Over the last 4 or 5 months I noticed a deteriation in the quality of my video recordings. I tried several things but eventually realized that I needed to contact DJI service. After a quick couple of steps (reset IMU etc) they determined that I needed to send it in for evaluation and repair. I asked if there was a depot in Canada but was told it would need to go to the US. Anyone living in Canada knows the problems of sending an item cross-border for repair so I was nervous. It was made worse when I found out that they wanted me to use UPS, probably the worse company to use for cross-border deliveries.

20 years ago I had a $10 item shipped over-night from the US to Canada via UPS. It showed up in the local warehouse the next day as expected but then took UPS 2 weeks to get the package the 2 block between their warehouse and myself. First they wanted to charge me $60 brokerage fee on a duty free item that cost $10. Then they lost the package in their warehouse for several days, then it was lost on their delivery trucks, when I tried to pick it up directly from their warehouse, I was told that it was on the delivery truck, when it wasn't delivered I was told it was out on the wrong truck. I swore that I would never use UPS again. I even stopped using companies that would only use UPS for delivery. But after 20 years, surely things would have improved??

I was encouraged when I click on the link that DJI sent me. Not only was DJI paying the shipping but it had all of the necessary documentation to get through all of the various regulations so that there should be no hold ups getting it to the repair depot. I filled out all of the forms and took the package down to the UPS store and sent it on its way. It took 7 days to get to the repair depot (Oct 24), which I thought was acceptable. DJI processed it the next day (Oct 25) getting it into their system. It was assessed and a quote was provided to me the next day (Oct 26). The repair was completed, tested and readied for shippment on following day (Oct 27) with UPS picking it up the next day. It then went to a "Clearing review agency" (whatever that is supposed to be) on Oct 28. It arrived in my local warehouse on Nov. 2 saying that it would be delivered by end of day on Nov 3. I checked in the morning of Nov 3 but there was no notice that it was on the truck for delivery. Mid-afternoon on Nov 3rd I got an exception notification. When I checked, it said that it was being held at the warehouse. At 4 PM I had received a call from UPS saying that they needed a Commercial Invoice or a receipt showing the value of the shippment. I called back 10 minutes later and got sent to voice mail. I left a message asking to clarify what documentation would be needed and how would I get them that information. The next day by noon I still had not heard back from UPS. I called and left another message, asking them to call me. After another couple of hours, I still had not heard back from them. I called the 1-800 number for UPS and asked them how do I get a hold of the local people to get them the information. He didn't know but took the information that I had and added it into their computer system. Howerver, I know that customs will want to see a physical document before it is released. Still no call back. The tracking shows that the shippment is still on hold. Why do I get the feeling that this is deja vu from 20 years ago??

I don't know if this is a local thing with UPS or if this is nation wide but if you are in Canada and have to ship your UAV back to the US for repair be forwarned that this is not a simple straight-forward thing. Expects lots of hassels. I've never had problems with other shipping companies. FedEx, DHL, Purolator and even US Post are much better than UPS. it is too bad that DJI doesn't offer a choice. With that said, I don't know where the fault lies here. Is it UPS screwing up or did DJI not provide the necessary documentation to clear customs. Anyway, it took 7 days to come from Carson City to Winnipeg and it looks like its going to take at least 7 days, at best, to get from the UPS warehouse to my hands. Hopefully it won't be like the last time where it took 2 weeks.

I know what your going through, I won't take the hour to tell you about my UPS expierence other than to say- The police showed up at my door, 2 very large police officers who told me I was "this close" to being charged with "threats", all because the UPS guy decided I needed to pay a brokerage fee, with no back up or invoice!
I since use Canada Post for all cross border shipping with no issues at all.
ps- The only way I finally got my American package was go to the UPS depot & demand it, after an hour a guy took pity on me, walked up to the desk , handed me my batteries & said- run for it!

fans987d278a Posted at 2016-11-6 23:31
I know what your going through, I won't take the hour to tell you about my UPS expierence other than ...

DJI assured me that they cover all shipping related costs including brokerage fees for the return of my UAV. I'm trying to remain positive that they are indeed going to do that.

I have been told that I can avoid paying the brokerage fees if I clear the package myself. Of course that means that I will eventually have to be able to  talk to someone at UPS that can give me the paperwork that I can take to Customs to have it cleared. As in the past, that has always been part of the problem. No one there seems to be able to answer a phone.

dji sent me a packing label and paid shipping there and back, over the border.

Alister FiEND Posted at 2016-11-7 00:57
dji sent me a packing label and paid shipping there and back, over the border.

So you had no problems with it coming back?

It is not just in Canada, and not just UPS. Fedex are just as bad in Australia. All those commercials showing a smiling, uniformed delivery driver in a nice shiny Fedex truck are rubbish, over here they hand the parcel to some nose-picking local moron running his own private delivery business, similar to the mailman in Funny Farm:

Crowesnest Posted at 2016-11-6 10:43
So you had no problems with it coming back?

no problem.

Alister FiEND Posted at 2016-11-7 07:26
no problem.

Either you were very lucky or I'm very unlucky.

Crowesnest Posted at 2016-11-7 05:52
Either you were very lucky or I'm very unlucky.

just checked and mine was done via fedex

Alister FiEND Posted at 2016-11-7 23:33
just checked and mine was done via fedex

I've never had a problem when I've used FedEx. UPS seems to be the problem.

Well we are now into week 2 and still no Phantom 3 Pro. DJI is no longer interested in helping even though the shipping company used was their choice not mine. UPS just reads me the tracking information that shows on their web site. I am now not sure if I will have the UAV back by Christmas. Boy I hope after all this that DJI actually fixed it. Got to love customer service.

My Phantom 3 pro has finally been delivered. Here are some of the lessons learned. Hopefully it may help someone else who has to send in their DJI product for repair.

1. It took 27 days for the repair process to go from start to finish

       - 8 days to get to the repair depot
       - 2 days to be repaired
       - 8 days for the return
       - 9 days to clear customs

2. DJI does not supply the proper documentation to clear Canadian customs. It was left to me. UPS wanted as much information as possible so some of the documents that I sent might have been over-kill. However, here is what I sent.

       - a copy of the UPS receipt that I received when I sent the UAV to DJI (it included the tracking number for the package)
       - they wanted a Bill of sale or something that showed the value. As I purchased the UAV from the DJI Store I used the Commercial Invoice that I received with that shipment. I also wanted something that proved that this had already been purchased and was just going back for repair.
       - the email I received from DJI saying that they had received my Phantom 3 Pro for repair
       - the email I received from DJI giving me the quote as to the cost of the repair

The hard part was getting all of the documentation to UPS. The preferred method for UPS was email, so I had to scan all of the documents to a PDF and send it to an email address which took days to get from them.

3. DJI requires you use PayPal to pay for the repairs. Not a problem if you already have a PayPal account.

Now all that's left to do is hope for good weather so that I can test out the UAV to make sure that the repair actually fixed the problem.

Crowesnest Posted at 2016-11-11 07:10
My Phantom 3 pro has finally been delivered. Here are some of the lessons learned. Hopefully it may  ...

Jeez, man, & I thought having the police show up at my door was a pain!

This weekend I had a chance to test out my newly repaired Phantom 3 Pro. To my surprise (well not really) I still have the same problem. However, to their credit, the camera now sticks pointing down sometimes. I noticed when I unpacked the Phantom that the gimbal lock was sitting in the bottom of the box leaving the camera to flop around. Not sure if this was the reason or if the replacement of a flat cable on the camera was the cause.

I'm really looking forward to returning it once again and having all of the fun that I had in the previous repair attempt. One can only have so much joy in ones life. That should put it getting back to me around Christmas and it will probably be too cold to test it to see if they actually repaired it.