I really truly wish that I had read the forums before going out and buying the Phantom 3. There are so many people who have been run over the coals by DJI, and I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't be one of them. But alas, I can either pay an excessive ransom for my P3P from DJI's service, or just chalk it up as an $1800 loss. (drone and accessories)

As is the case with many people, I had a minor crash with my P3P. I took it to the local shop where I bought it, Hobbytown USA, and asked that they swap the body for me. The P3P was flying perfectly fine, but I just didn't like the crack on one of the arms. When I got the drone back, it wouldn't calibrate at all. I tried every technique that I could think of. I took it back to the store and had them swap the compass in the hopes that that would resolve the issue. Still no resolution. So, as a last resort I sent my drone into DJI.

After receiving my P3P, DJI was quick to respond with an email within a day, instead of the 3-4 weeks that I expected. I held my breath as I opened the email and found the worst news possible. DJI wants to swap out the whole motherboard. What could have been done in the body swap process to cause me to be unable to calibrate the drone, and why does DJI feel it necessary to change out the whole motherboard? DJI's note says "Center board has activated water mark." Yes, I was in Michigan, MONTHS ago, and it started raining while I was flying, but the months of flight that I had enjoyed since then was testament to the resilency of my P3P.


I will restate this again: My P3P was having no problem flying when I took it into the shop to swap out the body, other than the normal complaints of compass drift, etc, which I've posted on before. Instead of taking the time to diagnose an actual problem and provide a valid reasonable solution, DJI would much rather just say "Swap it all out" and charge me $392 for it. The ONLY problem that I was having with the drone initially was the crack in the body. The secondary issue that I had after the shop was inability to calibrate. How did this all escalate to a $400 bill from DJI?


I'd love to get a response from DJI on why a calibration error is a $400 fix.


Regretfully,


Levreault

What did the hobby shop say when you told the about the calibration issue.  
Is it at all possible that the shop might have inadvertently damaged the MB when it switched out the shell?

Rebel Posted at 2015-12-10 12:54
I think you should be asking Hobbytown what they did to your P3. Tell them they are the ones who are ...

Got to agree with Rebel hobbytown seems to be the culprit when they replaced the shell .But i wouldnt go as far as agreeing to doing own repairs no,there again ive never had to deal  with a repair request to DJI touch wood

I feel for you man, but I consider this to be a pretty real aircraft, which is why i flew for a good 35-40 hours with other copters before ever touching the phantom.

I would expect that if i crashed the phantom (even minor), and flew in the rain to be looking at a repair bill if not a total loss.  

These arent X5c's that just bounce back after nose diving for 50 feet.  Sorry for your experience, but under $400 to repair doesnt sound to crazy.  Guessing it would be 50-60% of that if you did repairs yourself (but that would require a lot of experience)

JonE5 Posted at 2015-12-10 14:58
I feel for you man, but I consider this to be a pretty real aircraft, which is why i flew for a good ...

The incident in the rain he refers to happened months before

I am really confused here.  You took the unit to Hobbytown functioning other than a cracked shell, you got it back from Hobbytown non functional and it is DJI's fault?  How do you know the MB was not damaged during the shell replacement.  What qualifications does the "technician" at Hobbytown have?  Sorry but why on earth would you take it to a franchised retail hobby store and ask them to open it up?

Sounds like DJI is saying the motherboard is damaged and needs to be replaced.  How would they know how you damaged the motherboard?  All they do is evaluate the damage and repair it.

Hi , Levreault
Sorry about your experience . The activated watermark indicates that there was water inflow in your drone  . And we'll have to replace the motherboard under this condition . Please confirm that with your dealer .

DJI-Patrick Posted at 2015-12-10 21:04
Hi , Levreault
Sorry about your experience . The activated watermark indicates that there was water  ...

My complaint with DJI is that the watermark is NOT the reason that the drone doesn't function. Thru a proper diagnosis of the real reason that the drone isn't functioning, yes, I'd suspect that DJI would find that the board is cracked or something like that. THAT information is the information that I could then use to go back to HobbyTown and say "This is what your tech did, you're liable." Without that type of information from DJI, its my word against Hobbytown.

So Patrick, can DJI perform a proper diagnostic on my P3P?

levreault Posted at 2015-12-12 00:37
My complaint with DJI is that the watermark is NOT the reason that the drone doesn't function. Thr ...

Hi , Levreault
We can only help you with valuating the aircraft status . We can't figure out why did the watermark turn red even by data analysis . Please tell me exactly what you want and give me your RMA number , I'll try to help you if I can .

DJI-Patrick Posted at 2015-12-15 04:10
Hi , Levreault
We can only help you with valuating the aircraft status . We can't figure out why d ...

Final update:

So i had a few back and forths with DJI through the remainder of December. Called back on 1/4/16 and asked that a more thorough diagnosis of the P3P be done. Received a call on 1/12/16 from a representative at DJI.

I can't remember who I spoke with. I told him the whole story of how, even after exposed to moisture, and a minor collision with the "world's tallest symbol of freedom (look it up. /cheese) my P3P kept flying. (I was surprised at the P3P's resilience) I asked that a full diagnostic be done.

I received an email from DJI just a few days later, with the good news; my P3P was being repaired and shipped! After receiving it, I actually didn't fly it for a couple of months, because I live in Wisconsin and flying a quad in the middle of Winter is just not that important to me.

I'm happy to say, now that the weather has finally warmed, and I've had the chance to take it out a few times, I'm finally starting to get over my initial apprehension and jitters and am actually starting to get back to flying my P3P with confidence.

It took me about 2 months to convince DJI to REALLY look at my drone and find the real problem. Even so, I don't fault DJI for the delay. I understand that a company can't coddle and hold the hand of every customer. I'm just happy to have my P3P back up in the air.

Thanks again Patrick and DJI

It might have been a shorter journey, but atleast we arrived.
Have fun, fly safe, happy landings... Hahaha
As long as we are all happy, that's all that matters. Right?

Ok, carry on. . .

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