I purchased the Mavic recently to capture footage of the numerous Mardi Gras parades and events this season. I had contacted numerous parading associations and had worked out a deal to provide exclusive coverage of their parades and had coordinated with local law enforcement to do this safely and legally. There are over 20 parades and events that I had planned to cover. These events began last week and continue for another week. I have already missed two parades and will miss 4 more this weekend if I do not get a working aircraft by Saturday morning.
On Friday, January 13th, I had a 20ft discrepancy in altitude during a WP mission and clipped a treetop with my Mavic. I was not really happy with the inaccurate altitude reading. Flight logs show an altitude of 100ft when I hit a 75ft tree. The gimbal was trashed along with bent arms, a broken battery and multiple errors so I had to send my MP into DJI for repairs.
My MP was received, evaluated and I received a quote quickly for $999 or I could use my refresh. In the interest of saving time I did not dispute and I paid my replacement fee immediately expecting a quick return of a new MP but it got held up for days in repair and testing which I don’t quite understand because it was to be replaced under refresh not repaired. Then it went through QC. I finally received my replacement on February 8th. It was not packaged well. They just stuck another MP in the box i sent them with none of the extra protective packageing. The whole unit was somewhat dirty with none of the protective stickers and looked well used. The controller battery was completely dead. After charging the controller I turned it on. The gimble wouldn't initialize and showed motor overload error. The settings still had someone else's name and flight data. I did all the calibrations and updates with no improvement.
I do not understand why I received a broken used Mavic. When I received a quote for repair, the invoice said the cost was $999.00 which is the retail price for a new aircraft with new battery (mine was damaged in crash) and controller. It was not an invoice for a refurbished unit or a new aircraft by itself, it was an invoice for a complete new Mavic at $999 (I guess mine was totalled)
I did not receive a new aircraft as the invoice indicated that I would, nor did I receive an aircraft that was tested and working even though it was supposedly repaired, tested and checked by QC according to their site.
I got on chat to explain the situation to the rep who was very nice. They apologized and said they would open an escalated case and stated they would email me a 2day Air return label within 2 days. A glimmer of hope, but 2 days later nothing. I got back on chat and received the label during the chat session after complaining. I also called and spoke with DJI and stressed the importance of having a working MP before the 19th. He said the case was already accelerated and he would make a note that I needed it by the 17th. I Had it to UPS within 30min. Because of the weekend, it took 4 days. It was delivered there Tuesday morning at 9:25am and was not "received" until late Wednesday after I got back on chat and asked why it was taking so long. What is the use of a 2day priority shipment if you let it sit for 2 days before opening it? Last night I received another email from DJI saying that the damage has been assessed and that I could expect an invoice in two to three days. An invoice? For what? DJI sent me a broken drone! And why will it take 2 or 3 days? I thought escalating a claim meant something.
I was initially happy that the rep escalated the claim and I had high hopes of getting it back in time but after the slow processing of the label, it just sitting there for two days waiting to be received and now being expected to wait 2-3 more days before anything else is done, I am becoming disheartened and my hopes are dwindling. I spent a lot of time effort and money setting these shoots up. I have already missed 2 parades and it looks like I'm going to miss them all. Is this typical accelerated service? I love DJI products and was going to use the revenue from this series of shoots to purchase an
Inspire2 but I am very unhappy with the service so far and am now rethinking my plans.
I emailed support this morning again stressing the bad position they placed me in and have not heard anything. They could have done the right thing and overnighted me a new MP but nothing but silence! I will be glad when other companies catch up on technology and offer us some choices.
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