Awful experience trying to sent my drone away for repair from Canada

whiskeybc · Dec 31, 2019

Greetings,

I can't get my Mavic 2 through the visual calibration process so I'm about to send it off for repairs and it's under warranty. Dealing with DJI support has been a less than stellar experience. At first I tried launching a repair case online but immediately when I tried selecting North America as the area and Canada as the region it tells me that selection is not currently available. So, I get through to an agent through the online chat and explain the problem and after about an hour of dealing with the agent I'm told to contact multirotorheli.ca so I phone them up and they tell me they cannot assist me without a repair case number. Apparently the guy in chat didn't see fit to provide me with a case file. Next I get DJI support on the phone and explain things again and they provide me with a case number and tell me they'll send me a shipping label with in 24-48 hours. Of course that doesn't happen so I call back and ask a second time, again they'll send it in 24-48 hours. Once again no dice, maybe they're getting my email address wrong? Nobody is quite sure. Finally, I try the online chat again and a few hours later I finally have a pdf with some documents and a shipping label.

This is where I have questions if anyone can help. The UPS shipping label I have at the moment is addressed to a DJI service senter in in Grapevine, Texas. Do I really need to ship it all the way there and back? What happened to multirotorheli.ca? Is there nowhere in Canada I can have this thing fixed? I think the second agent on the phone I talked to said I would likely be shipping it to a service center in California.

Can any Canadians who've sent their drones in for repair tell me what the hell is going on? Is this normal? Should I really have to send it that far? I'm going to Hawaii on Feb 22nd. Is there any chance in hell I get it back in time for that?

UGHHHHHH

DanMan32 · Jan 1, 2020

According to DJI's website, I believe the center you were referred to is authorized for warranty repairs. Being an independent service center, I would think you could send warranty repairs there without having to create a DJI case.
Here in the USA, DJI site only lists their own center in California as authorized warranty service center.

Dale D · Jan 1, 2020

whiskeybc said:
Greetings,

I can't get my Mavic 2 through the visual calibration process so I'm about to send it off for repairs and it's under warranty. Dealing with DJI support has been a less than stellar experience. At first I tried launching a repair case online but immediately when I tried selecting North America as the area and Canada as the region it tells me that selection is not currently available. So, I get through to an agent through the online chat and explain the problem and after about an hour of dealing with the agent I'm told to contact multirotorheli.ca so I phone them up and they tell me they cannot assist me without a repair case number. Apparently the guy in chat didn't see fit to provide me with a case file. Next I get DJI support on the phone and explain things again and they provide me with a case number and tell me they'll send me a shipping label with in 24-48 hours. Of course that doesn't happen so I call back and ask a second time, again they'll send it in 24-48 hours. Once again no dice, maybe they're getting my email address wrong? Nobody is quite sure. Finally, I try the online chat again and a few hours later I finally have a pdf with some documents and a shipping label.

This is where I have questions if anyone can help. The UPS shipping label I have at the moment is addressed to a DJI service senter in in Grapevine, Texas. Do I really need to ship it all the way there and back? What happened to multirotorheli.ca? Is there nowhere in Canada I can have this thing fixed? I think the second agent on the phone I talked to said I would likely be shipping it to a service center in California.

Can any Canadians who've sent their drones in for repair tell me what the hell is going on? Is this normal? Should I really have to send it that far? I'm going to Hawaii on Feb 22nd. Is there any chance in hell I get it back in time for that?

UGHHHHHH

For what it's worth, I actually did ship my Mavic Air to Grapeville Texas (it's really Houston,TX) and they did the job. Actually, they sent me a new drone. May be your easiest route.

SandiSCE · Jan 1, 2020

Dale D said:
For what it's worth, I actually did ship my Mavic Air to Grapeville Texas (it's really Houston,TX) and they did the job. Actually, they sent me a new drone. May be your easiest route.

Sorry to sound pedantic, but Grapevine is in Dallas area, near the DFW airport. I also sent mine there because that is the label DJI sent me. Evidently they are sending me a new/refurbished one, too. I had hoped that I would get same one back, just repaired, since it only had a bent front arm, but not their policy. DJI refresh wouldn’t cover because crash was my fault, so spent the $119 to replace, which essentially is what I would have paid for repair.

paul242 · Jan 1, 2020

I've just sent my MPP to Texas from Ontario, via UPS under DJI Refresh. The email I received from the DJI contact told me to send the controller as well, but the DJI website says do not send the controller. I did send it anyway, but I didn't find it clear about what to include to send back.

SandiSCE · Jan 1, 2020

paul242 said:
I've just sent my MPP to Texas from Ontario, via UPS under DJI Refresh. The email I received from the DJI contact told me to send the controller as well, but the DJI website says do not send the controller. I did send it anyway, but I didn't find it clear about what to include to send back.

That’s interesting. I completely stripped my M2P of props, SD card, battery, etc and never even considered sending controller.
I did super wrap it in bubble wrap, though. Probably took them 30 minutes to unwrap it!!!

paul242 · Jan 1, 2020

It's confusing. This is extracted from the email I had....
Please ship back your aircraft body, gimbal, and a remote controller, so we can perform adequate flight.....
Note: If the battery is not physically damaged, please send it back for replacement.
For propellers, if they are damaged, kindly send it back as well.....

SandiSCE · Jan 1, 2020

paul242 said:
It's confusing. This is extracted from the email I had....
Please ship back your aircraft body, gimbal, and a remote controller, so we can perform adequate flight.....
Note: If the battery is not physically damaged, please send it back for replacement.
For propellers, if they are damaged, kindly send it back as well.....

Maybe so that they include everything that was damaged in the repair/replacement? I honestly don't remember that verbiage in my email, but I didn’t keep it so can’t say for sure.

paul242 · Jan 1, 2020

I guess so under the DJI Refresh scheme.

Prelude93 · Jan 1, 2020

Just bought a new Mavic Pro Fly More combo kit from Canada Computers just before Christmas. Received it yesterday but all three batteries are DOA. I’m in the process also of dealing with trying to get them replaced. I have a case number finally after three calls to dji support. But hesitant about shipping batteries. One of them seems swollen other two look perfect but none of them will charge up. Email I received indicates swollen or damaged batteries should not be sent as they will dispose of them and not replace?

They initially suggested I call Multirotorheli also as I’m in Ottawa. I will call the, tomorrow to see what they say.

How long did it take for replacements when shipped to Grapeville Texas?

DanMan32 · Jan 1, 2020

SandiSCE said:
Sorry to sound pedantic, but Grapevine is in Dallas area, near the DFW airport. I also sent mine there because that is the label DJI sent me. Evidently they are sending me a new/refurbished one, too. I had hoped that I would get same one back, just repaired, since it only had a bent front arm, but not their policy. DJI refresh wouldn’t cover because crash was my fault, so spent the $119 to replace, which essentially is what I would have paid for repair.

You mean it wasn't covered under warranty. The whole point of Refresh is, for a small fee ($119 in your case), to cover pilot error or damage for any other non-warranty reason, even accidentally backing over it with a car. If repair cost is at or lower, by all means go for the repair and save your refresh for a more costly rainy day. You'll probably get a replacement for the "repair" anyway.

paul242 · Jan 2, 2020

Prelude93 said:
Just bought a new Mavic Pro Fly More combo kit from Canada Computers just before Christmas. Received it yesterday but all three batteries are DOA. I’m in the process also of dealing with trying to get them replaced. I have a case number finally after three calls to dji support. But hesitant about shipping batteries. One of them seems swollen other two look perfect but none of them will charge up. Email I received indicates swollen or damaged batteries should not be sent as they will dispose of them and not replace?

They initially suggested I call Multirotorheli also as I’m in Ottawa. I will call the, tomorrow to see what they say.

How long did it take for replacements when shipped to Grapeville Texas?

I presume your email stated the following, that I also received.....

Do not ship swollen, punctured, or visibly damaged batteries. If you do ship batteries in this condition, we are required to recycle them and cannot ship them back to you. If your battery was damaged in a crash and you would like to be considered for warranty replacement of the battery, you will need to provide a proof of purchase, pictures of the damage, and serial number(s) for each battery affected in the package you ship to us.
If the battery is not physically damaged, please send it back for replacement. If it is physically damaged, kindly send us pictures showing the damages so we can attach it to your repair case. For propellers, if they are damaged, kindly send it back as well for replacement.

SandiSCE · Jan 4, 2020

Got my replacement M2P drone back from Grapevine; since it was pilot error, I had to pay the $119 for replacement. I began setting it up as soon as it arrived, and had problems linking the controller. Finally succeeded in that, but it had a strange, whirring or whining noise when being handled; after about two hours online with the support technician, he said the cooling system fan must have been damaged by the package being dropped in shipment. I did tell him that there was no damage indication on the package itself. He had me, nonetheless, submit another ticket for repair, and the label sends it back to Grapevine. He promised me that this time I would get a NEW bird, not a refurbished one. I did notice in all this process that the replacement bird S/N was showing on my Care Refresh, not the old one, so that was encouraging. The customer support tech also assured me that I would not have to pay for the replacement of the replacement. However, my Care Refresh expires in 3 days, so I’m a little worried about having to wrangle over the next bird and cost: again, the tech assured me that it would not be treated as a pilot error repair. It will take at least 10 days to get to Grapevine, then another 10 days to get replacement. The good news is, it’s winter so I’m not missing out on lots of great flying days! Also, they sent new set of props with the package, which, since they say don’t send props in the box, I got to keep.