DJI Care is a fraud!    Here's my experience.  Last week I was flying my Mavic over a river filming bridge footage when it was suddenly attacked by a Redtail Hawk.  The Hawk flew some distance with the drone and dropped it in the river after the battery appeared to detach (Note: I was not using the DJI GO 4 app because the app is unstable, so I was using the Litchi app at the time of the attack).  After the hawk dropped the drone, it could not be recovered as the river was to swift.  I searched for the drone for hours and after feeling defeated, I contacted DJI to exercise my care plan for the first time.  After sharing my Litchi flight logs,  This was their response, "Thank you for contacting DJI. As per checking, Litchi app can't sync flight records. It will also void the warranty. DJI doesn't support LITCHI Application and may not recover the lost aircraft anymore. Thank you for choosing DJI and have a nice day!" Now at the time I purchased my DJI care plan, there was nothing that stipulated the user had to use the DJI Go 4 app, as the drone can fly without the app.  Now they tell me the app must've been used.  This is a fraud, and I caution any Mavic owner the think twice before you look at paying for this plan.  DJI is making a killing on this plan and I've heard that only 15% of the pilots who attempted to exercise the plan have actually seen value in it.   Please share your experience with the plan and the problems you've experienced.

I am sorry for your loss.

Litchi is a third party app, I believe has never covered with DJI warranty (surely they cannot protect 3rd party software developers- this would open the door to many unexpected errors)

The care plan is a nice add on and many have revived peace of mind already from this purchase. Many stories of replacements already.

Water damage is covered, however the drone does need to me recovered- usually

When it cannot, only the DJI app logs have proved useful to regain a new model under the care plan, even this shows a good side by DJI - they were not offering this in documentation.

I have heard of errors with the DJI GO app however I have had no problems with over 100hrs flight.
If I was having errors, I would very much weigh up the risk of using 3rd party software, if then troubles occurred, I would own the issue myself. I may ask DJI for help, however I would not blame or make false claims as a result.

I am sorry for your loss, I am sure if you filled your car with a 3rd party fuel the manufacturer would also pass on a warranty.

Good luck though, I am sorry.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your Mavic, but you're entirely in the wrong in blaming DJI for failing to replace it.

After the hawk dropped the drone, it could not be recovered as the river was to swift.

Here's exclusion #1 listed under Care Refresh, which is relevant because your aircraft was lost.

1) Lost or partially lost aircraft, gimbal or accessories.

Now at the time I purchased my DJI care plan, there was nothing that stipulated the user had to use the DJI Go 4 app

Here's exclusion #11 which says that damage won't be covered if it's caused by a third-party software application. It's debatable whether this one is really applicable (as customer service apparently claimed) in your case because it doesn't sound like the damage was caused by Litchi, but it certainly is third-party software.

11) Damage resulting from the use of third party accessories, batteries or software.

Because you didn't / couldn't recover the aircraft, the best DJI could have done would be to examine the logs from the DJI Go 4 application -- but they can't because you didn't use it. So the problem is a combination of a lost aircraft (which ruled out a Care Refresh claim) and a lack of DJI Go 4 logs, which prevents them from even considering a warranty-based replacement -- though you wouldn't likely have been due one anyway.

DJI is making a killing on this plan and I've heard that only 15% of the pilots who attempted to exercise the plan have actually seen value in it.

Can you cite the source(s) on which you based these claims ("making a killing" and "15% of the pilots")? Again, I'm sympathetic that you lost your Mavic but not in agreement that you're owed a replacement by DJI, much less that there's been any "fraud".

P.S. I have to admit that I find your chosen alias ("DJI Tom") a little curious given that you're obviously not a DJI employee.

Was the hawk okay?

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-3 03:52
I'm sorry to hear that you lost your Mavic, but you're entirely in the wrong in blaming DJI for failing to replace it.

After the hawk dropped the drone, it could not be recovered as the river was to swift.

DroneFlying ,

I could not have explained it any better .

Tom I'm sorry for your loss

It can also be a conflict of intrest now that Litchi is claming and anounced that the latest DJI FW is Faulty

I hate the cliche "It is what it is",
But in this case......

Probably should update the title with [Misleading]

Hey that's a tough one to take, but I think it's fair to say, everyone who buys dji care are fully aware of the risk to their AC flying over water, what are the chances of a bird grabbing your AC so extremely bad luck.

I don't agree with your header, care refresh is not a fraud,

Bro, stop false accusations and read terms and conditions of stuff you are buying. Did you read through the email you got from DJI, which is called DJI Care Refresh Service Agreement? Have a look at Point 2 (Coverage), subsection 1). What does it say there? It says "Damage to aircraft, gimbal or camera due to dropping, compression, or crashing caused by operator error or accident, will be supported by the replacement service PROVIDED THAT THE UNIT IS SENT TO DJI WITHIN THE PERIOD OF VALIDITY". Bam, here you go, you did not recover the drone, nothing you can do about that now. Problem number two is, that your Mavic being a prey to a hawk is your (and hawk's) problem only. I can feel your pain, but not only you did not recover the drone, you also did not provide any logs. How do you expect DJI to help you???

If there was a genuine fault with Mavic during normal use (DJI GO 4) and it flew away or crashed, DJI would replaced your broken one or sent you a new one, if you could not recover the old one.

If you crashed into a valley or somewhere you cannot recover the drone, sent your logs to DJI and wanted to use Care Refresh - it would be only DJI's good will to send you a new one.

As clearly stated by both Bax and DroneFlying, in your accident, you are confusing insurance with warranty.

DJI Care Refresh is a one-year term insurance policy, that will replace your Mavic up to two times for a small fee, but it's a swap-out. You MUST return the damaged Mavic. That's part of the insurance policy. The insurance policy could care less about your using Litchi or the Hawk or any pilot error. But if your Mavic is non-recoverable, then you can not make a claim against the insurance....period.

Since your Mavic is non-recoverable, that only leaves DJi with warranty coverage, which is examined for Mavic hardware and DJI software failures. They need the aircraft or RC logs to investigate for any system failures. You provided neither of these. So the translated email conveys the "so sorry, but you're out of luck" message. Acts of nature like hawks, lightening, weather, pilot error, etc are not covered by DJI warranty.

Really sorry for your loss, but unfortunately, your only course of action is continue to try to recover the Mavic and return it for DJI Care Refresh.

Sorry for your lost but as you can see and everyone had pointed out, it's very well stipulated that the use of other ground station softwares others than DJI's will void your coverage. I understand that you might had some crashes with the DJI go 4 app, but still...  Also the terms and conditions of DJI Care state all of this things very clearly.

I stand corrected.  I did misread a portion of the agreement, I am held liable.  Therefore, I have withdrawn my issue.   Guess I was a little upset about the Litchi app issue virus the actual loss of the drone.  If I had lost my drone due to a hardware issue my warranty would be void because I used another app? I still think that's not fair to the customer when DJI know's the GO 4 app has documented issues.  That being said,  I love the product, but actually, loathe the DJI GO 4 app due to its seemingly random connectivity problems (for me both I have issues on apple and android platforms and I own more than one Mavic).

   DJI Tom   
  Beginner
   

• 
  

  United States
   Online  
  
         

               13#
   I stand corrected.  I did misread a portion of the agreement, I am held  liable.  Therefore, I have withdrawn my issue.   Guess I was a little  upset about the Litchi app issue versus the actual loss of the drone.  If  I had lost my drone due to a hardware issue my warranty would be void  because I used another app? I still think that's not fair to the  customer when DJI know's the GO 4 app has documented issues.  That being  said,  I love the product, but actually, loathe the DJI GO 4 app due to  its seemingly random connectivity problems (for me both I have issues  on apple and android platforms and I own more than one Mavic).

DJI Tom Posted at 2017-4-3 07:22
I stand corrected.  I did misread a portion of the agreement, I am held liable.  Therefore, I have withdrawn my issue.   Guess I was a little upset about the Litchi app issue virus the actual loss of the drone.  If I had lost my drone due to a hardware issue my warranty would be void because I used another app? I still think that's not fair to the customer when DJI know's the GO 4 app has documented issues.  That being said,  I love the product, but actually, loathe the DJI GO 4 app due to its seemingly random connectivity problems (for me both I have issues on apple and android platforms and I own more than one Mavic).

Guess I was a little upset about the Litchi app issue virus the actual loss of the drone.

Being upset after a loss like that is understandable, especially since the loss apparently wasn't your fault.

If I had lost my drone due to a hardware issue my warranty would be void because I used another app?

That seems to be kind of a gray area. My understanding has always been that it's not automatically voided but that using a non-DJI app makes it harder to determine exactly what happened -- and DJI definitely puts the burden of proof on the consumer / pilot. If they can't determine that it was a product defect they won't provide a warranty replacement, and they can't make that determination without the appropriate logs.

I still think that's not fair to the customer when DJI know's the GO 4 app has documented issues.

I don't know what to tell you there; I've done a fair amount of flying with my iPad Mini 4 and never had a problem, though I do see lots of posts from people with various different (but almost exclusively Android) devices who have trouble. I know you said that you've had problems with iOS devices too, but that just hasn't been my experience.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-3 07:31
Guess I was a little upset about the Litchi app issue virus the actual loss of the drone.

Being upset after a loss like that is understandable, especially since the loss apparently wasn't your fault.

Thanks for the feedback.  I initially used an Iphone 5 and iPad 3, back in December and could not maintain solid connectivity.  After weeks of attempting to work through the issue, I tried Android w/ Samsung S7 which worked better but still some issues.  This then led me to the Litchi app, where I experienced very little problems.  Perhaps I'll try the Apple once more, maybe the updates have corrected the issue for me.

Thank again.

DJI Tom Posted at 2017-4-3 07:28
[view_image]

   DJI Tom   

11) Damage resulting from the use of third party accessories, batteries or software.

Hi Tom.
I spoke to an actuary about number 11, he tells me there is no deviation from the words as written, and are very simple to understand because there are no tricks or get outs the way number 11 is written.

It simply says if your crash is caused by using third party app, in your case litchi, no cover, if you crash or drop or have any other type of accident whether your using third party app or DJI GO4 you are fully covered by care refresh but you need to be able to retrieve your Mavic as set out in your care refresh agreement,
If you crash using litchi or DJI GO4 because of AC malfunction your Mavic is covered by warranty and will no effect your care refresh.

Maybe you should try to plead your case to dji to see if they will do you a deal for aircraft on its own I have seen others getting a better deal than the cost of the shelf.

Good luck.

DJI Tom Posted at 2017-4-3 07:46
Thanks for the feedback.  I initially used an Iphone 5 and iPad 3, back in December and could not maintain solid connectivity.  After weeks of attempting to work through the issue, I tried Android w/ Samsung S7 which worked better but still some issues.  This then led me to the Litchi app, where I experienced very little problems.  Perhaps I'll try the Apple once more, maybe the updates have corrected the issue for me.

Thank again.

No problem. One last thing I should mention: if it's available to you then you might consider a State Farm personal articles policy (PAP) for your Mavic. It's not available in all states, but most people are reporting that it only costs them $60 for a year. I have both Care Refresh and State Farm and plan to use Care Refresh if I recover the aircraft after a crash or State Farm if I don't.

DJI Tom Posted at 2017-4-3 07:22
I stand corrected.  I did misread a portion of the agreement, I am held liable.  Therefore, I have withdrawn my issue.   Guess I was a little upset about the Litchi app issue virus the actual loss of the drone.  If I had lost my drone due to a hardware issue my warranty would be void because I used another app? I still think that's not fair to the customer when DJI know's the GO 4 app has documented issues.  That being said,  I love the product, but actually, loathe the DJI GO 4 app due to its seemingly random connectivity problems (for me both I have issues on apple and android platforms and I own more than one Mavic).

You may want to update your title of the post.

Bax Posted at 2017-4-3 03:53
I am sorry for your loss.

Litchi is a third party app, I believe has never covered with DJI warranty (surely they cannot protect 3rd party software developers- this would open the door to many unexpected errors)

Completely agree! great response.

Please change the thread title or it will be changed for you.
I'm sorry that you've lost your Mavic and if it would have been recovered then DJI Care Refresh would have sent you a replacement.
Also you said "you've heard that only 15% of pilots who've tired to use the plan have been able to.
That cannot be further from the truth. There an incredible amount of Refresh replacements being sent out every day.
Also, DJI has there recommended devices and you said you went to the Litchi app because you had some app issues.
Here is the list of recommended devices for future reference.

iOS Version v3.1.5.
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus,iPod touch 6,iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 4, and iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi + Cellular. This app is optimized for iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus.
Android Version v3.1.4.
Requires Android 4.1.2 or later.Compatible with Samsung tabs 705c, Samsung S6, Samsung S5, Samsung NOTE4, Samsung NOTE3, Google Nexus 6p, Nexus 9, Google Nexus 7 II, Ascend Mate7, Huawei P8 Max, Huawei Mate 8, LG V20, Nubia Z7 mini, Sony Xperia Z3, MI 3, MI PAD, Smartisan T1.

I think you're confusing DJI Care Refresh with some of those big chain stores that offer a replacement plan if the item is damaged for any reason, no questions asked.  But they charge you like half the original price of the product.  And even in those cases I believe you have to bring back the original damaged product.  A hawk!  Too funny, but not for you I'm sure.  Sorry for your loss, dude!  I'd be totally ticked off if it were me.

I'm still waiting to hear about the (by now) legless hawk, how's he supposed to perch for goodness sake? I mean, imagine this; there he is, coming in to land on a nice tree branch and oops, he falls off!

I have water all around me and hawks, eagles and many other crazy birds, that is what I add state farm insurance along with DJI care just to be safe

DJI did nothing wrong.   Only you chose to use the app...

fansc41bf168 Posted at 2017-4-3 11:16
DJI did nothing wrong.   Only you chose to use the app...

To the OP, Im sorry to hear about your loss it most be hard watching it happen, surreal feeling.

But I don't think this is a question about what app you are using in this case, The chances of a bird grabbing and dropping the aircraft in the water is very low to say at least.

I put a rear facing camera on my mavic because of crows. They used to swoop on it was kind of scary. I got these USAF decals, now they leave it alone, happy!

Hi,

Impossible to register my DJI Care :

message error is : The activation code does not match the regional type.

Any idea ?

Thanks

thehippoz Posted at 2017-4-3 12:19
I put a rear facing camera on my mavic because of crows. They used to swoop on it was kind of scary. I got these USAF decals, now they leave it alone, happy!

[view_image]

Were you being serious with this comment? You've really noticed a difference with the decal? Where did you get the decals?

That is awesome though, such a simple solution.

Shamus Posted at 2017-4-8 04:01
Were you being serious with this comment? You've really noticed a difference with the decal? Where did you get the decals?

That is awesome though, such a simple solution.

From site called decalgirl.

Sorry to hear about your situation and I know this reply is a little late and long but I thought I would add to this thread my experience with DJI Care to help others, I will also post on other Drone web sites if it assists others.

I had an accident flying my new P4Pro + drone, I read and reread and reread the terms and came to the conclusion it was my pilot error! I resided that I would not be successful in my claim but still sent in the drone and explanation of the crash.

Below is a email from DJI explaining the steps to take in sending it back, and below that is my response with altered parts to explain more clearly.

===========

DJI SUPPORT ADVISE ( Ellen Feng- China. she was fantastic)
Let me make it clear for steps to be taken:

1. For the flight records, please just sync and let us know the crash time, we will apply for a data analysis to figure out the crash reason.

2. For the pickup, you can just let us know your delivery address and date, TNT will come to your house to get it picked and you need pack the drone fine before they come.

Is the delivery address as below showing:
"cistec Address"

3. For the items that sending back, we will let you know when we book the TNT tracking number for you and please send back us your invoice or receipt, which needs to show the dealer name and the invoice date clearly?

============

CISTEC REPLY
Sent in with the drone was the

* DRONE...(THE DRONE HAS TO GO BACK BROKEN PARTS, ANYTHING..NO DRONE NO CHANCE!!)
* FLIGHT RECORDS (UPLOAD FROM YOUR DJI CLOUD ACCOUNT TO DJI)

1. The date of Incident was 18th March 2017 (All synced and sent to cloud)
Time approx 3.30pm.

2. Delivery address is:ADDRESS
Date of pickup can be anytime within business hours 8am-5pm 7 days a week (if they can notify prior to arriving it might be helpful but not essential)

3. Invoices and receipts +DJI Care receipt will be included in Drone case ( If you need invoices and receipts now to verify purchase and warranty I will email them on your request)

4. Reason for accident.
Decided to return drone back home from ocean flight footage due to Plover birds interference from above the drone when flying. My intention was bring drone home quickly and press home button to land from takeoff position but unfortunately the site was unavailable to land on due to people around so I could not hit the home land button. My second option was to manually land drone in safe area but as the drone came home I miscalculated the speed coming back, I could just about see the drone against the white clouds but when I realized it was coming back to quick, I tried to reverse the Drone but the sensors could not stop in time and the drone clipped my roof top and landed on the ground snapping off the gimbal and camera...a mess!. In all honesty the Drone was not to blame I think it was my pilot error even though the sensors are there to stop crashes it was going too fast for them to activate and the altitude was too low by 2 meters to clear the roof top.

5. I hope DJI will understand this was not a reckless crash as I have 3 other drones and never had an incident before. If you see the footage you will see it was of a holiday nature and well within the reasonable use of a Drone. I have taken out DJI Care when purchasing the Phantom 4 Pro so I hope this will help aid my case to get back flying soon as possible as I use the Drone for my work as well.

6. The Drone is all packed up and ready for collection with my address of sender on the package, I have taken an inventory of sent items in the package for my reference.

7. The only problem I have is finding the serial number of the RC GL300E controller? Do I need it?
In this case NO.

8. If any of the above is incorrect please let me know and I will correct.
Very Kind regards

cistec

================

The outcome of this claim was unexpected to say the least ...DJI sent me a BRAND NEW Phantom 4 Pro Drone and would you believe they allowed me to keep my DJI Care claims to 100% 2 claims per year, it did not affect my claim # at all, go figure?

* I boxed up Drone but they paid for shipping

* I waited 2 weeks then they sent email to say pay repair $100+ dollars? +$25 shipping, I thought OK whats the go? but I paid  the $100+25. Now I know the repair cost alone for the Gimbal camera would be around $700 alone without the body which was   messed up bad.

* 3 days later I receive a BRAND NEW PHANTOM 4 PRO with all warranty attached...Was I lucky? I dont think so! I firmly feel that it is the explanation given with maybe a little creative wording to hide the intent if you know what I mean.

DJI in my experience has been unexpectedly generous and understanding. I do not have any affliation with DJI at all, I am a end user with 3 P4 Drones.  

My advice to anybody who has an accident..remember they have the flight records to verify your flying history.

I hope this log will assist others.

cistec