I think that phrase is “Buyer beware;” however, “be informed” works for this situation. As a blogger, I am about the truth as I find it. I am also about full disclosure. I am reading forums: [the Parrot—AR.Drone, the German—AiR-Drone.de, and the AR.Drone Flyers]. I also look at uploaded Videos on YouTube, Vimeo, and forums where that may not have been uploaded to a video services. I’m looking at pictures on flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, and any place else on the Internet where I can find information on this amazing Parrot invention, with its integration with the iphone. Before I go on, I’ll say Parrot are masters in marketing their product. I think they deserve an A+.
But, I digress for a bit. Although I am a blogger, I am a consumer and one who is curious about public reality. Why? In the US Army, I also served as an Inspector General as a Lieutenant Colonel. I taught the IG Assistance Function at the Army Inspector General School. The experience leaves me with a curious and concerned mind, if no more. As a forum participant, the drone related forums are not my first. I was a member of a Tablet PC Forum known at Tablet PC Buzz about 5 years ago. I worked very hard at responded to questions. I owned a Motion TPC, owned a computer company, and have a master Degree in Information Systems. My undergraduate degree is in business management. Anyway, my efforts and those of two other distinguished colleagues earned us the distinction of being honored as Members of the Year. I am very proud of that recognition. Technology moved on, as did I and entered the forum world of cycling as a member of 5 cycling forums. My greatest participation is as a member of ‘Bentrider Online. I have been on that board since October 2005. I have participated in multiple other forums here and there. I also began blogging in 2005. I combined multiple separate blogs into my current Cycling Experiences… Blog November 2008. When I have a problem, I report it. There is no cover up. My readers deserve my forth-rightness. I also must meet the standards of my character. These varied experiences give me pause with regard to problems I see with the AR.Drone device and Parrot response to its customers and potential customers.
The drones you have seen here, for the most part, look to be fun and well behaved. Well, there have been some not so well behaved drones, in spite of the pilot’s best efforts. Frustration has be expressed on each of the drone forums (3) I read. My concern is how the manufacturer seems [at least publically] to respond to the problems reported, albeit some on forums that should have been presented in warranty channels. Certainly, the manufactures has a responsibility to measure customer satisfaction through its official channels. On the other hand, if the manufacturer uses those same channels to hype [market] their product and not use those channels to show sensitivity to consumer concerns, there is a serious disconnect—at least in my mind. A few days ago [09/13], as a blogger, I enter a plea to Parrot to let its customers hear from them.
Each of you make excellent points. The problem, apparent, or otherwise concerns me. I hope for a direct reply from Parrot to this problem on this forum. I am a blogger who has published 9 articles on the AR.Drone. I also have one on order–delayed by Amazon.com. I cannot continue my coverage without reporting there is a problem. Parrot must recognize that its customers and potential buyers think there is a problem–THERE IS!
My hope is when I publish, I’ll be able to state what Parrot is doing about the problem. Otherwise, my perception is they are in denial. I may well refer to tnw2933′s response from Parrot USA.
I see this as an URGENT matter that affect us all. Please Parrot, let us know your position on this.
Jim Artis
On the matter of Spam, well run forums do not tolerate it and spare their readers the inconvenience.
On the same day, I posted this to the AR.Drone Flyers Forum:
Thanks Tom,
I also posted to the Parrot AR.Drone Forum. As a blogger, who has left my readers with the impression this is a GREAT toy, must also report there is a problem. I want to include Parrot’s response to this problem. At this point, it does not seem that will be a favorable report on their actions. I am considering canceling my order and will advise my readers to wait unless I see responsible action on Parrot’s part. Thanks for your post and the 2 that preceded it.
Jim
I have waited until today to put forth information I think my readers deserve, should they be contemplating purchasing a Parrot AR. Drone. Let’s take a look at some of the problems, as recorded by video.
Then there is Bug # 30 from Tilman Griesel:
Today i’m flying with the drone in my garden.
After a few seconds flying over 20cm high grass,
the ARDone display an ultrasound alert and ascend into heaven.Any sink commands from the iPhone App were ignored from the Drone.
After the drone was 40 – 50 Meters over the ground the landing command reached the drone and she survives this bug.
(the altitude lock was on)
Let’s read some of the consumer post: [I ask that you read the complete thread for full context.]
There are people with ar drones who have unexpectedly had their drone suddenly shoot up in the air with and without the alt limit set. When outdoors the drones appear to keep going up and you can’t control them. They end up blowing downwind and you can’t control it.. Some lose them all together, others are luckily enough to track 500 mtrs or more and manage to locate the broken drone..
I have had this happen to me but I was inside to it hit the roof and came down. I don’t want this to happen when out doors as I don’t want my £300 floating off down the street without any input from me..
Parrot need to recognize this as an issue so we can claim on warranty.
I would also be interested if there was a pattern to when this happens? I.e. Does it happen when flight mode isn’t on, does this happen when you are in the vicinity of your home wifi internet point etc…
Post here if you have had this happen and what configuration you were running.
This is a parrot forum therefore and they have to recognize the issue especially when posted on their forum.
I am sure we all would like some feedback from the developers on what is being done about resolving this issue.
I am reluctant to fly mine outside until a new firmware is released that resolves this common issue.
Look forward to your posts…
From Juan, 09/13
I also had this same issue after turning off the altitude limiter, it ended up shooting straight up at which point the controls stopped working I was lucky enough that a tree was nearby which it proceeded to crash into and then land on one of the props which on impact snapped off from the central cross. I plan on ordering a central cross and replacing it myself, but having a $300 “drone” just fly away because the software is buggy is not nice to say the least.
I will not post more. Information is there to be read, should you want to know. I say, buyer be informed.
Now, Parrot’s response. Parrot USA comes on the forum 09/14—in a thread titled Official Support and says: [Again, please read the complete thread for full context.]
It looks like plenty of folks are not taking full advantage of Parrot Tech Support.
In the U.S. Please call 1-877-9-PARROT and press option 2.
Monday – Friday 9 am to 7 pm eastern time we are here to help you in any way shape way possible.
The forums here are not for official support as we generally are not viewing them.
On 09/14 @ 4:49 p.m.
Europe is handled by Parrot SA, which is the parent company based in France. North American is handled by Parrot USA. Monkey Cowboy, The forum is intended for community assisted support of basic issues. Not reporting warranty issues. Also still awaiting your reply so I can make a personal effort to find out why your email that you submitted prior to the U.S. launch of service was not answered.
On 09/15 at 11:11 a.m.
That is exactly why I posted the original message! Get in touch with your tech support in your region to resolve your issues.
i do not think the manufacturer, Parrot, is responding to customer concerns as well as they could. My forum experience is that many manufacturers interact with their buyers and potential buyers to quell concerns about a particular problem or matters the can adversely affect sales. That is not my observation here. There is the official bureaucratic response that warranty channel must be used, yet Parrot used facebook, twitter, YouTube, etc. to sell their product. In the 21st Century, that troubles me. Yesterday, 09/17, I respond to this post from mf25053 in the original thread:
I think we should be reporting it through official channels. Namely email or phone calls to tech support. The forums aren’t going to get their attention
My reply:
Where I agree with you, forums affect buying decisions for some. I have found where manufacturers engage with their customers [on forums], the general attitude between manufactures and customer is much more positive. Parrot USA has posted here, but to say we are not reading this forum. –jim
mf25053
That’s exactly why I mentioned it. They’re dealing the the customers who are actually reporting it.
There’s things that are required for RMA assistance that I’m not putting on a forum. And I’m sure they don’t want that liability either.
I’m in the service industry. There are days I hate to deal with a constant stream of email, phone calls, while actually trying to do work. Throw in babysitting a forum… no thank you.
My reply:
Nor would I expect you to. Warranty work must be dealt with differently. Forums affect public opinions. I’ve seen them worked well and I’ve seen potential customers turned off. I say the manufacturer can have a role in that. –jim
My experience is that many companies do not see reading forums as babysitting. In the meantime, the product is flying off the shelf and literally flying away. It will be interesting to see where this goes. I certainly hope for the better and that for the many that are buy the AR,Drone only to have experiences different than they expected. Then there are the supply channels. That is another story…
Just love the second video with the AR Drone POV and great music. Making the most of your new toy’s glitch!!
Thanks Joe, I’m see no press stating there is a problem. As I search and read, I become aware and feel a responsibility to share my finding with my readers. So, here you have it. Yep, the owner put up a nice video for his chagrins. Thanks for the comment. –jim
Well great Infos.
I have been expelled from postingh on Parrots Facebook Site because i brought up some the Issues to the Public there.
All my Comments i have had made since beginning of the Year have been removed.
I am banned to make any new Comments on theyre Facebook Site.
Before all of this happened i had send multiple E-Mails to theyre Support, which NOT 1!!!! had been replied within the last 4 or 5 Weeks.
Expansys which also does the Mailorder for Parrot in Europe refused untill a few Days ago to do any Repairs unter warranty, and only send the Endconsumers a Bill for Repairs with the Optionts to either Pay for the Repair or have the Drone thrown away by Expansys.
I got expelled form the Facebook Site after i had asked Parrot why the Consumers would get cheated out of theyre Warranty, guess they didnt like it to much.
Finally 1 Consumer that has been given a Repair-Estimate of 236 Euros has finally got his fixed under Warranty. He is also a Member of http://www.air-drone.de like me as well.
Think Parrot needs to change theyre Customer Relations Tactics or will have a Class Action Lawsuite on theyre ARSE sooner then they would have ever imagined
Guten Tag Wolfgang,
I am sorry you were banned and have had service difficulties with your Parrot AR.Drone. I hope the compilation of information in my article will help them view the situation in a different light.
I am also a member of your AiR-Drone.de Forum as jalexartis. I do not speak German, but I lived in Germany 4 years in the 70s.
Thanks for placing a comment here.
Best regards,
Jim
i also had the same issue with the ar drone. the first day it arrived i fired it up.and it flew away uncontrollably over 30 feet.i thought i was gonna lose it but luckily it got stuck on top of the tree.
Sorry to hear that. I wish Parrot would tell us what they are doing in response to these incidents. Did you report your incident to them? I hope it was not to difficult to recover from the tree. The best and thanks for placing your comment here. –jim
it was not difficult as i thought it was, i had to use a ladder to get it. and called brookstone and told them it’s defective product and demanded RMA # for refund but they refused to give me one, instead they referred me to parrot for warranty repair. so i sent it to parrot 2 days ago.it cost me $30 for shipping with insurance.i hope ill get it sooner and expect 100% working. if not. i would call my credit card company and tell them i’ve been ripped off. and they will dispute the charge for me.:)
I hope for the best for you. Please tell us how it turns out. –jim
I purchased an AR Drone from Brookstone. The first thing that happened was that it took off for the roof unexpectedly then crashed to the floor (3 meters). Fortunately no damage. After gaining some confidence to fly it I took it outside and the same thing happened….it unexpectedly took off for heaven without me being able to control it. I was afraid to fly it again outdoors. Also battery life is awful. Just lifting off the floor and not doing anything else the battery lasted 7 minutes. Much less when flying outside. Two thumbs down. Took it back for refund.
Sorry the AR.Drone did not work for you. You did the right thing. The best…
Jim
Wow! Guess I was lucky, and happy to be so well informed in advance. Mine arrived today from Amazon. Great pics of technology. First things first. Set rate of climb to 300 mm/ sec. Why let your drone take off like a rocket? If mine goes screwy it will climb only a foot a second. That is SLOW. Then I slowed turns and forward tilt… And took off! Amazing. Hovers like a pro over 5 cm grass on a large lawn. Took and landed three times first from no more than 3 feet. Wind was an issue so I could not fight drift well with my slim settings. So I landed, reentered in yard, and took off again. 15 minutes of FLIGHT time ended too quickly. Charged the battery, and had a second flight of 14 min. Increased parameters slightly, and did three figure eights. My advice is to go slowly. If your drone disappears within seconds, you are using wrong settings. I love my drone and can’t wait for my two extra batteries to arrive tomorrow. Good flying to one and all. Just enjoy the ride!
Good for you and good for us. Thanks for the report and sound advice. That is certainly the way I will fly. Thanks for sharing and commenting here. I appreciate it. –jim
8 flights later and traveling around the house on the outside. The wifi can be cranky at times on startup. Just make sure the program is not running under os4 without stopping it first, then starting again. Worked with both my iPhone and iPad, but I prefer the iPhone. More ergonomically suited. Being a child of joysticks, I still need to wean away from pushing my thumb to control instead of tilting. But it is intuitive. Still go at 33 cm a sec for vertical speed. Lost acoustics over some rough grass and started to climb. But not out of control, and I brought it back down before it was over ten feet. Have brought it up to 25 feet, but that’s enough for now. All three batteries work as advertised, love this drone. Fly on and keep smiling. Jim
Thanks for the update. Jim, you have been busy since the 12th. Congratulations on all your success. I hope to begin flying next week. In the meantime, I continue camera preparation.
I see Amazon.com has two of the colors in stock, buy not the Orange/Blue I want. What color is yours?
Jim
I have the orange yellow. I have spent so many hours reading good and bad from this drone. I don’t have Money to throw away on toys. But I do respect the technology that this represents. Sure. I have had wifi connection problems a few times. But compared to a home network, this is a snap. Just slow down and think. Reboot. Are other networks in the area. If you think proactively, this will work. And the hover states, the ability to stream video, the ability to just let go and watch it stabilize from operator error…. It boggles the mind. I am sure there are problems out there. Who dint have problems with both Mac and Windows? But for the price, this is a true STEAL. And no, I have no agenda. I am a handicapped teacher in Vermont trying to forget his problems. Peace, and good luck when you get your drone. Jim
Jim, You tell a heartwarming story that is as it is because of the manner you are using your AR.Drone. I find no direct evidence the Parrot [France] has/is acting responsibly and has accepted accountability for the experiences of many if its drone owners.
Yes, there has been a firmware update and as I understand it they are replacing “fly-away” drones where the owner report to them the lost of their drone.
I think it would be good for their customer relation and potential sales to acknowledge problems and state solutions.
Be that as it may, I’m happy to read and have my reader see stories like yours. Thanks for telling it here. I like balance in an article. You give us hope. Enjoy your orange & yellow drone. I am within a week of having mine.
Thanks Jim and the best to you!
Warm regards.
Jim
More feel good stories from Vermont. Have taken two night flights. Amazing to see the LEDs hover and dance across the lawn. With no visual input fro down facing camera, one must work to stay steady, but not an issue. Wind took me into a small diameter pole, but the motors cut out immediately, the blades are none the worse for wear, and we flew again minutes later. Can we say the word robust??
From what I have read, the imaging software for hover is similar to that which NASA used on the Mars landers. Anyone have knowledge of such? Hoping we are flying well in North Carolina. Jim
I will soon. I worked on implementing my video setup first. I powered it on yesterday–all systems are good. I also connected with my 5 drone apps–all work. I will probably fly it today. Your early “slowly” advice fits the way I treat my investment. I fly it as I plan to use it for video. I won’t be racing about.
I have no knowledge of the software’s origin. I also find the LED’s fascinating and plan to have a lighted landing pad at some point.
Thanks for keeping me updated. I am placing my drone comments in my purchase article.
Best…
Jim in NC
Is anyone experiencing low battery life with the supplied AR Drone battery? Before returning my drone to Brookstone I was getting 5 to 7 minutes max. I had two batteries, neither charged properly. I never got the steady green on the charger that would tell me the battery was topped off. I left one battery on the charger overnight and it still was not charged where the green light on the charger would come on. I would love to have my drone back, but will not buy another until I know the fly away problem and battery life problem are solved.
This is an amazing concoction of technology and I had high hopes for it. The price tag I did not have an issue with because I knew how much tech has been put into the unit.
Because this drone senses height over an object it will increase/decrease altitude over obstacles rapidly. When flying in close quarters this causes the drone to “jump”. Wish there were a way of controlling the absolute altitude. / M
Hello Dronedust,
There are issues. I question Parrot’s pre-sales testing and their repair parts preparation. Good to see your interest is keen and that you look to their resolution of these problems before flying again.
If your drone was a “fly-away” lost,I understand you need to give Parrot the serial number and copy of your sales receipt to receive a replacement. Please let us know.
Thanks for sharing your position on this problem. The best…
Jim
Hello Dronedust…
Your battery issue should not be common. I bought two additional batteries, and all three charge in 90 minutes, all give green status lights, and all give 12 to 18 minutes flight. I wonder if your balancer was defective?? I read an article recently praising the general quality of the Parrot batteries. From what I read here, the quality control is sorely lacking. Good luck. Jim, the guy in Vermont
Thanks Jim,
I’ll receive my drone on Tuesday. –jim, the guy in North Carolina.
Well, unfortunately, I failed to do the research before purchasing my AR.Drone. I was excited at the marketing and I admit, I fell for it. I purchased the AR.Drone as a Christmas present and we had a lot of fun with it indoors. We finally decided to take it outside the first non-windy day we had. That was the last flight as it took off and was never seen again. Here is my YouTube video.
It looks, from the video, like the Drone survived the crash, but it fell into a protected wetland area far from the house. We searched for 2 days and never found it.
I did contact parrot support and filed a claim. No word yet on the resolution. I do understand parrot trying to keep the undocumented features (like flying away) of their product quiet. I am ok as long as individually, they solve each users problem with repair/replacement. I will keep everyone here updated when my case is resolved.
Hi Jack,
Sorry for your loss and thanks for posting here. I know some owners have experiences flying circumstances as you report. Then, there are others who have not. I am one of those who has not. I have the altitude limit on and do not try to fly high. I have not had my drone uncontrollably gain altitude. You will find reports of both at AR.Drone Flyers Forum. The best and I hope you hear from Parrot soon.
Thanks again!
Jim
Update on my AR.Drone loss. Parrot reviewed my complaint and agreed that the loss was do to a firmware issue. They are replacing my lost Drone with a new one (with new firmware). No ETA yet, but thier customer service process was smooth and Parrot did not play games. Maybe the video helped.
Thanks,
Jack.
Jack, That is GREAT News and consistent with what I have read from others who experienced similar losses. Thanks for the update. –jim
Jim,
The weather is improving and soon will be outdoors with my drone. I am wondering if I have the latest software update for the drone to prevent flyaway. Do you know what the latest firmware is ?
Marsh
Jack, same thing happened to me. I am sorry for my boy, he watched it fly away, this was his birthday present. I am utterly disgusted. May I ask , how did you file a claim?
I bought 2 drones, two days ago. One for me, one for my wife. She likes remote control stuff too. My problem is different from any mentioned here but other users have experienced the problem on their forums.
I charge both batteries, and wait for full charge. Download newest software on my ipad. Ar.done broadcast wifi, I connect…. so far so good, all standard. The app on ipad says there’s an update to firmware. (I always update firmware on my device’s – usually leads to better performance and fix’s bugs, so why not?) The app gets all the way thru uploading the new firmware to device and tells me to restart the drone. I detach, re-attach battery and wait……….. waited a while in fact. The app gets stuck on restarting. The drone’s 4 leds stay red, led on bottom never goes green. Both units wont broadcast a wifi signal, so I cant connect to them anymore.
Rinse and repeat with unit two.
Next day I call tech support, they tell me press unpair button, deattach battery, wait 3 seconds, place on level ground and reattach battery. This procedure fails to get either unit working again. Parrot tech says I must send them back to company for repair. So I’m out over $700 because I bought extra batteries and propellers. All that money and i never even flew them once.
Why didn’t I listen to the little voice in back of my head when I heard the return policy. Parrot is going to cover the cost of the returns, I dropped them off at fedex this afternoon in fact.
It’s just the principle. How come they don’t include a $1 usb cord for times when the wifi isn’t working. There’s no backup plan for no wifi, thats just bad business, bad tech. I’m very unhappy.
Sorry you experienced this problem with your 2 AR.Drones. You may find the AR.Drone Flyers Forum useful in avoiding and resolving problems of this type. The best. –jim
This happening to an increasing number of new AR Drone customers. Don’t even get flight #1. It even happened to the admin of ardrone-flyers.com.
Thanks Nuroo for the link to information about the resent firmware update. My point is the forum is a way for owners to be aware of other owners experiences. Thanks for joining the forum and stating your experiences. We trust that Parrot will resolve soon. –jim
Jim,
My drone has been in it’s box for several months. I have read that the batteries should not be charged until they are totally run down. Should I recharge before another attempt to fly or fly with them as is and run them down then recharge?
dronedust
Hi DD,
I’d fly until the battery is depleted and then charge. The best…
Jim
DON’T BUT ONE!!!!
I only had mine for 3 hours when it went shooting up into the air and then came crashing back down and smashing. These drones have an altitude problem which causes it to lose control. Parrot will not accept that there is a problem. I wish I had never purchased it, it was just a total waste of money.
Is anyone using Flight Record software? I used it for a few months and liked it better than A.R. FreeFlight. Then a couple of months ago Flight Record issued an update to the software. Now with the ceiling limit on when it reaches max height it abruptly drops about 3 feet and zooms back to upper altitude limit again. It keeps doing this again and again so that you cannot ever have consistent height. This is crazy. Very unhappy now with the software that worked fine before the update. Unfortunately I cannot install the older level software because it has been written over. Hopefully they will issue a fix as I have to keep height limited manually.
dronedust
thanks for your website, I know better now. We lost our drone as it took off into the sky, only had it for one day.
How does one get compensated for what is clearly a design issue??!
Hello Paul,
Sorry for your misfortune. Where are you located? If USA, contact AR.Drone USA.
The best.
Jim
It’s a great product except the motherboard what seems to be a complete failure.
The ar drone could be a mega success when it was bug free.
I’m wondering when people are getting fed up with Parrot and boycot there ar drones.