Hi,

... and it happened to me...

Could you explain to me what I should do  to contact DJI after a loss of the spark during a flight ?
I sent an email to support, but I saw in another post (https://forum.dji.com/thread-154896-1-1.html) that it is advised to ask for repair at support menu, but in that menu I could only see @ sub menus, one to check progress and one to find repair centers..


The loss occurred during what should have been an easy flight. Close to me (80m) and using the remote control, heading back with still more than 40% battery, very low urban pollution, line of sight... But all the sudden, I got an alarm for loss oc fonectivity, and I stopped hearing the drone. Definitel, I can state it did not return to home as I would have heard it..
I join here the link to log file..


log file from phone

We searched for it for hours with 9 other persons, using last pictures and findmydrone feature, but with no success... ;-(((

br,
Rico

From what I read in the log file and your description, it fell out of the sky powerless as if the battery came loose in flight. That is why you did not hear the Spark and did not get any help from the FindMyDrone feature - no power to the drone to respond.

Looks like it was close to the river  - may have gone down there. Did you see the Spark visually when or after connection lost?

Hi there, I'm sorry for your lost. I would like to clarify, did you send the email on support.nl@dji.com? Also, we only advised our customer to do the online repair request if the customer was able to retrieve the drone. I highly suggest you communicate with our support team for further assistance. Thank you.

Hi,
I did not send myself the email, but I went to dji.com then support menu then product support and I filled a form where I could give some info (but no field for flight log).
Should I resend some more info to email you mentioned?

djiuser_MtUWK14XLWfW Posted at 2018-8-4 14:21
Hi,
I did not send myself the email, but I went to dji.com then support menu then product support and I filled a form where I could give some info (but no field for flight log).
Should I resend some more info to email you mentioned?

Hello. Thank you for your response. Yes, I suggest you re-send the information to support.nl@dji.com for better assistance. If you have other question, please let us know. Thank you.

Hi,
Thanks for you suggestion. I did send email this morning.
Now, future is in hands of DJI.
A pity for screwed holidays pictures. Hopefully I won't screw up my budget to replace a drone..
Br

Sorry about your loss.
I would agree with #3, it seems that the battery fell off the ac.
The last log entry was showing perfect conditions. Did you search for the battery by itself, the last reported position should be fairly correct, just keep in mind the speed of the ac and trajectory of the fall.
Good luck.
S.

sorry to read that

We looked for everything looking like battery or the main body. Part of the surrounding were short grass or bare soil. But a large area was dense and tall plants : we looked in it by walking side by side but it was so dense that we could have missed a battery though we should have seen the white body. We walked on shores of river in case we're lucky as well..and I even spent 1h swimming in river, just in case (no hope of recovery but hope of understanding..).
In theory, if battery failed or dropped it should not have gone far (20m high and last speed around 2m/s with no wind makes probably a search area of less than 10m wide) but we expanded area to much more. One place we couldn't investigate was a terrace garden with no access and owners were not there.
One man we met there also helped us by looking at trees with strong binoculars and spent himself a lot if time just to help us: he was a photographer and felt very sorry for me. I'm happy to see that even nowadays, solidarity still exists!
If ever I get a new drone (or hopefully if DJI replaces my lost drone) I wonder if I won't purchase a radio emitter (of course no use if drop in water, but still more hope).

Hi,
I received an answer rom DJI after analysis of log files:
"1. The aircraft worked in GPS mode in the flight;
2. The pilot pushed rudder stick to the left, and the flight record ended at t=07:18, h=20 m, d=78 m.
The record ended without any sign of abnormality, so we could not verify what happened afterward. "

So apparently I made no mistake and my drone vanished without any explanation (which could indeed mean that it suddenly lost the battery.
DJI only proposes me a 30% discount on a new drone..

Is it a frequent proposal for drone under warranty ? I mean it means I'll have to pay something like 350€ to replace a 8 months old drone which got defect (HW or SW, who knows) without me doing any mistake.
Do you have experience ? Do you think I could get more from DJI than only 30% discount ?

br,
Rico

djiuser_MtUWK14XLWfW Posted at 2018-8-8 05:42
Hi,
I received an answer rom DJI after analysis of log files:
"1. The aircraft worked in GPS mode in the flight;

You could again send a reply to DJI saying that there was no obstacle on the way and that you are fully entitled to receive a new drone based on the flight characteristics. Also your speed was too slow and most of the time it was in hoovering position.
i'm sure DJI would give you a New drone. It cost them peanuts to produce a DJI SPARK. Actually i feel a DJI SPARK wouldn't cost more than 50$ to manufactuer !

If you get another, order battery clips for it off Amazon or Ebay. They are cheap and will save from batteries falling off. I put the clip on for every Spark flight

https://www.amazon.com/RCGEEK-Ba ... =spark+battery+clip

@SJ : as you wrote, I consider the 30% are a bit shocking as it really seems the defect is due to SW or HW but not user. 30% off should be a commercial offer to improve fidelity of customer in case of misuse.
I replied to them reminding that their own analysis show no mistake of mine and thus asking for free replacement.
I'll inform the community of their decision. If I have to pay 350€ just because of DJI's design issues, I'll seriously wonder if i shouldn't purchase the Parrot Anafi instead.

As I was also wondering if I should purchase the DJI Care service (i case they replace my drone),  I also noticed that the DJI Care service seems useless : they exclude other countries (ie no safe travelling abroad..) and the loss (even partial) of the drone : so in my case, they wold have refused applying this extra warranty. Surprising..

Anyway, let's see their answer. I cross my fingers..

Still no answer from Spark after 2 business days. I hope they'll answer to me tomorrow Monday since I replied to them on Wednesday evening.
If anyone from DJI reads this message, can you please check that someone looks after my emails ?