Hi everyone,

I am a Mavic Pro user since March this year and have been enjoying flying this little one a lot till end of April where I started to experience sporadic loss of the video transmission on the iPhone (iPhone 7 Plus) connected to the remote while flying. I opened a case with DJI a month ago which has not been solved resulting in terrible flying experience and a crash. I am seeking your experience and opinion on what to do next. Thanks in advance

In details
So, end of April where I started to experience sporadic loss of the video transmission on the iPhone (iPhone 7 Plus) connected to the remote while flying. Disconnecting / Connecting again the little lightning cable provided with the RC would make it work again for a little while but then it became worse and worse as I had to repete this several times during a flight.

I opened a case on May 1st with DJI and I don't want to be difficult to DJI (I love their products and I can totally understand the huge difficulty it is to scale a solid support for such technical products) but it has been a very bad support experience. I had to explain my problem throught chat who asked me to call support. Phone support asked me to email. After a few emails during a full week I was offered the opportunity to fill a PDF form to request an exchange of small part (the small part being the lightning cable). Once a week during the month of May I have been checking-in with support by email and each time the answers I received have been robot answers saying that they are "checking inventory", "the replacement part is in process". Also received responses like "I'll have this forwarded to my colleague to further assist you" without receiving any follow-up. The responses of DJI support have been so poor and taking sometimes up to 5 days to come in, that it makes me feel bad as a customer, like if I was begging. This kind of issue should be quite straightforward and just giving visibility if they are sold out would be better. Loosing a month of garanty in 12 months is also quite important. [Case# CAS-622358-R0H8W2]

Anyway, I had a trip planned last week in Greece and was planning to use the drone. So I flew the Drone and made really nice videos in the Greek islands with the issue of always having to disconnect / connect the cable again (more than 10 times per flight becoming quite boring but also very disruptive when flying). The bad thing happen while I was flying sideways. I crashed it against a building because I was distracted by the cable to unplug/plug again. The gimbal is broken and the drone has some heavy marks (maybe more things broken inside)

In a nutshell, this is an operator mistake but it would not have happened if DJI had taken care of my initial case earlier. I am seeking for your opinion on whoose fault this is and what I should do next with DJI. If we also hae DJI staff reading and able to help, I would also appreciate a lot!

Thanks,

Vincent

Vincent, this situation has filled us with regret, we do apologize for your unpleasant experience with us.
You case has been reported to the local designated team, will look into what's going on and keep improving to make your experience with us better.
Since the drone was crashed, we do suggest you to send it in for repair. You can submit a case number online, we'll take care of it after it arrives.
https://repair.dji.com/en/SelfRepair/Area

In a nutshell, this is an operator mistake but it would not have happened if DJI had taken care of my initial case earlier.

I'm sorry to hear about your crash but in my opinion it's pretty clear where the responsibility lies. You presumably were flying beyond line of sight and knew there was a problem with losing the connection to your aircraft but continued to fly it anyway, which makes you responsible.

Also, while I'm not clear on exactly what happened, it sounds like you continued pushing the right stick to move sideways even after you lost the FPV video feed. Generally the best thing to do when you lose your video is to release the sticks, see if you can restore the feed, and if not then try to establish line of sight or initiate RTH. But continuing to move laterally when you have no view of what's around the aircraft is generally a bad idea.

I don't mean to sound harsh and I do appreciate the fact that you're open to accepting responsibility (not all who post here are), but in my opinion you definitely were responsible for this crash.

Something else, I've noticed recently with the loss of video, is in the lightning cable. Make sure the connections on either end are secured on the cable. I've been seeing pics of some of these cables that show the connector, mainly the end plugging into the iPhone/Tablet, has been breaking loose and causing this issue. Unfortunately, not all lightning cables are created equal. That's not to say this is what happened... just putting it out there for thought and further investigation of cause.   

Thanks for your answer @DJI Natalia ! I am in progress of filling out the case for the crash.

Agree with  what you say @DroneFlying, I continued flying with the connection issue throughout the month of May. Unfortunately yes, I did this mistake (not sure for how long) where I kept pressing the joystick while I had lost connection (definitely a little stressed out when this happens). But their is also an addition to this the only way I could have avoided the crash was i) not to fly which is not the purpose of my purchase or ii) not making the pilote error I did, 100% my responsibility but 100% fostered by the broken experience.

Anyway, I will now complete my case and monitor it closely. This will be my second chance with support and I will make sure to keep everyone posted in the thread. I hope this time everything goes well and I can be back in the air asap Thanks again for your response!

in case you get your mavic flying again: throw the dji cable in the trash and fly with the original apple cable.

Might be a good idea. Few things that are confusing in the return process:

- On my DJI Care Refresh paper, it's said that the RC should not be returned and that customer will be charged an extra fee if they return the RC. However in the repair center it's mentioned that the RC should be returned. As I have this connection issue, maybe worth sending it back. What do you think?

- I received a UPS number but it's not clear if I need to package the Mavic in a box by myself or if UPS will deliver a return box.

Not a huge deal I guess but  suggestion to DJI would be to clarify this.

Hi everyone,

As promised I wanted to keep everyone updated on the case as I just heard back from DJI.

First of all, DJI received the Mavic on June 2 in their Amsterdam facility according to the tracking. DJI has just reached out to me with the quotation notice. It means that it took 12 days to DJI to unbox the package and assess the repair. It's not speed of light given that I followed the instructions and wrote "DJI Care Refresh Purchased" on the parcel, but not too bad compared to what I have read on the forum. Honestly I was not expecting anything faster.

However my dissatisfaction comes from the quote in itself:

1/ DJI recognizes that the RC cable is faulty but does not give a clue to the fact I have been requesting it since early May and this has made my flying experience more complex and especially at the time of the crash

2/ DJI does not accept my DJI Care Refresh because it has been purchased outside of the EU. Indeed I was living in California when I bought my Mavic with the DJI Care Refresh altogether from DJI store. It was never stated anywhere on the store and on the emails I received following the purchase. Even the Service Agreement which is basically a contract between DJI and the customer does not mention any area / regional limitation. The "Coverage" and "Exclusions" parts do not mention this as well.

This is absolutely non acceptable to say that the drone will be covered by DJI in case of accidents and when a customer goes to DJI with a broken drone they don't accept it. For customers who have to relocate or are just traveling this is adding extra cost of repair and also a loss of money for a useless DJI Care Refresh.

I will fight my best with DJI to get this issue at least covered by the care refresh. As anyone been experiencing similar issues?

Maybe it is a pilot error for the crash, but I would say it is a faulty product causing this kind of pilot error.  Many cases suggested that DJI's drones sometime having  video signal loss and having connection issue after updating firmware and dji go app. DJI would ignore your sporadic video transmission loss issue until you crash your drone or the video transmission lost completely because so many reason can cause sporadic signal lost. DJI support is very busy to fix thousand of their faulty products a day causing by bad firmware and hardware. They simply have't enough time to work on your case until you crash.

Please don't assume all the responsibility. They educate their customers that their product is so perfect that it can fly over city centre, people's head,  over water and out of sight by their fascinating advertisements, but hiding somewhere in the manual telling you not to do that. 70%responsibility goes to your panic when glitch happened and bad selection of flying location and 30% goes to DJI made that glitch.

vincentmd Posted at 2017-6-14 05:43
Hi everyone,

As promised I wanted to keep everyone updated on the case as I just heard back from DJI.

DJI does not accept my DJI Care Refresh because it has been purchased outside of the EU. Indeed I was living in California when I bought my Mavic with the DJI Care Refresh altogether from DJI store. It was never stated anywhere on the store and on the emails I received following the purchase. Even the Service Agreement which is basically a contract between DJI and the customer does not mention any area / regional limitation. The "Coverage" and "Exclusions" parts do not mention this as well.

Here's what I found on the web site under the FAQ:

11、Does DJI Care Refresh support international coverage ?
No, at the moment, DJI Care Refresh only works within one coverage region.

They probably assumed you wanted the U.S. / North American region and you didn't know to specify differently. If you haven't already used it maybe you can get a refund and purchase it again for the correct region.

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-6-14 07:07
DJI does not accept my DJI Care Refresh because it has been purchased outside of the EU. Indeed I was living in California when I bought my Mavic with the DJI Care Refresh altogether from DJI store. It was never stated anywhere on the store and on the emails I received following the purchase. Even the Service Agreement which is basically a contract between DJI and the customer does not mention any area / regional limitation. The "Coverage" and "Exclusions" parts do not mention this as well.

Here's what I found on the web site under the FAQ:

What?????   Does this mean if I purchased my drone and Care Refresh in Canada then travel to Europe and have a crash....that my Mavic is not covered????

I posted this exact question months ago and I was told otherwise by DJI!!!!!!!  This would be insane!

randy.sauder Posted at 2017-6-14 08:08
What?????   Does this mean if I purchased my drone and Care Refresh in Canada then travel to Europe and have a crash....that my Mavic is not covered????

I posted this exact question months ago and I was told otherwise by DJI!!!!!!!  This would be insane!

I believe what it means is that in the scenario you described that you'd have to send your Mavic to the center that handles Care Refresh for North America and that you couldn't (for example) send it to the one that handles Care Refresh for Europe.

DroneFlying is correct. I lived in California when I bought the Mavic and the Care Refresh. As I now live in Amsterdam, I inputed my residential address in Amsterdam on the support case + my Mavic serial# + my DJI Care Refresh number. At the end of the process DJI requested me to send the Mavic to their Amsterdam center (not to a US Center). And today, 14 days after they received the Mavic they ask me to pay the full price of the repair.

I have contacted DJI Natalia directly and I hope we will find an honest solution but no way I will through the money out of my pocket on a useless CARE refresh + pay full damages repair when DJI has not handled my initial case (Faulty RC cable leading to connection issue at the time of the crash)

I guess DJI Europe, DJI US, DJI China etc.  are keeping there finances separately.  So, US sold you insurance and no other regions would handle the risks.

If it's not in contract, then you might be able to argue that what is written in FAQ section of the DJI website is not binding.

I am starting again the disastrous experience where DJI stops answering emails - DJI support not answering & DJI Natalia (in who I had a lot of hopes ) not answering as well.
And the Mavic is 'held' by DJI requesting 160eur in a situation where they should not. Summer holidays are getting closer and the Drone has already been seating for 20 days at DJI...

Again, sounds like I will be left with the only solution of begging on all channels to get my Drone back. Other solution, driving to their Dutch facility where the Mavic is supposed to be. As anyone gone their?

Thank you for sharing your experience with Refresh Care. I had high hope on this insurance cover in case I have a crash. But slowly, a lot of reports show that it does not worth it, it is still to hard get paid when needed.

One more negative update (or maybe should be considered as a joke). DJI support answered my email and basically they don't give a **** to the fact that they never solved my RC connection problem which put me in difficult situation at the time of the crash. And they are not offering solution regarding the DJI Care Refresh.
So basically DJI has been holding my drone for 3 weeks and they are ok requesting money for a Drone that is i) damaged because they never solved my initial probel and ii) that is covered under DJI Care Refresh. Again it was never advertised nor mentionned in the DJI Care Refresh that it will not work outside the US.

Last but not least, no moderator of this forum pays attention to this thread and the moderator I have been contacting by PM never responded.

Drone bought in March and already 2 months without the Drone or without the Drone working properly. Not to mention that I bought an Osmo mobile in April and DJI was supposed to offer a spring gift pack. The gift pack never arrived. I emailed support nicely but they never responded. Not a big deal for me but just aligned with how they threat customers (raise expectations and give wrong information, then either not respond or don't meet expectations)

What could you do worst DJI? And what am I left with - just waiting and paying for a useless DJI Care Refresh + paying repairs ? It's definitely not going to happen.
I am wondering what the best solution is now, just polute this forum with bold titles so that DJI minds caring or should I go to their office in the Netherlands?

Getting really annoyed by how they threat customers and try to fatigue them until they give up.

Support Agent （DJI
Dear Vincent , Thank you for contacting DJI. Upon reviewing an checking the case notes on case: CAS-677263-Y7G6G7. My honest and logical suggestion is having your unit to be repaired. It really upsetting that the DJI Care Refresh that was purchase in San Francisco was not been of a help in replacing your unit. But it would be much costly if you send your unit to San Francisco to have a replacement using the DJI Care Refresh. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact DJI Europe Support, Mon-Fri 8:30AM - 5:00PM (UTC+1) via the following three channels:

Tel Support: +31 20 654 5202
Email: support.eu@dji.com
Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after

Best Regards,
DJI Support

Vincent
Hi,

I am reaching out regarding case CAS-677263-Y7G6G7. I would really appreciate if you could help. So far my experience with DJI support has not been great. To summarize, I have 2 issues.

The first issue was the RC micro USB cable that was faulty leading to sporadic connection between the RC and the phone (CAS-622358-R0H8W2). I had to constantly connect and disconnect the phone and the remote which is a terrible experience during flight. It took a month to DJI to send me a replacement part after I sent then 10s of emails. Unfortunately I crashed the Mavic because of this issue. I crashed the Mavic when the connexion issue happened as this situation led me to do a wrong action. Given the case CAS-622358-R0H8W2 was not handled properly, I think DJI should take responsibility for CAS-677263-Y7G6G7

The second issue is my DJI CARE REFRESH. On the quotation of the repair, the agent mentioned my DJI CARE REFRESH does not work in EU because it was bought outside of EU. Of course! I was living in San Francisco when I bought the Mavic together with the DJI CARE REFRESH on your website and now I live in Amsterdam in Europe. It was never stated anywhere on your online store and on the emails I received following the purchase. Even the Service Agreement which is basically a contract between DJI and me does not mention any area / regional limitation.

The "Coverage" and "Exclusions" parts do not mention this as well. So basically today I understand that I paid a useless DJI CARE REFRESH. I feel it’s a real trap for any people who relocate to another country and for travelers. In a nutshell, if Support had solved CAS-622358-R0H8W2 in time I would not have crashed. And if DJI had mentioned that DJI CARE REFRESH does not work internationally I would not have bought it. These 2 issues could have been avoided by reacting in time and giving proper information.

I am looking for an honest solution but there is no way I will pay 160EUR for the repair + wasted 99USD on DJI CARE REFRESH that will not work in Europe. I am not trying to be difficult but I think you can appreciate the situation is not acceptable from a customer standpoint. I am willing to find a good way out of it. Looking forward to your help. Thanks a lot,

Vincent

vincentmd Posted at 2017-6-21 01:26
One more negative update (or maybe should be considered as a joke). DJI support answered my email and basically they don't give a **** to the fact that they never solved my RC connection problem which put me in difficult situation at the time of the crash. And they are not offering solution regarding the DJI Care Refresh.
So basically DJI has been holding my drone for 3 weeks and they are ok requesting money for a Drone that is i) damaged because they never solved my initial probel and ii) that is covered under DJI Care Refresh. Again it was never advertised nor mentionned in the DJI Care Refresh that it will not work outside the US.

It is a bit of an anomaly you really should be able to return your dji product back to your nearest facility. It doesn't make sense, but it looks like dji are digging their heels in here and insisting you have to play by the rules of your contract.

I think it would be reasonable for dji to come out and explain why there system works this way, just to give us a better understanding, of there side of this.
I wish you well but I think you are going to have to suck this up, and maybe live to fight another day.

Just spent one hour on the phone with a support agent and then a phone supervisor. 2 solutions where offered to me:

#1 : DJI Netherlands send me the drone back unrepaired and I am free to use the US Care Refresh by sending my Drone to the US and collecting it in the US
Very bad solution, why? Because DJI never said in its Terms and Conditions that I bought a US version of the Care Refresh. They don't even said that they have geographic restrictions.  would never have bought the Care Refresh in the US if I'd be aware of this from their online store or from Care Refresh Terms and Conditions. Also, DJI asked me to send my Drone back to the Netherlands after I provided my device serial# and my care refresh#. Who knows why?

#2 : Pay for the repair in full. Pay a new European Care Refresh and we cancel your US Care Refresh but DJI will not refund it because you bought it several months ago.

DJI Support answers = pay for our mistakes or send us free money!

I see only one solution, being louder. I will commit some time to it and we will see where it goes...

vincentmd Posted at 2017-6-21 02:42
Just spent one hour on the phone with a support agent and then a phone supervisor. 2 solutions where offered to me:

#1 : DJI Netherlands send me the drone back unrepaired and I am free to use the US Care Refresh by sending my Drone to the US and collecting it in the US

Please refer to the Replacement Section of the Terms and Conditions:


Like previously mentioned, the lack of international coverage was mentioned in the DJI Care Refresh FAQs as well:



I understand your frustration in regards to not being able to apply DJI Care Refresh to this current repair, but determination by the DJI Europe facility would still stand. Given that the Mavic was also purchased in the US, having it considered for warranty would not be possible at the European facility. Given where you're currently located, the Mavic could only use the warranty or the Care coverage in the US. I can try to pass the information you've provided to the appropriate team to see if a more positive resolution can be provided to you.

Thank you for your response. 3 important things  to mention:

1/ When I read the Terms and Conditions in March they were not mentioning anything around coverage area / region. This is not applicable to me

2/ I cannot say anything about the FAQ but the FAQ is not binding and you cannot require a customer to read full FAQ before purchase

3/ Please find my Refresh Service Agreement. It does not mention any area/regional restriction:

1/3

2/3

3/3

vincentmd Posted at 2017-6-21 13:56
Thank you for your response. 3 important things  to mention:

1/ When I read the Terms and Conditions in March they were not mentioning anything around coverage area / region. This is not applicable to me

Have responded on another thread: http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... mp;extra=#pid840286