Thouht I would chime in with something that happened to me a while back, to provide some perspective. I know many can be harsh on DJI for poor customer service (myself included when it comes to sales and marketing lately) but I did want to balance that with tech support, given some recent threads. While their are some CS issues that need to be addressed, in my experience tech support/service is not one of them, your experience my vary, but at least for me they came through (at least here in the US) and I thought they should get some credit where it is due, both to stop some of the hate, but also, hopefully, to provide an example to the other divisions to pick up their game.
So anyway, last year, I was trying to get a shot I needed for a project I was working on for a college course, the shot was to fly down from altitude, go through a narrow pedestrian tunnel under a draw bridge, then fly back up. I decided, after a test run, the safest way to do it was to film it in sections then edit them togethor in post. The first shot I tried to get was the tunnel shot. In hind sight, I should have just started the camera and walked the drone through, but I decided to be honest instead and attempted to fly it through, hopefully being able to take off on the other side so I could skip an edit. Unfortunately the tunnel was too narrow to use the collision avoidance so I tried to do it in Atti mode, and that's where things when pear shaped. You can read the whole story in the video description but the short version is the drone hit the tunnel wall, went out of control and ended up in the river, as did I trying to get it. Both of us had to be pulled out, the drone months later by a scuba team.
When I finally got the Phantom 4 back it had been under water for months and was encrusted with muscles. Amazingly I was able to recover all the footage from the Micro SD card (the same one it shipped with). Even more amazingly DJI replaced it for me, free. Yes I had DJI Care, but back then it did not cover water damage, as I understand it, so they could have told me I was out of luck, but they didn't, they covered the replacement under DJI Care and I was only out the cost of new propellers, a battery, and a micro SD card (I was able to recover the footage, but the card was trashed). Anyway, I made a video about the experience which includes the footage recovered from the bottom of the river, here it is:
Credit is deserved where it is do, especially when a comany does GOOD customer service.
FYI: The old drone was having compass problems before the crash, the new one, other than having to recalibrate the IMU, has been fine and has been on many successful flights.
Thank you for your feedback and detailed description, we'd like to have your case number for more information.
If the aircraft is still within warranty period, and the damage is caused by product faulty, we'll take care of it.
Nice to know you have great experience on the flights, enjoy it!
DJI Natalia Posted at 2017-3-21 01:46
Thank you for your feedback and detailed description, we'd like to have your case number for more information.
If the aircraft is still within warranty period, and the damage is caused by product faulty, we'll take care of it.
Nice to know you have great experience on the flights, enjoy it!
You video story is one of the most engaging dock-you-mentaries I've seen. I enjoyed the drama. And your test footage of the bridge approach felt like much more than a mere staged re-enactment.
A good story doesn't always have to have a happy ending, but the picture of the divers' unsunken booty is priceless.
As is your comic edit timing, in particular with the autopsy/post-mortem pictures [assumedly atop the perfectly chosen blue casket ("Mr. Droneral Director!! Sir!! Listen, I simply will not see my beloved P4 quadcopter 6 feet under in some cheap beige. Now, please show me the Biltmore Blue Series.")].
As for the documentary feel of it, you nailed it, all the way down to the blurring of the battery compartment, which was conveniently, accidentally I'm sure, slipped partially into the next scene. Authentic!
Now I'd like to single out your choice of music for a best music score nomination - short subject. The situation was certainly most dire and the music surely confirmed this. However, I must say that you needed one final large fortissimo coda (with cymbals and bass notes, and heck, the entire orchestra), to accentuate the "YESSSS!!!!" The silent victory seemed aurally hollow (like the end of 2001 - A Space Odyssey).
Still, overall, you win and you rock.
Unfortunately, 1) you've set the bar pretty darn high for your sequel, and 2) you'll likely be fined for removing a part of the river's ecosystem (a protected (non-barrier) reef--home to a growing family of mussels).
I know but I didn't think you could dji care for a p4, I just did some research and we can't here in Australia for a P4 which really sucks, I just spent $70 to ship my controller back to Hong Kong for warranty because to fix it locally it won't be under warranty because the store I bought it from is not a "DJI approved store" and that's not even express post.
mic75 Posted at 2017-3-21 18:37
I know but I didn't think you could dji care for a p4, I just did some research and we can't here in Australia for a P4 which really sucks, I just spent $70 to ship my controller back to Hong Kong for warranty because to fix it locally it won't be under warranty because the store I bought it from is not a "DJI approved store" and that's not even express post.
You can in the US, I just double checked, it's still available for $219.