I've been on the forum for an extended time this morning and its nothing but horror story after horror story interspursed with the occassional "look at my picture/video" thread.
The range and frequency of complaints would make anyone who is new to the world of drones think that DJI have been in business for two weeks and are based out of a guys garage in downtown Beijng.

Customer service or the lack thereof is a genuine concern. Im starting to think that I may have made a VERY expensive mistake. If that wasnt enough of a concern I've also lost count of how many threads I've read where the owner had something go wrong with their machine only for DJI to MAKE them use one of their DJI Care Refresh allocations to fix an issue that wasnt the owners fault.Let me get this right, I pay EXTRA for a premium service that should give me what exactly? Where are the benefits of the care package if it doesnt:
* expediate your issue
* cost you nothing (allow for user error)  
* afford you some premium level of service.
From what I am reading the Care Package is like paying for a Ferrari and getting a Fiat (not that theres anything wrong with a Fiat, just as long as you didnt pay Ferrari money for it).

The other theme that seems to reoccur time and time again is DJIs method of resolving issues - send us your drone then we will do nothing with it for a couple of weeks till you complain then we will get around to looking at it - oh and in the interim we wont update you, contact you or do anything else that would vaguely fall under the remit of customer service.

How can DJI allow this to continue ? The underlying feeling across the internet community seems to be that there is zero customer service and the DJI reputation is less than great (I'm being generous here) - and yet they are still selling these things like hot cakes. So much so that DJI seems to use that as THE reason for such crappy customer service.
"We cant keep up with demand for our products so thats leading us to fail existing customers as we focus on selling inventory over providing a sound experience for our existiing clients"

I've used a Mavic, I've seen how much fun they are and how awesome they can be BUT theres nothing to say that the minute my friends Pro comes up against a firmware update gone wrong, glithcy app use that results in the drone RTH in the ocean or some other heavily documented issue that he wont then be joinging the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG list of you that are p*ssed with DJI and are being driven mentally duranged at the process of getting your issue resolved.

Now I'm sat here thinking, do I err on the side of caution and cancel my order as knowing my luck my MP wont be configured correcty out of the box, the firmware upate wont work and the drone will have to be sent back to China for costly repairs and then I'll get it back maybe mid July. Do I wait until DJI have got some kind of handle on this appalling situation and then order? But how long will that take I hear you ask? Exactly, how long is a piece of string ?
OR
Do I sit here for the next few days with fingers, toes and any and all other apendages crossed in the hope that I get a good one?

When I hit the BUY IT NOW button, like all of you, I was excited, keen to get my drone, keen to get filming but having a morning of scouring the forum maybe now some patience is what should be exercised....

Thoughts? Comments?

We've reported your concern to our management team and sure aim to improve our customer service. If you have any particular case you're welcome to post it here so we can help.

My advice would be: Buy from a large reseller that has good customer service and fulfills the legal warranty requirements in your country. If the product has any issues, you should be able to return it easily or give it to the reseller who can struggle with the DJI service.

If you run into software issues with the DJI Go 4 app on Android you might want to give a third party app a try.

While i understand your concern, please keep in mind that there are still thousands of mavics in the air daily, that are flying without problems.
This forum is mostly a place for people to rage about what is going wrong with their aircraft. Not a lot of people will be posting when things are going great. Heck, i do the same thing.
But here:
I've had my mavic for a few months now, and have only had 1 issue with it, but that eventually fixed itself. So far still no big issues, and i don't think they will arise.

This forum really gives off a negative vibe, i get that, i felt the same after purchasing my drone.

Please have trust in your mavic, but above all, fly responsibly, read the manual.

I guarantee you will have a problem with the mavic you recieve .... i can tell you are that type of person.

Dji don't force anyone to use their care refresh ... when there is an issue with their drone .... how could you possibly belive that statement??? Did you read it on the internet? Must be true.

Why have dji replaced drones under warranty? And then specifically targeted select individuals and refused their warranty claims? Would you believe some people crash their mavics from stupidity then claim it was a malfunction and demand a new drone free of charge ? Please stop believing everything you read on the internet kid ... the earth isn't flat.......

There have been many threads where dji have had enough of these dishonest people and their slander and posted the flight logs showing conclusive evidence that its just another user fukup.

It does seem that IF you get one of the faulty units (like it happened to me, unit bricked during the first update with DJI go 4, right out of the box and never airborne, I made a separate post about that), you will end in a nightmare: they proposed to send my drone in to repair (!!!) while I'm clearly in the exchange/refund period.
I have a DJI care refresh activated on this unit, and reading on the forum I know that it would still take weeks/months to be repaired.
I'm simply paying the product price plus the protection plan, for a unit that I can't use because of DJI's fault.
I filed a PayPal dispute immediately, let's see if it speeds things up.
I'm gone from super excited (and to affictioned customer, having various DJI products), to super frustrated.

z4k4tt4ck Posted at 2017-5-2 23:23
I guarantee you will have a problem with the mavic you recieve .... i can tell you are that type of person.

Dji don't force anyone to use their care refresh ... when there is an issue with their drone .... how could you possibly belive that statement??? Did you read it on the internet? Must be true.

My flight log is: none nevertheless I'm already stuck with a "repair" proposal for a day one defective drone.

K4Unl Posted at 2017-5-2 22:54
While i understand your concern, please keep in mind that there are still thousands of mavics in the air daily, that are flying without problems.
This forum is mostly a place for people to rage about what is going wrong with their aircraft. Not a lot of people will be posting when things are going great. Heck, i do the same thing.
But here:

I agree with this statement, i have been following this forum for a number of months now will not comment or make a , probably because i have had nothing rant about.

To be honest i am disgusted when reading some of the content that is posted here, i have been flying RC aircraft for 10+ yrs now and the leap in technology in just 2 years is phenomenal. i used to order the components, build and program my own Aircraft's and i grantee i wasted the same amount of money.
What we have today is a luxury compared to what it was, but not every  one see's that side of it as they are new to the hobby (Not sure about yourself), and granted some cases are more severe and need to be addressed.

as far as customer service goes, at least it exists, most stores involved in UAV's definitely would not consider any sort of refund.

im not advocating that its a perfect service but it is better then I've had in the past, you will Love your drone, try not to focus on the nit picky stuff.

any way that is my opinion.

Sbbunno Posted at 2017-5-2 23:43
I agree with this statement, i have been following this forum for a number of months now will not comment or make a , probably because i have had nothing rant about.

To be honest i am disgusted when reading some of the content that is posted here, i have been flying RC aircraft for 10+ yrs now and the leap in technology in just 2 years is phenomenal. i used to order the components, build and program my own Aircraft's and i grantee i wasted the same amount of money.

I don't know where you live, but where I do live, there always have been a national buyer protection, where you can get a refund during the first week for any reason. Especially if the product is faulty right out of the box.
DJI is going against the law if they refuse to exchange/refund my drone, and they proposed me to simply "repair" it.
That means more than one mont after my purchase to actually receive from them a working drone, and it won't be a brand new one. It also means that I paid a DJI care plan in advance that I cannot use.
They're also going against their own exchange/return rules, and against PayPal rules, doing this.

If it was bought through amazon, I would never had this problems. Lesson learned.

I think if you want to buy something that works straight out of the box, buy a set of cutlery. You are already thinking you are going to crash your drone or it won't work, save yourself a few quid this hobby is not for you. The reality is nobody around here is going to convince you to buy a Mavic , as you can see on this forum you are going to read more of what you have already been reading, you never mentioned in your post looking at all the amazing footage many have produced, you haven't mentioned in your post those who are getting great fun and pleasure out of flying their Mavics , but even those who have perfectly working Mavics are happy to get on the bandwagon and try to convince others that there will always be problems. I think if you had have gone to P4 forums you would read a very story. But your intention is to knock the product before you even own one. So yes get your money back save yourself the worry, get a fishing rod go to the river put your rod on the grass and maybe the fish will jump out of the water and on to the hook.

So is the mavic sold as "maybe, maybe not" working out of the box?

So let me get this straight, you're complaining about issues from a product that you haven't even received yet? Definitely cancel your order. Enough people complaining around here already.

Have you actually had a problem, or are you just here complaining about other people who have a problem?  Of course people here have problems. This forum is one of the resources people have for addressing problems.

So... I bought a Mavic and I'm happy... but I have to say if I would be without one and read this forum I would never buy one.

I will say this......

I read all the reviews, read all the negative comments, watched over 100 review on YouTube and have to say, most times you hear the bad over the good.

As with any product or company, people will have issues and companies could have handled a situation better.

I too was reluctant to order a MP but I did anyways because of the videos and reviews I watched on YouTube. I am not a fan of people that come on a message board to blast a company because their drone they received is having issues.  DJI has sold millions of drones and we sit here and ridicule a growing company that is a pioneer in the industry.

I ordered my MP fly more combo on Thursday last week and received it yesterday.  The product is packaged in such a professional manner, I am impressed.

I fired up the bird, connected the controller, iPhone and opened up the DJI App. Updated the firmware with no issue and I look forward to flying it everyday.

My advice as with anything in life is, don't listen to all the bad. They make beautiful flying aircraft and have for a while.  While I have no experience with their refresh warranty etc. I'm sure the company does right by their customers in the long run.  As insurance, I purchased it through my American Express card.  This way I have additional insurance, free of charge.

PM160Mavic Posted at 2017-5-3 05:07
I will say this......

I read all the reviews, read all the negative comments, watched over 100 review on YouTube and have to say, most times you hear the bad over the good.

I think that complaining because repairs are being offered for brand new units defective from day one is not ridiculing anyone.
Turnaround times are also a big problem, and they seem not to vary also with DJI care, as I read everywhere.

As for American Express, it isn't accepted in the majority of places in Europe. I tend to buy on amazon (best consumer service I experienced ATM) or at least with PayPal protection.

What I meant was it isn't right for people to say the company is junk or their products are bad.

I agree with you on the stories, as I've read them also, and there should be a customer service revamp on the business side of things.

I was going to purchase off of Amazon, but DJI had a better price with the student discount.  Thanks DJI!

I have a mixed feeling about my Mavic.

First of all I have to say this drone is exactly what I have expected to get when I ordered mine. The first negative experience was the aweful long waiting until it finally got shipped - about 3 months!!!!

Then after my first flight, everything was great. No problems at all. Got the first update (v01.03.0500), got the second update (v01.03.0550), the drone got better and better. I had a lot of fun, while flying and taking my first pictures/videos. I also have done some long distance flights and tried the awesome intelligent-flightmodes. Nothing to complain.

But then it happend! FW update v01.03.0600 has been released along with DJI Go 4.0.6 and suddenly nothing worked as before. The App is always crashing and makes the Mavic unusable and even 4.0.7 doesn't change this behavior. Not to mention my Mavic refuses to upgrade to latest firmware...

So I decided to contact DJI Support and they - surprise - asked me to send the device in for repair. I refused that, because I just want to fly! For me I have reverted everything to a working state. Mavic Pro and RC are running FW v01.03.0550 and my Xioami Redmi Note 2 is running DJI Go 4.0.5. I don't have any problems left. I can enjoy my Mavic, take the shots I want and beeing happy for now. I don't understand why everyone always wants to be on the latest app-version or firmware? As IT-Expert I have the premise "never touch a running system". So if there is no urgent need to get the newer software, I am happy with what I have ;-)

The many posts from me suggesting something different, are because I just want to know what's wrong with my Mavic, and I am bothering DJI to find out without the need to send my Mavic for repair. I don't want to wait another 3 or 4 weeks until I get it back. I just want to use it and fly!

Hopefully all me problems will be solved by time and further updates :-)

Regards,
patman89

If you normally follow the horror stories after some of us try to figure out what actually happened by asking for flight log, most of the cases are pilot error, and that is ok until the person tries to blame the product or divert the conversation into another subject.
Regarding DJI response time, personally I only have good things to say and bet that in every single "horror" post there was a representative trying to help by following up or escalating the case. Sometimes is even hilarious when you see one of the DJI representatives asking for logs or case number and the OP keeps raging and bitching about the problem without providing the info requested. Maybe they know that as soon they send their logs, DJI will find out what actually happened and any argument they might had just becomes invalid (seen this already several times).

There is no worst blind person than the one that does not want to see.

I whish you many great hours of flying and that you enjoy your MAVIC, as I bet must of us are already doing all around the globe.

Reading threads like this made me wait until the Mavic became available at a local merchant until I finally purchased it for 150€ more than what chinese resellers asked at that time. Just to have the security to not have to send the device around the globe in case of problems.
So far I have not experienced any hardware problems, but the software side seems indeed a bit glitchy and generally pretty rough around the edges, at least considering how expensive the products are. No complete catastrophes yet, but a crash here, a non-reacting edit field there, some graphical glitches etc...

Regards,
Phrix

I have two Mavic's and had no problems with really either one.  I have no care refresh on them. I come to these forums to learn how to be a better pilot and be part of this community.
Just like other products you buy, if you read reviews you will always see the bad comments. sift though the bad stuff and remember there is thousands of happy customers out there.

Kronos69 Posted at 2017-5-2 23:30
It does seem that IF you get one of the faulty units (like it happened to me, unit bricked during the first update with DJI go 4, right out of the box and never airborne, I made a separate post about that), you will end in a nightmare: they proposed to send my drone in to repair (!!!) while I'm clearly in the exchange/refund period.
I have a DJI care refresh activated on this unit, and reading on the forum I know that it would still take weeks/months to be repaired.
I'm simply paying the product price plus the protection plan, for a unit that I can't use because of DJI's fault.

Right there with you.. Pretty much the same story... If they don't send me a new one this time, I am going the dispute/chargeback route.

Agreed. Watch actual videos and don't base your decision on a select few horror stories. My Mavic is performing perfectly and seeks to be built very well.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-5-3 03:25
I think if you want to buy something that works straight out of the box, buy a set of cutlery. You are already thinking you are going to crash your drone or it won't work, save yourself a few quid this hobby is not for you. The reality is nobody around here is going to convince you to buy a Mavic , as you can see on this forum you are going to read more of what you have already been reading, you never mentioned in your post looking at all the amazing footage many have produced, you haven't mentioned in your post those who are getting great fun and pleasure out of flying their Mavics , but even those who have perfectly working Mavics are happy to get on the bandwagon and try to convince others that there will always be problems. I think if you had have gone to P4 forums you would read a very story. But your intention is to knock the product before you even own one. So yes get your money back save yourself the worry, get a fishing rod go to the river put your rod on the grass and maybe the fish will jump out of the water and on to the hook.

I currently own all three drones the mavic the Phantom 4 Pro and the Inspire 2 with X5S and Cinema dng.
I've had a Yuneec typhoon H for about a year with no issues but I have seen some great reviews about DJI range and features on YouTube, so I decided to auction My Tyhoon on eBay and purchase the mavic, P4p and the inspire 2. All three units showed up with detects. The mavic has so far been returned twice and has both times been returned to me defective. My wifes p4p is still " going through the process" Inspire 2 was supposed to be returned to me a week ago but I'm now told that they're out of stock and I have to wait until they receive a new shipment from China..

I've recommended DJI products for years before buying my Mavic Pro... Loved my P3P (still do)... Now I just tell people to go read the DJISupport interactions on Twitter and to come to this forum to decide for themselves - I've since been told by 4 people "thanks, but no thanks" in regards to buying one after taking my advice to research.

Michael Kaine Posted at 2017-5-3 06:40
I currently own all three drones the mavic the Phantom 4 Pro and the Inspire 2 with X5S and Cinema dng.
I've had a Yuneec typhoon H for about a year with no issues but I have seen some great reviews about DJI range and features on YouTube, so I decided to auction My Tyhoon on eBay and purchase the mavic, P4p and the inspire 2. All three units showed up with detects. The mavic has so far been returned twice and has both times been returned to me defective. My wifes p4p is still " going through the process" Inspire 2 was supposed to be returned to me a week ago but I'm now told that they're out of stock and I have to wait until they receive a new shipment from China..

That's tough Michael, nobody should have to put up with that,

Please know that I am not knocking the product. I am very aware that these are amazing drone, but quality control and customs support does need a lot of work, very anxious to receive a working unit I can't wait I know that I'll have a lot of fun flying one of these things.

Here a solution that may help the situation. DJI should have a real customer service portal like every other service has on the internet. It's time for DJI to grow up when it comes customer service.

They need a real support portal w/ service tickets, real customer support, and help specialists. Something like zendesk.com uservoice.com freshdesk etc.

That way people with real issues can get real support and people who want to discuss videos and other "fun" things can have a place to do that. It's getting messy in here.

The Forum moderators (DJI-Ken, etc) shouldn't be doing customer service and support tickets in the forum. They should be building the community and sending people w/ problems to the support portal (and not collecting case numbers and logs)

OK, So a lot of instant flamers as I knew there would be to a post of that nature but to REITERATE....I have done months of research and not all of it on this forum.
JamesW - You hit the nail on the head mate
Michael Kane - Im in exactly the same boat as you on this
Dronoob - You make a very good point on using Amazon and something I hadnt considered - at least that way you get to avoid DJIs customer service - or lack of. Great reply to my question, someone reading the post correctly, seeing the underlying thesis of the post and replying considerately - if only there were more like you on the internet mate.
Z444H4Ck - you need to relax.
Kronos69 - You get exactly what I am saying, thanks
Hallmark007 - Re-read my initial post, I have already laid out the cash, it should be here any day now. I know what Im getting into but still feel DJI need to know we 'as a group' arnt happy with what they consider adequate customer service.
Patman89 - My point entirely
MentalEcho - Mate, thats the very essence of my post - thanks for getting it.

So guys, Im not being a DB here or wanting to irritate my fellow Pro'ers. I was to some degree playing devils advocate and seeing what the general reaction out there was to a very genuine question/concern.
I think that yes DJI are leading the field, yes their drones are amazing, yes I want one, yes I want to be able to capture all this amazing footage and share it with the world BUT there are A LOT of things that DJI can improve on and I dont think it hurts to call them out on it. If they dont know already how damaging to a companies reputation unhappy customers are then a gentle kick is what they clearly need.

You cant release a product that the entire world wants their hands on which then gives you millions of potential returns without having a proper system in place to handle it.

WOLF Y LOBO Posted at 2017-5-3 17:16
OK, So a lot of instant flamers as I knew there would be to a post of that nature but to REITERATE....I have done months of research and not all of it on this forum.
JamesW - You hit the nail on the head mate
Michael Kane - Im in exactly the same boat as you on this

"You cant release a product that the entire world wants their hands on which then gives you millions of potential returns without having a proper system in place to handle it."

Yeah and this is exactly what bothers me. If I have a problem I would never complain about it. Just send your device for repair and get it back in a moderate time-frame. But if I have to wait more than 3 or even 4 weeks to get my Mavic back this is not acceptable. This prevents me from sending my Mavic for checking what is wrong with my update. So I stick with the last working firmware and be happy. And maybe it's not bad not to have the latest NFZ tables ;-)

WOLF Y LOBO Posted at 2017-5-3 17:16
OK, So a lot of instant flamers as I knew there would be to a post of that nature but to REITERATE....I have done months of research and not all of it on this forum.
JamesW - You hit the nail on the head mate
Michael Kane - Im in exactly the same boat as you on this

I knew you had already purchased, but you could cancel at anytime until it is sent out, you also have seven days to return it and get your money back, so yes I did read your post.

It just amazes me that those who don't have their Mavics yet are already complaining, you are in no position to complain about dji repair service because you have no experience of it. Except what you read around here,
If this was your opening thread here it was extremely negative and made more so because you have had none of the experiences that others have had.
You mentioned nothing of the good reasons in your post why you purchased your Mavic or of the many positive things and the positive outcomes many have.
So if you got the feeling that your thread was being attacked, then a lot of this was of your own making.
I think your approach to initially side with everything that's negative about Mavic and to jump on the bandwagon of it's easier to get in with the crowd who spend their time on here knocking the very thing they paid good money for,  Wolf Y Lobo you should try to be more positive about something that is truly a great craft for the money, and save the negative for when you really might need it...

Attack all you want, that doesnt bother me in the slightest. The reasons for me getting the Mavic are, at this point, irrelevant (but largely identical to the millions of those that have - I am in no way reinventing the wheel here) - you still seem to be missing the crux of the initial post.
Lets just move on.

I'm beginning to wonder the same thing. Over the last week, I have email conversations with Lloyd E at DJI NL and have come to the conclusion

being deliberately unhelpful.

I originally asked about issues with the Osmo Mobile and Iphone 7 and he confirmed there were such issues.  Asked to clarify he told me to use another phone, then that I shouldn't fly my Mavic with the iPhone 7, he had become confused but clearly there is also an issue with the drone and iPhone 7. Asked to clarify, he suggested I send it in for repair. People like that - and it's been going around and around - should be fired.

If anyone can shed light on the iphone 7 issues and loads of DJI products pls do f

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-5-4 15:25
I knew you had already purchased, but you could cancel at anytime until it is sent out, you also have seven days to return it and get your money back, so yes I did read your post.

It just amazes me that those who don't have their Mavics yet are already complaining, you are in no position to complain about dji repair service because you have no experience of it. Except what you read around here,

You seem like the kind of person that expect very litte.
Sure he hasnt purchases his mavic yet but there is nothing wrong with researching and posting your conserns, i wish that i had done the same then i may have made better choises. I have enjoyed using my IS2 P4p mavic and osmo. But it would sweeten the experience to know that if something goes wrong DJI will be here with the kind of suport that one would expect from a company that creat these amazing products.

Michael Kaine Posted at 2017-5-7 04:54
You seem like the kind of person that expect very litte.
Sure he hasnt purchases his mavic yet but there is nothing wrong with researching and posting your conserns, i wish that i had done the same then i may have made better choises. I have enjoyed using my IS2 P4p mavic and osmo. But it would sweeten the experience to know that if something goes wrong DJI will be here with the kind of suport that one would expect from a company that creat these amazing products.

Yeah, I agree... This is 100% spot on - in line with my current feels.. I dang sure wish I'd have dove in a bit more on here before biting off on my MP... Also, as I plan on telling people who ask me if I recommend DJI's products going forward - I wish I'd have "searched twitter for 'djisupport' and then viewed 'latest'" to better get an idea of how current customers who are engaged with support feel about their quality of support...

I owned a P3P for ~2 years - loved it and sang it's praises/recommendations to anyone who'd listen... With my P3P, I never had a problem that I wasn't the cause of - and actually had a very pleasant experience with support when I first got my P3P, where DJI politely and quickly pointed out my err...  I honestly kinda thought a lot of the anger I read on reddit and the sort were just bad apples, or isolated incidents...though I no longer believe this to be true...

Then I got my Mavic Pro... It was defective out of the box. I entered the support gauntlet more than 2 months ago - and unfortunately since I actually have a real defect issue, my support experience has been vastly different than was the case with my P3P... I won't go into a rant here - god knows I've posted the details enough on here already, so just check my history if curious...  But I will say that it's been a nightmare... As was the case when I reached out with my P3P, support has been very friendly - but there's been little actual help provided to date (and they actually delivered a beat up P3S as my replacement Mavic today, so who knows how much more fun I have in store for me )

It's always nice to know what you have to look forward to on stuff like this... wish I'd have done a bit more homework... I can honestly say that I wouldn't have bought then knowing what I know now...

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-5-23 20:06
Yeah, I agree... This is 100% spot on - in line with my current feels.. I dang sure wish I'd have dove in a bit more on here before biting off on my MP... Also, as I plan on telling people who ask me if I recommend DJI's products going forward - I wish I'd have "searched twitter for 'djisupport' and then viewed 'latest'" to better get an idea of how current customers who are engaged with support feel about their quality of support...

I owned a P3P for ~2 years - loved it and sang it's praises/recommendations to anyone who'd listen... With my P3P, I never had a problem that I wasn't the cause of - and actually had a very pleasant experience with support when I first got my P3P, where DJI politely and quickly pointed out my err...  I honestly kinda thought a lot of the anger I read on reddit and the sort were just bad apples, or isolated incidents...though I no longer believe this to be true...

It saddens me when ever i here these stories, i finally recivex all 3 of my drones back from support and ive enjoy flying for the past 3 weekends with my son. These are amazing machines & its sad that the expedience of owning one as been tarnished by DJIs lack of support. Im still a huge fan but i try to avoid purchasing directly from this site, ive even spent a few extra dollar to purchase insurance through state farm even tho ive already paid for care refresh, all so i will never need to be at the Mercy of DJIs suport staff ever again

Michael Kaine Posted at 2017-5-23 21:01
It saddens me when ever i here these stories, i finally recivex all 3 of my drones back from support and ive enjoy flying for the past 3 weekends with my son. These are amazing machines & its sad that the expedience of owning one as been tarnished by DJIs lack of support. Im still a huge fan but i try to avoid purchasing directly from this site, ive even spent a few extra dollar to purchase insurance through state farm even tho ive already paid for care refresh, all so i will never need to be at the Mercy of DJIs suport staff ever again

Yup. It stinks you have to go through the mess before figuring all of this out...

- Educate yourself on what you're getting into - research worse case and decide if you're still in.
- Don't buy DJI direct - buy from seller with strongest consumer protection policies in place
- Use a good Credit Card with protection perks just in case you need them
- If you have an issue, think long and hard how bad it really is for you. You might wind up with them sending you a P3S to replace your Mavic like they did me. e.g. May want to just deal with some minor issues.
- Buy a personal property insurance - skip DJI Refresh (if you have to use the service, you will about wish you'd have flown it into an active volcano instead - so factor this into your flying style and insurance policy )