So far I am less than impressed with DJI's sevice. I received my Phantom 3 Advanced on February 29th but since I live in Northern Wisconsin, the weather prohibited me from taking it out for it's first flight. A couple of weeks later, I became impatient so I decided to do a quick hover inside my home just to make sure it would be ready for a real flight when the weather permitted. Powered up the motors and lifted to a hover height of approximately 3 feet. My wife and I own a motel and as I left the Phantom in hover mode, I took a phone call from a customer wanting to make a reservation. I was no more than 10 seconds into the conversation when I heard a loud racket. I turned around and saw that my Phantom had drifted a full 3 feet forward and ran into a chair. As luck would have it, it landed in such a way that one of the props was unable to turn. I attempted to shut it down using the remote a couple of times but it wouldn't shut down so I used the power switch on the unit itself. Well by the time I finally got it shut down, the impeded motor was smoking terribly. It got so hot that not only did the motor burn up, but the plastic motor mount melted. Before I launched, I calibrated the craft and made sure that the ready to fly-GPS message was displayed. What caused the forward drift I had no idea. Made the necessary arrangements to have craft sent to DJI service with a detailed message of what had happened. I was fully expecting DJI to cover the repair cost since I don't feel that I was negligent in any way. Well much to my surprise I was told I would have to pay $200+ for the repair. Their reasoning? They maintain that I was flying in an unsafe environment(A three foot hover with at least 3 feet of clearance on all sides ?), flew without GPS being active and crashed while I was in control of the remote control. None of the reasons stated were true as far as I'm concerned. If it's unsafe to hover inside, DJI shouldn't advertise it as safe for indoor flying. Bottom line is the reasons they gave me for not covering the cost of repair was at best vague and at worst a less than honest assessment of what actually happened that caused the crash.  I went to their website where you are able to dispute their initial findings and today, after nine days of "being processed" the ticket has been closed with no statement as to what their final determination was.  I can only assume that they are sticking by their original decision. To make matters worse, I tried to fly today but after reinstalling theDJIGO app and updating the software, I can't get the controller to connect to the craft. Can't calibrate or do anything with it. I guess it's back for a second repair. My only hope is that DJI doesn't find some way to blame me once again for the problem.

*UPDATE* Upon further review, the connection issue may just be a matter of operator(ME)error/ignorance. I think I figured out what the problem is/was but won't know for sure until I charge my Iphone. Will let you know more on this issue at a later date.

Sorry for your frustration, Rex. Could you provide the ticket number of the P3A's crash? Thank you.

Good Morning DJI-Paladin,
The ticket number for this is 278616. The final determination by DJI service was this.  "The flight data shows you were flying in an unsafe environment with unstable GPS, which caused drifting. When GPS connectivity is weak, the unit may not hoover as accurately, but you still had full control, so this crash could have been avoided.  We never recommend setting the RC down during flight, you should always keep a hand on the RC to correct for any drift, especially when flying in a wooded area with limited GPS." The issue I have is that I followed all of the safety procedures before putting my P3A into a 3 foot hover, I.E. calibrating the craft and waiting for the "SAFE TO FLY-GPS" notification on the DJIGO screen on my IPhone 6 Plus. I would think that could be verified by the flight log. This was my very first flight since receiving it back in late March.

Thanks for taking the time to look into this matter for me.
P.S. By the way, my inability to
link the RC to the P3A did turn
out to be user stupidity and is resolved.

Rex59 Posted at 2016-5-9 18:36
Good Morning DJI-Paladin,
The ticket number for this is 278616. The final determination by DJI servi ...

Thanks for your feedback.We will look into your case.

Rex59 Posted at 2016-5-9 18:36
Good Morning DJI-Paladin,
The ticket number for this is 278616. The final determination by DJI servi ...

Rex,
Sorry about your crash, one thing I tell everyone is learn how to fly in ATTI mode because one day you will lose GPS signal and the craft will drift in the wind and you need to know how to fly with no GPS assistance in case that happens.
Furthermore, you should never walk away from the RC, anything can happen in that few seconds you walk away from it.
Again, I am sorry about your crash.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-9 21:25
Rex,
Sorry about your crash, one thing I tell everyone is learn how to fly in ATTI mode because on ...

Yeah Ken, I will admit that putting the RC down, even for a few seconds, wasn't probably the best idea I've ever had. I guess my biggest point is that my DJIGO app displayed "Safe to Fly-GPS." Whether right or wrong and being my very first time putting the quad into the air, I just assumed that my P3A was just as the DJI app stated(Safe to Fly-GPS.) Given the fact that I put the RC down for a few seconds I guess I would have to accept at least partial responsibility for what happened. Live and learn I guess. As I stated in another post, the more I fly my Phantom and learn about the different features, The more I have become very impressed with it. Even a couple of my friends who have fairly upscale Quads from your competitors are a bit jealous.

Rex59 Posted at 2016-5-10 17:07
Yeah Ken, I will admit that putting the RC down, even for a few seconds, wasn't probably the best  ...

No problem at all. I agree for what you get for the price and all the amazing technology, there's no one out there that can touch DJI products.