DJI Customer Service was very good, but.........

[Hendricks]

Hi,

As my earlier posts detailed last month, I had to send my P4 back to DJI in California when it would not successfully download updates to its firmware.
I sent it to DJI and they ultimately told me it was 'unrepairable' and would be replaced.
One week later, UPS delivered my replacement. It was a new P4 in perfect condition.

When I asked DJI what was wrong with the P4 that I sent to them, they were not able to provide me any details......other than the fact it was 'unrepairable'.

I'm pleased to be given a new replacement;however, I would still like to have been given some detail on what DJI technical staff found wrong with the P4 I sent them.

I know it's often cheaper to simply replace things rather than repair them nowadays, but I was just interested in finding out what the issue was with my aircraft.

Otherwise, DJI's customer service was very good.

 

[GMack]

They will never say as they do not know and anything would be pure speculation as their repair people are not engineers. They are just component switchers, much like your mechanic who changes your water pump and you asking why it failed. Electronics can just fail and no one short of the manufacture who made the chip, resistor, diode, LED, EPROM, or whatever component or board may be able to determine it but likely not. When one out of a large batch fail, who knows why? Doubt if they will waste time to find out either and just move on to the next issue, or repair in DJI land.

Enjoy the new craft!

 

[Jayfdee]

Wow, good to hear someone praising DJI customer care, usually we just get people complaining,with some justification, about bad care.
I suppose it is only those who get bad service that comment, glad you got a new one, sometimes they send out a refurbed one.

 

[Hendricks]

They will never say as they do not know and anything would be pure speculation as their repair people are not engineers. They are just component switchers, much like your mechanic who changes your water pump and you asking why it failed. Electronics can just fail and no one short of the manufacture who made the chip, resistor, diode, LED, EPROM, or whatever component or board may be able to determine it but likely not. When one out of a large batch fail, who knows why? Doubt if they will waste time to find out either and just move on to the next issue, or repair in DJI land.

Enjoy the new craft!

You are absolutely correct. They were really not in a position to tell me exactly why my P4 failed.

The P4 that I sent back was just 5 months old and in very good condition, so when they told me it was being replaced, I sure wanted/hoped that I would get a new one as a replacement.
Turns out that I did and that was fair.

 

[Newbieguy]

Congratulations. I just sent mine in. I hope your luck rubs off on me!!!

 

[With The Birds]

They will never say as they do not know and anything would be pure speculation as their repair people are not engineers. They are just component switchers, much like your mechanic who changes your water pump and you asking why it failed. Electronics can just fail and no one short of the manufacture who made the chip, resistor, diode, LED, EPROM, or whatever component or board may be able to determine it but likely not. When one out of a large batch fail, who knows why? Doubt if they will waste time to find out either and just move on to the next issue, or repair in DJI land.

Enjoy the new craft!

Your mechanic will be able to tell you if the water pump had a bad bearing, seal, impeller damaged by cavitation etc.

The DJI repair staff would be able to tell you which component (board level) failed- they will also have a good idea as to causative hardware/software issues from the log file analysis. They must ascertain the cause of the failure to make a warranty determination and to quote the repair.

The issue seems to be they have a policy not to inform customers of particulars other than to say it’s covered under warranty or it’s operator error and what is broken and requires replacing.

I’m both cases they know which components have failed or are damaged.

 

[Hendricks]

Congratulations. I just sent mine in. I hope your luck rubs off on me!!!

Hi, just saw your post. What Phantom aircraft do you fly? What was the problem you were having with it?

I have earlier posts of the experience I had with my Phantom 4. It was 4 months old and one day it stopped being able to successfully download any updates to its firmware.
As a result, I wasn't able to see what the camera saw.
After performing extensive troubleshooting, I was advised by DJI to send it in to them for a look.

It took about a week for it to get to them, but, once it was there, it only took DJI a few days to get back to me and let me know that my P4 was 'unrepairable' and a replacement would be sent to me. I took a look at the terms of my DJI warranty and discovered that DJI is not under any obligation to replace your aircraft with a new one.
They could.Or, they could send you a refurbished one.

I was concerned about that because the P4 that I sent to them was in brand new condition..........I'd flown it for about 4 months and there wasn't a scratch on it.
I'm an experienced pilot and take care of my aircraft, so I wanted a new one in return.

That's what I got about a week later when UPS dropped it off on my doorstep.

The serial number on it is different than the one I sent to them, so I know it is a new replacement.

Obviously, it was flown a few times to make sure that it was fine and linked up to my original controller.

Overall, as I said, I'm very pleased with DJI's service in my case.
I know others have had issues with them;however, they treated me very well.

I hope that you have the same luck.

Let me know how things turn out.

Jim......

 

[GMack]

Your mechanic will be able to tell you if the water pump had a bad bearing, seal, impeller damaged by cavitation etc.

The DJI repair staff would be able to tell you which component (board level) failed- they will also have a good idea as to causative hardware/software issues from the log file analysis. They must ascertain the cause of the failure to make a warranty determination and to quote the repair.

The issue seems to be they have a policy not to inform customers of particulars other than to say it’s covered under warranty or it’s operator error and what is broken and requires replacing.

I’m both cases they know which components have failed or are damaged.

Good points.

The mechanic or tech can read the codes/log and tell you THAT it failed and can replace it, but they cannot tell you WHY it failed which would be speculation on their part not being the engineer who designed or made the part. With electronics, it may have been used beyond the scope of the designer's intention which no tech would know in the field other than "the main controller died." I can speculate that the balance boards on the batteries give way to only showing 50% charge on the RC or flight pack and THAT they failed, but as to WHY they failed other than maybe a current surge I don't know.

I often wonder on the DJI refurb bit if DJI gives you an estimate saying "Main Controller Board replaced for $300," yet you get a refurb back not knowing what was done to it, having older firmware, etc. and could it be one that was just a reload of firmware and no "Main controller" was replaced? Entire service and refurb methodology is troubling in that they can sell yours for a lot more as a factory refurb with a better warranty than your serviced one.

But hey, it's DJI. "Hang up the phone and get onto the next repair...."

 

[PeteSahr]

I recently purchased a new P3 SE from TomTop. Drone didn’t power up, so I called and e-mailed TomTop. Long story short, never received 1 call back from TomTop. Tried DJI customer service. They were great!!! Very helpful online chat. They Sent me a prepaid shipping label, took my drone back and sent me a brand new one. Took a little while, but I have no complaints with DJI service.......yet!

 

[blackcrusader]

Hi,

As my earlier posts detailed last month, I had to send my P4 back to DJI in California when it would not successfully download updates to its firmware.
I sent it to DJI and they ultimately told me it was 'unrepairable' and would be replaced.
One week later, UPS delivered my replacement. It was a new P4 in perfect condition.

When I asked DJI what was wrong with the P4 that I sent to them, they were not able to provide me any details......other than the fact it was 'unrepairable'.

I'm pleased to be given a new replacement;however, I would still like to have been given some detail on what DJI technical staff found wrong with the P4 I sent them.

I know it's often cheaper to simply replace things rather than repair them nowadays, but I was just interested in finding out what the issue was with my aircraft.

Otherwise, DJI's customer service was very good.

I lost my new P3 SE on its third flight. I emailed DJI the flight logs and a few days later got an email saying sending new drone with battery props etc. PS Bought it in China so was all done in China. Great service.

They just wrote it was not pilot error and a malfunction with the drone. I think the motherboard had issues as I had a low battery warning with 50% battery remaining. They did not explain what the issue was as the drone was also not recovered. My story below.

Lost my P3 SE