Any idea, how I can esculate an ongoing warranty claim with DJI instead of just getting the runaround and refurbished Drone replacements?
DJI Warranty
- Thread starter job996
- Start date
AeroMirage
Well-Known Member
I sent in a Mavic Platinum that had camera problems and I made it clear to them that if they could not repair that particular one and had to replace it, that I would not accept a refurbished unit as I paid for a new one and not a refurb. They did end up replacing the entire drone and sent a new one, not refurbished. The whole thing only took 12 days, including the shipping time both ways.
Happy for you. Mine had a flyaway into a tree and was diagnosed as a techical fault. It only had $240 damage and 2 hours on it and they replaced it with a refurbed one. It hasn't worked properly since I got it back. Everytime I ask for a new replacement, they remind me of the warranty, even though I have Refresh. Imagine taking your your brand new car in for service and getting a used back!
Personally, I'd complete the paperwork for small claims, don't file but instead send it to DJI (their registered agent if nothing else) along with a letter stating that you will file in xx days if no response. I'd then see about following up with someone on the phone in the meantime. I think you can also send emails.
BD0G
Well-Known Member
BD0G
Well-Known Member
My M2P crashed into a lake in September 2019. I had successfully performed flights over this lake many times, flying up to about 500 metres away over the water - no issues.
On this occasion I had been flying it over the lake about 40 feet away from the lakeside where I had taken off and where I planned to land. I had been up to about 300 feet and was bringing it down to about 20 feet and guiding it towards the lakeside. At around 20 feet I let go of the throttle stick intending to keep that altitude until I was over land. However, the drone kept descending until it hit the water. The drone was however responding to my forward stick to bring it towards the edge of the water, but it hit the water just before it reached land as I was unable to control the descent.
I was able to fish the drone out of the water within about 5 minutes, turned the battery off and removed it and tried all means to gently dry out the drone over the next couple of days without trying to turn the machine back on.
In the meantime I contacted DJI explaining I probably would have a repair/replacement to go through under my Refresh plan but they advised I try the drone + battery after I had an opportunity to dry it out. Two days later the battery was still showing a 50% - 75% charge on the power button but when I tried powering on the drone, many things (understandably) were wrong. No gimbal movement, no lights, “ESC error” etc, etc. In order words, the electronics were fried. Interestingly enough, the image from the camera was still showing up on my iPhone screen.
So I contacted DJI again and sent off my machine to the repair center they selected as per their instructions under the Refresh plan. I then started to investigate what exactly had gone wrong – I accessed the flight records from the flight log on my iPhone. The log showed that although the controller’s stick movements indicated the device should have stopped at 20 feet, it went into “Confirm Landing” mode without any inputs from the controller and continued to descend until it hit the water.
I contacted DJI about this and asked them if they agreed this was not a pilot error, and if so, would it be covered under warranty since the crash happened just a few weeks before the one year anniversary of me receiving the M2P. After I synced the flight records with DJI’s database as requested, DJI investigated and agreed it was a hardware error that caused the crash. So DJI confirmed the crash would not be a Refresh claim, but instead covered under warranty. So I finally received my new M2P, new battery and a full set of 4 new props (I had sent one damaged prop in with the water damaged drone). Total cost to me $0.
I then asked them if there was anything I could have done to override the erroneous “Confirm Landing” mode. They said if I had pressed the Flight Pause Button on the controller, this should have overridden the “Confirm Landing” mode. But if you read the manual, this does not work under all flight modes.
I also asked DJI if they recommended one of the flotation systems from other suppliers that are available, because if my M2P crashes again over water for any reason, I wanted to increase my chances of recovering it for claim purposes. DJI said they do not make recommendations for other supplier accessories and that anyway, if I had been unable to recover it + it crashed due to “hardware error” (ie DJI defect) + it was still under warranty, they would still have replaced it without charge. Nonetheless, in future I will not fly over water again without some sort of flotation device for my drone!
The bottom line is that, unlike several posted complaints that I have read about DJI’s warranty service, I found DJI, once you supply them with all the information they request and the claim is warrante[e]d (pun intended) if proven by the log, DJI are straightforward, without hesitation and deliver.
On this occasion I had been flying it over the lake about 40 feet away from the lakeside where I had taken off and where I planned to land. I had been up to about 300 feet and was bringing it down to about 20 feet and guiding it towards the lakeside. At around 20 feet I let go of the throttle stick intending to keep that altitude until I was over land. However, the drone kept descending until it hit the water. The drone was however responding to my forward stick to bring it towards the edge of the water, but it hit the water just before it reached land as I was unable to control the descent.
I was able to fish the drone out of the water within about 5 minutes, turned the battery off and removed it and tried all means to gently dry out the drone over the next couple of days without trying to turn the machine back on.
In the meantime I contacted DJI explaining I probably would have a repair/replacement to go through under my Refresh plan but they advised I try the drone + battery after I had an opportunity to dry it out. Two days later the battery was still showing a 50% - 75% charge on the power button but when I tried powering on the drone, many things (understandably) were wrong. No gimbal movement, no lights, “ESC error” etc, etc. In order words, the electronics were fried. Interestingly enough, the image from the camera was still showing up on my iPhone screen.
So I contacted DJI again and sent off my machine to the repair center they selected as per their instructions under the Refresh plan. I then started to investigate what exactly had gone wrong – I accessed the flight records from the flight log on my iPhone. The log showed that although the controller’s stick movements indicated the device should have stopped at 20 feet, it went into “Confirm Landing” mode without any inputs from the controller and continued to descend until it hit the water.
I contacted DJI about this and asked them if they agreed this was not a pilot error, and if so, would it be covered under warranty since the crash happened just a few weeks before the one year anniversary of me receiving the M2P. After I synced the flight records with DJI’s database as requested, DJI investigated and agreed it was a hardware error that caused the crash. So DJI confirmed the crash would not be a Refresh claim, but instead covered under warranty. So I finally received my new M2P, new battery and a full set of 4 new props (I had sent one damaged prop in with the water damaged drone). Total cost to me $0.
I then asked them if there was anything I could have done to override the erroneous “Confirm Landing” mode. They said if I had pressed the Flight Pause Button on the controller, this should have overridden the “Confirm Landing” mode. But if you read the manual, this does not work under all flight modes.
I also asked DJI if they recommended one of the flotation systems from other suppliers that are available, because if my M2P crashes again over water for any reason, I wanted to increase my chances of recovering it for claim purposes. DJI said they do not make recommendations for other supplier accessories and that anyway, if I had been unable to recover it + it crashed due to “hardware error” (ie DJI defect) + it was still under warranty, they would still have replaced it without charge. Nonetheless, in future I will not fly over water again without some sort of flotation device for my drone!
The bottom line is that, unlike several posted complaints that I have read about DJI’s warranty service, I found DJI, once you supply them with all the information they request and the claim is warrante[e]d (pun intended) if proven by the log, DJI are straightforward, without hesitation and deliver.
Last edited:
