DJI care advice

[Paradigm]

Hi everyone,

I was unfortunate enough to have an accident with my Mavic 2 Pro. Basically I lowered the drone to land and it got way too close to a building, and it eventually hit it as I went to grab it out of the air. The front vision sensor area is not flush anymore. The drone itself says right vision system error send to DJI for service. There might be other damage that I'm not seeing and I'd rather not attempt to fly it to diagnose the damage, such as gimbal issues, or what have you.

The drone drifted towards. the wall and I probably gave it a wrong input, so if I had to wager it was probably user error.

I do have DJI Care Refresh. I opened a ticket, and I'd like to say setting it all up is not as intuitive and user friendly as it should be. So I ended up choosing the option to send everything, including the drone, remote, and battery. Should I have done this? The drone is the only thing that has issues. The remote is fine, and the battery has a little cosmetic damage from the propeller scraping it on top, as one of the arms was folded over from contacting the wall. The battery did throw a deviation error, I noticed in the logs.

Does sending just the drone affect my DJI Care Refresh, where they swap out the drone for a (likely refurbished) new one? Like, will they give a "new" drone if I send just it or do I have to include the battery and the remote for me to get a new one and use one of my 2 "refreshes?"

I'm shipping everything from the east coast to the west coast by ground, which stinks because it'll probably take one full business week just to arrive there and who knows how long for me to get one back.

The other question I have, is since it's pretty clear that they send you a refurbished drone, has anyone had the misfortune of getting back a drone with issues? Meaning they didn't refurb it to 100% health and there's some underlying problem that they missed? I'm worried about getting a lemon or a drone that doesn't work right.

I kinda regret not getting some sort of insurance that would have allowed me to just get a brand new one off of the shelf... Has anyone done a replacement via insurance?

 

[Starz]

You could very well get one that is new.

 

[charlas]

Everything I've heard about refresh seems to be fine, there's the odd one that has come back with minor issue, but if you tell dji they will swap it out, and a few people have had what look like if not new, then internal test drones.

You should be fine, but yeah, I feel for the US people and shipping times, as over in Europe to get to Netherlands via DHL is usually only a day or 2.

 

[Paradigm]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I’ll reach out to DJI to see if I need to send all 3 items in.

Is there a way to check how much run time is on a given drone and its components?

I know there is a way to check how much time/distance you have as a pilot, but I’m wondering if there’s a way to check that for each specific unit.

 

[Thomas B]

DJI sent me a new drone, although they do send refurbs often. Whole process was easy and I had my new drone in 8 days, including a weekend.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Hi everyone,

I was unfortunate enough to have an accident with my Mavic 2 Pro. Basically I lowered the drone to land and it got way too close to a building, and it eventually hit it as I went to grab it out of the air. The front vision sensor area is not flush anymore. The drone itself says right vision system error send to DJI for service. There might be other damage that I'm not seeing and I'd rather not attempt to fly it to diagnose the damage, such as gimbal issues, or what have you.

The drone drifted towards. the wall and I probably gave it a wrong input, so if I had to wager it was probably user error.

I do have DJI Care Refresh. I opened a ticket, and I'd like to say setting it all up is not as intuitive and user friendly as it should be. So I ended up choosing the option to send everything, including the drone, remote, and battery. Should I have done this? The drone is the only thing that has issues. The remote is fine, and the battery has a little cosmetic damage from the propeller scraping it on top, as one of the arms was folded over from contacting the wall. The battery did throw a deviation error, I noticed in the logs.

Does sending just the drone affect my DJI Care Refresh, where they swap out the drone for a (likely refurbished) new one? Like, will they give a "new" drone if I send just it or do I have to include the battery and the remote for me to get a new one and use one of my 2 "refreshes?"

I'm shipping everything from the east coast to the west coast by ground, which stinks because it'll probably take one full business week just to arrive there and who knows how long for me to get one back.

The other question I have, is since it's pretty clear that they send you a refurbished drone, has anyone had the misfortune of getting back a drone with issues? Meaning they didn't refurb it to 100% health and there's some underlying problem that they missed? I'm worried about getting a lemon or a drone that doesn't work right.

I kinda regret not getting some sort of insurance that would have allowed me to just get a brand new one off of the shelf... Has anyone done a replacement via insurance?

Assuming we can believe DJI- refurbished drones are not repaired units. They are returned products that are tested and are re-sold if all checks out ok.

 

[Thomas B]

Assuming we can believe DJI- refurbished drones are not repaired units. They are returned products that are tested and are re-sold if all checks out ok.

Of course they are... by definition. Why else would it be repaired for resale.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Of course they are... by definition. Why else would it be repaired for resale.

You might have missed the point- according to DJI refurbished drones are not ones that have been repaired. They are claimed to be products that were returned during the 7 day initial grace period and tested to be meet specifications. That would seem to be a significant distinction from a drone that has been repaired.

 

[charlas]

From all I know you don't send the ancillaries back, Just the bare drone body, no props, no battery or controller. That's as far as I've always heard it anyhow.

 

[Paradigm]

You might have missed the point- according to DJI refurbished drones are not ones that have been repaired. They are claimed to be products that were returned during the 7 day initial grace period and tested to be meet specifications. That would seem to be a significant distinction from a drone that has been repaired.

Do you know where they said that?

I'm not calling you a liar, but perhaps I am being a bit jingoistic with DJI. Then again I don't necessarily trust most corporations to do anything against their shareholder duty to fully maximize profits...

From all I know you don't send the ancillaries back, Just the bare drone body, no props, no battery or controller. That's as far as I've always heard it anyhow.

When you fill out the DJI forms online it allows you to choose. It's not clear on whether you have to send your whole package in or just the drone if you would like a refresh replacement.

If you send in your whole package, I believe it has to be shipped ground due to the battery. In my case it'll be going across the whole country!

I'm going to contact them and I have my fingers crossed their support team is in the US and/or native English speakers.

 

[WithTheBirds]

Do you know where they said that?

I'm not calling you a liar, but perhaps I am being a bit jingoistic with DJI. Then again I don't necessarily trust most corporations to do anything against their shareholder duty to fully maximize profits...

When you fill out the DJI forms online it allows you to choose. It's not clear on whether you have to send your whole package in or just the drone if you would like a refresh replacement.

If you send in your whole package, I believe it has to be shipped ground due to the battery. In my case it'll be going across the whole country!

I'm going to contact them and I have my fingers crossed their support team is in the US and/or native English speakers.

DJI.com and DJI forum.

 

[Kilrah]

I know there is a way to check how much time/distance you have as a pilot, but I’m wondering if there’s a way to check that for each specific unit.

A refurb will come completely wiped in "as new" condition.

If you send in your whole package, I believe it has to be shipped ground due to the battery. In my case it'll be going across the whole country!

Then shipping just the aircraft would have been faster if you can live with the scratched battery.

 

[Paradigm]

A refurb will come completely wiped in "as new" condition.


Then shipping just the aircraft would have been faster if you can live with the scratched battery.

Yeah, I figured it would have been faster. I talked to DJI and they said sending just the done is fine. They had me verify that the battery has no damage, which it doesn't.

I didn't receive a new shipping label and I regret for not asking for faster shipping now that the battery is out of the equation.


re:refurb

My motors have 45 hours on them. Would kinda suck to get a "new" one with significantly more use on it.

 

[Saigondroner]

Assuming we can believe DJI- refurbished drones are not repaired units. They are returned products that are tested and are re-sold if all checks out ok.

Since I live in Asia, I don’t worry about a warranty for most items. If a huge concern, I buy in Taiwan or Singapore. I break mobile phones more than ACs .

Depending on country, repaired, refurbed cannot be advertised to consumers as new. What applies in US, might be meaningless in China, Taiwan, Singapore, or Vietnam.

IME, 80% of my accidents are due to me . DJI’s AC hardware is good, after 8-9 ACs, never a problem. I am sure DJI tracks their failure rates, and knows pilot error is most likely the cause, and denies repair.

It’s trivial to take a damaged AC, fix with factory parts, and replace for paying Care customers, and legit HW problems.

Thank heaven IPhones don’t fly.

Fun fact: The original Mavic Pro’s barometric sensor was designed by Samsung, built factory in northern Vietnam, and sent for assembly via a Taiwanese agent to China.

Safety 1st

 

[WithTheBirds]

Since I live in Asia, I don’t worry about a warranty for most items. If a huge concern, I buy in Taiwan or Singapore. I break mobile phones more than ACs .

Depending on country, repaired, refurbed cannot be advertised to consumers as new. What applies in US, might be meaningless in China, Taiwan, Singapore, or Vietnam.

IME, 80% of my accidents are due to me . DJI’s AC hardware is good, after 8-9 ACs, never a problem. I am sure DJI tracks their failure rates, and knows pilot error is most likely the cause, and denies repair.

It’s trivial to take a damaged AC, fix with factory parts, and replace for paying Care customers, and legit HW problems.

Thank heaven IPhones don’t fly.

Fun fact: The original Mavic Pro’s barometric sensor was designed by Samsung, built factory in northern Vietnam, and sent for assembly via a Taiwanese agent to China.

Safety 1st

Im not getting your point- at least not to the extent you have directly responded to my post.

Given the OP's concern with respect to receiving a refurb unit I simply repeated the statement that DJI has made that refirb units are those that have come back during the initial 7 day grace period- tested- resold.

Do you know anything factual about the refirb process?

 

[Paradigm]

I think there’s a language barrier here ...

I’m not denying responsibility. I think it was my fault, though I’m not 100% sure I was 100% at fault. I lowered the drone and it was close to a wall... it started getting closer and before I could run and catch it, it hit the wall. I’m not worried about fault, which is why I purchased Care Refresh, as it takes care of it even if it is pilot error.

 

[zappy54]

I think there’s a language barrier here ...

I’m not denying responsibility. I think it was my fault, though I’m not 100% sure I was 100% at fault. I lowered the drone and it was close to a wall... it started getting closer and before I could run and catch it, it hit the wall. I’m not worried about fault, which is why I purchased Care Refresh, as it takes care of it even if it is pilot error.

was you in sport mode at the time ?

 

[Paradigm]

was you in sport mode at the time ?

Yeah, I was in sport. I wanted to bring the drone down as fast as possible, so I switched to Sport. I was photographing storm clouds that were moving in. There wasn't wind.


I imagine P mode would have saved it. I'm not 100% sure, as is it was a side-front impact.

Probably, though.

Was that your line of thinking and why you asked?

 

[zappy54]

yes because sport mode switches all the AC sensors off

 

[Paradigm]

yes because sport mode switches all the AC sensors off

Yeah, I know.

It drifted by itself sideways, but I'm certainly not ruling out bad userinputs, which wouldn't surprise me. IME, the side sensors don't work unless you're in tripod mode and the M2P was going sideways without input.

I have learned to always record take offs and landings, especially in trickier situations e.g. not open fields. I've also learned to not take off and land within 6 ft of a building, especially if you have clear areas beyond that.

Just because you've done it a ton of times doesn't mean one time it won't go right.