Hi everybody,

Despite the many praises I've seen regarding DJI support on these forums, I wasn't so lucky in my time of need. I hit a tree and my Mavic came down into a river, which I cannot recover from. I went out with my wetsuit in this cold and tried to find it, but no luck. I tried calling support and waited 2 hours to talk to somebody. When they answered the rep seemed indifferent. She said that despite my Care Refresh, without a water logged Mavic body to ship back (so they can simply throw it away with it arrives!?) I was SOL. I asked about buying a body-only for the originally stated $750, and she sent me to Sales (even though I know they have replacement bodies in Support).

This is a cry for help. I don't blame DJI for the crash, as it was a miscalculation on my part. I just would love some form of support or options.

I bought a new Mavic off somebody on ebay as I am leaving for SE Asia in a week and needed one fast. I just activated it yesterday, and at minimum would love to transfer my now useless care refresh to the new device.

If nothing else, I now have an extra RC (controller) if anybody wants to buy it.

Not sure what you want them to do, if I crashed my Mavic and it was not recoverable, I wouldn't expect them to replace it. It's a risk I take when I fly it, I hope it will return safe, I have refresh in case I have a mishap, total loss, well that's just one of the risks. Sorry you lost it, but then that's the hobby.

Buzzyone Posted at 2017-1-4 14:48
Not sure what you want them to do, if I crashed my Mavic and it was not recoverable, I wouldn't expect them to replace it. It's a risk I take when I fly it, I hope it will return safe, I have refresh in case I have a mishap, total loss, well that's just one of the risks. Sorry you lost it, but then that's the hobby.

Offer me a discount on a replacement (since insurance should be covering a $1000 for $79 if I simply mail back a soaked drone..). Offer to transfer my DJI Care to my new replacement device.

If support had been friendly or even gave them impression she wanted to help but was bound by rules not to, that would have gone a long way. Instead she was cold and unsympathetic, and didn't help me with other options to quickly replace this when I know there are options available to those with the right connections.

T_A_Rogers Posted at 2017-1-4 15:07
Offer me a discount on a replacement (since insurance should be covering a $1000 for $79 if I simply mail back a soaked drone..). Offer to transfer my DJI Care to my new replacement device.

If support had been friendly or even gave them impression she wanted to help but was bound by rules not to, that would have gone a long way. Instead she was cold and unsympathetic, and didn't help me with other options to quickly replace this when I know there are options available to those with the right connections.

And if DJI gave you a new Mavic for free or at some sort of super discount and you posted on the forums just how great they had treated you,  what do you think would happen in the coming weeks?   

Yes about 200 calls saying that "I lost my drone can I get a free one"
And when DJI is under siege and stops living in your fairy tale world and decides to say "Sorry but we no longer give away free drones to anybody who claims they lost their drone"  What happens next?

Calls that end like this:
You SOB I want a free replacement drone just like you gave T A Rogers, why am I not getting the same service, I paid the same money, if I don't get a free drone under my care package like he did I am going to take you to small claims court.

Nothing to blame DJI about being not supportive. They said exactly what they needed to say, no broken mavic, no replacement. It is pure logic. You took the risk to get it crashed and be unrecoverable. It is part of the game. If I would do something like that, I'll deal with it myself. My own fault, my own loss... to bad... I won't call DJI, I'll just buy a new one.

They don't own you anything, not a discount not a replacement, it is what you signed up for.

Mavrick Posted at 2017-1-4 15:39
And if DJI gave you a new Mavic for free or at some sort of super discount and you posted on the forums just how great they had treated you,  what do you think would happen in the coming weeks?   

Yes about 200 calls saying that "I lost my drone can I get a free one"

Yeah, some people can't think in terms of business. But they should have at least treated him like he wasn't an idiot. CS is a big part of being successful. You have to deal with all kinds of people. The CS in china, think it's like survival of the fittest

I know one guy, (he makes custom lights) doesn't order anything from China anymore. They ripped him off a few times and he had enough lol But I can see dji getting tired of dealing with crap like this. They just have to sit down with CS reps and tell them, look not everyone is a business owner. Then the boss can spank his employees

Hi T_A Rodgers, sorry to hear of your accident, but I suppose if you look at this realistically, you were fully aware of the rules of care refresh, let's say they replaced your aircraft or gave you a discount, they would be given everybody out there with care refresh a license to fly recklessly with the knowledge that dji would cover them if anything went wrong, this would be a huge mistake for them and simply one there not going to make,  while I'm sure you were not flying recklessly and yours was an accident, but just like the rest of us before you set off flying you know exactly what your care refresh covers and you try to fly within those rules. Yes it's an expensive accident and will cost you $750, it's a hard lesson on you, but you should be able to take full responsibility for your own actions and not look at dji to partly cover your mistakes. I wish you good luck with your new Mavic and hope you can put your other one behind you and enjoy your trip.  Good luck..

I know the feeling. I lost a Phantom 4 drone that was only just two days old. During a flight in central London of all places, the drone was unfortunately still in a landing phase when returning from a return to home procedure but I didn't realise it was still landing until after I had sent it around 500 metres away from my location. Had plenty of battery so thought I'd continue flying for a bit more. I'm sure I cancelled the landing but I guess I must have received that command timeout message. Was slowly descending at the time and only forward movement on the left stick was keeping it's altitude level. After losing signal, it landed on a roof of a tall hotel building that's currently under refurbishment in central London. At least that's where I think it went down. Could have landed on a nearby street for all I know as it looks like it passed the roof of the building from the cached footage taken from my iPad.

I'm actually planning on taking my Mavic Pro drone over to it's last reported location very soon for a little scout mission. If it's still there, it's probably in pretty bad condition from all of the rain and ice, covered in dust. It will have been stuck up there for a good couple of months now, since the middle of August 2016. Might be able to retrieve it, but probably not. Agency construction workers are ignorant assholes, not willing to help.

My Mavic Pro blows the Phantom 4 away anyway. At least in my eyes it does. Crazy portable and sexy looking with it's dark grey coating. Couldn't go back to the large size and the glossy white plastic pf the P4. Love the whole portability and folding design of the Mavic.

how deep is the water and is there any scuba divers that you can pay to go look for it or if you can get a water proof metal detector.

jims3000 Posted at 2017-1-4 16:42
how deep is the water and is there any scuba divers that you can pay to go look for it or if you can get a water proof metal detector.

I think maybe he'll have to hire some scuba diving equipment and go looking for himself. Scuba divers are a bit difficult to come by. Unless you're well connected.

If you get a discounted replacement, I want one too!!!

They can't give you a discounted or free drone.  For one, you could be full of bologna.  For all they know the Mavic is sitting in your living room.

Sorry to hear the loss of your drone. Since you cannot find the aircraft, we cannot provide a replacement to you.
Please refer to the screenshot.

Enkeixpress Posted at 2017-1-4 16:50
I think maybe he'll have to hire some scuba diving equipment and go looking for himself. Scuba divers are a bit difficult to come by. Unless you're well connected.

Funny thing is, i'm actually a scuba diver myself This is in a river that is down stream from a waste treatment plant. Not something you want to submerge yourself in without catching e coli

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-1-4 18:51
Sorry to hear the loss of your drone. Since you cannot find the aircraft, we cannot provide a replacement to you.
Please refer to the screenshot.[view_image]

Can you transfer my DJI Care Refresh plan to my newly purchased Mavic?

I might try this route..
https://www.chase.com/content/ch ... protect_500_v1.html

T_A_Rogers Posted at 2017-1-9 12:54
Can you transfer my DJI Care Refresh plan to my newly purchased Mavic?

I don't think they do that, but feel free to email djicare@dji.com since it is their program and see if you are able to do anything.
And your thread title is pretty unfair saying DJI support is less than supportive because they are following the rules of the program.

I just bought state farm insurance for $60 for the year with no deductible just incase I loose the mavic and cant recover it.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-1-9 13:05
I don't think they do that, but feel free to email  since it is their program and see if you are able to do anything.
And your thread title is pretty unfair saying DJI support is less than supportive because they are following the rules of the program.

I was just frustrated because she didn't have any answers. When you're in that situation, and all they do is read you the text book which you've already read, it doesn't help.

If she had suggested ANY options like "You could try submitting through your credit card purchase protection", "We might be able to sell you a body only at $750", or even "I'm sorry for your loss" it would have gone a long way.

T_A_Rogers Posted at 2017-1-9 13:14
I was just frustrated because she didn't have any answers. When you're in that situation, and all they do is read you the text book which you've already read, it doesn't help.

If she had suggested ANY options like "You could try submitting through your credit card purchase protection", "We might be able to sell you a body only at $750", or even "I'm sorry for your loss" it would have gone a long way.

Nothing as bad as not being helped properly (when frustrated, changes the perspective a bit ;-)). Another reason i give up on compassion and keep cash aside to get a new item so i don't have to bother begging. It's the same in most big  companies and even worse in the smaller ones. Don't feel insulted, i tend to sometimes and have to tell myself it's not personal...people doing their jobs, not all passionate about it. Still sad thing you lost the critter.
I'll be happy to buy your remote though if you still have it. Just pm me.

T_A_Rogers Posted at 2017-1-9 13:14
I was just frustrated because she didn't have any answers. When you're in that situation, and all they do is read you the text book which you've already read, it doesn't help.

If she had suggested ANY options like "You could try submitting through your credit card purchase protection", "We might be able to sell you a body only at $750", or even "I'm sorry for your loss" it would have gone a long way.

Thanks for updating the title.
There is no way currently to purchase just a Mavic for $750 so that's why she didn't offer you that.
I'm sorry about that.

jims3000 Posted at 2017-1-9 13:06
I just bought state farm insurance for $60 for the year with no deductible just incase I loose the mavic and cant recover it.

Yep - Working on a State Farm membership right now to protect the new one, as well as my other photography equipment.

They quoted me $103/year to cover $6400 in camera equipment. Considering all of this equipment either flies or dives with me (both risky), I'll consider it a good deal

T_A_Rogers Posted at 2017-1-9 13:50
Yep - Working on a State Farm membership right now to protect the new one, as well as my other photography equipment.

They quoted me $103/year to cover $6400 in camera equipment. Considering all of this equipment either flies or dives with me (both risky), I'll consider it a good deal

Pretty good deal - and good information for others.  I may look into this.

It might be a good option if DJI was to offer an enhanced Care Refresh program that also covers loss, or unrecoverable items (basically reselling insurance), but I understand if they just don't want to be part of the insurance game.  There are other options, as you noted.