Hello all,

I am new to this forum and hoping that none of you have experienced what I am about to desribe, but if you have, please share as well.

Having owned several DJI drones and also just recently purchased an Osmo 2 for the real estate side of my business, I have always been a big fan of DJI's products.  It started with my initial purchase and entry into the drone world, with the Phantom 3 Pro, then once I began to conside the possibilities of starting a drone business, I purchase an Inspire 1 Pro.  Then when I decided to return to flying real airplanes, I decided to sell my Inspire 1.  Prior to selling it, the prospective buyer and I took it for a test flight.  The drone began behaving strangely and the buyer gave me the controller.  I noticed the same unresponsiveness and attempted to RTH.  Long story short the drone was too close to trees on its descent dring RTH and every time I tried to correct the angle of the descent, the drone took off in the opposite direction.  Eventually the battery went critical and the Inspire landed in the trees, never to be found.  I was out $3500 as that was what the buyer was going to pay.  Drone was originally purchased for around 4K.

Fast forward a year or so....I finish transitioning back into an airline job and decide to start my drone business back up on a part time basis.  I had sold the P3 before purchasing the Inspire, so I needed a new drone.  Decided on the P4P and was very impressed with it from the start.  So I am contracted to conduct mapping of a construction site on a monthly basis.  I was using the P4P coupled with DJI GS PRO app.  Towards the end of the mapping mission, I had about 24% battery (3.7 volts per cell approx), so I began the approach back to the landing pad.  At about 5-6 feet above the pad, the drone stopped descending, hovered for a second or 2, then began a RTH sequence.  It elevated straight up and then flew horizontally behind my position.  When I attempted to regain control, it descended into power lines and crashed at high speed.

I sent the drone to DJI for repair and was quoted $550 to repair it.  Since it is still under warranty, I requested a data analysis and was told that the it woul dnot be covered under warranty, since I took control and flew it into power lines, resulting in the crash.  What the analysis team did not do was read my description of the evnets leading up to the collision and only evaluated the seconds leading up to the collision.  When I brought this up, I was told that a more detailed review of the flight data would be done, if I would submit the full flight records from the day.  I did so and then a few days later this was the explanation I received, and is a direct quote from the email:

"This is just a follow up.

The team has responded. Regretfully, the unit will not be covered by warranty as per the analysis team.

For the RC antenna placement, the RC was directly pointing at the drone, causing it to lose signal then the drone started the RTH command. (Emphasis mine)

After the drone got out of the RC antenna's dead zone, it reconnected and was controlled by the pilot into power line leading to crash.

The final decision of the team is no warranty.

We hope for your kind understanding on this.

Should you have any further questions or clarifications, please don't hesitate to contact us back. We would be glad to assist you."


This explanation makes no sense as I have always pointed the remote towards the drone when flying, thats what you are supposed to do!!  I have been flying RC airplanes and running RC cars for years and have never had a vehicle lose signal when the RC is pointed at it.  If the antennas are pointed out, then there would be a dead zone, but with the antenna points aimed up and flat sides of the antennas facing the drone, there should be no loss of signal.  This explanation actually requires warranty service, since this was not my fault.  THe antenna were positioned according to the DJI manual.....

Excerpt from DJI Manual

Has anyone ever experienced this type of issue?  I explained to the supervisor I spoke to on the phone, that this is a liability issue for my business.  The aircraft should not lose signal that easily, especially if the antennas are positioned properly.  He claimed that he would have a more detailed analysis done, but I have no faith in the analysis department at this point. It is my belief that they are paid to deny warranty claims no matter what the evidence to the contrary.  DJI needs to make this right and I am still hoping that they will do so. Any advice or similar issues are wlecome.  Thanks everyone!  HOPING TO REMAIN A LOYAL DJI CUSTOMER!!!

Hi QAsUAS, you have our sincere apologies for the unpleasant experience with our products and customer service, I managed to get your case number via your Forum account, both Inspire 1 and Phantom 4 Pro were analyzed as the pilot error. Your new case has been escalated to the higher level team and our supervisor will keep following up, hope the case will be sorted out soon.

Hi Mindy,

Thank you for your reply and for checking on my case.  While I understand that both analysis resulted in a decision to call my incidents pilot error, I disagree with those analysis.  The Inspire 1 incident was the most bizarre behavior I had ever encountered with a drone.  I still cannot explain why I appeared to have control in the data, but truly did not in reality.   The second analysis on the most recent incident with the Phantom 4 does not conclusively show pilot error.  The claim is that I had the remote pointed directly at the drone which caused momentary loss of signal, causing it to trigger a RTH.  First of all, we all aim the remote in the general direction of the drone, that is what you are supposed to do.  Second if they are claiming that I pointed the end of the antennas at the drone (the points) instead of the flat long surface of the antennas, then they did not explicitly say such, nor did I do any such thing.  I have operated many RC vehicles in my life, so I know all about the cone of silence on an antenna, so I would never have my antennas pointed incorrectly at the aircraft.  

I am not asking for DJI to reimburse me for both drones, even though I firmly believe that neither were pilot error.  My desire is for DJI to replace the Phantom 4 and restore my faith in the product and the company.  If the RC and drone are this sensitive, that is a huge liability for drone operators.  While I doubt that there is a major connectivity issue with DJI equipment, it is apparent to me that my individual drone and or RC failed that day, even if momentarily.  I was literally 5 feet off the ground and would have landed the aircraft safely had this not happened.

My secondary hope in posting this to the DJI forum is to see if any other users have experienced this issue, that way, if I am doing something incorrectly, I can correct that behavior.  I truly do not believe this is the case and hope DJI will honor their warranty this time around.  If not, I will no longer use their equipment in my business.  Whether DJI cares or not, there are other drone manufacturers out there that have competitive pricing and equipment.

" there are other drone manufacturers out there that have competitive pricing and equipment."  Prices, yes.  competitive equipment.......haven't seen that yet.

Maybe not for the prosumer, but there are plenty of capable drone platforms out there that rival DJI products.  You truly believe that no other drone can rival a DJI drone?  Some of these other drones are just outside of the DJI target market and yes probably more expensive.  Cost is important to me, but my point is that I would rather pay more and deal with a smaller company that still cares about the customer.  DJI products are not perfect sir and as a matter of fact no product line is perfect.  My desire is for DJI to acknowledge that as well and that not every incident is pilot error...sometimes equipment malfunctions.

QAsUAS Posted at 1-23 08:28
Hi Mindy,

Thank you for your reply and for checking on my case.  While I understand that both analysis resulted in a decision to call my incidents pilot error, I disagree with those analysis.  The Inspire 1 incident was the most bizarre behavior I had ever encountered with a drone.  I still cannot explain why I appeared to have control in the data, but truly did not in reality.   The second analysis on the most recent incident with the Phantom 4 does not conclusively show pilot error.  The claim is that I had the remote pointed directly at the drone which caused momentary loss of signal, causing it to trigger a RTH.  First of all, we all aim the remote in the general direction of the drone, that is what you are supposed to do.  Second if they are claiming that I pointed the end of the antennas at the drone (the points) instead of the flat long surface of the antennas, then they did not explicitly say such, nor did I do any such thing.  I have operated many RC vehicles in my life, so I know all about the cone of silence on an antenna, so I would never have my antennas pointed incorrectly at the aircraft.  

Hi QAsUAS, we're sorry if it seemed to be taking too long for this case to be resolved. Allow me to call the attention of the team that handles your case for further assistance. Rest assured that this will be handled in accordance. Again we appreciate your patience and thank you for giving us the opportunity to help.

Hi Diana,

Thank you for the response and I hope that the team will understand my explanation of events leading to the crash of my Phantom 4 Pro.  It is also my hope that they will grant warranty coverage of this drone.  If not, I have to regretfully look for another equipment provider for my business.  I will also no longer be able to recommend DJI to others, as I have done in the past.

QAsUAS Posted at 1-23 12:09
Hi Diana,

Thank you for the response and I hope that the team will understand my explanation of events leading to the crash of my Phantom 4 Pro.  It is also my hope that they will grant warranty coverage of this drone.  If not, I have to regretfully look for another equipment provider for my business.  I will also no longer be able to recommend DJI to others, as I have done in the past.

Hi QAsUAS, that saddens me to know that you are really frustrated on this. Kindly give us more time for this one to be sorted out. I completely understand where you are coming from and we don't want to give you that negative kind of impression that we are not good in providing customer support. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

It appears DJI will be losing me as a loyal customer.  After many phone calls and back and forth with emails, they are not honoring their warranty and are not even willing to repair the damaged drone free of charge.  I feel as though I have been reasonable and have explained in great detail what occurred, but we apparently live in a world where we only look at data on a screen and don't care about eye witness testimony!  At first I was told that the remote lost connection with the drone momentarily, which activated RTH.  Now I am being told that a critical battery activated the RTH....well which is it?!  This is absolutely unacceptable, but not unexpected from such a large corporation.  For around $556 DJI could have kept this loyal customer, but instead is choosing to lose my business over that small amount of money.  We all know it does not cost them $556 to repair it either.  They did offer to give me a 15% discount on the repair, what an insult!  Oh well, I will not buy anything else from them and will be sure to spread the word on how I was treated.  All I can say is, unbelievable.

QAsUAS Posted at 1-30 08:49
It appears DJI will be losing me as a loyal customer.  After many phone calls and back and forth with emails, they are not honoring their warranty and are not even willing to repair the damaged drone free of charge.  I feel as though I have been reasonable and have explained in great detail what occurred, but we apparently live in a world where we only look at data on a screen and don't care about eye witness testimony!  At first I was told that the remote lost connection with the drone momentarily, which activated RTH.  Now I am being told that a critical battery activated the RTH....well which is it?!  This is absolutely unacceptable, but not unexpected from such a large corporation.  For around $556 DJI could have kept this loyal customer, but instead is choosing to lose my business over that small amount of money.  We all know it does not cost them $556 to repair it either.  They did offer to give me a 15% discount on the repair, what an insult!  Oh well, I will not buy anything else from them and will be sure to spread the word on how I was treated.  All I can say is, unbelievable.

We are terribly sorry for the unpleasant experience. I will inform the proper team to keep following your case.

Hi Diana,

Not sure what there is to follow at this point.  The answer of "No warranty" coverage is final according to the supervisor I spoke with yesterday.  I asked for my drone to be returned to me and I will keep it for spare parts I guess, since I had to purchase a "used" Phantom as a replacement for the one that crashed.  The only reason I purchased another Phantom was because I have a contract to fly every few weeks for a construction site and could not wait any longer for DJI to make a decision.   I am already looking at other options for equipment for my business and if I have to purchase DJI equipment in the future, it will be "used", as I can no longer justify giving any more of my money to DJI.  Sorry to say it, but while I still have some faith in the equipment, I have no confidence in the company.  Your customer service department is inept and it amazes me how many times the story changed!  That makes it even more infuriating and was the main reason I gave up yesterday and told the supervisor to just send me my broken drone.  I no longer have time to deal with the ineptitude and a lack of compassion.

QAsUAS Posted at 1-31 08:36
Hi Diana,

Not sure what there is to follow at this point.  The answer of "No warranty" coverage is final according to the supervisor I spoke with yesterday.  I asked for my drone to be returned to me and I will keep it for spare parts I guess, since I had to purchase a "used" Phantom as a replacement for the one that crashed.  The only reason I purchased another Phantom was because I have a contract to fly every few weeks for a construction site and could not wait any longer for DJI to make a decision.   I am already looking at other options for equipment for my business and if I have to purchase DJI equipment in the future, it will be "used", as I can no longer justify giving any more of my money to DJI.  Sorry to say it, but while I still have some faith in the equipment, I have no confidence in the company.  Your customer service department is inept and it amazes me how many times the story changed!  That makes it even more infuriating and was the main reason I gave up yesterday and told the supervisor to just send me my broken drone.  I no longer have time to deal with the ineptitude and a lack of compassion.

I regret the unpleasant experience that you had with us, I understand your frustration. As according to the data analysis result, it is not a warranty case. I understand that you decided to return the drone without repair. If there is anything I can do for you, please kindly let me know, I will try my best to help.

Thanks Diana,

I strongly disagree, but like I stated in my previous post, data on a screen does not always tell the whole story.  Also not sure how DJI can explain why I was told 2 different reasons for the RTH activation.  Basically, I believe that I was lied to and the data analysis team thought I would not figure that out.  I pointed this out to the supervisor on the phone and he disregarded my concern.  You can't do business this way, it is just wrong.  Take care.

QAsUAS Posted at 2-1 10:56
Thanks Diana,

I strongly disagree, but like I stated in my previous post, data on a screen does not always tell the whole story.  Also not sure how DJI can explain why I was told 2 different reasons for the RTH activation.  Basically, I believe that I was lied to and the data analysis team thought I would not figure that out.  I pointed this out to the supervisor on the phone and he disregarded my concern.  You can't do business this way, it is just wrong.  Take care.

I will try to confirm this with the proper team. Yet, according to the analysis, the root reason of the accident was the user's stick command. Sorry for this.