Phantom repair. BEWARE.

Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
45
Reaction score
30
Lets just say I need to vent.

My Phantom spontaneously rolled over while hovering at 150'. It hit the ground pretty hard. I went to DJI's website: http://www.dji.com/support to start the repair process. After several phone calls I settled for XXXX facility. I mail the Phantom to XXXX and within a week I receive an E-mail stating that a failed ESC caused the crash. Obviously hitting the ground caused the secondary damages. Total Bill: almost as much as a new Phantom.

I call DJI in California next to try and figure out a warrenty repair... BECAUSE: A repair facility listed on their website flat out said the crash was caused by a failed ESC.

DJI responded to me: A warranty repair is not possible for any reason because someone other than DJI California opened the Phantom and thus all warranty is void. EVEN IF THE PLACE (XXXX in my case) IS LISTED ON THEIR WEBSITE.

So: from the conversations I had today. For any type of warranty repair the phantom MUST be sent to California and nobody else. AND if it crashes on it's own (like mine did) you better be recording video to provide EVIDENCE.
 
Don't assume the DJI guy you spoke to knows what he's talking about. I'd keep calling and going up the CA office ladder until I found someone who agrees that an evaluation by one of their AUTHORIZED service centers is a valid evaluation under warranty. I'd also ask for help from that service center. Next I would call the CA office of Consumer Affairs, Better Business Bureau, CA State Attorney General Office, and any local TV news service that periodically runs stories to help consumers. Turn up the heat and let them know you aren't going to take this lying down. Just my 2 cents.
 
Last edited:
Don't assume the DJI guy you spoke to knows what he's talking about. I'd keep calling and going up the CA office ladder until I found someone who agrees that an evaluation by one of their AUTHORIZED service centers is a valid evaluation under warranty. I'd also ask for help from that service center. Next I would call the CA office of Consumer Affairs, Better Business Bureau, CA State Attorney General Office, and any local TV news service that periodically runs stories to help consumers. Turn up the heat and let them know you aren't going to take this lying down. Just my 2 cents.

Excellent suggestions!
 
I've never seen any repair centers listed on their website.

You fill out the form and they tell you what you need to do.

If they said send it to xxxx then yeah, they should stand behind it.
 
The kicker may be that those listed on their web site are support centers and are not listed as repair centers. They have a standard list of how to get service for repairs. I would still try to push the issue with support. Heck I couldn't get them to extend my warranty by the two months my plane was in repairs at their facility.
 
The listed businesses are labeled as Product Service. The term "Service" is VERY misleading on DJI's website.

Webster:

noun

  1. 1.
    the action of helping or doing work for someone.
verb
  1. 1.
    perform routine maintenance or repair work on (a vehicle or machine).

Also listed is the type of DJI Product that the "Service" center services. A random example is the listed center "Drone Nerds". They are listed as only for the Phantom series and not the Inspire. BUT, they sell the Inspire on their website... Making the reader think that they only service Phantoms and not the Inspire that they sell. Adding to the readers thought process that: YES, DJI recognizes them as a Service Center.

When calling the place (XXXX) I sent my Phantom to..... They NEVER directly tell you that they can't cover warranty returns. I spoke with XXXX yesterday and had a very intelligent and calm conversation about the disparity's between reality and DJI's misleading website. Hopefully when they accept any future repair work they will be more concise and explain from the start that they can't do warranty work.

Last night I called DJI out on their Facebook Page. Suddenly I received a response and a ticket number. Maybe calling them out in front of the entire world might get something done.
 
I didn't mean to be brash, it's just been a bad week.

No problem. I would follow the suggestions you received to escalate with DJI. I too have been told (via email)
that opening the shell voided the warranty. In my case it did not. Call them, don't email. The people responding to emails are useless in my experience.
 
I've already started the process of contacting DJI through multiple means. I've gotten some feedback in the positive direction but not enough to warrant getting my hopes up.
 
My shell had been previously opened by me. I had added a little shielding to the GPS that didn't alter anything but I took it out before sending it in. They could clearly see my red stripes had been cut to get enterance. They covered the warranty as everything was the same as when I bought it.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers