@Made2Phly you dont say which drone you have they mostly send a refurbished one which to all intent and purposes is as new ,then they will repair the one you sent ,it speeds up the time for the replacement to arrive back to you ,if it is a newer recent drone model then they can also send a brand new one depending on stock levels, its very rare for you to get the same drone back
That's not been my experience. I have the DJI Care Refresh coverage on all three of my Mini-
2s. I graduated from the Elon Musk school of figuring out how to do things, and the first two got a little dinged up during my training. The first one is due to be delivered back to me today...the same drone...at my request.
Here's what happened:
1) I banged Dijimm, my first Mini-2, into a couple of things in my early training. He still flew great, but I had managed to break the lens cover, so all the video had foggy patches.
2) I filed a repair request.
3)
The same day, they had UPS send me a shipping level.
4) I packed Dijimm up, and shipped him using the UPS label.
5) Around a week later, I got notified that DJI had gotten the drone, and they had estimated the repair cost. A little over 100 bucks.
6) At that point, I could either have gotten a new/rebuilt drone for $49, under DJI care, or a I could pay the hundred bucks, and have them repair Dijimm, and send him back.
7) I opted to get the repair done. This decision will make no sense to anyone who doesn't bond with specific machines. It's not exactly animism, from the Japanese tradition, but it's similar in some ways.
So, if you're willing to pay their estimated repair cost, you can indeed get the same drone back. They do require payment before starting the repair, which is reasonable.
If I can pick up Dijimm today, I'll let you know how it worked out!
TCS