DJI REPAIR SCAM

[Jiggy]

Got a mavic pro probably like many of you tried flying it inside and crashed it nothing major couple broken propellers scratch here and there. And a gimbal cover was on so not even a scratch on camera or gimbal motors.

After crash inspected no broken parts.
But got gimbal overload error.
After painstaking searching for similar problems to see if I can fix it myself.
Found a video on YouTube with exactly the same problem, after asking him what was his problem and how much did it cost him,
He said it was gimbal control board and
Cost $17 but all has been waived because it was on warranty.



So I got excited because it's not going to cost me much to repair.
Since you can't find any parts to buy so you could fix it yourself.
And I live in Canada it took a week to get there then another week on dji shelf
After talking to so called support finally got the email with invoice

Invoice

Customer:
Case:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 01-30-17
Remarks: Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing.

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Intelligent Flight Battery 1 89.00
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 179.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers
1 9.00 Top Cover 1 1.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/h 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 429.00
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 429.00



After talking with support and telling him that all I need repaired is gimbal.
I don't want battery because they asked to send drone and remote no battery.
I don't want new arms old ones are good I tested it was good flown it a couple of times to ensure.
I don't need top cover and frame they are fine not a scratch.
Propellers I'd take
I'm guessing that the person I talked about
Didn't tell them he had a crash
I did so ok I'll pay your labour change.

Invoice 2

Customer:
Case No:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 01-31-17
Remarks: Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing.

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 1 179.00
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers
1 9.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Top Cover 1 1.00
Intelligent Flight Battery 1 89.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 429.00
Discount: -42.90
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 386.10

After this I'm pretty fed up with DJI
call again requested to speak with supervisor talked to on it seemed like his getting my point so he said I will be charged for gimbal and that's all and I should receive invoice in half hour...
A day later got invoice

Invoice 3


Case No:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 02-02-17
Remarks: 1. Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing. 2. Additional 10% discount for inaccurate part cost

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Top Cover 1 1.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 1 179.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers 1 1 9.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Intelligent Flight Battery 1 89.00
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 429.00
Discount: -85.80
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 343.20


At this point finally got to me that DJI USA is not in the business of repairing drones just replacing.
So I call again speak to another Supervisor and he told me that they might have to replace my drone because there is too much damage horse ****. so I'm done at this point and I say fine replace the arms and gimbal then as I wait for invoice again called day later requested to talk to manager tried to explain that all I want is to repair parts that are faulty then he goes on that I must replace arms because it won't pass quality assurance. So I told him that I didn't send my drone for replacement just for repair and he admitted that they don't repair mavic just replace and that they don't have parts now and ya they just send replacements aha so that's why you want to charge me for all this parts.Because you don't have any in
MANUFACTURE REPAIR SHOP!!!! REALLY!!!!
IT'S PARTS AND REPAIR MONOPOLY
I HAVE RECORDED MOST OF MY PHONE CALLS WITH THEN WILL UPLOAD THEM TO YOUTUBE TO WARN
PEOPLE THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

The 10% discount is for
179.00 for gimbal and camera charge
Confronted the supervisor's about this
Turns out they don't even know about online repair price chart

In their ONLINE REPAIR PRICING CHART
It's 159.00 for gimbal and camera

Got final invoice
Invoice 4

Customer:
Case No:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 02-03-17
Remarks: 1. Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing. 2. Additional 10% discount for inaccurate part cost 3. Removed the shell and battery per tasked customer request

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 1 179.00
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 339.00
Discount: -67.80
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 271.20

And I told them I would like them to send me the old "broken gimbal assembly will see.
Battery has been taken out and top cover
And some credit discount applied for wrong
Gimbal and camera price.

In the end I still overpaid for “repair”

This goes to BBB if anybody have a similar problem recommend do same

BBB Accredited Business Review for DJI Service, LLC.

where the charge should be
$17 for part
$65 labor
$9 Props
total $91

Got this when I tried posting this on their forum.

 

[Cyberpower678]

Classic Chinese language based incompetency.

 

[Cyberpower678]

A word of advice, try emailing them instead. They have really great support reps in the US email support.

 

[Robbyg]

If I think about it I cannot remember a single case were a person sent back a Mavic and got back their original Mavic!

People on Youtube and the forums always say that the serial number is different, they had to Re-Pair the controller with the returned Mavic and any identifying marks they made on the unit are gone. The only conclusion is that they really do not repair them at all and it actually makes sense from DJI's perspective.

DJI is not the first company that I have seen do this, I have also came across several Japanese companies that do the same thing. In a business world it makes sense because they send your old drone back to China and strip off all the parts, inspect them and then throw the physically good circuit boards back on the production line, If the board has an electrical defect it will be rejected when it's placed in the assembly line testing jig. I would imagine that all the cheap plastic parts are just dumped and the camera and gimbal are probably sent to a separate department for analysis and repair if possible.

This all makes good sense from a DJI perspective because it allows them to offer fast service and they lesson their chances that an improperly trained person missed a problem also it allows them to use cheap Chinese technical labor throughout the whole process. The only thing the foriegn service centers do is probably inspect the Mavic for the slightest mark or damage and tick off a box for that item so that the bill can be calculated. Then box up your drone and add it to a pallet going back to China. They then grab a new drone off the shelf and balance the in/out flow of units.

From a consumer standpoint this sucks because a slightly battered yet almost working drone may end up costing you a bundle as in the OP's case.

For DJI it's like running a casino, the odds are always in their favor, but I suspect someone can beat the house if they send in a drone with lots of mileage but in perfect physical condition except for a minor defect like a broken motor prop holding plate. In this scenario the system may work in your favor as they may just send you a brand new drone for $30 plus shipping. Any other kind of case and your SOL as they are going to check off as many damaged area boxes as they can.

Rob

 

[niclariv]

You know I think I got screwed too. When I flew inside and crashed, the only thing broken was a little tab that prevents the back left arm from over extending upward, but when they sent the invoice it had basically everything on your list to repair on it, so I chose to refresh. If they actually repaired there, they would have probably been able to just replace that one part for cheaper than the cost of a refresh (and not used up one of my two Refresh's). I had tested it before sending it off and everything seemed fine, including the camera and gimbal, but they listed those things on their repair form. This is indeed a scam. Now my drone is in for warranty service - jello video in the one they sent back on refresh. I'll be interested to see if they actually replace the gimbal as they stated, or if my Mavic has just been in their possession for a week sitting on a shelf and they're just going to send back a different - probably untested - one that may or may not work perfectly.


iPhone 6S

 

[triumphrider]

There's a couple of approved vendors on this forum that will repair Mavic Pros if you mail it to them. I would say if you don't have DJI Care Refresh I would start with them before DJI directly.

 

[Jiggy]

There's a couple of approved vendors on this forum that will repair Mavic Pros if you mail it to them. I would say if you don't have DJI Care Refresh I would start with them before DJI directly.

I would send it to my local only one shop in Canada but they didn't have parts yet and they at least ask you if you want the old part back.

 

[stratos]

Classic Chinese language based incompetency.

Mate I agree, This is why I bought the care refresh.
I know how they typically run their business and the repair centers need to reach a monthly quote on repairs, I dont blame them, I blame DJI that make them push parts that the costumer doesnt require

 

[niclariv]

There's a couple of approved vendors on this forum that will repair Mavic Pros if you mail it to them. I would say if you don't have DJI Care Refresh I would start with them before DJI directly.

Good to know. In my case even with Refresh I should have sent it somewhere else so I didn't use my first Refresh up on such a small problem. When they sent me the invoice listing all those things wrong I assumed that they had noticed them when testing more carefully, even though after the crash I launched my drone in the house and hovered and it was 100% fine. The little plastic tab I was getting repaired was bending but not broken so I wanted it fixed as a precaution.


iPhone 6S

 

[iride4u]

Not seeing your Mavic I will talk about my experience with a crash that I had. The Bird was a Phantom 3 Advanced. When I examined the P3A I found a broken gimbal mount board and a bad cable. These parts were ordered and installed along with 4 new props. While the camera worked properly as far as the gimbal was concerned I could not sync the controller to the bird. Upon closer inspection I found a cracked arm and a stiff motor. I opened the shell and found the inner frame was destroyed as well as connectors pulled off the board.
Why I am telling you this is what you see may not be all that is bad. Also if the company was to do a partial repair and the bird crashed and hurt someone lawyers would have a field day.
I a few months we should be able to get repair parts but DJI must fill the supply line of new birds first.

 

[AwesoM]

Got a mavic pro probably like many of you tried flying it inside and crashed it nothing major couple broken propellers scratch here and there. And a gimbal cover was on so not even a scratch on camera or gimbal motors.

After crash inspected no broken parts.
But got gimbal overload error.
After painstaking searching for similar problems to see if I can fix it myself.
Found a video on YouTube with exactly the same problem, after asking him what was his problem and how much did it cost him,
He said it was gimbal control board and
Cost $17 but all has been waived because it was on warranty.



So I got excited because it's not going to cost me much to repair.
Since you can't find any parts to buy so you could fix it yourself.
And I live in Canada it took a week to get there then another week on dji shelf
After talking to so called support finally got the email with invoice

Invoice

Customer:
Case:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 01-30-17
Remarks: Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing.

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Intelligent Flight Battery 1 89.00
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 179.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers
1 9.00 Top Cover 1 1.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/h 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 429.00
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 429.00



After talking with support and telling him that all I need repaired is gimbal.
I don't want battery because they asked to send drone and remote no battery.
I don't want new arms old ones are good I tested it was good flown it a couple of times to ensure.
I don't need top cover and frame they are fine not a scratch.
Propellers I'd take
I'm guessing that the person I talked about
Didn't tell them he had a crash
I did so ok I'll pay your labour change.

Invoice 2

Customer:
Case No:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 01-31-17
Remarks: Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing.

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 1 179.00
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers
1 9.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Top Cover 1 1.00
Intelligent Flight Battery 1 89.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 429.00
Discount: -42.90
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 386.10

After this I'm pretty fed up with DJI
call again requested to speak with supervisor talked to on it seemed like his getting my point so he said I will be charged for gimbal and that's all and I should receive invoice in half hour...
A day later got invoice

Invoice 3


Case No:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 02-02-17
Remarks: 1. Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing. 2. Additional 10% discount for inaccurate part cost

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Top Cover 1 1.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 1 179.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers 1 1 9.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Intelligent Flight Battery 1 89.00
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 429.00
Discount: -85.80
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 343.20


At this point finally got to me that DJI USA is not in the business of repairing drones just replacing.
So I call again speak to another Supervisor and he told me that they might have to replace my drone because there is too much damage horse ****. so I'm done at this point and I say fine replace the arms and gimbal then as I wait for invoice again called day later requested to talk to manager tried to explain that all I want is to repair parts that are faulty then he goes on that I must replace arms because it won't pass quality assurance. So I told him that I didn't send my drone for replacement just for repair and he admitted that they don't repair mavic just replace and that they don't have parts now and ya they just send replacements aha so that's why you want to charge me for all this parts.Because you don't have any in
MANUFACTURE REPAIR SHOP!!!! REALLY!!!!
IT'S PARTS AND REPAIR MONOPOLY
I HAVE RECORDED MOST OF MY PHONE CALLS WITH THEN WILL UPLOAD THEM TO YOUTUBE TO WARN
PEOPLE THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

The 10% discount is for
179.00 for gimbal and camera charge
Confronted the supervisor's about this
Turns out they don't even know about online repair price chart

In their ONLINE REPAIR PRICING CHART
It's 159.00 for gimbal and camera

Got final invoice
Invoice 4

Customer:
Case No:
DJI Care Balance：
Quote Date: 02-03-17
Remarks: 1. Non-warranty. Aircraft has impact damage OR Hard Landing. 2. Additional 10% discount for inaccurate part cost 3. Removed the shell and battery per tasked customer request

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Mavic 8330 Quick-release Folding Propellers
Mavic Pro Gimbal & Camera 1 179.00
Back Right Motor Arm 1 19.00
Middle Frame 1 4.00
Back Left Motor Arm 1 19.00
Front Right Motor Arm 1 22.00
Front Left Motor Arm 1 22.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00
Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 339.00
Discount: -67.80
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 271.20

And I told them I would like them to send me the old "broken gimbal assembly will see.
Battery has been taken out and top cover
And some credit discount applied for wrong
Gimbal and camera price.

In the end I still overpaid for “repair”

This goes to BBB if anybody have a similar problem recommend do same

BBB Accredited Business Review for DJI Service, LLC.

where the charge should be
$17 for part
$65 labor
$9 Props
total $91

Got this when I tried posting this on their forum.

I am glad there are other 3rd party forums like this one for you to post... DJI is famous for deleting comments on their bad customer service... DJI Communism at it's finest.

 

[niclariv]

Not seeing your Mavic I will talk about my experience with a crash that I had. The Bird was a Phantom 3 Advanced. When I examined the P3A I found a broken gimbal mount board and a bad cable. These parts were ordered and installed along with 4 new props. While the camera worked properly as far as the gimbal was concerned I could not sync the controller to the bird. Upon closer inspection I found a cracked arm and a stiff motor. I opened the shell and found the inner frame was destroyed as well as connectors pulled off the board.
Why I am telling you this is what you see may not be all that is bad. Also if the company was to do a partial repair and the bird crashed and hurt someone lawyers would have a field day.
I a few months we should be able to get repair parts but DJI must fill the supply line of new birds first.

It would be good to know how much of that is the case, and how much is them just quoting you the price of replacing your mavic with a new one at cost when the cost of actually repairing it would have been much cheaper. I think in my case that would have been the case, considering they listed things like the gimbal as broken when I knew it to be fine, and it could fly perfectly. If this was a car you took to a repair show and they said they had to replace a whole bunch of things that aren't broken that would be a big deal.

 

[dewster]

I don't think there is a repair shop. It's you pay for total replacement unless you have DJI refresh. They would probably need a factory to repair all of the crashed drones.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[niclariv]

They claim to do repairs at the Carson, CA location. See the posts above - those are repair invoices for items part by part. The issue here is that they're claiming that more items are damaged than actually are, so the value adds up high enough that when they say they're repairing it they can just replace it with a ready to go unit. You'll see if you send your Mavic in - the repair website you can log in to in order to check your case clearly says 'under repair'.


iPhone 6S

 

[niclariv]

The issue is that if you only break something small that should be relatively cheap to replace they're sending an invoice that says actually a whole bunch of parts are broken, which makes the customers either waste a refresh or pay way too much.


iPhone 6S

 

[dewster]

I will say that it I had to send it in that I would want a replacement under DJI refresh.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[StuLBNY]

I had similar experience but I know I damaged my Mavic and said so when I filed the repair ticket. I had in indoor flight . hit the wall then hit the floor. I saw damage to props of course but also the right rear prop arm was cracked at joint by one of small screws . it seemed ok though. I took it out back and did auto take off. Went fine. Everything worked till you looked at camara image.
It was shaking violently. The broken hinge was causing the shake. As I was packing it up I realized the gimblel v

Sent from my LG-H918 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[Blucenturion]

Too bad it's gone so sideways for you, sorry for your pain. I've had three close calls, two indoors, and feel I've used up my beginner's luck. I'm flying so cautiously now as a result.

 

[StuLBNY]

After a month they sent me a new Mavic. They can look at internal flight log and know exactly what happened



Sent from my LG-H918 using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[iride4u]

While I feel your pain at the higher then expected repair bill. As an Operations Manager on my former job I also understand the companies liability if something is sent out partially repaired. We had many times when a customer only wanted a partial repair and then called in complaining that the technician caused the other items to fail. They always wanted a different technician so they could get the rest of the machine repaired for free.
In the case of drones or motor vehicles you could have a lawsuit if it hurt someone due to an incomplete repair. We have too many lawyers looking for anything that can make them money and they will go after the biggest pockets.