to California takes a minimum of 3-week turnaround. Issues started first flight out of the box. Wasted time, lost income opportunities, and hours of frustration dealing with this product and customer service.


Case #1 – Calibrated, by no means flying in a congested area, a place I have flown many times. Put in the air to about 15 feet and hover. With no stick input, beeline sideways into a tree. Returned to Yuneec under warranty. Received the same unit back.


Case #2 – Same issue put it up to about 15 feet let it hover and with NO stick input beeline and crash. This return to Yuneec they installed a new GPS board.


Case #3 – Won't land, erratic jerks to the side with no stick input. Yuneec finally replaces the drone only, not the ST16. New drone body has some wires hanging by the camera that weren’t on the original drone. I assume they where antenna modifications. I should also mention that on this third trip to Yuneec they forgot to include the Cgo3 camera when they returned it. That cost me an additional 1.5 weeks downtime.


Case #4 – Erratic jerks to the side again with no stick input. Came very close to another crash. Contacted Yuneec and tried to transmit my telemetry files to them. That is when I gave up. Zipped the telemetry file was 150 mb. Yes, they swear they need the entire file from the ST16. My email system wouldn’t let me send that large of a file. I ask if Yuneec could use Drop Box to view the telemetry files. No, they can’t. Surprising from a supposed technology company! Back to California. 6 months $1200, no quality flight time, lost income opportunities.


Buyers beware – something is going wrong in California, customer service is deteriorating rapidly and in my opinion this H was not ready for release. I prefer not to be on the bleeding edge of their “product development”.

In all honesty, yours is the worst description I have read to date regarding poor performance of the Typhoon H and bad customer service from Yuneec, to the point of your complete abandonment of the entire Yuneec line. But, to be equally honest, your experience does not represent the majority of other Typhoon H pilot's experience with either the drone itself or with Yuneec's customer service that I have read or seen in videos. In my opinion, most other Typhoon owners are quite happy with their purchases and how Yuneec has treated them.

For the record, I am not a Yuneec fan boy, by no means. I also fly a DJI Mavic Pro which I truly love, enjoy flying, and use routinely. But NOTHING replaces my beloved Typhoon H. It's character, excellent handling, special features, advanced capabilities and design have been, for me, a welcome blessing to have in my drone arsenal. I truly enjoy flying it and so I use it often. I have yet to experience any of the problems with my unit as I have seen others encounter - including your related misfortune - from using RealSense tech to firmware updates. Any minor "problems" I have experienced - which have been few and not of much consequence - were either my own fault, being unfamiliar with the Typhoon's systems, or simply not following instructions as I should have.

I am truly sorry for your luck and the bad experience you have had with your Typhoon H, which you have shared here with the rest of us. I only want to point out - just as you are warning potential Yuneec consumers away from their products - that there is another point of view, one that would lead me to encourage anyone looking to buy a great drone to seriously consider the Typhoon H Pro. To me it is an excellent drone to have, the learning curve to understand it has been greatly diminished due to fantastic, up-to-date design work, and it easily lives up to all of the claims Yuneec has made about this aircraft.

I hope whatever drone you end up getting next lives up to your expectations and that you enjoy better luck and have a much more enjoyable experience with it. Take care. Sorry to see you leave the fold, but I can certainly understand your frustration and your point of view, which you are entitled to and are free to express as you have. Good luck!

 

[AZSteveB]

I've had great customer support from Yuneec, in CA...

 

[bbasham]

Thank you, CC Rider. It's my personal experience and I have to bear the 6-month loss of flight time and lost income opportunities after investing my hard earned money, and hours on the phone with Yuneec.

BTW - I was an early adopter of the Q4K and still fly it. I've had good experience with it, the H seemed like a safe choice. I guess not.

Thank you for a logical and understanding response to my post.

 

[Rayray]

Funny how I posted this under my original membership dated June 2015 and it oddly disappeared last night?

This is simply not possible.

 

[bbasham]

Oke Doke Ray whatever you say. Have a nice day

 

[Photo]

I’m a 3-year drone pilot and consider myself tech savvy. Started with DJI then switched to Yuneec beginning with the Q4K, then added the H in September 2016. What a train wreck product and deteriorating customer service in the last year. Done, already went back to DJI products. You let me down big time Yuneec. To bad, I was one of your greatest evangelist.


4 official cases filed with Yuneec on the H since purchasing new 6 months ago. I live in Illinois so return to California takes a minimum of 3-week turnaround. Issues started first flight out of the box. Wasted time, lost income opportunities, and hours of frustration dealing with this product and customer service.


Case #1 – Calibrated, by no means flying in a congested area, a place I have flown many times. Put in the air to about 15 feet and hover. With no stick input, beeline sideways into a tree. Returned to Yuneec under warranty. Received the same unit back.


Case #2 – Same issue put it up to about 15 feet let it hover and with NO stick input beeline and crash. This return to Yuneec they installed a new GPS board.


Case #3 – Won't land, erratic jerks to the side with no stick input. Yuneec finally replaces the drone only, not the ST16. New drone body has some wires hanging by the camera that weren’t on the original drone. I assume they where antenna modifications. I should also mention that on this third trip to Yuneec they forgot to include the Cgo3 camera when they returned it. That cost me an additional 1.5 weeks downtime.


Case #4 – Erratic jerks to the side again with no stick input. Came very close to another crash. Contacted Yuneec and tried to transmit my telemetry files to them. That is when I gave up. Zipped the telemetry file was 150 mb. Yes, they swear they need the entire file from the ST16. My email system wouldn’t let me send that large of a file. I ask if Yuneec could use Drop Box to view the telemetry files. No, they can’t. Surprising from a supposed technology company! Back to California. 6 months $1200, no quality flight time, lost income opportunities.


Buyers beware – something is going wrong in California, customer service is deteriorating rapidly and in my opinion this H was not ready for release. I prefer not to be on the bleeding edge of their “product development”.

Hi, what do we know about your nbr of sats before take off and taking your time to really achive sufficient sats lock? Not just nbr of sats seen on the H and ST16.

 

[Tree]

What's really strange about this "report" is that Yuneec flight tests their drones after they are repaired.
And for him to report the same issue repeatedly and immediately after powering it up, just seems odd.

Either he got a rare lemon, or maybe he didn't read the instructions?

Is he trying to lift off in smart mode and not observing the required distance from the drone with the ST16?

 

[Tuna]

It's unfortunate when someone joins a forum just to report a bad experience, and not too surprising if you turn up on a Yuneec forum attacking their products that you get a fairly hostile response. I'm not sure exactly what you were hoping to achieve?

If you still have the ST-16 we can look at the telemetry and see if there is anything we can learn from it, but to be honest it would have been more constructive if you'd posted at the time you were having problems. There are some smart and experienced drone operators on this forum and if you come in asking for help, they're often more than willing to offer it for free.

 

[Rayray]

Brad,
Sorry I jumped on you right at the start, but you gave no background info. For a first post, you came on so strong that I profiled you.
My bad, I understand you are a professional photographer, and most Pros are not out to "bash" anyone.

Bear in mind we are not Yuneec, and do not represent them. Our sister forum, PhantomPilots (link at bottom of page), is home to many many happy DJI folks. Whatever drone you prefer is fine, but your, admittedly terrible, experiences with Yuneec service is not something we are hearing a lot of, especially in the last months.

Good luck to you and your company.

 

[Tree]

Brad,
Sorry I jumped on you right at the start, but you gave no background info. For a first post, you came on so strong that I profiled you.
My bad, I understand you are a professional photographer, and most Pros are not out to "bash" anyone.

Bear in mind we are not Yuneec, and do not represent them. Our sister forum, PhantomPilots (link at bottom of page), is home to many many happy DJI folks. Whatever drone you prefer is fine, but your, admittedly terrible, experiences with Yuneec service is not something we are hearing a lot of, especially in the last months.

Good luck to you and your company.

That was classy RayRay

 

[Tree]

Thank you, CC Rider. It's my personal experience and I have to bear the 6-month loss of flight time and lost income opportunities after investing my hard earned money, and hours on the phone with Yuneec.

BTW - I was an early adopter of the Q4K and still fly it. I've had good experience with it, the H seemed like a safe choice. I guess not.

Thank you for a logical and understanding response to my post.

Sorry about you experience.

Everyone I know that has an H, loves it and has very few problems with it and Support is among the best in the business.

Are you sure you weren't trying to take off in any of the smart modes? Everything I read states the preferred method of take off is in Angle Mode. You have to ensure the proper distance in any Smart Mode.

Because when I first had my H, even though I read up on all of this I had issues with it a couple times because of inexperience.

1. Make sure the batteries are charged up, and the Typhoon battery is fully inserted (it clicks into place)

2. Remember: If you are in Smart Mode, the Typhoon will not come closer than 26'/8m. It will back away if you approach it and might not want to come down to land. If you take off within this distance, it will only move away from you. This is the most common cause of early crashes.

3. If it isn't flying the way you expect - stop immediately.

4. Before you take off, check over the ST-16 to make sure you have all the controls in the right position for your flight. Taking off in the wrong mode can cause a lot of trouble.

If you do that, the H will try to find the fastest route away from your controller to put itself outside the required radius for operation in any of The Smart modes. And Yes it will then fly unpredictably if you try to lift off or land in that mode and don't have the minimum distance between you and the H.

 

[PatR]

Not buying it. Yuneec had no problem reviewing >200 flights of my -16 telemetry using DropBox.


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[JCFlippen]

I must say that as someone who normally attracts lemons and lousy service I must defend Yuneec. I deal with Yuneec UK and their service is first class. I had an H with intermittent [possibly GPS related] problems and my complete kit was replaced FOC. I now have latest H Advanced with ST16+.
When my Phantom 1 flew away DJI did not want to know - so no more of my money goes their way.

 

[Photo]

I’m a 3-year drone pilot and consider myself tech savvy. Started with DJI then switched to Yuneec beginning with the Q4K, then added the H in September 2016. What a train wreck product and deteriorating customer service in the last year. Done, already went back to DJI products. You let me down big time Yuneec. To bad, I was one of your greatest evangelist.


4 official cases filed with Yuneec on the H since purchasing new 6 months ago. I live in Illinois so return to California takes a minimum of 3-week turnaround. Issues started first flight out of the box. Wasted time, lost income opportunities, and hours of frustration dealing with this product and customer service.


Case #1 – Calibrated, by no means flying in a congested area, a place I have flown many times. Put in the air to about 15 feet and hover. With no stick input, beeline sideways into a tree. Returned to Yuneec under warranty. Received the same unit back.


Case #2 – Same issue put it up to about 15 feet let it hover and with NO stick input beeline and crash. This return to Yuneec they installed a new GPS board.


Case #3 – Won't land, erratic jerks to the side with no stick input. Yuneec finally replaces the drone only, not the ST16. New drone body has some wires hanging by the camera that weren’t on the original drone. I assume they where antenna modifications. I should also mention that on this third trip to Yuneec they forgot to include the Cgo3 camera when they returned it. That cost me an additional 1.5 weeks downtime.


Case #4 – Erratic jerks to the side again with no stick input. Came very close to another crash. Contacted Yuneec and tried to transmit my telemetry files to them. That is when I gave up. Zipped the telemetry file was 150 mb. Yes, they swear they need the entire file from the ST16. My email system wouldn’t let me send that large of a file. I ask if Yuneec could use Drop Box to view the telemetry files. No, they can’t. Surprising from a supposed technology company! Back to California. 6 months $1200, no quality flight time, lost income opportunities.


Buyers beware – something is going wrong in California, customer service is deteriorating rapidly and in my opinion this H was not ready for release. I prefer not to be on the bleeding edge of their “product development”.

Bbasham, you told us you have a Q500 that you are satisfied with. How come you have lost alot of rev when you have the Q500?

 

[gwhuntoon]

I read a review of the Typhoon H from a National Geographic photo journalist who has extensive background with DJI products had indicated confusion and frustration using the Typhoon H primarily because the ST16 software seemed so different from DJI. He never said it was bad, just confusing because it was different and therefore for him a steep learning curve. He also said he became more comfortable with it the more time he spent flying it and actually came to appreciate some of its (excuse the pun) unique features which to me seemed a fair assessment.

I don't carry that baggage and don't have any particular brand loyalty since I didn't come from either camp. I looked hard at both DJI and Yuneec before settling on the H Pro for various reasons (primarily needing an iPad because the Android was known to have issues) so far have no regrets. I would really like to own an Inspire some day.

I kind of equate it to being in the Windows or Apple camps. I always wanted a Mac since 1984 but was always a Windows person. Now I have and develop for both. Both have strengths and weaknesses but at the end of the day my favorite had to be the Commodore Amiga. Some people from the Apple camp have tried Windows but can never get used to it and vice versa. I think the same thing is happening here. Having been in RC and computers since 1977-78 you tend to get a knack for adapting to change. I'm fiercely independent and pride myself on not needing to rely on support for either RC or computers, but that's just me.

Having failed and learned more times than I care to admit, most of my failures were due to me and not the product. The same holds true for my H Pro. I've had some epic failures getting started with the H. Nothing life altering but it wasn't the product, it was me. (Insert Sun Tzu, The Art of War quote here)

 

[JulesTEO]

The exact same incident after a repair? I would think of a problem with the controller instead of the unit.

Anyway if we could see the telemetry data we could see if there's something odd about the remote and/or the unit.

 

[bbasham]

Not buying it. Yuneec had no problem reviewing >200 flights of my -16 telemetry using DropBox.


Pat, here is the email reply dated February 6, 2017 from Yuneec regarding my telemetry files. The customer service representative said they would ask their IT Department to allow them access to customers DropBox accounts. 3 weeks, no response.
-----------------------
Hello Brad

Unfortunately, we do not have access to your dropbox folder. Could you please send the folder as an attachment through the email. Thank you

Andrew Mier

Customer Care Lead |Yuneec USA

5555 Ontario Mills Parkway

Ontario, CA 91764

T: 844 898 6332
-------------------------

 

[PatR]

Pretty easy to provide access to a DropBox folder by generating a link to the folder and providing the link to Yuneec CS. Each has the option in DropBox to share or not share a file or folder and the instructions for how to share are there for those that want to read them. That's how they reviewed my telemetry. Not right to blame others for a failure on your part.


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