Hey everyone,


I have read numerous threads on occasions where user's have sent there Phantom in for Repair and recieved a one with a completely different serial number. I myself have just experienced this and to be honest i would be completely happy if DJI would have let me know prior to do so, as i was quoted for a repair rather then a replacement. To top things off.. i was sent a used/refurbished unit. The unit that i had sent in for repair may as well have been brand new.

I had originally purchased my Phantom 4 at the end of August. Shortly there after i started noticing issues with a tilted horizon/gimbal. I attempted to fix the problem myself at home as per DJI Support discussion.

After numerous calibrations and test, I had no luck fixing the problem so i contacted support again and a case number was created & the drone was to be sent in for assessment/repair. This process started on September 23rd, 2016.

My Original Items that i had sent in are as detailed below:

Product Details:

Product Name Serial Number Quantity
Phantom 4 Remote controller 045JDE26020441 1
Phantom 4 gimbal camera 07RDD5T0S400RG 1
Phantom4 aircraft (exclude RC, camera, battery and battery charger) 07DDD5U0B11962 1

An assessment and quotation for repair was sent to me on October 4th, 2016

I was under the impression that the following repairs/components were to be replaced/repaired.

Remarks: Warranty. Aircraft OR Gimbal has software/hardware issues

Item Quantity Unit Price（USD） Total Price（USD）
Phantom 4 gimbal camera 1 379.00 379.00
Phantom 4 main control component 1 69.00 69.00
Service Charge 1 65.00/H 65.00

Freight: 0.00
Total Amount: 513.00
DJI Care deduction： 0.00
Total Payment: 0.00

I just received my Phantom 4 on October 20th,2016. Nearly a month after the the process had started. Keeping in mind that i had only owned the aircraft for 1 Month prior to having any issues.

After opening the box and examining the aircraft that was sent to me it was brought to my attention that it is a completely different Unit. The aircraft that was sent to me was dirty (covered in small bug splatter etc, had markings & minor damage to the mesh portion underneath.

I went back and checked the email that included the contents that were being sent back to me and the Serial Number for the Aircraft is in fact different then the one i sent in. I even checked the aircraft name for safe measure via the DJI Go app and the name of the craft was set to Sophie's Drone. Needless to say i am not Sophie.

Product Details:

Product Name Serial Number Quantity
Phantom 4 Remote controller 045JDE26020441 1
Phantom 4 gimbal camera 07RDD5T0S400RG 1
Phantom4 aircraft (exclude RC, camera, battery and battery charger) 07DDD3G0A10055 1

I apologize in advanced for the length read..

After contacting DJI about the matter and having conversation back and forth. It took 2 "escalations into the issue" via DJI to figure out why i was sent a replacement, and now DJI says that the only solution to this is

"Allow me to explain this matter for clarification. The Phantom 4 that you sent to our facility has deemed defective and needed a repair. But instead of repair, it was found out that total swap for the new unit is more efficient due to the defect of the unit. Sadly, we no longer have the old unit that you previously had.

We ensure that the replacement unit is at its best condition before sending it to you. If you encountered any issue, we can create for another RMA case for you."

If it was the same condition as my Phantom that i had sent in. I would have no issues at all. If i had wanted a refurbished used unit, i would have bought a refurb from DJI's website instead of spending over $1600 CDN.

I currently have a case open with DJI but i honestly don't see any help other then sending it back in and going almost an entire month without an aircraft.

Let me see if I understand this, the replacement was covered under warranty and it doesn't have the same issue that you sent your original Phantom in for?  

Your issue is that the replacement is just not as pretty?  

I am not going solely on the fact that it is not as pretty, my issue is that my replacement is used/a refurb. Who knows, why this replacement went in, or what could be wrong with it.

If you we're to take your car to the dealership, have a repaired quoted and the tech came to you and said sorry, we couldn't fix your car, here is someone else's though, but don't worry its the same and we tested it.
You would be okay with that?

Did you have to pay for the repair? Total Amount: 513.00

DJI does NOT repair the unit if it's under warranty. I say that because I had the same issues. Sent mine in just owning it for 30 days they sent me a differentry one with the same issues as the 1st one, I had the same issues as you. I did this for 3 months and finally gave up. The one I have now still has the horizon issue. I just refused to send it back. This whole repair process is a joke. And to have to send it in after a month it's unacceptable in my book. They have you by the you know what once you buy it. I feel they just don't care about quality, especially when they send you replacements with the same issues, they don't test them or at least the ones they sent me. And if you keep talking about it they ignore you. I'm still waiting for one of the DJI moderators on this forum to get back to me, it's been going on 2 months now and no response.
I hope you have better experince with them.

I'm sorry you are experiencing difficulties,MercDave.
Could you please provide me with your case number?
I'll help to look into it.

DJI Mindy, my case number is  CAS-264636-J3Q9W1, and there is currently an open ticket under #319210

I like how DJI acts like it cares about the customer. Just the money.

The warranty states that, in most cases, if your AC needs a repair under warranty, you will be sent a replacement.  See part III:

https://www.dji.com/service/policy

I have a refurb unit and it works as well as a new one.  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-6-14 16:49
The warranty states that, in most cases, if your AC needs a repair under warranty, you will be sent a replacement.  See part III:

https://www.dji.com/service/policy

That would be fine and completely acceptable if  a) the replacement unit was in exactly the same condition and stage of service life as the original or b) if we were just renting/leasing the drone from DJI and they could swap it with another serviceable unit not matter the wear and tare etc.

As MercDave said - What if you had a beautiful 2017 Mustang with only 5000 miles on it , dead straight body , smick paint job.  You take it in for a warranty repair and when you go to pick it up they give you a 2016 model with 45000 miles on it , a big dent in the front fender and painted bright pink .  

The same thing ha[pned to me. The replacement was clearly used/abused, and didn't fly right, and the camera hung limp and unusable most of the time. The brief moment it did come alive, the video was horrible, with shadows full of digital noise. My drone, the one I sent in, was new with less than five hours on it.

After 73 days I received a functional replacement (not my own). Of course I did all the firmware updates, and plugged in the charger to top off the batteries (aircraft and controller) and the controller won't take much of a charge (about 5-10 minutes of flight time - aircraft batteries are at least still fully charging).

I'm beyond disappointed, and well into angry territory. I'm a pilot, and for comparison, if I needed to have my Cessna repaired, I'd expect to get my same airplane back, and not some piece of junk the shop decided to give me as a substitute. DJI needs to repair the same exact quads we send to them, or give us an option to upgrade to a new unit. No exceptions.

Used orphaned drones can be sent to remanufacturing, tested, and ultimately sold to bargain hunters.

I hope DJI understands how important this matter is to many of us, and learns from our comments, and responds more honourably and ethically in the future.

ocean224 Posted at 2017-6-14 19:09
I have a refurb unit and it works as well as a new one.

You will not get any complaints out of me for this practice.  I had a P3 Pro that I tried to trim the top of a tree with.  It hit the asphalt hard enough to do a lot of damage.  It was out of warranty at that time.  The shell was pretty scratched up, as well as the Gimbal arm was broken.  Surprisingly it still flew!  I was going to repair it myself, but decided to send it to DJI for evaluation.  They got it and gave me a quote of $298.00 to replace the camera board and arm.  I authorized the repair, and got my drone back within 10 days of initial contact with them.  When I opened the box, the first thing I noticed was that the shell looked brand new.  Not a mark on it.  In fact, it looked so good that I thought they just sent me a brand new drone.  It flew great.  I didn't realize that it was a replacement until a week later.  I was still very pleased, because as hard as mine hit the ground, I just didn't trust it anymore.  I am still flying that replacement to this day. And that was almost a year ago.  I've never had the slightest hint of a problem with it.

Someone here mentioned that if they took their car in for repair,and the shop just gave them a replacement, they would be unhappy.  But in my way of thinking, if I wrecked my car and it had to have a lot of body work, I'd just as soon get a replacement instead.  Of course if it was a "salvaged" car, I would be unhappy.  All in all, I was very pleased with the way I was treated, and with my "new" P3 Pro.

You miss the point totally of the OP.
Where you got a great swap for your badly cared for item, some will get a refurbished badly cared for item in place of their brand new or very well cared for item that had a minor fault.

I certainly don't value the DJI warranty and as such have decided sometimes to purchase much cheaper knowing that I have no warranty on some items.

Might as well get a refurb first, because if you have problems, you're gonna get one anyway.

Well, we sent our P4 to DJI this week. It is under warranty, so I guess I will be disappointed as well if they send us a refurbished unit.

djordan2 Posted at 2017-8-22 20:41
You will not get any complaints out of me for this practice.  I had a P3 Pro that I tried to trim the top of a tree with.  It hit the asphalt hard enough to do a lot of damage.  It was out of warranty at that time.  The shell was pretty scratched up, as well as the Gimbal arm was broken.  Surprisingly it still flew!  I was going to repair it myself, but decided to send it to DJI for evaluation.  They got it and gave me a quote of $298.00 to replace the camera board and arm.  I authorized the repair, and got my drone back within 10 days of initial contact with them.  When I opened the box, the first thing I noticed was that the shell looked brand new.  Not a mark on it.  In fact, it looked so good that I thought they just sent me a brand new drone.  It flew great.  I didn't realize that it was a replacement until a week later.  I was still very pleased, because as hard as mine hit the ground, I just didn't trust it anymore.  I am still flying that replacement to this day. And that was almost a year ago.  I've never had the slightest hint of a problem with it.

Someone here mentioned that if they took their car in for repair,and the shop just gave them a replacement, they would be unhappy.  But in my way of thinking, if I wrecked my car and it had to have a lot of body work, I'd just as soon get a replacement instead.  Of course if it was a "salvaged" car, I would be unhappy.  All in all, I was very pleased with the way I was treated, and with my "new" P3 Pro.

You are only happy because it worked out ok for you in this instance. Can you imagine how a poor individual will feel if DJI sends out your busted up drone to someone else and tells them its "Tested and working fine" ? Could you understand why they might be unhappy in that situation? So its not hard to see why you aren't complaining but spare a thought for others.

Personally, Il never send my drone to DJI. Call me old fashioned but if I spend £1500 pounds on a drone, I do NOT want someone elses in return!! Especially considering most of the time DJI don't actually even fix the original issue, so it appears to be a lose/lose situation for a lot of customers.

It seems DJI has no interest in own customers. This is just crazy

I guess this is one of those "The glass is half empty, or the glass is half full" situations.  I agree that if I sent in my drone for repair on a minor problem involving programming, and I received a totally different drone back that exhibited the same problem...I would be unhappy.
But that wasn't the case with me.  I sent a drone in for evaluation and repair from a bad crash.  The drone was out of warranty.  The crash was my fault.  The shell was pretty scuffed up from the asphalt. It was not a pretty sight.  I did not think I could trust it in flight. I was considering just buying a new one. But what I got back was as close to new as you could get.  So instead of paying another $1,200.00 for a new one, I got a refurbished one that looked like, and is still flying, like a new one.  I've never had a problem with updates, and I've never had a problem with performance.

Maybe what happened was, that they gave me a quote for $298.00 for a simple repair. But when they evaluated it after the repair, they found the board was damaged or cracked and would not last long.  Something they did not see at first.  So they just said, "We can't call the owner now and say that we need another $400.00 to repair something we didn't see, so let just give him a refurbished one and call it even."
Regardless of how it happened...I"m happy.  Maybe they should have told me what they were going to do.   Under the circumstances, I would have accepted the refurbished one anyway.

You just need a bigger glass . Haha


I never agreed with the switcheroo, drone for drone.
If you are going to send me a drone that has been refurbished, make it the next newer drone.
So if my Phantom 3 Pro can't be repaired, send me a Phantom 4 Pro in replacement.


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