Horrible experience with DJI buyer beware

Autel has 4 people in their warranty support group. They aren't much better, and dinky in comparison to DJI. Sure you might get a better experience, but the wait time is still 2-4wks for warranty repair turn-around.
My turn around with DJI was over a month with terrible service. So this comment does not compute haha. But anyway I wish everyone all the luck in the world with their DJI and I’m not about to throw mine away, however this post was more to give people an idea of who they are getting in bed with. I hope they fix this situation as I will be linking this post to them in their survey and I will edit or delete my posts. Really though, best of luck to everyone with a p4p. Great product, terrible service.
 
As a DJI and Autel pilot, I have to say I had a better experience with DJI, than Autel. I sent my Phantom to DJI and the turn around was a week with full communication on their part. I sent my Evo to Autel, the turn around was 37 days and their lack of communication was astounishing. I had to call constantly to get updates. I've read both sides from both companies, so I guess it's a case by case thing.
 
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I am not sure where you sent it but the repair facility at Cerritos, CA has been excellent for me on two occasions. Just want to pass on my experience.
ditto for me DJI was perfect and careful with my phantom 4 pro repair. They even put the silicone skin back on the new controller, carefully package my ND filter (which I should have removed both items before shipping), they also let you know to just ship the drone (no battery no props) and the controller. The repair was 77% less than third party quotes I received. I received a completely refurbished like new aircraft and controller plus have the opportunity to purchase care refresh. I sent mine to Cerritos CA too. It took a week and a half for the repair and DJI paid for the shipping to and from Cerritos. They also kept me posted through out each step of the repair to final check and shipping phase.
 
I understand they control the market. But competition will come, and soon. If you can do not purchase a drone from this company and support terrible service like this.
Lastly, if this is made right by them in some way I will unbiasedly report back and edit this post.
Thanks for listening and good luck/ fly safe
FWIW (sorry for the late post) I contacted Autel about a drone I bought on ebay and never flew for about a year. When I went to fly, the batteries were hosed. Contacted Autel to see if anything could be done with the old batteries. Sent emails back and forth. They finally sent me one brand new battery for FREE! Can't beat that for customer service.
 
FWIW (sorry for the late post) I contacted Autel about a drone I bought on ebay and never flew for about a year. When I went to fly, the batteries were hosed. Contacted Autel to see if anything could be done with the old batteries. Sent emails back and forth. They finally sent me one brand new battery for FREE! Can't beat that for customer service.
Why you wait an entire year to fly and use a battery? lipo's batteries are very sensitive if it's not in use for a long time. They get damage easily. It's healthy to use it at least each battery every two to three months.
 
Why you wait an entire year to fly and use a battery? lipo's batteries are very sensitive if it's not in use for a long time. They get damage easily. It's healthy to use it at least each battery every two to three months.

Should be okay if you store at proper charge level.
 
My experience with Care Refesh was near the same time period.

The P4P 2.0 was received on 5/30 and I receive notice that it was shipped back to me on 6/13. Shipping alone was 10 days each way (Virginia to California and back to Virginia. I am not sure if the way I set up the service request caused 20 days of shipping or not but the fact remains....20 days were spent in transit which I was not too thrilled with but what happened between from 5/30 to 6/13 was REALLY frustration!

I shipped everything back that originally came with the drone because the instructions said to do so. Well when they sent acknowledgement of receipt, they sent an inventory of what they received. On the inventory, it stated that I sent no AC cord for charger, no gimble guard and no props. This was the first WTF moment since I had sent all. I called support to see what was going on. After some time the gal pulled the pics they took upon receipt. She stated she could see these things in pics and I would receive a confirmation email within 48 hours. After 72 hours I emailed and finally got confirmation on 6/5. I then waited for a notice that they were going to replace but received another WTF moment.

On 5/31, I received notice that my drone had been evaluated and that I would receive an invoice in 2 business days. I thought "****...this is moving along fast" and was pretty happy until I received another email asking for the flight log of the flight. I did get it to them that day.

I did not receive a data analysis until 6/11 which stated that there was no equipment malfunction but the could repair and I would be responsible for charges for repair. They did send pics of the internal circuit board and there was corrosion and this was what I was afraid of. The condense version of incident was that I lost contact with drone over a lake and sight of it. Well a couple of minutes later I heard it. I thought I lost the drone. I guess the automatic RTH kicked in. It came in for a landing spraying all kinds of water. Upon landing and after turning off, I pulled battery and water poured out of battery compartment. Well I let it dry for a week and then attempt to power it up and it worked fine. I did use it for 7 months on a limited basis before sending in before Care Refesh expired.

I thought it was user error but the statement about being responsible charges brought another WTF moment so I immediately sent an email reminding them that I have DJI Care Refresh and sent them the contract#. Well the next day I received an invoice for $1,1,33.05. Well another email from me about Care Refesh. Later on during the day I received a $99 invoice and paid accordingly. Drone was shipped back to me on 6/13. Except for drone, all the other equipment was what I sent to them. They did throw in another set of new props along with the perfectly good props I originally sent in. I did notice they tighten the tablet/phone holder swivel. Despite the hassle, I'm glad I did have DJI refresh

In the case of the original post, I personally would have quickly cleaned up drone before sending in. Why make someone inspect a drone covered with sand, etc on it?
 
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My experience with Care Refesh was near the same time period.

The P4P 2.0 was received on 5/30 and I receive notice that it was shipped back to me on 6/13. Shipping alone was 10 days each way (Virginia to California and back to Virginia. I am not sure if the way I set up the service request caused 20 days of shipping or not but the fact remains....20 days were spent in transit which I was not too thrilled with but what happened between from 5/30 to 6/13 was REALLY frustration!

I shipped everything back that originally came with the drone because the instructions said to do so. Well when they sent acknowledgement of receipt, they sent an inventory of what they received. On the inventory, it stated that I sent no AC cord for charger, no gimble guard and no props. This was the first WTF moment since I had sent all. I called support to see what was going on. After some time the gal pulled the pics they took upon receipt. She stated she could see these things in pics and I would receive a confirmation email within 48 hours. After 72 hours I emailed and finally got confirmation on 6/5. I then waited for a notice that they were going to replace but received another WTF moment.

On 5/31, I received notice that my drone had been evaluated and that I would receive an invoice in 2 business days. I thought "****...this is moving along fast" and was pretty happy until I received another email asking for the flight log of the flight. I did get it to them that day.

I did not receive a data analysis until 6/11 which stated that there was no equipment malfunction but the could repair and I would be responsible for charges for repair. They did send pics of the internal circuit board and there was corrosion and this was what I was afraid of. The condense version of incident was that I lost contact with drone over a lake and sight of it. Well a couple of minutes later I heard it. I thought I lost the drone. I guess the automatic RTH kicked in. It came in for a landing spraying all kinds of water. Upon landing and after turning off, I pulled battery and water poured out of battery compartment. Well I let it dry for a week and then attempt to power it up and it worked fine. I did use it for 7 months on a limited basis before sending in before Care Refesh expired.

I thought it was user error but the statement about being responsible charges brought another WTF moment so I immediately sent an email reminding them that I have DJI Care Refresh and sent them the contract#. Well the next day I received an invoice for $1,1,33.05. Well another email from me about Care Refesh. Later on during the day I received a $99 invoice and paid accordingly. Drone was shipped back to me on 6/13. Except for drone, all the other equipment was what I sent to them. They did throw in another set of new props along with the perfectly good props I originally sent in. I did notice they tighten the tablet/phone holder swivel. Despite the hassle, I'm glad I did have DJI refresh

In the case of the original post, I personally would have quickly cleaned up drone before sending in. Why make someone inspect a drone covered with sand, etc on it?
Lol, you can see that they need to be reminded twice that you already paid for care refresh and they were trying to charge you over 1K. What a crook of a company.
 
Why you wait an entire year to fly and use a battery? lipo's batteries are very sensitive if it's not in use for a long time. They get damage easily. It's healthy to use it at least each battery every two to three months.
I cannot answer no reason laziness?
 
Long post but the end is worth it trust me....
In early April I purchased my phantom pro 4 v2. This is my second addition to my DJI fleet. I purchased then care refresh plan because I will be using this drone for more difficult jobs so I wanted the added protection. June 23 I crashed the drone and it fell into a creek ultimately totaling it. That day I applied to have it repaired or replaced via my DJI care refresh. The drone was received by them July 2nd. On July 5th the repair progress inquiry stated drone has been replaced and is preparing to be shipped this will take up to 1 business day. Every day I checked this status update until a week passed. I decided to contact dji at this point just to check on the process. It’s at this point I begin getting frustrated, then angry.
The first phone call I made was July 12. The customer service representative answered the phone by saying “hello”. I proceeded to tell her the reason for my call and waited for her to respond, she did not say a word until a minute later I said “do you need my case number or something” to which she responded yeah sure go ahead. She placed me on hold and hung up 4 min later.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and called back on the following Monday 3 days later. I spoke with a man who said his name was Joe. Joe was actually very pleasant and said he would look into the case. After placing me on hold he told me that I had not paid for my $1000 repair bill yet. I informed him of the timeline and that in fact I paid my refresh fee over a week and a half ago and the inquiry says it was supposed to have shipped the 5th. He placed me on hold again and came back saying that DJI is out of batteries to replace mine with and they were waiting for the replacement. I told him I have plenty of extra batteries and to please send the drone alone if he can. He said he escalated my case and I should hear back within 48 hours. I must say to DJI credit Joe was actually very nice and helpful.
48 hours passed and I contacted them again because I had not heard anything via email or phone. This time I spoke with Mark. Mark was extremely rude and condescending stating that the battery is not covered under the care refresh. I know this is the case. I read the policy and know the battery is not covered. My qualm is with it has now been 2 and a half weeks from when you received my drone, and 2 weeks since you claimed your going to ship it “within 1 business day”. Why then are you telling me now that you are not shipping it because of the battery. He could not explain this, or the prior rep Joes statement on the battery stall. Why was I not contacted saying I have the option to pay for a new battery? Why was the drone not shipped back with the old battery or no battery? At this point I ask for a supervisor and mark informs me he has escalated my case and I will hear from a supervisor.... you guessed it.... within 48 hours. I was not surprised when in 72 hours I had not heard from them yet.
Finally I sent a complaint email stating all of these grievances. I got the automated response that I would hear from a rep in 48 hours. This time I received an email saying my case has now been escalated and will ship. A week later. Mind you, this is over a month now they ship the drone, giving me 2 separate case I’d number one for the battery and one for the drone. I thought maybe they did the right thing and sent me the battery for my trouble.
No such luck. They shipped the old battery (which I am okay with by the way). However, they shipped the new drone back in the same case!!!!! The same case that has sand all in it from the creek! So there is sand stuck under all of the sensor stickers, prop stickers, under the motor, WOW. This is unacceptable service and I will follow up once again but feel as if I am banging my head against a wall.
I understand they control the market. But competition will come, and soon. If you can do not purchase a drone from this company and support terrible service like this.
Lastly, if this is made right by them in some way I will unbiasedly report back and edit this post. Until then I am one extremely disgruntled customer/ small business owner who will not be giving DJI anymore of my hard earned money.
Thanks for listening and good luck/ fly safe
Not sure what a "refresh plan" is but sure hope you didn't have to pay $1,000 for your repair job. Everybody flys a used drone. So buying one to replace a totaled one has its advantages. You could have your old one for spare parts, for one. I just bought a nearly new P4P v2.0 with the racing edition goggles in immaculate condition for $900 and I only spent 30 minutes shopping around so even better deals are probably out there. If I crash mine, I'll fix it myself as DJI parts are easy to find. If I didn't know how, I'd take lots of photos and learn on YouTube. Or I could buy a knowledgeable friend a case of beer to do the job (don't give him the beer till the job is done!). I almost never buy extended warranties because I always get Larry, Curly or Moe doing the work and I end up with a story similar to yours. That's my "two cents"...
 
not my experience at all with repair and care refresh, I only worked directly with the DJI repair service center in Cerritos, California. Shipping costs were to and from Cerritos from Hawaii were paid for by DJI. Costs for repair were extremely reasonable as camera and four struts were totally demolished on my first drone. the repaired unit came back in perfect condition. They even returned the lens cover and the rubberized controller skin (which I should not have sent). All carefully and thoughtfully packed. When you work with DJI service repair centers directly, they do all the calibrations tests on the entire drone including all camera and gimbal functions. All the third party repair places I spoke to would not touch calibrating the camera nor would cover follow up problems related to the camera. All DJI communications and updates were via emails with status reports on each phase (over two weeks) until it shipped back. They always got back to me within 24 hours.
 
If you didn't ship to them in the case, you won't get it back in a case.

Yes, DJI is very quirky, and the attitudes and language barrier are not fun at all.

And, you need an air compressor.
 
Long post but the end is worth it trust me....
In early April I purchased my phantom pro 4 v2. This is my second addition to my DJI fleet. I purchased then care refresh plan because I will be using this drone for more difficult jobs so I wanted the added protection. June 23 I crashed the drone and it fell into a creek ultimately totaling it. That day I applied to have it repaired or replaced via my DJI care refresh. The drone was received by them July 2nd. On July 5th the repair progress inquiry stated drone has been replaced and is preparing to be shipped this will take up to 1 business day. Every day I checked this status update until a week passed. I decided to contact dji at this point just to check on the process. It’s at this point I begin getting frustrated, then angry.
The first phone call I made was July 12. The customer service representative answered the phone by saying “hello”. I proceeded to tell her the reason for my call and waited for her to respond, she did not say a word until a minute later I said “do you need my case number or something” to which she responded yeah sure go ahead. She placed me on hold and hung up 4 min later.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and called back on the following Monday 3 days later. I spoke with a man who said his name was Joe. Joe was actually very pleasant and said he would look into the case. After placing me on hold he told me that I had not paid for my $1000 repair bill yet. I informed him of the timeline and that in fact I paid my refresh fee over a week and a half ago and the inquiry says it was supposed to have shipped the 5th. He placed me on hold again and came back saying that DJI is out of batteries to replace mine with and they were waiting for the replacement. I told him I have plenty of extra batteries and to please send the drone alone if he can. He said he escalated my case and I should hear back within 48 hours. I must say to DJI credit Joe was actually very nice and helpful.
48 hours passed and I contacted them again because I had not heard anything via email or phone. This time I spoke with Mark. Mark was extremely rude and condescending stating that the battery is not covered under the care refresh. I know this is the case. I read the policy and know the battery is not covered. My qualm is with it has now been 2 and a half weeks from when you received my drone, and 2 weeks since you claimed your going to ship it “within 1 business day”. Why then are you telling me now that you are not shipping it because of the battery. He could not explain this, or the prior rep Joes statement on the battery stall. Why was I not contacted saying I have the option to pay for a new battery? Why was the drone not shipped back with the old battery or no battery? At this point I ask for a supervisor and mark informs me he has escalated my case and I will hear from a supervisor.... you guessed it.... within 48 hours. I was not surprised when in 72 hours I had not heard from them yet.
Finally I sent a complaint email stating all of these grievances. I got the automated response that I would hear from a rep in 48 hours. This time I received an email saying my case has now been escalated and will ship. A week later. Mind you, this is over a month now they ship the drone, giving me 2 separate case I’d number one for the battery and one for the drone. I thought maybe they did the right thing and sent me the battery for my trouble.
No such luck. They shipped the old battery (which I am okay with by the way). However, they shipped the new drone back in the same case!!!!! The same case that has sand all in it from the creek! So there is sand stuck under all of the sensor stickers, prop stickers, under the motor, WOW. This is unacceptable service and I will follow up once again but feel as if I am banging my head against a wall.
I understand they control the market. But competition will come, and soon. If you can do not purchase a drone from this company and support terrible service like this.
Lastly, if this is made right by them in some way I will unbiasedly report back and edit this post. Until then I am one extremely disgruntled customer/ small business owner who will not be giving DJI anymore of my hard earned money.
Thanks for listening and good luck/ fly safe
Djis not going to have any competition for a long, long, long time. They make the best drones by far, so either don’t crash them, or get insurance through State Farm, etc.
 
Shipping a repaired drone in a dirty box is like sending it back broken. Repaired but then compromised by dirt? Poor service. Should have been cleaned or a new box. Should you have cleaned it? Absurd. You paid for service and got half.
 
This portion would be my issue, if I were involved. You as the consumer should have cleaned the case prior to shipping. That is not their responsibility. Or, use a different method of shipping. Most of the remainder of your rant is fairly legitimate IMO.
?
 
This portion would be my issue, if I were involved. You as the consumer should have cleaned the case prior to shipping. That is not their responsibility. Or, use a different method of shipping. Most of the remainder of your rant is fairly legitimate IMO.
Do you power wash your engine so the mechanic doesn't get dirty?
 
My reasoning for my statement was the fact that I worked for a time at a trail camera repair center. Specifically, we would receive as many as 50 camera's from the field in a single box. Many of these were from the rain forest area and many were filled with termites, insects, etc,,etc... and at least once a live small mamba snake. Granted these were from conservationist societies and so forth WWF in particular. No one wants to work on such items, including myself. Most times they were completely trashed anyway. It is the principle involved and the "service" people have no idea what the article has been subject to. I understand and agree with your comments, except for the portion that I mentioned and this is why I said what I did.
Your experience repairing trail cams does not detail how repairs were sent back? Full of bugs and detritis and fixed? Or were you expected to fix and repair? Most of my contracts specify items are to be returned "clean and functioning properly. Not full of crap that will overheat and destroy electronics long after the repair. The principal involved is the "repair to original". Was the dirt original to the design? "No one wants to work on such items" speak for yourself. There is a whole world out here "working" on such items with work ethic and skill.
 
The last post on this was back in 2020. You may just be debating yourself on this.
 

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