Back in November my Mavic Air had an issue with unctrolled descent that resulted in a crash (you can read about it here).  It's now been 24 days and I've still not even received word that the repairs will be covered by warranty.  In this time they've had an issue sending me a shipping label, I've been told my logs aren't synced (they have been since day one), had the claim rejected b/c I didn't provide logs (I did), saw the status change to "Free of Charge" while not getting any update telling me they've determined that, and then got a reminder to pay the Care Refresh cost (from a quote provided when they told me I failed to supply logs).  
Everyone I've dealt with has been perfectly pleasant, and I get that things take time, but this whole process seems a bit of a mess.  I'll admit that I didn't imagine for a moment that this much time would go by without them even telling me if the repairs would be covered by warranty.  I've kept a log of each communication and incident for a post-mortem, and it keeps getting longer.  With the holidays coming up I suspect it's optimistic to think that I'll have the aircraft back by mid January, seven weeks after opening my ticket.

Is this normal?  If not - well, sucks for me, but I'm glad to know I'm an outlier.  Things happen.  If it is normal, it would certainly seem that there is some room for improvement.  Curious as to the experience of others.

BH

Hi CruiseHabit, you have our sincere apologies for the unpleasant experience with our customer service and sorry to have kept you waiting, I managed to get your case number and allow me to explain what happened.
When we received the drone and we arranged the data analysis immediately, but the drone cannot connect to DJI Assistant 2 and we were unable to retrieve the flight logs from the flight controller, then our support sent you email for the flight records.
We have got your account and the accident date later, unfortunately, the flight records cannot be synced from our side, therefore, we sent you quotation and recommend to use the DJI Care Refresh.
Then we received your dispute, after double check the flight records, it turns out to be a pilot error because the drone was flying in ATTI mode (without GPS lock), may I verify if you received the final analysis result?

The whole process was delayed because of the no enough data, sorry again for the inconvenience caused.

DJI Mindy Posted at 12-20 19:03
Hi CruiseHabit, you have our sincere apologies for the unpleasant experience with our customer service and sorry to have kept you waiting, I managed to get your case number and allow me to explain what happened.
When we received the drone and we arranged the data analysis immediately, but the drone cannot connect to DJI Assistant 2 and we were unable to retrieve the flight logs from the flight controller, then our support sent you email for the flight records.
We have got your account and the accident date later, unfortunately, the flight records cannot be synced from our side, therefore, we sent you quotation and recommend to use the DJI Care Refresh.

Mindy, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to review and respond.

In answer to your question, no, I have not received the final analysis.  The last conversation I had with support was earlier today (20Dec) when I was told it could be another three days for the analysis to be completed.

I must say I'm quite surprised to learn that any incident that occurs in ATT mode is not covered.  Assuming that is documented in the terms of the warranty, it would be *very* nice if it were made more clear to consumers, and if takeoff could be locked-out in ATT mode.  I was aware I didn't have GPS, but still can't fathom that the aircraft should have continued to descend while I was pushing up on the stick (also the analysis of others that have reviewed the logs when I posted them in the previously linked forum post).  I should note that the logs indicate in that flight that the aircraft was aware it was descending, so it wasn't a case where it thought it was maintaining altitude, but b/c of deviations in pressure, it simply descended despite flight control input.  A mode that is programmed to operate within these parameters should almost certainly lock out take-off for the safety of all around.  That in mind, I realize this particular point may be beyond the realm of the support and potentially engineering teams, but something I would like to follow up on.

More directly related to the support experience, it now seems rather odd that it took eight days from providing the logs in text format to notify me (only after this forum post) that the mode the aircraft was in during the crash negates the warranty.  That is something that should have been clear from the earliest of reviews of the ticket, since days before the aircraft even arrived at DJI, there was discussion in the forum post that I referenced in my ticket that spelled out that the aircraft was in ATT mode.

To review:
-From day one it was indicated to support that I was in ATT mode at the time of the incident.
-I had to make multiple calls to support to get a shipping label.
-It took my inquiring at least three times over an eight day period to learn that the incident would not be covered.
-It is not being covered because it seems DJI feels it reasonable for the aircraft to take off in this mode, but also appropriate for it to go into an uncontrolled descent in this mode.
-At the writing of this post, 24 days after my initial ticket, my status still shows "Free of Charge" (see screenshot)


I do sincerely appreciate your help, and hope that you recognize that I point out these things because I am sure DJI can do better than this - not because I don't appreciate those who are working hard.

Please let me know what I can do to proceed with a replacement, and perhaps where I should express my concerns about the warranty and support process.

Thanks

CruiseHabit Posted at 12-20 19:26
Mindy, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to review and respond.

In answer to your question, no, I have not received the final analysis.  The last conversation I had with support was earlier today (20Dec) when I was told it could be another three days for the analysis to be completed.

Sorry to know you haven't received the final analysis result, we will inform the team to send you again if needed.
The drone will enter into ATTI mode automatically when the GPS signal is weak, in this mode, the drone is unable to position or auto-brake itself, which may lead a flight hazard. We never recommended customers to fly in ATTI mode unless customers have rich flight experience. Please check the screenshot below of the Mavic Air Disclaimer and Safety Guidelines: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic%20Air/Mavic%20Air%20Disclaimer%20and%20Safety%20Guidelines%20v1.0.pdf
We are so sorry for the misunderstanding of the status in the repair Progress Inquiry, we have forwarded it to the related team to double check what happened since your case is not a warranty case, you will need to pay for it or use the DJI Care Refresh. If you agree to use the DJI Care Refresh, please find the quotation email and pay for it, we will arrange to send the replacement drone to you as soon as possible.
Apologize again for the hassles and the inconvenience caused, we will learn from this and keep optimizing our repair procedure and workflow.

DJI Mindy Posted at 12-21 02:29
Sorry to know you haven't received the final analysis result, we will inform the team to send you again if needed.
The drone will enter into ATTI mode automatically when the GPS signal is weak, in this mode, the drone is unable to position or auto-brake itself, which may lead a flight hazard. We never recommended customers to fly in ATTI mode unless customers have rich flight experience. Please check the screenshot below of the Mavic Air Disclaimer and Safety Guidelines: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic%20Air/Mavic%20Air%20Disclaimer%20and%20Safety%20Guidelines%20v1.0.pdf[view_image]
We are so sorry for the misunderstanding of the status in the repair Progress Inquiry, we have forwarded it to the related team to double check what happened since your case is not a warranty case, you will need to pay for it or use the DJI Care Refresh. If you agree to use the DJI Care Refresh, please find the quotation email and pay for it, we will arrange to send the replacement drone to you as soon as possible.

I don't expect you to fold on this, as you're doing your job in towing the company line, and using the fact that I was in ATT mode as an out.  I get that, and I don't hold that against you.  That in mind, I will continue to point out the flaw in this situation (beyond the poor customer communication up until this thread).

"...in this mode, the drone is unable to position or auto-brake itself, which may lead a flight hazard."
This was no a loss of control b/c of lack of auto-braking, nor was it a lack of accurate altimeter information.  The logs clearly indicate that much.  The aircraft was under my control, flying as expected.  It then began to descend despite the left stick being up the entire time.  Horizontal control was maintained (again, not an auto-braking issue here), allowing me to bring it to shore as it continued to descend regardless of pilot input or the aircraft's altitude (which it was measuring appropriately in ATT mode).

"We never recommended customers to fly in ATTI mode unless customers have rich flight experience"
This is a completely fair recommendation.  I don't disagree with it one bit.  The problem in my case is that no amount of pilot experience or skill would have prevented the aircraft from descending, as the aircraft disregarded the control inputs with regard vertical speed and altitude, despite having valid altimeter data.  
I would like to ask if the following is the designed and intended behavior:
In ATT mode, the aircraft successfully takes off and maintains controled flight with proper pilot input.  Flight is level, conditions are calm, and the altimeter reading is correct.  Suddenly the aircraft begins a smooth but rapid descent. The pilot gives control input to climb, and the aircraft continuously descends regardless of said control input until the aircraft makes unintended contact with the ground.  

I'm adamant about this as I've not been offered any reason for this to have occured, and frankly, while I'd rather not pay $69 (an invoice that, as a reminder, I was told via chat yesterday to ignore), it's not the end of the world.  In other words - I'm not following up becuase I don't want to pay $69.  I'll pay, that's fine.  I'm following up and continuously restating my point because absent of any additional information, the aircraft became uncontrollable for reasons that indicate to me (and seemingly other more experienced pilots on the forum) that indicate some sort of malfunction.  I can only hope that malfunction is an isolated hardware problem, if not however, it could indicate that a dangerous condition exists on other DJI aircraft, and I want to make sure that is properly evaluated.  If someone can provide me logical explanation as to what happened, that reasonably suggests there isn't a problem, then that'd be great - we can all learn something.  Unless and until that happens, I stand firm that there is something that needs to be looked at and corrected - unless of course, the italicized text above (about the intended behavior) is indeed correct, in which case I simply disagree with DJI, and do not find that design to be safe.

CruiseHabit Posted at 12-21 07:52
I don't expect you to fold on this, as you're doing your job in towing the company line, and using the fact that I was in ATT mode as an out.  I get that, and I don't hold that against you.  That in mind, I will continue to point out the flaw in this situation (beyond the poor customer communication up until this thread).

"...in this mode, the drone is unable to position or auto-brake itself, which may lead a flight hazard."

Hi CruiseHabit, the situation you mentioned may appear if the sticks input is less than the drift, you may feel the drone was uncontrollable at that time. We totally understand your feelings and have escalated this to the management for further investigation. The team will review your case and contact you during the working time, thank you!

DJI Susan Posted at 12-21 23:06
Hi CruiseHabit, the situation you mentioned may appear if the sticks input is less than the drift, you may feel the drone was uncontrollable at that time. We totally understand your feelings and have escalated this to the management for further investigation. The team will review your case and contact you during the working time, thank you!

I appreciate your response.  Your point is well made, though I suspect that further review of the logs will demonstrate something else may have been afoot.  Either way I look forward to and value your teams further analysis.

CruiseHabit Posted at 12-22 14:05
I appreciate your response.  Your point is well made, though I suspect that further review of the logs will demonstrate something else may have been afoot.  Either way I look forward to and value your teams further analysis.

We will have someone to contact you soon after the review, appreciate your patience.