Drumcorp69 Posted at 2014-11-11 13:13
Hello all!

Quick update here...

Sorry if I missed the update. Did you get it replaced or repaired and did the SquareTrade plan help you at all?

Hi everyone,

I excitedly called SquareTrade after reading this thread to buy a protection plan for my DJI Phantom and I was told they are no longer offering protection plans for drones since they have no way of repairing them. They recently decided to discontinue selling protection plans just two weeks ago.

Is anyone aware of an alternative to SquareTrade that can protect my DJI Phantom?

Ahhh man not happy! I may call as well just to verify! I was about to pick this up!

Is Square trade still selling this coverage? If yes I'm in. It's  cold as hell here so it'll be 60 days before I fly her anyway,lol. Please contact me through pm if you have surefire info for me when I call S/T.

GapaGapa Posted at 2014-12-18 23:40
Hi everyone,

I excitedly called SquareTrade after reading this thread to buy a protection plan for ...

This doesn't surprise me.  A few people commented about the probability that this coverage wouldn't be offered for very long.  However, I will state again that it is not uncommon to get one story when talking to one person at SquareTrade, and a 180 degrees different story when talking to someone else.  I personally experienced this.  I emailed an inquiry about drone coverage and received a written quote back.  When I called in to buy the coverage, the first person I spoke to insisted they would not sell me coverage for a drone.  When I reached the CS Rep that emailed me the quote, she verified she could sell me the coverage and did just that.

I have always said this would go away once the claims started coming in and they realized how common accidental damage is with RC aircraft.  Since they're now citing no way to repair them, I wonder if the claims aren't starting and they're waking up to the reality of what they've been selling.

Interesting.  Id love to see someone put through a claim and give their experiences.   I am always skeptical of these warranty companies.  There is always something in the fine print no matter how much the sales person tries to convince you otherwise.

On another note another good thing to look into is liability insurance.  If you happen to lose control and hit or hurt someone you will be happy you have it.

https://www.modelaircraft.org/joinrenew.aspx

chuck26287@att. Posted at 2014-12-19 01:06
This doesn't surprise me.  A few people commented about the probability that this coverage wouldn' ...

Can you post or PM me the name and contact information of the person who sold you the coverage? I called twice just to verify I wasn't speaking to a nay-sayer. Also, SquareTrade appears to be the most legitimate coverage provider for our Phantoms.

Actually, there are at least two people who do the repairs - and many more who do more official repairs - and the parts are definitely available and replaceable.

Here are some:

http://www.usdronerepair.com/
https://www.facebook.com/USdronerepair

http://www.uavrepairshop.com/

GapaGapa Posted at 2014-12-19 01:31
Can you post or PM me the name and contact information of the person who sold you the coverage? I  ...

Her name and extension are posted in my lengthy post on the first page of this thread.

LIPHANTOM Posted at 2014-12-19 01:23
Interesting.  Id love to see someone put through a claim and give their experiences.   I am always s ...

I agree.  It took me a long time to come around to feeling comfortable enough to invest in this, especially since my coverage was for a much larger amount than a typical Phantom P2V+.  However, after researching SquareTrade, they appear to be pretty reputable.  I have seen one account of someone getting a replacement check and another of someone being approved to have it repaired at a shop of his choosing, and the repairs were authorized for reimbursement up to the amount of his coverage available.  I even feel comfortable with the way I interpret the fine print of the actual written agreement, but that doesn't mean squat if ST tells you your interpretation is wrong when you file a claim.  It does lurk in the back of my mind.  But, I feel far less uneasy about having a coverage policy that I might have diffuclties getting settled than I do about putting a few thousand dollars in the air with the abosulute certainty of zero coverage.

chuck26287@att. Posted at 2014-12-19 02:35
Her name and extension are posted in my lengthy post on the first page of this thread.

I entered her extension and got an error. Any other specific means to contact her?

GapaGapa Posted at 2014-12-19 03:17
I entered her extension and got an error. Any other specific means to contact her?

I would just call and ask for her by name.  Here is a quote from her email quote back to me indicating her working hours.  If she's still there, you should be able to get to her.

"To know more about specific details, you can call me at 1-877-927-7268 extension number 1573 between Saturdays to Wednesday 7:00 PM to 4:00 AM Pacific Time."

Again, her name is Rome.  Good luck.

Just got off the phone with Squared Trade twice.  Got the same answer to the question on purchasing a protection plan for the P2V+.  They no longer cover the entire quadcopter. They do not have away to repair them and would have to pay full replacement.  As a result, they have decided to not offer the coverage.  However, they did offer to cover the camera only portion.  I asked if that included the gimbal?  The response was yes if it was included in a "kit".  This would be paid out as a replacement as they cannot repair the camera or gimbal either.  The coverage would be limited a defect in the camera "kit".  A crash "may" be cause for a camera "kit" replacement. That is it.  The upside is that the coverage cost is based on the camera "kit" cost not the entire quadcopter cost.

Rob  

johnkilcline@gm Posted at 2014-10-24 00:52
Looks like they are in the UK too!
http://www.squaretrade.co.uk/

HI , I just called them and they  ( Square Trade), dont cover the Phantom in the UK. a great pity that, I wonder if anyone knows of another Ins Co who will?

Apparently, Square trade sell their policies through Amazon.co.uk- might be worth exploring to see if they can arrange cover?

Just sent a simple question to Squaretrade UK if they cover Quadcopters (DJI Phantom 2) for accidental damage etc.

Wait a reply.

UK Squaretrade says:


Thank you for contacting SquareTrade.


After reviewing the item you wish to insure, I do apologise but we are unable to cover it, due to the item being at a high risk of getting damaged.

If you require any further assistance, please reply to this email or call 0808 189 1453 from 8am to 8pm Mon-Fri and 9am to 6pm Sat-Sun.

Thank you,

Sheena
SquareTrade Care Specialist

Well, this sounds like a good outcome for those that already bought the plan, but not so much for those that didn't. It sounds like we are grandfathered in to replacement coverage. Hope I never have to use it, but we shall see.

Well.. I know this sounds bad, but I would like to ear the experience about someone who did brake a unit and got their money back.
Until now I only see posts of people that gave them money.
Do the give money back?

Earlier in this chain someone filed a claim and stated they were pleased with the process. But I have not seen where he got a final resolution yet.

Drumcorp69 Posted at 2014-11-11 13:13
Hello all!

Quick update here...

Any updates on this? Did they cover the repair?

DJIHavequestion Posted at 2014-11-6 03:29
I have a weird experience and I hope I did it right. I just made the purchase via Amazon. Then I cal ...

Hi. I had to re-read this entire thread a couple times just to make sure. I also purchased mine via Amazon and it actually falls within the $1000-$1250 (paid $1199) since my wife purchased on sale for Christmas.

This is the one I am going to use: http://www.amazon.com/SquareTrad ... TU2#customerReviews

I called earlier and a rep (sounded kinda clueless, but did put me on hold to verify and came back with yes it is covered) pointed me to the same exact camera coverage but for 4 years (double the price)... I decided to stick with the 3 year for now since by the 4th year I should be a pro at flying this thing

It does seem like people are getting different coverage though (camera, electronics, etc)

Could you guys chime in and lets see what the majority went with? It seems like the reps are pointing you to the Camera (especially if it came as one unit).. I just hope if/when the time comes my entire unit is covered and not just the camera. I am going to shoot them an email to have in writing shortly. I'll respond back as soon as I have further details.

Anthony, it is highly unlikely that any company could afford to cover that entire craft for $40 or less a year! If they did so, it would be a mistake and you'd just have gotten lucky.

Think about it.

They are calculating that cost on the record for cameras - that is, the track record of the percentage of consumer cameras which break (very few - maybe 2-3%) and the cost to repair or replace (with refurb, etc.) those cameras. I'm a numbers guy so I will throw some out there.....

1. $1000 camera
2. 4% of them break in some way
3. 2 of those are repaired for an average cost of $200, while is replaced with rebuilt or refurbs for $500 and one is replaced with a new one because a refurb can't be found....new one wholesale (year-old model) = $700

Total cost to Squaretrade per 100 cameras = $1600 or $16 each per year...

So, the rest is profit and marketing and they have to pay cc fees, staff, a piece to Amazon, etc. - ending up at the warranty price of $40 or so per year.

Now let's look at a Phantom 2 Vision+.......I won't look closely, but even Apple's extended warranties can cost 7+ % of the product cost per year - and that's for products with a very low failure rate. For something like the Phantom, it would take a minimum of 10% per year PLUS a deductible to cover it. Squaretrade would also need access to buying replacements dead wholesale and also to repair shops.

Any type of real warranty would have to cost in excess of $100 per year and have a deductible and also NOT cover against losing it.

It simply doesn't work out. The chances of loss are too great.

Added this coverage last week! Called several times and asked if they support the Phantom since its a camera platform and as long as its not being used commercially then its covered! Also added cover on my T2i and GoPro!

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/ ... al_products_ins_vpp

droneflyers.com Posted at 2014-12-31 11:25
Anthony, it is highly unlikely that any company could afford to cover that entire craft for $40 or l ...

Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. And apparently there are other like me too. Just hope I never have to find out how lucky I am.

Tony@CVP Posted at 2015-1-1 07:33
Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. And apparently there are other like me too. Just hope I never hav ...

Reports on other forums state they called Squaretrade and were told they don't cover it...
So I think it's luck of the draw.

I think they will cover you if you bought the policy and the loss falls under it. But after a couple dozen losses it will pop up on their actuarial charts (they keep those!) and they will put the notice out....or else raise the prices and have a specific category for drones.

Meantime, when I get my new P2, I'm going to attempt to cover it - and see if I can get a response in writing by chat or email or twitter.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-1-1 13:09
Reports on other forums state they called Squaretrade and were told they don't cover it...
So I th ...

Yep. I've linked to the PDF of the warranty contract above in this thread. If it will help you when you call them. Definitely worth a try. I also saw someone post that USAA has coverage for us, as long as it is not used commercially. Might look in to that as well. Best of luck!

Tony@CVP Posted at 2015-1-2 12:25
Yep. I've linked to the PDF of the warranty contract above in this thread. If it will help you whe ...

Oh, just saw that it was ON THIS THREAD that I read about USAA. haha. My bad.

DJIHavequestion Posted at 2014-11-6 03:58
On a separate note, how do you get email notifications on this forum when someone responds? They don ...

You don't get email replies, it hasn't been implemented yet.

I'm waiting to hear when someone actually tries to use the warranty.  The only person so far that I've been told about didn't get what they expected from SquareTrade.  This person crashed and when they tried to recover the cost of the drone SquareTrade gave them the value equal to the cost of the policy; OK, basically they where told it shouldn't have been sold and they refunded the policy.  Additionally, you need something to send back so a crash in the ocean or lake, unless you can recover the Phantom isn't covered (so I've been told).

The only other person I heard of crashed in the 1st 30 days (SquareTrade doesn't cover the 1st 30 days; it's in the fine print)/

Not that I'm hoping for someone to test this out but to date the only 2 cases I've heard of didn't go as well as the person had expected.

Just got off phone call with Square Trade agent and they said they will not cover drones, but only the camera on it. They recently changed their policy.

wooyong1026 Posted at 2015-1-3 08:36
Just got off phone call with Square Trade agent and they said they will not cover drones, but only t ...

Wonder if they would cover the camera then as a $700 camera?

Thanks for the info, I purchased my coverage several weeks ago. I just had to send (email ) a copy of my receipt showing the purchase price, SN#, new & less than 30 days old. The rep I talked to knew exactly what I was talking about. I paid $230.00 as I got a holiday discount

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-1-3 09:38
Wonder if they would cover the camera then as a $700 camera?

Yes, they will cover the camera, but need to know exact retail price of the camera which I don't know that yet.

wooyong1026 Posted at 2015-1-8 01:17
Yes, they will cover the camera, but need to know exact retail price of the camera which I don't k ...

I think it's $699 if they include the gimbal...which is really part of the assembly.

Just got it for $150.00 with the accidental coverage

trrdesign@cox.n Posted at 2015-1-8 10:34
Just got it for $150.00 with the accidental coverage

What does yours cover? Is it for the Phantom 2 Vision+ and did they tell you it covers the quadcopter as well as the Camera and Gimbal? Did they tell you they will repair it, or send you a reimbursement cheek within 3 days?

I just got off the phone with SquareTrade. Spoke with a guy with perfect English so no misunderstanding of what I asked him. I described my Phantom Vision 2+ and asked if they cover the system. He said their policy was no, they would only cover the camera portion. He clearly stated that they do not cover drones. I wonder if the answer you get from them depends on who you speak to. The danger here may be that they sell a policy for the whole system but when a claim is submitted the truth comes out.

Just got off the phone with SquareTrade and spoke with a guy with perfect English. Asked him about coverage for the Vision 2+ and right away he asked me if it was a drone. He stated their policy was no coverage for drones but they would cover the camera portion of the system. Not the response I was hoping for. Now I wonder if the response you get depends on who answers the phone. I guess we will find out once the first claim is submitted.

Sorry for the double post, didn't see it at first.

mikeatlincoln Posted at 2015-1-9 04:07
I just got off the phone with SquareTrade. Spoke with a guy with perfect English so no misunderstand ...

I think it is totally who you talk to. And I also think they are no longer covering drones. But I do think that if this of us that have the original warranty, that covers the entire unit, have problem, they are going to do right by us. My warranty contract clearly says Phantom 2 Vision+. And it even shows the warranty coverage amount of over $1300. They obviously can't say they are only covering the $700 camera when the premium I payed was based on a $1300 flying camera. The plan would have cost much less if that was the case.

Besides that, I have very detailed notes, names, ID#s of everyone I spoke to. And was assured this will not be a problem.

Guess I'll have to wait and see. Or not. haha