Hubsan and Hubsan forum readers

[BobDrev]

I purchased an upper end $219 entry level Hubsan H501ss drone with the expectations it would perform as advertised. It did for one week. After contacting GearBest, the authorized Hubsan vendor where I purchased the drone, about this warranty problem, I was abandoned.
For one week after I received this drone I was estatic. It seemed to work flawlessly. One week later, not so much. My FPV screen began to flash off and on, horizontal static lines thru screen that rendered it unusable. Anyone who read my origional posts knows my experience so I won't go thru it again.
I joined this forum hoping I would get some assistance from Hubsan but got very little. Only a suggestion that the problem could be the drone 5.8 GHZ antenna. Had I followed this advice and replaced this antenna I would have sunk further into the abyss of a voided warranty.
I finally called Hubsan repair to discuss what could be done about this problem. Most of my conversation with Hubsan was listening to what they would not do. They would not pay for shipping either to or from. Warranty is voided if ANYTHING was altered or added to product. Seems like most of my experience with Hubsan repair was them explaining all of their escape clauses that allowed them to not honor any warranty. They also told me how often customers lie about the causes of their problems. I wonder if Ford would void a warranty if you replaced hubcaps.
I completely understand Hubsans need to determine whether a problem was caused by customer or a warranty issue. If Hubsan really wanted to retain me or anyone as a satisfied customer, they would have explained that any additions or changes a customer may have made that caused the warranty problem complaint would not be covered and would be the financial responsibility of the customer. Instead, I was told that because I installed upgraded antennas on controller to try to fix FPV problem and installed prop guards on drone, my warranty was voided. My adding these upgrades DID NOT CAUSE FPV PROBLEM. My drone flies fine and recorded video is fine.
My origional plan was to become a competent pilot of my Hubsan drone and learn to produce good aerial videos. I then planned on purchasing a Hubsan H109S X4 Pro. Will I do this now? No at this time. Will I recommend Hubsan products to others? Not at this time.
Should my experience with Hubsan repair turn out to be a fair decision on their part, I will post and let everyone know. If not, I will also let everyone know. I don't expect a fair decision but one never knows.

[W95]

Hi BobDrev. As a potential customer looking to buy a nice Hubsan, I found your post interesting. One question... in the beginning you said it was good you didn't take the advice to change the antenna but then later said your warranty was voided because you did. Can you clarify what happened? Also, if the technical support advice was to actually change it, why would this void the warranty when you apparently did?

[justjarhead]

Bob,

I totally understand your frustrations with the warranty and how unfriendly it is. As I have posted it is pennywise and pound foolish and is far from being pro customer in the way it is applied. I am not an advocate of it and I fought tooth and nail to get a $5 antenna replaced and to have them pay the shipping. When I originally researched the warranty they had on the http://hubsan/support page an outdated warranty that said they paid for return shipping. They have since updated this old warranty and are impossible to deal with re: a warranty issue.

All I can say is be persistent. Up until the middle of the month the published warranty said they paid return shipping and it was the only warranty I could refer to. Depending on when you bought your H501-S you may be in same boat.

I normally don't publish this info on social media but decided to use the Hubsan pages on FB to make my issues known. It was not about the $5 antenna but about principle and adhering to published documents. As far as I was concerned I documented my case and was very persistent.

Some members compare the issue as that of a car breaking down when under warranty and that you have to absorb getting it to & from dealer. That is much different than seeing the warranty that says they will pay the shipping.

The worst part of warranty is it is Hubsan discretion to honor the warranty or not. My simple antenna was a key issue. After 2 days use it would come apart at the flex joint and it was never dropped, kicked or crashed into the ground.

I currently have a month old H501A with bad FPV transmit where its output is 23 on the rssi screen of the H901A at 5 feet or less.( I borrowed an H901A transmitter to measure). I am betting when and if I decide to open the drone I will find a bad connection. But because of the discretion they have in honoring the warranty I am not taking on the expense of shipping to California and back. It is cheaper if I buy a transmitter board if needed vs. paying two way shipping.

We are not the only ones who have issues re: service levels and warranty. I have seen a few others get very vocal about it.

All I can say is good luck Bob.

OBTW when did you buy the H501S

[BobDrev]

W95 : I ordered and installed a set of upgraded antenna to controller before I registered on Hubsan forum to see if that would fix FPV problem. It didn't. The other mention of an antenna was from a Hubsan rep on this forum asking if I had replaced 5.8 antenna in drone. I hadn't but had I taken that advice it would have sunk me deeper into a voided warranty. Seems like everything voids warranty, whether your advised to do it or not.



JustJarHead: I ordered drone from GearBest on 6-15-18 and received it on 6-23-18. Hey, thanks for your support!

[justjarhead]

W95 : I ordered and installed a set of upgraded antenna to controller before I registered on Hubsan forum to see if that would fix FPV problem. It didn't. The other mention of an antenna was from a Hubsan rep on this forum asking if I had replaced 5.8 antenna in drone. I hadn't but had I taken that advice it would have sunk me deeper into a voided warranty. Seems like everything voids warranty, whether your advised to do it or not.



JustJarHead: I ordered drone from GearBest on 6-15-18 and received it on 6-23-18. Hey, thanks for your support!

The warranty return shipping statement was altered/changed on 6/28/2018 at 03:25 pm. This is now the posted warranty on this site. The warranty that applies to you should be the one that had Hubsan paying the return shipping.

If you challenged this in court the Warranty that applied to you at the time of purchase is the one that Hubsan should honor no matter what the current warranty says. The warranty at the time of purchase is an implied contract at that point in time.