Mav4 Ordered

[tstr14]

By now I think most of us know about State Farm and some of us have had some experience with State Farm as well so YMMV. You don't need other State Farm policies in most states. For me, State Farm doesn't deal with replacement cost. If you make a claim for a covered drone, send them the receipt for that drone and they send you a check for whatever amount you paid. You are free to buy another drone, same model, different model....or, buy no drone at all and keep the money. They don't even ask for the drone back. Regardless of the amount of the claim, at that point, your drone policy days with State Farm are over. This could come in the form of failure to renew, cancellation of existing, or cancellation upon reviewing your 2nd claim...but it will eventually come. They don't seem to pay more than one claim which means any claim after your first claim is useless.

So you send them a receipt and they send a check? I wonder if Ukraine knows about this?
"Hey State Farm, we lost some drones 'next door'!"

 

[moldorf]

By now I think most of us know about State Farm and some of us have had some experience with State Farm as well so YMMV. You don't need other State Farm policies in most states. For me, State Farm doesn't deal with replacement cost. If you make a claim for a covered drone, send them the receipt for that drone and they send you a check for whatever amount you paid. You are free to buy another drone, same model, different model....or, buy no drone at all and keep the money. They don't even ask for the drone back. Regardless of the amount of the claim, at that point, your drone policy days with State Farm are over. This could come in the form of failure to renew, cancellation of existing, or cancellation upon reviewing your 2nd claim...but it will eventually come. They don't seem to pay more than one claim which means any claim after your first claim is useless.

I'm a bit skeptical of what you claim

I carried an inland marine policy for years with State Farm, protecting my tools against theft, from both my van(s) and job sites. I made claims twice, one time for $5500 another for $2200. And my policy premium did not go up over the inflation rate upon renewal. Wasn't cancelled. IIRC my annual premium was under $150 and the insured coverage was $10,000

 

[mavic3usa]

So you send them a receipt and they send a check? I wonder if Ukraine knows about this?
"Hey State Farm, we lost some drones 'next door'!"

Well, for me, that's all they wanted. I had the drone in pieces and I asked them if they wanted it back and they said no. This was a few years back so things may have changed. They cut me a check for the amount I paid for the drone.

 

[mavic3usa]

I'm a bit skeptical of what you claim

I carried an inland marine policy for years with State Farm, protecting my tools against theft, from both my van(s) and job sites. I made claims twice, one time for $5500 another for $2200. And my policy premium did not go up over the inflation rate upon renewal. Wasn't cancelled. IIRC my annual premium was under $150 and the insured coverage was $10,000

This is for a standalone drone policy with State Farm which anybody can walk in off the street and get it if it's available in your area. It's pretty simply, pay the $60 and they will cut you a check when your drone gets destroyed. I wasn't asked about replacement or repair options. Then I got cancelled and they said it was due to a prior claim. YMMV but there are many stories of people getting the same. It was at the point that DJI Care Refresh became a thing for me.

 

[microlinux]

I'm a bit skeptical of what you claim

I carried an inland marine policy for years with State Farm, protecting my tools against theft, from both my van(s) and job sites. I made claims twice, one time for $5500 another for $2200. And my policy premium did not go up over the inflation rate upon renewal. Wasn't cancelled. IIRC my annual premium was under $150 and the insured coverage was $10,000

Insurance is more or less all algorithms. YMMV depending on how potentially profitable you are deemed to be in the future. It is very complex, this is a gross oversimplification.

 

[GadgetGuy]

In as many years as I’ve had DJI products, I’ve not found evidence anywhere that someone actually had the repaired product sent back to them. What happens to all those poor crashed drones is still a mystery to me. Truck loads somewhere I’m sure.

Exactly. DJI always replaces the drone with a refurb. The reason for no U.S. warranty, no Care Refresh, and no repairs in the U.S. is DJI has no refurbished Mavic 4 Pro units already in the United States to cover any of those issues, and has the same difficulty getting refurbished units into the U.S. as new purchases, with all the U.S. Customs holds.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Highest price of the day so far, M4P RC2 combo from S. Korea US$6,080. Mark this price, if DJI says there will be no US launch, expect these prices to break $10k. Avg creator combo price is $5499.

DJI Mavic 4 Pro Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2)(3 Batteries) Camera Drone Genuine | eBay

(DJI Mavic 4 Pro Drone. DJI RC 2 & Fly More Combo Included. Shoulder Bag. Pair of Spare Propellers x 4. O4+ Transmission with 18.6-Mile Range. Qatar, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Czech Republic, Pakistan, Uzbekistan ).

www.ebay.com

Quoting from the linked seller:

"International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges."

That's on top of the $6,080!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I spoke too soon a few days ago.
I was NOT past the import fees stage as I initially thought.
This is what I got hit with on Tuesday……..

View attachment 183130

That's 55%!
If you have DrDrone.com "handle it" for you at checkout, they now charge you 60%!
5% surcharge for their "handling"
That's an extra $180, on top of their $99 shipping charge!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes, after talking with the delivery guy I have the option to send it back.
From what I have read, they would then hit the Seller with the import fees for the return.
I’m assuming the Seller must make a decision on whether or not to accept the returned package or try to bargain with me. I wouldn’t mind splitting the fees with the Seller.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.

That doesn't make sense. If it never made into the U.S. past Customs, and is being returned to international sender, the import tariffs should not apply. UPS is effectively acting as the U.S. Customs broker, collecting the tariff, if the package is accepted by the receiver.

What are you planning on doing?
Refusing it?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Something to be aware of in general is some couriers will deliver an item with no mention of import charges and send a later some time later. I've not come across it often but Fedex have done this to me a couple of times.

That's scary!
This kid is likely going to get a big bill!
Bought from DrDrone.com last week in May and delivered via FedEx with no tariffs, and DrDrone.com told him his purchase price already included tariffs. NOT!

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[BluPrynt]

That doesn't make sense. If it never made into the U.S. past Customs, and is being returned to international sender, the import tariffs should not apply. UPS is effectively acting as the U.S. Customs broker, collecting the tariff, if the package is accepted by the receiver.

What are you planning on doing?
Refusing it?

UPDATE: After some back and fourth w/ UPS I was not successful getting the amount lowered. They showed zero sympathy

This afternoon Adorama tried to bill me for my "Pre-Order". This was done day after the initial release. I received the fraud alert and called them back. Long story short, Their total was around $1k less. I paid for it, let UPS know to Return to Sender, and notified DrDone that their item was on the way back to them. Delivery from Adoroma should be Wednesday.

I should also mention that I reached out to DrDrone to see if they were willing to split the fees or help in any way. They declined.
Oh well, hopefully this is behind me and I can enjoy my Mavic 4 Pro this week!

 

[GadgetGuy]

UPDATE: After some back and fourth w/ UPS I was not successful getting the amount lowered. They showed zero sympathy

This afternoon Adorama tried to bill me for my "Pre-Order". This was done day after the initial release. I received the fraud alert and called them back. Long story short, Their total was around $1k less. I paid for it, let UPS know to Return to Sender, and notified DrDone that their item was on the way back to them. Delivery from Adoroma should be Wednesday.

I should also mention that I reached out to DrDrone to see if they were willing to split the fees or help in any way. They declined.
Oh well, hopefully this is behind me and I can enjoy my Mavic 4 Pro this week!

You came to exactly the same conclusion that I did! Adorama's Creator Combo price today with sales tax is $5,000 and they had stock this morning (still do, too!), and my Amazon Canada order with tariffs was going to be $6,200 and a new DrDrone pre-order would have been $5,860 and CovertDrones' price with tax would be $5850. I suspect DrDrone pays no tariffs on a recalled shipment that you refused, which why there was nothing to split.

Best of all, the $5,000 Adorama purchase comes with Adorama customer support and DJI USA facilitating the DJI Canada 1 year warranty on our purchases, in case it is needed, as well as any assessment for any needed repairs. No need to ship back to Canada at my expense for warranty! Win! Win!

 

[BluPrynt]

You came to exactly the same conclusion that I did! Adorama's Creator Combo price today with sales tax is $5,000 and they had stock this morning (still do, too!), and my Amazon Canada order with tariffs was going to be $6,200 and a new DrDrone pre-order would have been $5,860 and CovertDrones' price with tax would be $5850. I suspect DrDrone pays no tariffs on a recalled shipment that you refused, which why there was nothing to split.

Best of all, the $5,000 Adorama purchase comes with Adorama customer support and DJI USA facilitating the DJI Canada 1 year warranty on our purchases, in case it is needed, as well as any assessment for any needed repairs. No need to ship back to Canada at my expense for warranty! Win! Win!

You hit it right on the head. Everything made sense. It was essentially perfect timing for me.
As far as the import fees, it would get VERY interesting if the gov did try to make them pay the fees. But like you, I don't see this happening.

Adoroma did try to sell me their "insurance"
They wanted $500/year. I cant remember what the 2 year price was. I contacted my insurance company (Farmers) and they cover "Toys" including drones for $150/year or $300 for 2 years and up to $5k.
So I'm good on that front.

 

[GadgetGuy]

You hit it right on the head. Everything made sense. It was essentially perfect timing for me.
As far as the import fees, it would get VERY interesting if the gov did try to make them pay the fees. But like you, I don't see this happening.

Adoroma did try to sell me their "insurance"
They wanted $500/year. I cant remember what the 2 year price was. I contacted my insurance company (Farmers) and they cover "Toys" including drones for $150/year or $300 for 2 years and up to $5k.
So I'm good on that front.

I couldn’t believe at 4am when I looked at the Adorama Creator Combo pre-order that it said it would ship TODAY, if pre-ordered! Done deal! Amazon Canada order canceled!

I should look into whether Allstate would cover mine. State Farm doesn’t offer their "drone" personal articles policy in CA. Self insuring is cheaper, as I have never yet had a Care Refresh claim on any drone that I bought it for! Warranty stuff that isn't my fault is now covered free by the DJI Canada warranty through DJI USA facilitation.