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Permalink Reply by Jake Stew on August 6, 2012 at 7:11pm

Hmm... you didn't post anything here.

Did you properly power the unit and check for serial output?

3DR support is usually pretty good.  Dead components happen sometimes, but 3/4 of the time it's user error.

They're probably just busy helping other users.  You got your email in during the warranty period, so don't worry.  They're not going to rip you off.  But they can't instantly reply to every user who doesn't know how to properly troubleshoot their DIY products.

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Permalink Reply by Jebadiah Moulton on August 7, 2012 at 8:45am

I have been trying to use it with the Sparkfun UDB4 board.  So I have been on the forums over there and several of the people have walked me through the  DOA verification.  I am an EE so I was able to understand the datasheet and what to expect and there was no serial output.  I searched this forum and did not find anything of any use so I did not post anything.

Last night I sent my third email to Sales@3DRobotics and I actually got back an immediate auto response.  I did not get an auto response on the first two email, so in 3DR's defense there email system may have been messed up on the first two.  This does not make me feel better about my wasted time though.  I spent a whole weekend, Saturday and Sunday, troubleshooting this GPS unit and I am not going to spend anymore time on it.  I bought the EM 406 from sparkfun and it worked perfectly.  3DR is saying they will replace the item with a new one but I want my money back since they did not reply to me until the third email and I have already bought a different solution with no headaches.  I do not need nor want two GPS units.

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Permalink Reply by Jake Stew on August 7, 2012 at 4:22pm

It takes 5 minutes to test a GPS unit.  Hook up a serial ttl adapter and look for serial data.  If you get nothing then it's dead.  No need to waste a bunch of time on it, so you can't blame 3DR for that.

I don't think taking a couple days to get back to you is unreasonable.  They're probably busy dealing with people that send multiple emails because they didn't get an immediate response back.

In any case, bad components happen.  It's not their fault.  Certainly not worth crying over.

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Permalink Reply by Jebadiah Moulton on August 8, 2012 at 2:07am

I contacted 3DR on 6/27 and 7/03 and did not here back from them until 8/6, thats more than a couple days.  That is unreasonable.  I know it is not their fault for the DOA part and they are now taking the correct steps with an RMA.  They did drop the ball on customer service by ignoring my first two emails.  Everyone sends bad products now and then, but bad customer service is something that can be avoided.

3DR should also let people review there product.  I did not see an area to review this unit so I posted here.  Sparkfun lets you review every product right on the product page.

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Permalink Reply by Jebadiah Moulton on August 8, 2012 at 10:15am

3DR is going to refund my money once they receive this unit and verify it was truly DOA.  I'm glad they finally stepped up to the plate with good customer service.  It was frustrating that it took over a month and three emails and posting on this forum to get a response.  I'm glad they are trying to fix there mistake.  I still think they should have a place to review each product.  Looks like all will be well.  All it takes is complaining loud enough and eventually they will listen.

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DistributorPermalink Reply by Dany Thivierge on August 8, 2012 at 10:27am

just for the record, you should always email Support@3droboticsfor support and issues like that... emailing sales@ will result in a lot of delays... 

(Just saying, I do not work for 3DR but I have similar system here at CanadaDrones and sales emails are always behind in terms of response time compared to support) 

They also indicated a week ago that they had issues with their ticket system... so you really got unlucky overall as I really think 3DR is doing a great job on support. 

Dany

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3D RoboticsPermalink Reply by Chris Anderson on August 8, 2012 at 10:28am

Sorry to hear about the problems, and glad that they seem to have been resolved. I think you had the bad luck to hit this issue right when the 3DR email system went down (it's back up again). Please let me know if you have any other issues with tech or customer support. 

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