DJI fixing crash for free?

[camhabib]

I know, don't look the gift horse in the mouth, but I'm curious if anyone has had a similar experience. I crashed my drone a couple weeks ago while landing, completely my fault. Camera and body had several scratches, gimbal broke, multiple broken propellors, and a motor that looked a little bent to the eye. Mailed it in on Monday (06/05) with Refresh, got delivered Friday (06/09), and got evaluated today (06/12). Opened my email to find a quote of $179 for replacement gimbal and camera with a $0 balance as it's covered under warranty.

Has anyone else gotten a "free" repair? Do you know if they're going to just swap out the gimbal / camera assembly or are they going to send me a "new or like new" unit? Is a bill going to suddenly show up in my inbox for the work?

 

[dwallersv]

Didn't you say you have Refresh? Isn't that exactly what Refresh does?

 

[camhabib]

Didn't you say you have Refresh? Isn't that exactly what Refresh does?

Yes, except I didn't pay the $79. The work is being completed apparently completely free of charge. Unless I'm missing something?

 

[Former Member]

I know, don't look the gift horse in the mouth, but I'm curious if anyone has had a similar experience. I crashed my drone a couple weeks ago while landing, completely my fault. Camera and body had several scratches, gimbal broke, multiple broken propellors, and a motor that looked a little bent to the eye. Mailed it in on Monday (06/05) with Refresh, got delivered Friday (06/09), and got evaluated today (06/12). Opened my email to find a quote of $179 for replacement gimbal and camera with a $0 balance as it's covered under warranty.

Has anyone else gotten a "free" repair? Do you know if they're going to just swap out the gimbal / camera assembly or are they going to send me a "new or like new" unit? Is a bill going to suddenly show up in my inbox for the work?

Just wait for the other shoe to drop. That's the repair invoice, normal. Tomorrow or the next day they will ask you for the $79 deductible. If you end up getting it back in your hands with no money out of pocket, then it was a warranty repair.

 

[dwallersv]

Yes, except I didn't pay the $79. The work is being completed apparently completely free of charge. Unless I'm missing something?

No, I was missing something. Didn't know about the deductible.

I have an incomplete understanding of the details of Refresh, and am too lazy to go learn about it, having been too stupid to get it in time.

So in a sort of juvenile tantrum-like stubbornness, I refuse to fully acknowledge it's existence.

 

[Anthony Viscomi]

No, I was missing something. Didn't know about the deductible.

I have an incomplete understanding of the details of Refresh, and am too lazy to go learn about it, having been too stupid to get it in time.

So in a sort of juvenile tantrum-like stubbornness, I refuse to fully acknowledge it's existence.

Ouch!

 

[camhabib]

Just wait for the other shoe to drop. That's the repair invoice, normal. Tomorrow or the next day they will ask you for the $79 deductible. If you end up getting it back in your hands with no money out of pocket, then it was a warranty repair.

Interesting. I chatted with them and they said it was "warranty work, not Refresh" and online says the same. Even someone unexperienced could tell in a second that the damage is the result of a crash, not a defect. I'm mostly worried because the quote only lists the gimbal / camera, and one of the motors was most certainly bent (uneven gap around base of most damaged prop) and I don't want them sending that same unit back with just the camera repair.

 

[jerryflah]

HuH, I had to pay the $79

 

[Former Member]

No, I was missing something. Didn't know about the deductible.

I have an incomplete understanding of the details of Refresh, and am too lazy to go learn about it, having been too stupid to get it in time.

So in a sort of juvenile tantrum-like stubbornness, I refuse to fully acknowledge it's existence.

But in all your self deprecation, you have missed a very important point. In your laziness to learn about Refresh, buy it or use it, you have potentially saved yourself weeks of waiting for your Refresh to come back as a botched refurb, countless ignored correspondences, and many sleepless nights.

There is a positive side to procrastination. Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow is a sadly under utilized practice.

 

[Former Member]

HuH, I had to pay the $79

OP prob will have to as well.

 

[Former Member]

Interesting. I chatted with them and they said it was "warranty work, not Refresh" and online says the same.

You didnt mention that you chatted with them in your OP, you just said you got an invoice for $179 with a balance of $0. You might get a freebie.

 

[camhabib]

You didnt mention that you chatted with them in your OP, you just said you got an invoice for $179 with a balance of $0. You might get a freebie.

I hadn't contacted them at the time of my original post, sorry about that confusion. I sent an email in just to be sure but, from what I can tell, it's seems no charge.

Do repairs typically get actually repaired or are they swapped out with a different unit similar to how a Refresh would be?

 

[Former Member]

Repairs get repaired and you get the same drone back with a different serial #. Refreshes get exchanged for either a refurb or a new one.

 

[dwallersv]

But in all your self deprecation, you have missed a very important point. In your laziness to learn about Refresh, buy it or use it, you have potentially saved yourself weeks of waiting for your Refresh to come back as a botched refurb, countless ignored correspondences, and many sleepless nights.

There is a positive side to procrastination. Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow is a sadly under utilized practice.

I'm not filthy rich or anything, but I'm impatient enough that if I whack it badly enough I can't easily fix it myself (including not being able to get parts), I'll just buy another one and ue the first as a parts source when I need to fix #2.

I'm a piker compared to you in fixing these things, but as an engineer by training (EE/CS), and a lifelong gadget geek for decades, I try to fix everything myself if I can.

I've got two complete -- but neither working -- P4 gimbals, with the third fully working one on my P4 (yeah, the P4's back baby!). I was unsuccessful repairing a non-functional gimbal after it took a swim (remarkably, the rest of the P4 didn't) by trying to salvage from two gimbals. I the rev of several of the boards was different between the two, subtle differences in layout, so I'm guessing there's some firmware down in the motor controller or something, that needs to be consistent. Don't know.

Anyway finally got it back in the air when P4 gimbals were finally back in stock at DJI. Took a week to get it, less than a minute to plug it in power up and quick test, then a few minutes screwing it on. I was flying a few minutes later.

Wasted $200 on someone's damaged gimbal off of ebay that had the classic separated roll motor.

Anyway, I'm just rambling. Evening, have had two beers (the limit), so feeling talkative. Heh heh.

And THAT'S why I have a Mavic. The crash was way back in mid March... I flew the hell out of my nanos (Eachine E10WD Quad, Cheerson CX-37 Hex), Parrot Mambo, and especially the Hubsan H501S. Set some personal distance records with the 501 -- 3200m.

But, that wasn't good enough. No, I was Jonesin' pretty bad for some REAL flying, so I bit the bullet and got a Mavic.

Okay, at this point there surely can't be anyone still reading, so I'll reveal some really big personal secrets.

After I get another beer....

 

[camhabib]

Just an an update - replacement unit just shipped off today (06/14) with no payment from me. Spoke to maybe half a dozen different people and no one could tell me why it was replaced for free and not under Refresh, but it still shows 2 remaining under my Refresh balance.

The build date on the "new" unit is November 22. I remember reading somewhere that older units had some kind of issue (ran hotter maybe, can't quite remember). Anything to look out for on the replacement unit? Should I be worried I'm getting one so old (relatively speaking)?

 

[camhabib]

Anyone know about late vs early builds?

 

[Kilrah]

Nothing that I know of. Mine is from the first batch and has always performed flawlessly. There could have been a higher percentage of units with the dreaded camera blur issue that needed replacement, but when it works it works. They most likely got those out of the chain or fixed them since, haven't heard of it in quite a while anymore.

 

[Desiboyz]

I did not take refresh either but not sure if it would be of benefit here in South Africa. The dealers here are not so clued up and those that are don't have great customer skills so may look at insurance

 

[dwallersv]

Just an an update - replacement unit just shipped off today (06/14) with no payment from me. Spoke to maybe half a dozen different people and no one could tell me why it was replaced for free and not under Refresh, but it still shows 2 remaining under my Refresh balance.

The build date on the "new" unit is November 22. I remember reading somewhere that older units had some kind of issue (ran hotter maybe, can't quite remember). Anything to look out for on the replacement unit? Should I be worried I'm getting one so old (relatively speaking)?

Man, I want to be you. Saw something about a mind-transference machine in a Star Trek episode once...

 

[camhabib]

Man, I want to be you. Saw something about a mind-transference machine in a Star Trek episode once...

We'll see if you feel the same after I get it back. Read the other day that early builds didn't have proper shielding on the rear motor wires, causing some compass interference. Curious to see if this has been fixed on this refurb, and what else they've quietly updated.