After what seemed like a successful launch right around the time of Interbike, GoPro is likely facing tough times ahead. The company hedged their bets on the fact that a drone with GoPro DNA would be their next big thing, propelling them back into the spotlight. Now they are all being recalled. Worse yet, the recall comes after at least one extremely negative review, though most seem to be lukewarm at best. Even though we got a chance to look at the drone at Interbike, we were not given the chance to actually try it out, so we can’t comment on its real world performance.
The real problem though, isn’t negative reviews, but the fact that they seem to be falling out of the sky. Literally. Due to some sort of glitch, there have been a handful which seem to have flipped over mid-flight, only to plummet to earth. And since they’re essentially a flying camera…
video c. Nicholas Kulick/youtube
There’s plenty of video proof when it happens. GoPro claims that there have only been a very small number of cases where the Karma has crashed without a real cause, but obviously any chance of the drone falling out of the sky unexpectedly is unacceptable. Those who have purchased Karma drones will be given full refunds either through the place of purchase or directly from GoPro. There is no option for replacement product now as GoPro says they will not be re-releasing the drone until the issues have been worked out.
According to their press release,“Safety is our top priority,” said GoPro Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman. “A very small number of Karma owners have reported incidents of power failure during operation. We have moved quickly to recall all units of Karma and provide a full refund while we investigate the issue. We are working in close coordination with both the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Federal Aviation Administration. We are very sorry to have inconvenienced our customers and we are taking every step to make the return and refund process as easy as possible.”
Available for sale since October 23, the recall affects about 2,500 units. Follow the link below for the recall submission.
