I am more or less putting this here to see if anyone has any advice for how to handle this.


First to give a little history, I own many DJI products and have spent A LOT of money with them. F450 Flamewheel, Inspire 1, Inspire 1 Pro, S900 w/ A2, S1000 w/A3, Light Bridge 2, Zenmuse XT Thermal Camera. I also fly freestyle with an Impluse RC Alien and have logged TONS of hours flying with all these aircrafts. I also work at a University and manage a drone research lab. We do a lot of testing with an assortment of different aircrafts, many that are DJI and we have a designated indoor flying area with a grid pattern on the floor made of painters tape (for optical flow to reference). I mention this to illustrate that I am not a novice pilot, I have been flying since before multirotors even existed.


I bought a Mavic Pro about a month ago and brought it to work to show some of the students. I unpacked it and noticed the right rear arm did not tuck tight in to the body when folded and had a fair amount of play in it when it was unfolded. I immediately took pictures and sent an e-mail to DJI. While waiting for a response, the next day I figured I would give it a short test flight indoors to see if the loose arm effected flight. I placed the drone in the test area with the grid on the floor, armed it, and took off about 1.5-2ft off the ground. The Mavic was drifting very bad to the left and started heading towards a wall, one of the students even asked "Why is it drifting like that?". I tried to quickly land it as to not hit the wall, but the way the controls are, it doesn't immediately land upon giving it down stick, there is a couple second delay before it lands. To keep from impacting the wall I physically pushed the drone down towards the carpet. I must have got a little too close to the props because the left rear prop struck my pinkey finger and resulted in a slightly rough landing. It was only a few inches off the ground when it struck my finger though so it wasn't bad at all. I looked up and said to the student "Well looks like that loose arm does effect the flight!". I couldn't believe that small bit of play in the arm caused the drone to drift that bad and started to suspect the VPS system had a problem as well. I gave it another shot and this time it flew fine. Hovered for about 5 minutes with no issues. I received the shipping label and boxed it up and sent it to DJI. About a week later I get an e-mail from them that says "User error FLY001 1. Unit was in Atti mode and was responsive to RC input. Unit had no GPS lock under Atti mode. User flying indoors. 2. At t=187s, relative height=0.5m, unit recorded external impact. 3. Unit was drifting and collided with obstruction. User flying over surface without pattern for VPS and without GPS lock. Conclusion: User error. Impact in air. [Non warranty Repair]" and a quote to replace the right rear arm for $149. Even though the repair cost is only $149 this upset me very much because I have spent a ton of money with DJI, they don't seem to acknowledge that the impact was with my finger and the LEFT REAR prop, and I feel as if they're trying to screw me. I know the surface has a pattern sufficient for the VPS because we purposefully put a grid on the ground for the VPS on the Inspire 1. I called DJI and tried to explain the situation but the woman didn't seem to care or listen. She just said "So basically you just want to dispute the repair charges?" I responded with "YES!, I have pictures of the defective arm that pre-date the first flight, and the impact with my finger occured with the left rear prop, not the right rear that is on the quote, you should be able to compare this with the black box data on the drone". She said someone would call me back. About a week later I get another e-mail from them that says "I requested the invoice be updated to show the correct arm that needs repair, but the invoice wasn't changed. Just looked at the picture and the arm with the issue is the back right arm, so the invoice has been correct the whole time. The gimbal/camera is the "front" of the aircraft, battery is the back. As far as reassessing the warranty decision, damage incurred from an indoor flight with insufficient GPS signal will not be covered under warranty. You have the option to not pay the invoice and have this sent back without repair, let anyone in support know if that is what you would rather do."


After reading this return e-mail, I don't think they even understand what I'm telling them because I didn't request that the invoice be changed to show a different arm. Every time I call, I can't talk with anyone directly (other than an operator who has no technical knowledge) about it, and I can't get this resolved! This is very frustrating and annoying! I don't know what they don't understand about "I have pictures of the defective arm that pre-date any flying". Has anyone else ever dealt with a problem like this? How was it resolved? At this point I'm wondering if I should continue using DJI products because if they are going to be this much of a hassle, I don't want to deal with it. Anyone have any advice on how to handle this? I know it's only $149 but I'd rather take a $1000 loss than hand over $149 for something I'm not responsible for, simply as a matter of principle. Maybe I'll have them return it without repairs and give it to the guys at Rotor Riot to destroy in some sort of epic way!

Hi,

I certainly don't want to play down your issue.
But when reading "While waiting for a response, the next day I figured I would give it a short test flight indoors to see if the loose arm effected flight."
WHY?

Cause the outcome of that test flight could have 2 options.
Option 1) no worry and i would fly like an eagle;
Option 2) crash

So why take the risk?
Would you get into a car knowing it has no rear breaks?
I know what i would do,....call the garage and tell them to collect it?

Mcflying Posted at 2017-4-6 13:26
Hi,

I certainly don't want to play down your issue.

I know hindsight is 20-20 and looking back, I definitely shouldn't have tried to fly it, but I just spent $1000 on an aircraft that I was hoping would be good-to-go out of the box.  

Mcflying Posted at 2017-4-6 13:26
Hi,

I certainly don't want to play down your issue.

I was like an anxious kid at Christmas time who just opened a new toy and wanted to try it out.

It seems pretty simple though, compare the time stamp on my photos to the the black box data and they would be able to clearly see that it was defective before any flying took place. Had I known they were going to try and wiggle their way out of a warranty repair, I would have deleted the flight logs and black box data before I sent it in.

I can understand how frustrating this must be.
Could you please provide me with your case number? I'll help to look into it.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-4-6 19:00
I can understand how frustrating this must be.
Could you please provide me with your case number? I'll help to look into it.

Thank you. The case# is CAS-447366-T4K3J. I tried to post the pictures with the dates in this thread, but apparently they are too large. I will try and render them down in quality a little to post them in this thread.

redline870 Posted at 2017-4-7 08:20
Thank you. The case# is CAS-447366-T4K3J. I tried to post the pictures with the dates in this thread, but apparently they are too large. I will try and render them down in quality a little to post them in this thread.

I've added notes to your case for dispute but it also looks like you've talked to support disputing it. They will respond to you after they've reviewed everything.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-4-7 08:49
I've added notes to your case for dispute but it also looks like you've talked to support disputing it. They will respond to you after they've reviewed everything.

Yes I did already talk to support and yes I did dispute it, I mentioned that in the original posting. But I don't think they even understand what I'm telling them as I received an email stating:

"I requested the invoice be updated to show the correct arm that needs repair, but the invoice wasn't changed. Just looked at the picture and the arm with the issue is the back right arm, so the invoice has been correct the whole time."

I never said that the quote reflected the wrong arm or requested that it be changed. I was simply trying to tell them that the arm was defective out of the box and I have pictures to show that it was like that before it was ever flown.

RedLine ,
sorry this happen to you
But I'm in agreement with McFlying
The arm was Broken out of the Box  WHY EVEN TRY TO FLY IT ??????????
The Mavic records everything from when you push that on button
What you did was put yourself in Limbo as soon as you left the ground
Think about it --- You Say it was Broken right out of the Box
The Mavic recorded it's First Flight ---  "User error FLY001 1. Unit was in Atti mode and was responsive to RC input. Unit had no GPS lock under Atti mode. User flying indoors. 2. At t=187s, relative height=0.5m, unit recorded external impact. 3. Unit was drifting and collided with obstruction. User flying over surface without pattern for VPS and without GPS lock. Conclusion: User error. Impact in air. [Non warranty Repair]"  (Crash)
Who would you believe ??????

If they compare the date on these photos to the date of the first flight, they will be able to see that the first flight occurred after this date.

Having all the experience, you should of known better to not fly it with the loose arm. Could of been a lot worse if the arm became more loose or came off during flight especially with students around.

redline870 Posted at 2017-4-7 09:17
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RedLine,

I understand your upset and I see your into electronics --  I think you know as well as I that Date's and Time's can be manipulated on electronic devices --- I'm not saying or claiming that you did .
I'm just trying to help you see it from DJI's point of view so you don't become more upset if there is no positive outcome of you claim --- I hope it does go your way   

redline870 Posted at 2017-4-7 09:17
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On my Mavic, that same arm sticks out a little bit. When you push it in it moves back out. I've been flying it for months and it's been fine.
The flight analysis would show an abnormal vibration if the arm was loose.

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-7 09:26
Having all the experience, you should of known better to not fly it with the loose arm. Could of been a lot worse if the arm became more loose or came off during flight especially with students around.

The students stand behind a cage, there was no one at risk.

To everyone saying I should have waited, obviously I know that and in hindsight I shouldn't have done it.  I was simply excited to try it out because I thought the Mavic was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I didn't think a small amount of play in the arm would make it un-flyable and looking back I don't think the arm even caused the drift because it flew fine the second time.

Yes I theoretically someone can photoshop the time stamps on the photos, but why spend the time for $149. I guess I was hoping that as someone who has spent tens of thousands with DJI that they would take care of me with such a minor issue.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-4-7 09:48
On my Mavic, that same arm sticks out a little bit. When you push it in it moves back out. I've been flying it for months and it's been fine.
The flight analysis would show an abnormal vibration if the arm was loose.

When the arm is unfolded, it is loose, at least a noticeable amount more than the other side. They gave me a quote to replace it so the technician who looked at it must not think it is normal either.

redline870 Posted at 2017-4-7 10:13
When the arm is unfolded, it is loose, at least a noticeable amount more than the other side. They gave me a quote to replace it so the technician who looked at it must not think it is normal either.

OK, my arm is tight when unfolded.

What was the outcome of this?

Where did you purchase this Mavic from?

redline870 Posted at 2017-4-7 10:08
To everyone saying I should have waited, obviously I know that and in hindsight I shouldn't have done it.  I was simply excited to try it out because I thought the Mavic was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I didn't think a small amount of play in the arm would make it un-flyable and looking back I don't think the arm even caused the drift because it flew fine the second time.

Yes I theoretically someone can photoshop the time stamps on the photos, but why spend the time for $149. I guess I was hoping that as someone who has spent tens of thousands with DJI that they would take care of me with such a minor issue.

When the Mavic first released there were MANY MANY reports of this behavior in ATTI mode and it was not due to loose arms on the AC. Many people summed it up to improperly calibrated IMU. The AC thinks its level but its not. Its possible that this is what happened to you while in ATTI mode, The only reason it would be in ATTI mode is if there was lack of gps signal AND lack of adequate lighting for VPS systems. This would also explain why you had no issues on your second flight. Drone probably had more light and was in opti mode rather than atti mode, thus was able to correct the slightly unlevel imu.

edit: wow this post is old :|