Warranty Service Experience

[Tom Polakis]

My Phantom 3 Pro crashed about a month ago due to the battery detaching during a flight. It was within the 1-year warranty period, so after uploading flight data, describing it, and sending photos, I sent it in for warranty repair. A week after they received it, I was sent an invoice. Now, two weeks and many calls later, DJI has not solved the problem, each time either giving me an extended time estimate or sending the case over to a new department. Details are shown below.

To others who have had warranty repairs done, is this the norm from DJI for warranty support? I feel powerless to change things. Do I have any recourse?

 

[GMack]

Probably no recourse if the supervisor told you the 6 month warranty part on the camera and gimbal, which also applies to the battery too. That's their denial escape.

I would have thought the camera should be a year as are most cameras, but it's DJI's (questionable) quality so they can shorten it for their benefit. I'm seeing warranties as short as 90 days now too.

Only way out is to pay for it or buy another. I don't know if they require return postage on non-approved repairs or some handling/estimate charge. Small claims would likely be financially pointless. Another concern I have with them is their ability to send you a refurb with other possible issues. I would expect them to fix what was sent in, but them providing a questionable refurb is shady, imho.

Good luck!
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[Tom Polakis]

Thanks for the reply, GMack. After all of the back-and-forth with DJI's people, at no time have we formally resolved whether it's still covered under the aircraft's one-year warranty, despite me asking that question directly in every call. In the meantime, I have been receiving auto-generated "friendly reminder" e-mail from DJI to pay the bill.

Just based on principle alone, I can't buy another DJI product after this experience. And I understand how far they are ahead of other drone manufacturers in this price range.

 

[GMack]

Thanks for the reply, GMack. After all of the back-and-forth with DJI's people, at no time have we formally resolved whether it's still covered under the aircraft's one-year warranty, despite me asking that question directly in every call. In the meantime, I have been receiving auto-generated "friendly reminder" e-mail from DJI to pay the bill.

Just based on principle alone, I can't buy another DJI product after this experience. And I understand how far they are ahead of other drone manufacturers in this price range.

I agree.

They are ahead of the game, but their quality lags in cracked plastics, bad batteries, and sloppy software. They have short warranties on some items too.

I wish there was another maker with better tech and service at the same price, but seems it isn't there. I'm wanting an Inspire 2 but given the issues with it shaking apart, bad gimbals, stuck landing gear, new props that don't fit and the need to send them back and wait for a set that fit, sloppy software (again) I'll wait until Best Buy sells them so I can take it back and get a full refund or exchange it should I get a lemon. I took back my first two P4's for manufacturing issues with the cameras. I don't know if it's plain poor Chinese quality or what, but it does make one hesitant. Problem is no one makes an integrated drone/camera comparable to the Inspire 2 and the quads are a hodge-podge of DIY electronics and cameras and expensive too.