There is no way I owe this much money ???

[Arce101]

Arce101, I hope you dont mind me asking, where are you now with the repair. I really hope you get it straightened out without a huge repair bill. Good luck with it all.......

I’m still waiting on dji to email me they said 24 to 48 but Memorial Day weekend so probably won’t know until Tuesday..I’ll keep you guys posted

 

[WithTheBirds]

It will be a shock to learn DJI is happy to repair the AC if the water telltales have activated.

Best you could hope for would be replacement under warranty if it might be demonstrated a hardware/software fault caused it to end up in the puddle.

 

[Meta4]

Best you could hope for would be replacement under warranty if it might be demonstrated a hardware/software fault caused it to end up in the puddle.

Probably not in this case : Sent to dji for repairs there asking me for information?anyone with these issues in repair process

 

[WithTheBirds]

Probably not in this case : Sent to dji for repairs there asking me for information?anyone with these issues in repair process

Who knows- might be. It might be I got my posts mixed up however.

 

[RayOZ]

I don't profess to know the full story around this particular issue. However, after reading this thread I would suggest there is a very good lesson out of which we could all heed caution.
1) Take photo's of your AC - from every angle possible - before sending it away. 2) Insist upon a written quote for a repair, before consenting to any work. 3) If something crops up that could not have reasonably been foreseen at the time the original quote is provided, then such additional work and associated costs must be agreed upon, before the repair/replace process continues. It might end up that a repair will take a little longer to complete, but at least it should happen, without any surprises plus an avoidable trip to the local pharmacy for antacid medication! ???

Actually.
1. Get insurance or DJI Care Refresh. Otherwise be prepared to send $$$ for repairs.
2. Do your research before sending for repairs, so you don’t sent to the wrong company.
3. Unless you are an expert on drone repairs, don’t assume what needs to be repaired, cos you probably don’t want to spend $$$, so you think is only a minor problem.
4. Don’t post and give half the story to the community to try to get some sympathy and support. The full story will eventually come up.
Sure, get a quote and decide if you want to proceed. You need to be considerate as well, cos you got a third party repairer and DJI pay for the shipping of your drone, and paying someone to inspect them. Now you don’t want to pay for the repairs. It hasn’t cost you anything but your time. But it’s cost 2 companies their time and money.
This is an expensive hobby after all. Being cheap always ends up being more expensive. For yourself and sometimes others.

 

[Bigbird48]

when I crashed my MA into the river they just replaced the gimbal and Camera 3 sometin.

 

[Arce101]

when I crashed my MA into the river they just replaced the gimbal and Camera 3 sometin.

Ok now that’s what I’m saying they’re just trying to get more money out of me damaged or not they quote the damaged parts and send me a refurbished drone anyway I think it’s bs

 

[Steve L Reid]

There's zero free anything from DJI because they're spying for the State. No more DJI anything for me.

 

[Balushi]

@Arce101

Your drone was already inspected by our techs

Here's the parts you need to replace to get airborne

Forward Vision Sensor
New GPS Unit
And the Gimbal

We quoted you including 2 hrs of labor $499 including calibration firmware updates flight test ect. When you declined the repair we shipped it back (minus the lightning cable debacle btw went out already you should have shortly )

You did not have to pay out of pocket for inspection or shipping fees as per our policy being you declined the repair. (you only pay if we fix)

Should you decide to proceed with the repair well you know the drill we would be happy to service it. Not sure why those fine folks @DJI want you to buy a new drone. I would assume they have the parts?

I think the real crime here is the $250 an hour for drone repair. As a contractor that does destructive testing for lawsuits I'm usually getting paid $150 For myself And usually it's the lawyers getting 250 to 450 an hour. I wonder is $250 an hour industry standard or is it just for this company.

 

[Mr. Salty]

I think the real crime here is the $250 an hour for drone repair. As a contractor that does destructive testing for lawsuits I'm usually getting paid $150 For myself And usually it's the lawyers getting 250 to 450 an hour. I wonder is $250 an hour industry standard or is it just for this company.

No, you misread the post. They quoted him $499 total for the repair, which includes parts, labor and FedEx shipping both ways.

 

[Balushi]

No, you misread the post. They quoted him $499 total for the repair, which includes parts, labor and FedEx shipping both ways.

I see. I just saw the 2 hour quote and the 499 price didn't Realize that parts are included plus shipping.

 

[AMann]

I've always be concerned when people that say they flushed their drone with fresh / distilled water, dried their drone out, and it flies again as normal, that they will not someday have troubles to various degree.

Here in Australia, if a motor vehicle goes under water over the sill panels, it is a statutory write off, can never go back on the road.
This is due to insurance concerns about wiring and electronics being affect mid to long term.
They just can't afford vehicle malfunction causing something catastrophic down the road (no pun intended).

I would think drones are more susceptible to electronics corrosion than a sturdier motor vehicle wiring and systems.
Fine circuitry, electric motors, they just seem far too risky to fly again, with the possibility of one day falling from the sky.

I think it’s user beware when they do salvage their drone after it was flooded, and of course it depends on the conductivity of the water. At least if it’s dirty fresh water without salt in it there’s a chance, but electrolysis happens very quickly when an energized circuitboard is exposed to ocean water and that may kill it almost instantly.

Kind of off-topic but how do all those 4wd trucks that post themselves doing water crossings deeper than the door sills all the time get away with it in Australia? In the US, nobody really cares about it.

 

[PunaPhantom]

YEah.... no way... I have had lots of experience with DJI over the past 4 years and have had 4 birds sent to them for "repair"... they don't actually repair your drone, they evaluate what is needed then take a refurbished drone off the shelf and send it to you in all 4 cases I have had a "like new drone" returned to me... in 3 of the cases the repair (Phantom 3 4k and 2x P4P) it was never more than $185 - and one P4P completely obliterated when my spotter failed to warn me of a palm tree and it came crashing to the driveway... Bought a Mavic Pro last year from Craigslist... listed as "for parts" sure gimbal destroyed one arm bent... couldn't hold steady skewed all over the place... took a chance sent it to DJI and $225 and 8 days later had a "like New" refurbished one back...

I cannot praise DJI enough for fast, efficient and very cost effective repairs... would never deal with a third party... which is what this sounds like...

my 2¢ -

 

[pushman65]

My expectations were that they would charge me for the parts that were needed which was a gimbal at best not a whole drone are u serious what would be your expectations man come on you would really pay for a whole new drone if yours was operating perfectly just had a gimbal overload error did you really ask that question?

Did you try to calibrate the gimbal and IMU? check out this link: Troubleshooting Gimbal Errors - DJI Guides
Hate to see you waste your $ on something that you could fix.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Kind of off-topic but how do all those 4wd trucks that post themselves doing water crossings deeper than the door sills all the time get away with it in Australia? In the US, nobody really cares about it.

I agree, salt far worse than fresh water, but I still couldn’t trust it fully again if it happened to one of my birds.

Goes underwater over the sills = immersion and water ingress into the cabin.
Have plenty of off road water experience here thankfully never been stuck !!

 

[Lon Denard]

There's zero free anything from DJI because they're spying for the State. No more DJI anything for me.

So how are you on the DJI Mavic forum? Seems weird...

 

[Meta4]

There's zero free anything from DJI because they're spying for the State.

So companies that don't engage in spying give stuff away for free?

No more DJI anything for me.

That will be a major setback for the Chinese espionage program.

 

[ChuckNorrisUSAF]

So companies that don't engage in spying give stuff away for free?

That will be a major setback for the Chinese espionage program.

Baaaaaahahahahaha

Your responses. Priceless

I think we just became friends

 

[TheRisk]

Just buy a new gimbal assembly and repair it yourself. It's easy. A couple screws and a ribbon cable (be extremely careful with the cable,) and you're set. You could even install the hasselbad if you want and have a m2p for about 5-600!

Done that myself a few times in the 3 drones I have - easy peezy - Amazon was really useful for the parts (especially with Mavic pro and phantom 3 parts) and YouTube for the how to do it

 

[Arce101]

So I had sent my drone to dji for a gimbal overload and vision system and gps and they come out with a bill for 890 for a replacement unit mind u my drone runs flawless water damage or not it landed in a puddle and I got it out in less than a few min so it runs good but then they sent me a bill for 1000 the battery plus a new or refurbished drone. There just gonna keep my old one and part it out anyway I think something illegal is going on and if they can’t quote me on any damages I’m gonna be sending this to small claims.they could at least quoted me on the damaged parts and I would of went from there but I know I don’t owe no where near that much