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The DJI Care Refresh Express Experience (for me)

ckoerner

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Joined
Mar 14, 2021
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Location
St. Louis, MO
I wanted to give back in a small way to this community and share my recent experiences with DJI shipping and Care Refresh. A little context. I live in St. Louis, MO USA – the middle part. All times are my local time. California is two hours behind Missouri. I'm a middle-aged dad who rides a motorcycle for fun, enjoys photography, and thought drones would be a fun extension of those. For me drones combines the enjoyment of photography with things that get up and go – with all the associated risk.

So, on to my experience.

I ordered my snazzy new Mini 2 with the DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan on Thursday, March 4* (DJI's documentation on this plan is sparse and inconsistent. The one blog post I found has not been updated to reflect updates such as flyaway coverage. The plan I purchased covers three replacement units within two years).

Four days later, on March 8th, I received a service agreement and shipping notice. The drone arrived on March 11th via FedEx (from Georgia). Seven days later. Not bad at all given the current state of the world.

I got the whole family up on March 12th at 6 AM to take the drone up in our back yard and catch the sunrise. We flew for about a half hour just getting the hang of things.

Then I crashed on Saturday, March 13th at 1:29 PM - 19 minutes into the flight. I cursed under my breath, laughed at myself, and was grateful that I bought the Care Refresh. Immediately went home and filed a claim. I was presented with the express option and took it. No need for inspection, quote, and payment. $49 up front for the first instance.

A few hours later (Saturday, March 13 at 5PM to be exact) I was sent a UPS label. Packaged up the drone (with gimbal cover and propellers - no battery or accessories) and slapped the UPS label on the box. Since it was late Saturday, the earliest I could get to a UPS store was Monday morning. Dropped the drone off promptly at 8:30 Monday morning - March 15th.

According to UPS, the sad little drone arrived at DJI's repair center in California Thursday, March 18th at 10:27 AM. DJI sent me at notice at Noon on the same day that they had received the item for replacement. At 2:25 PM DJI sent another email letting me know the replacement was on its way. UPS tracking number included. UPS sent another email at 6 PM saying it had departed the DJI facilities. Replacement arrived on Tuesday, March 23 at 11:50 AM. Eight days since I shipped off the Mini 2.

The replacement drone looks brand new. It came in retail drone-only box with all the little stickers. No accessories naturally, but all the cardboard bits and cutouts for the controller were present. No S or R in the serial number (as some have said that indicates a serviced or replacement drone).

I immediately plopped in a charged battery, paired with the controller and took it up for a flight to test controls. Everything appears to be working as intended.


Result: Success! Learned I'm an overconfident idiot. Happy with DJI's repair service. I recommend the Care Plus, even if you don't think you'll make a mistake. You will. We’re human.

Also, stay away from bird houses.

Now this is all my own experience. There are many factors in play. Geography, weather, time of day, UPS' capacity, how busy the DJI service center was that day, etc. Your time will be different, please don't take it out on the poor customer service person if things take a little longer. Contact DJI if you have issues. They are accessible all over the place (I've even seen them responding to folks on Reddit!). They're trying their best, and for someone like me, flying for fun, I had to keep reminding myself, it's not life or death.

* Oh, and if you order from DJI, don't skip the 5% coupon if you subscribe to their newsletter. It saved me $30 which helped cover part of the cost of the Care Refresh ($79)
 
Last edited:
My experience with DJI refresh was much the same, but being in the northern part of Canada the timelines were a bit more stretched out. My mini had to travel to Grapevine Texas, was about a month from when it shipped out until I received it back.
 
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Like your experience with Refresh, DJI had a new drone in my hands in 8 days. They even had the new serial number registered to me on the website where my prior one had been.
 
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I wanted to give back in a small way to this community and share my recent experiences with DJI shipping and Care Refresh. A little context. I live in St. Louis, MO USA – the middle part. All times are my local time. California is two hours behind Missouri. I'm a middle-aged dad who rides a motorcycle for fun, enjoys photography, and thought drones would be a fun extension of those. For me drones combines the enjoyment of photography with things that get up and go – with all the associated risk.

So, on to my experience.

I ordered my snazzy new Mini 2 with the DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan on Thursday, March 4* (DJI's documentation on this plan is sparse and inconsistent. The one blog post I found has not been updated to reflect updates such as flyaway coverage. The plan I purchased covers three replacement units within two years).

Four days later, on March 8th, I received a service agreement and shipping notice. The drone arrived on March 11th via FedEx (from Georgia). Seven days later. Not bad at all given the current state of the world.

I got the whole family up on March 12th at 6am to take the drone up in our back yard and catch the sunrise. We flew for about a half hour just getting the hang of things.

Then I crashed on Saturday, March 13th at 1:29 PM - 19 minutes into the flight. I cursed under my breath, laughed at myself, and was grateful that I bought the Care Refresh. Immediately went home and filed a claim. I was presented with the express option and took it. No need for inspection, quote, and payment. $49 up front for the first instance.

A few hours later (Saturday, March 13 at 5PM to be exact) I was sent a UPS label. Packaged up the drone (with gimbal cover and propellers - no battery or accessories) and slapped the UPS label on the box. Since it was late Saturday, the earliest I could get to a UPS store was Monday morning. Dropped the drone off promptly at 8:30 Monday morning - March 15th.

According to UPS, the sad little drone arrived at DJI's repair center in California Thursday, March 18th at 10:27 AM. DJI sent me at notice at Noon on the same day that they had received the item for replacement. At 2:25 PM DJI sent another email letting me know the replacement was on its way. UPS tracking number included. UPS sent another email at 6 PM saying it had departed the DJI facilities. Replacement arrived on Tuesday, March 23 at 11:50 AM. Eight days since I shipped off the Mini 2.

The replacement drone looks brand new. It came in retail drone-only box with all the little stickers. No accessories naturally, but all the cardboard bits and cutouts for the controller were present. No S or R in the serial number (as some have said that indicates a serviced or replacement drone).

I immediately plopped in a charged battery, paired with the controller and took it up for a flight to test controls. Everything appears to be working as intended.


Result: Success! Learned I'm an overconfident idiot. Happy with DJI's repair service. I recommend the Care Plus, even if you don't think you'll make a mistake. You will. We’re human.

Also, stay away from bird houses.

Now this is all my own experience. There are many factors in play. Geography, weather, time of day, UPS' capacity, how busy the DJI service center was that day, etc. Your time will be different, please don't take it out on the poor customer service person if things take a little longer. Contact DJI if you have issues. They are accessible all over the place (I've even seen them responding to folks on Reddit!). They're trying their best, and for someone like me, flying for fun, I had to keep reminding myself, it's not life or death.

* Oh, and if you order from DJI, don't skip the 5% coupon if you subscribe to their newsletter. It saved me $30 which helped cover part of the cost of the Care Refresh ($79)
I'm glad everything worked out quickly for you.
 
I like the sound of this!! Sure hope I can actually recover my drone from her watery grave and give it a try...
 
I'm so glad to hear of good things about Dji and their response to the above posters.
Does it matter which forum you are a member of then?
Over on the Dji forum, there are numerous complaints about Dji ignoring customers e-mails etc.
Just seems strange to me that's all. Stay safe!
 
I wanted to give back in a small way to this community and share my recent experiences with DJI shipping and Care Refresh. A little context. I live in St. Louis, MO USA – the middle part. All times are my local time. California is two hours behind Missouri. I'm a middle-aged dad who rides a motorcycle for fun, enjoys photography, and thought drones would be a fun extension of those. For me drones combines the enjoyment of photography with things that get up and go – with all the associated risk.

So, on to my experience.

I ordered my snazzy new Mini 2 with the DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan on Thursday, March 4* (DJI's documentation on this plan is sparse and inconsistent. The one blog post I found has not been updated to reflect updates such as flyaway coverage. The plan I purchased covers three replacement units within two years).

Four days later, on March 8th, I received a service agreement and shipping notice. The drone arrived on March 11th via FedEx (from Georgia). Seven days later. Not bad at all given the current state of the world.

I got the whole family up on March 12th at 6 AM to take the drone up in our back yard and catch the sunrise. We flew for about a half hour just getting the hang of things.

Then I crashed on Saturday, March 13th at 1:29 PM - 19 minutes into the flight. I cursed under my breath, laughed at myself, and was grateful that I bought the Care Refresh. Immediately went home and filed a claim. I was presented with the express option and took it. No need for inspection, quote, and payment. $49 up front for the first instance.

A few hours later (Saturday, March 13 at 5PM to be exact) I was sent a UPS label. Packaged up the drone (with gimbal cover and propellers - no battery or accessories) and slapped the UPS label on the box. Since it was late Saturday, the earliest I could get to a UPS store was Monday morning. Dropped the drone off promptly at 8:30 Monday morning - March 15th.

According to UPS, the sad little drone arrived at DJI's repair center in California Thursday, March 18th at 10:27 AM. DJI sent me at notice at Noon on the same day that they had received the item for replacement. At 2:25 PM DJI sent another email letting me know the replacement was on its way. UPS tracking number included. UPS sent another email at 6 PM saying it had departed the DJI facilities. Replacement arrived on Tuesday, March 23 at 11:50 AM. Eight days since I shipped off the Mini 2.

The replacement drone looks brand new. It came in retail drone-only box with all the little stickers. No accessories naturally, but all the cardboard bits and cutouts for the controller were present. No S or R in the serial number (as some have said that indicates a serviced or replacement drone).

I immediately plopped in a charged battery, paired with the controller and took it up for a flight to test controls. Everything appears to be working as intended.


Result: Success! Learned I'm an overconfident idiot. Happy with DJI's repair service. I recommend the Care Plus, even if you don't think you'll make a mistake. You will. We’re human.

Also, stay away from bird houses.

Now this is all my own experience. There are many factors in play. Geography, weather, time of day, UPS' capacity, how busy the DJI service center was that day, etc. Your time will be different, please don't take it out on the poor customer service person if things take a little longer. Contact DJI if you have issues. They are accessible all over the place (I've even seen them responding to folks on Reddit!). They're trying their best, and for someone like me, flying for fun, I had to keep reminding myself, it's not life or death.

* Oh, and if you order from DJI, don't skip the 5% coupon if you subscribe to their newsletter. It saved me $30 which helped cover part of the cost of the Care Refresh ($79)
I, too, am very happy with DJI service, and Can Refresh.
 
Wow.. this is looking increasingly attractive proposition!

I think I'm too late now though.. I seem to remember you only had 48 hours to take this out? (I have had mine 4 days now)

might be wrong here.. Any ideas?

Thanks
 
Wow.. this is looking increasingly attractive proposition!

I think I'm too late now though.. I seem to remember you only had 48 hours to take this out? (I have had mine 4 days now)

might be wrong here.. Any ideas?

Thanks
You are out of luck for the 48 hours time limit, but you can still get Refresh. DJI requires you now to PROVE that your drone is ok by requiring you to do a series of tests to document the status of the drone. I am not sure how to qualify but I would start with the web site. www.DJI.com. and search for support and Refresh. Go to DJI>Support>Refresh>find your device>. follow the steps. I think it is now $79.

I had to provide them with these tests to qualify my Mavic Air 1 (which I have since releasedplaced with M2P).
 
Same experience here, from the UK, but with the regular Care Refresh. I was presented with the express option when I was making my booking, but at that moment I thought this is paid extra, so decided to go for the basic, even that I was 100% sure, the drone is totalled and I will have to pay the full £45 for a brand new one.

But the bad side for us in the UK is that we don't have a DJI centre, we have to ship to the Netherlands, here is where it gets complicated, you know, Brexit and stuff...
A guy just had a post, about being charged £90 duty tax, because DJI made a shipping mistake. apparently.

Regards
 
Same experience here, from the UK, but with the regular Care Refresh. I was presented with the express option when I was making my booking, but at that moment I thought this is paid extra, so decided to go for the basic, even that I was 100% sure, the drone is totalled and I will have to pay the full £45 for a brand new one.

But the bad side for us in the UK is that we don't have a DJI centre, we have to ship to the Netherlands, here is where it gets complicated, you know, Brexit and stuff...
A guy just had a post, about being charged £90 duty tax, because DJI made a shipping mistake. apparently.

Regards
Gulp.. that is a big dent, plus the insurance excess £45

I might send them an email asking for some clarity on this.
 
Gulp.. that is a big dent, plus the insurance excess £45

I might send them an email asking for some clarity on this.
TheirEnglish not very sketchy. I would try to use their chat window, and put it into the simplest of terms. Try to go to DJI.com>Products>Mini2>Support>contact us>chat
 
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Like your experience with Refresh, DJI had a new drone in my hands in 8 days. They even had the new serial number registered to me on the website where my prior one had been.

I just sent my Mavic Mini in for "Care Refresh" replacement due to a broken gimble. I chose the rapid option and got an immediate email with a link to a printable mailing label. I packed up the Mini, sans everything but the propellers (they stayed on the Mini), taped the box, printed and applied the mailing label and dropped it off at UPS this morning, May 1, 2021. I'll come back here and report how it works out. If the story is epic, I'll start a different thread, but I expect all to go well.
The clock is ticking... ?
 
I wanted to give back in a small way to this community and share my recent experiences with DJI shipping and Care Refresh. A little context. I live in St. Louis, MO USA – the middle part. All times are my local time. California is two hours behind Missouri. I'm a middle-aged dad who rides a motorcycle for fun, enjoys photography, and thought drones would be a fun extension of those. For me drones combines the enjoyment of photography with things that get up and go – with all the associated risk.

So, on to my experience.

I ordered my snazzy new Mini 2 with the DJI Care Refresh 2-Year Plan on Thursday, March 4* (DJI's documentation on this plan is sparse and inconsistent. The one blog post I found has not been updated to reflect updates such as flyaway coverage. The plan I purchased covers three replacement units within two years).

Four days later, on March 8th, I received a service agreement and shipping notice. The drone arrived on March 11th via FedEx (from Georgia). Seven days later. Not bad at all given the current state of the world.

I got the whole family up on March 12th at 6 AM to take the drone up in our back yard and catch the sunrise. We flew for about a half hour just getting the hang of things.

Then I crashed on Saturday, March 13th at 1:29 PM - 19 minutes into the flight. I cursed under my breath, laughed at myself, and was grateful that I bought the Care Refresh. Immediately went home and filed a claim. I was presented with the express option and took it. No need for inspection, quote, and payment. $49 up front for the first instance.

A few hours later (Saturday, March 13 at 5PM to be exact) I was sent a UPS label. Packaged up the drone (with gimbal cover and propellers - no battery or accessories) and slapped the UPS label on the box. Since it was late Saturday, the earliest I could get to a UPS store was Monday morning. Dropped the drone off promptly at 8:30 Monday morning - March 15th.

According to UPS, the sad little drone arrived at DJI's repair center in California Thursday, March 18th at 10:27 AM. DJI sent me at notice at Noon on the same day that they had received the item for replacement. At 2:25 PM DJI sent another email letting me know the replacement was on its way. UPS tracking number included. UPS sent another email at 6 PM saying it had departed the DJI facilities. Replacement arrived on Tuesday, March 23 at 11:50 AM. Eight days since I shipped off the Mini 2.

The replacement drone looks brand new. It came in retail drone-only box with all the little stickers. No accessories naturally, but all the cardboard bits and cutouts for the controller were present. No S or R in the serial number (as some have said that indicates a serviced or replacement drone).

I immediately plopped in a charged battery, paired with the controller and took it up for a flight to test controls. Everything appears to be working as intended.


Result: Success! Learned I'm an overconfident idiot. Happy with DJI's repair service. I recommend the Care Plus, even if you don't think you'll make a mistake. You will. We’re human.

Also, stay away from bird houses.

Now this is all my own experience. There are many factors in play. Geography, weather, time of day, UPS' capacity, how busy the DJI service center was that day, etc. Your time will be different, please don't take it out on the poor customer service person if things take a little longer. Contact DJI if you have issues. They are accessible all over the place (I've even seen them responding to folks on Reddit!). They're trying their best, and for someone like me, flying for fun, I had to keep reminding myself, it's not life or death.

* Oh, and if you order from DJI, don't skip the 5% coupon if you subscribe to their newsletter. It saved me $30 which helped cover part of the cost of the Care Refresh ($79)
Great to hear. The video really got me at the end.....I was thinking, "this guy is just asking for more trouble.....wait, he's going BETWEEN those trees??!!??" LOL.
 
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3 days and Texas has not received my Mini... The clock is ticking... ?Thumbswayup
The replacement drone DID ARRIVE on May 9th, (eight days) in a sealed box and it looks brand new. Linking it to the "old" controller was as simple as the instructions in the box, though it took two attempts. No problem. DJI Fly worked with the new drone immediately. The instructions said to update the firmware, and I tried, but the firmware was up to date already. All good! Thanks DJI.
 
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The replacement drone DID ARRIVE on May 9th, (eight days) All good! Thanks DJI.
Follow up. I immediately sold the "new" (refurbished) drone and all accessories. The buyer knows me well and knows the drone is "newly refurbished" but not new, and that all of the accessories are used. I then logged into faadronezone.faa.gov, followed the link to "my inventory" and deleted the "old" drone - the one returned to DJI - from my inventory. I did not enter the replacement drone because that has already been sold to someone else. I will soon purchase a new drone and go from there. For the record, I am Part 107 certified. (which makes a difference when it comes to drone registration in the US) Ciao and happy flying.
 
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