Roof Top Landing - And DJI Refresh (nightmare)

[NAUIDIVER]

Fun Story for ya all...
Just loving the Mavic 2 Pro BTW.

Was out at Manhattan Beach California and ran a flight out to shoot the remodeling of the rotunda at the end of the pier. Flight was going well, POI pass around the outer perimeter, a flyover the center line with forward and backward reveal shots. Then I went ahead and did a 90 degree downward facing center-line flyover. The first pass went fine, and on the return pass my bird decided it would simply land!

Yup. With no warning, no notice and for no reason, it sounded the landing tones and dropped itself right on the roof of the rotunda! I couldn't power up lift or anything, just refused my input and landed. The motors powered down and away she slide right off the roof to a 25 foot drop onto cement... Argh!

The bird survived pretty well actually, the gimbal - not so much. LOL.

Oh well, DJI care refresh here I come (for the very first time ever in more than 300 flights across my Mavic Pro and now the M2P).

So I pack her up and send her in for a care refresh + fast turn around (Yes, I paid the $ because I don't need the hassle of arguing with DJI that their drone just pulled a ***** move or the pilot did, cause I know the truth already and my time is worth more than $100). Hey, I have some cash, send me a new drone. thx.

So UPS picks up my package from Playa Vista CA and delivers it to Cerritos, CA (14 miles away) the very next day. A few hours later, I get a ship notice the DJI has sent my replacement drone, and its scheduled to be delivered the next afternoon. YAY! DJI ROCKS! From Monday to getting the replacement on Wednesday. YAY again!

On Wednesday, nothing gets delivered! Odd, the UPS tracking says "Destination Scan", but oddly UPS never flips tracking to "Out for Delivery". Well it made it from Cerritos CA to Los Angeles CA sort facility. Hum? Thursday, the status says the same thing as the prior day. I call UPS, they tell me nothing. Oh no problem sir, very sorry, I promise you its out for delivery today! (I'm thinking, bull@#$%)

Friday morning, UPS flips the status to "Exception" Investigation Pending. Oh hell no!

I call DJI and they tell me its lost and they can't or won't send me a drone until UPS completes its investigation and that can take 8-10 business days. Oh hell no!!!

I get this letter in response to my inquiry:

Hello NAUIDIVER,

Greetings.

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support. I hope all is well with you today.

First of all, please do take our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience and for the frustrations that this issue has brought to you. We can certainly send your disappointments regarding your lost package and this is definitely not the experience that we want you to have.

To further assist you with your inquiry, what I did instead here in our end is we added a request on your case regarding your concern about your lost package. As of now, we cannot provide any information as any updates are not yet provided but rest assured that our team is currently doing their best to track the unit.

In addition to this, we would like to ask once again for your kind understanding as we resolve this matter, we know you have been patient in resolving this and we are very much thankful to that.

For updates, kindly keep your lines open.

Should you need any further information/assistance, please do not hesitate to reply to this email.

You will receive an email survey two days after this email if not responded. If you happen to be away and won’t be able to answer this email timely, please disregard the survey and reply to us directly.

Best regards,

Lisa
DJI Technical Support
​

So I respond in kind:

Lisa,

Thank you for the form letter response.

However, I still want to reiterate that it is not my obligation or responsibility to stand by while you (DJI) and your freight carrier figure out what happened. What I expect as the customer; is delivery of my replacement drone under the terms of my DJI Care Refresh + program and expedited process for which I also paid extra.

You (DJI) can request that your freight carrier locate and return the package to you, if they can find it, or issue you payment under the terms of your insurance agreements. That has nothing to do with me at all.

Meanwhile, you (DJI) have an obligation of fulfillment to your customer (me) by immediately shipping a replacement drone under the terms of my DJI Care Refresh + Program.

When just about every retailer on the planet ships products to customers, and UPS/FedEx/DHL loses the package, they run a trace and recall the package. Standard procedure. BUT they immediate ship the customer their product again, they don't require the customer to wait for the outcome of tracing a lost package. If their shipper finds the package, they return it to the sender. If they can’t find the package, the pay the sender the insured value. Very simple.

Additionally, sending me these emails and notices that I’m somehow obligated to wait for your investigative processes is simply unacceptable, and more pointedly irrelevant. Under our mutual warranty obligations governed by the DJI Care Refresh + program, I am not at all subjected to such processes and have faithfully completed my commitments by paying for the program and returning the damaged drone as evidenced prior. Now, DJI must fulfill its obligations under our contract for care + and the expedited return program. Again, I expect the drone to be sent today, along with notifying me of the tracking number associated with the new shipment.


Thank you.
>NAUIDIVER
​

And so the day concludes, and DJI closes for the weekend; and I get no response...
First world problems. bummer!

 

[Meta4]

Yup. With no warning, no notice and for no reason, it sounded the landing tones and dropped itself right on the roof of the rotunda! I couldn't power up lift or anything, just refused my input and landed. The motors powered down and away she slide right off the roof to a 25 foot drop onto cement...

Did you look into the incident to find the cause?
What did the flight data show?

 

[NAUIDIVER]

Did you look into the incident to find the cause?
What did the flight data show?

Ground proximity.

Purely coincidental that I launched from a high point on the hill that was less than 1/2 meter in height difference from the roof top two miles away.

So the drone thought I was landing because of the elevation match.

Pure dumb luck!

 

[Meta4]

Ground proximity.
Purely coincidental that I launched from a high point on the hill that was less than 1/2 meter in height difference from the roof top two miles away.
So the drone thought I was landing because of the elevation match.
Pure dumb luck!

That doesn't sound likely.
Drones don't land because they are at the same level as the launch point.

 

[NAUIDIVER]

That doesn't sound likely.
Drones don't land because they are at the same level as the launch point.

No argument from me. I wouldn’t have thought so either. Didn’t make sense then. Still doesn’t make sense now. But frankly I’m more focused on getting my product back.

 

[Dmbrody]

Edit:
I’m removing this comment because:
a) It was a bit argumentative, and
b) additional info has come to light, so it’s not even relevant anymore.
c) It didn’t add much value to the discussion.

 

[NAUIDIVER]

I just have to say that I don’t completely agree with you on this. You are not being reasonable. UPS is clearly at fault. It’s not that you don’t have an argument, but your reply was super hostile. I’m not convinced that was a form letter. Sure, parts may have benn pulled from boiler plate, but if that’s a form letter, they really need to fire their writers (or send them to a remedial grammar class).

(Also, what are you doing skimming across a rooftop and not realizing you’re so close the drone thought you were landing???)

Definitely UPS fault. There was some back and forth as well that I didn’t include. Totally see your point. It does look overly hostile without the in between communication. My
Bad. But not out of line when entire context is in play.

As for skimming the roof, it’s pretty hard to judge from two miles away. Obviously wasn’t intentional on my part, doh.

Not blaming anyone but the pilot on this. Could there have been some contribution or error in the drone causing unplanned landing. Sure. But I’m simply taking responsibility.

 

[Turn11]

By hoping @sar104 @BudW or one of the others who analyze flight records (apologies to those who I omitted) review the data and perhaps we can all benefit from the unfortunate accident you had.

 

[ac0j]

I dont need the log Info, he just told us what happened.
I agree with the OP, Right now, he is out the money, and everyone is "whole" except for him.
He has paid for a drone, and paid the refresh charge and has NOTHING. Dji Has the drone, and ALL the money.
Ups has been paid for the shipping. Someone NOT the OP screwed up, and they make they OP "pay" for it?

is it legal? Sadly YES, is it right RIGHT? ****NO!

 

[Goof]

...and everyone is "whole" except for him...

Might I add DJI is whole, OP is out the drone, the money paid for the drone plus the refresh, and UPS is UP one drone, at least until the investigation finishes...

 

[ac0j]

I used to sell a lot of pioneer car stereo. I pre-paid for a $25,000 order at the Las Vegas CES show one year. It was all the "New models " for the year. The prepay price was at a discounted rate that was supposed to save me 10% and free shipping. I get home, and a week later they put my stuff on back order due to " unexpected order volume" at the show. It was 6 months of the order showing up one here one there a piece at a time (case lots). That was the last Pioneer order I ever did. Had to use credit to keep product in the store because my cash was tied up for a the few months there.
Live and learn.

 

[Coyyote]

I had a similar malfunction yesterday with my Mav 2 Pro. Flying slowly around my yard to evaluate how obstacle avoidance worked. Would carefylly approach a small pine tree and it would signal obstacle and go into hover. I would then back it off and go to another tree. Did 3-4 evolutions and it worked perfectly. Fifth evolution it signaled “Obstacle” but rather than hover it immediately signaled “Landing” and would not respond to controls. Started landing, hit the broader lower pine tree branches and crashed. On its way to DJI with ESC error

 

[NAUIDIVER]

I had a similar malfunction yesterday with my Mav 2 Pro. Flying slowly around my yard to evaluate how obstacle avoidance worked. Would carefylly approach a small pine tree and it would signal obstacle and go into hover. I would then back it off and go to another tree. Did 3-4 evolutions and it worked perfectly. Fifth evolution it signaled “Obstacle” but rather than hover it immediately signaled “Landing” and would not respond to controls. Started landing, hit the broader lower pine tree branches and crashed. On its way to DJI with ESC error

Yup. I saw your post. Something not right. My log has the last entry showing obstacle change course and then nothing. It just landed.

 

[Turn11]

I dont need the log Info, he just told us what happened.

You completely missed my point,
Yes he told us what happened, I don't think anyone questions his narrative of events. @NAUIDIVER posted his just frustration of how things unfolded after that, absolutely and completely out of his control yet he is without.

My point is it would be good to see what caused the landing, He doesn't have his bird to get records off it but he has his display. We have another incident that has similarities, a forced landing. Granted what preceded the forced landing is different but the end result is the same.

Fifth evolution it signaled “Obstacle” but rather than hover it immediately signaled “Landing” and would not respond to controls. Started landing, hit the broader lower pine tree branches and crashed

 

[NAUIDIVER]

You completely missed my point,
Yes he told us what happened, I don't think anyone questions his narrative of events. @NAUIDIVER posted his just frustration of how things unfolded after that, absolutely and completely out of his control yet he is without.

My point is it would be good to see what caused the landing, He doesn't have his bird to get records off it but he has his display. We have another incident that has similarities, a forced landing. Granted what preceded the forced landing is different but the end result is the same.

I’d have to say that what preceded the forced landing may in fact be the same. Obstacle! Seems eerily similar frankly.

 

[DanMan32]

I wouldn't think an obstacle would trigger a landing and certainly not where you can't override with controls. OP tried to go back up but could not. Normally you can.
I haven't tested on an M2 but with a P3, you can still go up on critically low battery landing. It fights you, but you can do it.
Come to think of it, I think I was successful with my M2 at least once.

 

[Turn11]

I wouldn't think an obstacle would trigger a landing and certainly not where you can't override with controls.

That's why I was hoping those who have posted their forced landings stories could post their logs so "experts" can analyze what happened.

 

[Lon Denard]

Hers the problem for DJI. They sent out a new drone, UPS lost it. I presume that you think they should send you another one? What happens when UPS figures out their mistake and delivers the first one to you as well? As far as DJI knows, the crash was totally your fault. You initiated care refresh and by all accounts they really stepped up to the plate to take care of you. Now you say that you didn't get your package even though UPS initially said that it was delivered, correct?

Yea I'm not giving you a $1500 drone until I'm certain that I'll get the first one back either. For all they know, it was stolen off your porch. Maybe you're scamming them. They don't know. All they know is that it was picked up at their facility and sent to you. It sucks but this should have been a huge DJI is awesome thread! Maybe shut some of the cacophony of "DJI customer service sucks" down for a minute or two.

 

[Mr. Salty]

As for skimming the roof, it’s pretty hard to judge from two miles away.

This is why FAA guidance calls for you to keep your drone within line of sight. Proximity flying from two miles away, especially of a public structure, is just asking for problems. Be glad you didn't hit anybody.

 

[cappy24]

this is why DJI has the customer sign for it....so DJI certainly knows hes not trying to pull a fast one....if the lost drone does suddenly appear, he will have to sign for it...for him to wait until UPS figures out where it it, i agree with him, its not his problem....DJI, in my opinion should send him out another replacement asap....it could take months(or never), for UPS to find it....I had a similar thing happen to me with UPS, and the retailer immediately sent me another one....The original item was never found...