I am trying to get a definite answer from DJI, and all I keep getting is "Send it in." I'm trying to figure out if it will just be easier and quicker, and just as much to just buy a replacement.
Here's my situation.
This past saturday I was flying my P3 Pro. I was flying over an old minor league ballpark converted into apartments. The facade and field are still there. I had just reached 400 feet, and then was going to track back. The camera was facing straight down. Just a second after starting to move back, the drone took a hit. My guess was a bird. The left side landing gear and front left propeller (from the POV of the camera) were instantly in frame. From that point on, the drone tumbled down 400ft end over end.
My app logged that at the moment of impact it was going about 130 mph down, and about 52 mph laterally. It hit the roof of the building, and skipped off it. I was super lucky to find the drone had landed on the ground in about a 10 foot wide patch of grass, and not on top of a car in the parking lot just feet away.
The drone is completely busted. Two arms are broken, one side of the landing gear is broken. The drone has split at the seam and a PCB card is popping out with some cables. The body has crease damage. AND the camera/gimbal completely snapped off. The base with the memory card was still barely attached, but the the camera rig snapped off just below that. I was unable to locate the camera or gimbal.
I have contacted the building to see if they'll let me, or send someone on top of the roof to look for the camera, but haven't heard anything back.
So my question is. This drone is probably a total loss. I can't imagine that they've seen much worse. The question that I cannot get out of DJI is, if I purchase the Care package after the crash, can I still apply it to this drone. I know that they'd be able to tell when the crash was, so I wouldn't try to hide that fact. All I keep getting is "fill out an RMA so that we can inspect it and to see if it's under warranty."
This was purchased in June '16 from Amazon. I was 300 ft above running into anything. The stadium lights are still up, and in the video, you can clearly see I'm way above them. So I am 100% confident that I did not cause this issue.
Anyone have any insight as to what my options are, or a better idea at how this process will work? I see I can purchase a replacement for just over $700. If I send it in without any warranty or Care, and it does need replacing and not fixed, will it be any cheaper? or be more because of the inspection and shipping?
I've attached a screenshot of the log the app took at the last moment.