My DJI Repair Experience

[fhagan02]

Update: Aircraft arrived unharmed and upon inspection everything seems good. It's a new P3P. Just finished updates and installed UAVbits. Will finish calibrating imu/gimble after work. They even included a brand new battery. ( I didn't send them one) All looks good so far. Will test/confirm in a couple hours.

Hey I was wondering. Did they send you a new P3 and battery in your original P3 box? Or was it a brand new boxed product? Thanks much.

 

[gfredrone]

Mine is on the FedEx truck for delivery to me today. I'll post back after a thorough inspection.

 

[envisionabove]

Before you send it in make some inconspicuous marks on the bird and controller to Identify.

I started another thread did not see this one had taken off. Thanks for the info

 

[gfredrone]

Bad news fellas. Well it's back but not in perfect condition.

1. One gimbal damper was loose in the box and there is sweat all over the UV lens cover.
2. The top shell was not clipped correctly into bottom shell in one spot and there is a large gap.
3. One of the screws that attaches the VPS to the craft looks like it was over tightened and now that plastic is cracked.
4. There is no noticeable difference from this bottom shell to the one that developed cracks.

I won't be able to fly it until later today so will report back more then.

Bummer!!!

 

[gfredrone]

I don't want to sound racist but are they a bunch of cheap labor working at DJI support....

Probably just careless trying to fix as fast as possible. I wish they would just send me a new one. It can't be good taking these things apart and putting them back together so many times. Something else is bound to break.

 

[beauyoung85]

Probably just careless trying to fix as fast as possible. I wish they would just send me a new one. It can't be good taking these things apart and putting them back together so many times. Something else is bound to break.

Get on the phone and hound the hell out of them. I did, and got a brand new aircraft after they botched my repair. Don't take no for an answer and be persistent until they agree to a new replacement. It took me a couple of days worth of arguing back and forth but i take it they got the message I wasn't going away until it was made right. I had a brand new aircraft overnighted to me. I'm in good shape now. Good luck.

 

[fhagan02]

gfredrone sorry... man I'm kinda speechless. Like beauyoung85 said, raise ten tons of unholy hell.

Literally just got an email while typing this. Says bird is "repaired" (for the second time in a month) and has shipped!

In leu of recent posts I'm not tempting fate with hopes of a satisfactory resolution. I'm hoping it's not a new bird, that it already has stress cracks, shell isn't seated properly, camera's missing, and I still have the battery error after 6 minutes of flight regardless of which battery I use.

Lets see what this way of thinking yields. LO f-ing L.

 

[fhagan02]

AND.....

I sent a response email asking, "What did you fix"?
What was the issue? Did you fix the same bird twice in one month or did you send a new unit? (Two weeks ago, before I received it back with the constant batter error issue, they sent a list of parts they replaced/fixed.)

This time repair tracking just says "Product Delivered". I called the wife. She SWEARS there have been NO deliveries today. She's apparently a big fat liar, liar pants on fire 'cause I'm looking at it on screen! "Product Delivered".

 

[gfredrone]

Get on the phone and hound the hell out of them. I did, and got a brand new aircraft after they botched my repair. Don't take no for an answer and be persistent until they agree to a new replacement. It took me a couple of days worth of arguing back and forth but i take it they got the message I wasn't going away until it was made right. I had a brand new aircraft overnighted to me. I'm in good shape now. Good luck.

Who did you talk to? They told me they can't send out any units and that they are just tech support. They said all orders have to go through China.

 

[fhagan02]

AND....

Just got off the phone with a DJI rep asking specifics about repair #2 this month. Additional notes on her end revealed.... "The battery cable was disconnected from the main board." Nice. Notes also revealed an "extended test time" to be sure.

I realize I'm bitchin' at a free Bar-B-Q but lets continue shall we?
So... If the battery cable was "disconnected" how the hell did it keep hovering, when I noticed the red error and kept a 2' hover while testing different batteries? If it was disconnected why did it power up and hover? 11 times?

 

[beauyoung85]

I spoke with Peter and Marc. They're both supervisors in the CS department at the LA office. It took a few repeat calls but eventually the initial rep that answered would get no where and end up transferring me to the lead. It was always one of the two. Peter was the actual one that decided to send me a new unit rather than a refurb. I too was told by someone that they don't have replacement units there, but it's just fodder. They can definitely get you a replacement. Your issue sounds very similar to mine being a botched "repair". I would accept no less than a replacement. Keep calling and annoying the **** out of them. Be polite, but patient, and willing to wait on hold for a sup. They will make it right. Just takes time and persistence on your part. Maybe after taking a hit on a few replacements they will step up their quality control.

 

[fhagan02]

Who did you talk to? They told me they can't send out any units and that they are just tech support. They said all orders have to go through China.

Oh believe me....you get mad enough, "rules" go out the window. Impossibilities magically become possible. Ask to speak with the DJI associates manager as soon as you get through. Give the first rep your RMA and refuse to continue the conversation until you get a manager. Politely wait but don't hang up. Going round 2 with this crap is above and beyond getting a 2nd RMA and just sending it out again.

The squeaky wheel get the grease. And if you don't make a big deal out of this.... there's no need for them to. And they won't. You're just another RMA number entered into the system.

I raised hell and got an Escalated RMA. I printed the ESC-RMA out in huge 3 inch tall RED letters and pasted it on all six sides of the box. Bird got to them last Friday... Fixed bird should arrive this Friday...Saturday the latest.

 

[gfredrone]

Oh believe me....you get mad enough, "rules" go out the window. Impossibilities magically become possible. Ask to speak with the DJI associates manager as soon as you get through. Give the first rep your RMA and refuse to continue the conversation until you get a manager. Politely wait but don't hang up. Going round 2 with this crap is above and beyond getting a 2nd RMA and just sending it out again.

The squeaky wheel get the grease. And if you don't make a big deal out of this.... there's no need for them to. And they won't. You're just another RMA number entered into the system.

I raised hell and got an Escalated RMA. I printed the ESC-RMA out in huge 3 inch tall RED letters and pasted it on all six sides of the box. Bird got to them last Friday... Fixed bird should arrive this Friday...Saturday the latest.

They want me to fill out all of the customer info again and send proof of purchase, which they already have, etc...

They didn't even send me a shipping label and are saying it will be another couple of weeks to fix. Unacceptable! I will gladly give them a CC to cross ship another unit.

Remember this repair was for a defective cracked unit and no fault of my own.

I need the craft for a construction management meeting this Friday!!!

I'll try the above options and see where it gets me.

 

[fhagan02]

They want me to fill out all of the customer info again and send proof of purchase, which they already have, etc...

They didn't even send me a shipping label and are saying it will be another couple of weeks to fix. Unacceptable! I will gladly give them a CC to cross ship another unit.

Remember this repair was for a defective cracked unit and no fault of my own.

I need the craft for a construction management meeting this Friday!!!

I'll try the above options and see where it gets me.

Yes I had to do the exact same even though I sent all this two weeks prior. Follow these rules though. Omitting one of these gives them license to drop the ball. You'll be the only one paying for it in more time. Proof of purchase, fill out the form, label the shipping box on all side with the RMA ect. etc. But talk to someone first so they will initiate an escalation of some sort. My ESC-RMA immediately got a 2 day FedEx Label sent to me. I checked and It's also being shipped back to me on a 2-3 day FedEx Express shipment. From California to Kentucky so almost the entire width of mainland U.S..... in two days.

It's not always like this but sometimes throwing a s**t fit will start a fire... of some sort.

 

[gfredrone]

Yes I had to do the exact same even though I sent all this two weeks prior. Follow these rules though. Omitting one of these gives them license to drop the ball. You'll be the only one paying for it in more time. Proof of purchase, fill out the form, label the shipping box on all side with the RMA ect. etc. But talk to someone first so they will initiate an escalation of some sort. My ESC-RMA immediately got a 2 day FedEx Label sent to me. I checked and It's also being shipped back to me on a 2-3 day FedEx Express shipment.

I did the same with my first RMA but they were only 2 inch letters in black. I'll definitely go red with the ESC #. On hold now trying to get a label sent out or a new bird. Will see.

 

[fhagan02]

I raised hell and got an Escalated RMA. I printed the ESC-RMA out in huge 3 inch tall RED letters and pasted it on all six sides of the box. Bird got to them last Friday... Fixed bird should arrive this Friday...Saturday the latest.

It'll arrive with new problems, no top shell and probably won't power on... but we'll deal with that later.

 

[gfredrone]

Best they would offer is overnight shipping but can't guarantee it, whatever that means. Said I would get the label before the end of the day. Couldn't offer any guarantee it would be fixed right this time either, which I know was a loaded question. F this company! Too bad they have the best technology on the market right now or I would be gone in a heartbeat. They got us trapped like the cable company.

 

[fhagan02]

Best they would offer is overnight shipping but can't guarantee it, whatever that means. Said I would get the label before the end of the day. Couldn't offer any guarantee it would be fixed right this time either, which I know was a loaded question. F this company! Too bad they have the best technology on the market right now or I would be gone in a heartbeat. They got us trapped like the cable company.

"Overnight" is good whether it gets there tomorrow or the day after.... it's good.

Yes... all things said and done, what DJI needs more than anything in this world...is competition. It will happen. And when it does.....

 

[gfredrone]

"Overnight" is good whether it gets there tomorrow or the day after.... it's good.

Yes... all things said and done, what DJI needs more than anything in this world...is competition. It will happen. And when it does.....

Ended up with a 2 day. They could care less about us!

 

[gfredrone]

So I went to fly it to make sure nothing else was wrong that needed to be reported on my second RMA. Got out back and the horizon was way off. Came back and did a cold calibration and it's still off a little.

Back to the field. Realized I didn't have the SD card in so I fished it out of my bag. I went to put my SD card in the new gimbal and it it wouldn't go in. I finally got it inserted and now my SD card wont come out. Are you kidding me?

What a nightmare!