Tried to order a Platinum Fly More Combo and was looking into VAT refunds as I'm travelling. I received word from DJI that if any issues crop up within the warranty period, I wouldn't be covered if I tried repair outside of the country where I bought it. A bit surprised - just today I took an Apple device in for warranty repair despite having it bought it abroad and I'd imagine given the nature of DJI's products that they would cater to a mobile audience with an international warranty - particularly as that they have so much of the retail experience centralised out of China   Anyway, here's their response, in case anyone is considering buying a DJI product away from home...

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On 12 Sep 2017, at 11:13, sales <sales@dji.com> wrote:

Dear Customer,
Thanks for your interest in DJI.
We do not recommend you to buy in another country.

Since DJI do not provide international warranty, and you may have question with after-sales support.

You could buy from local dealers when you back your country:

http://www.dji.com/where-to-buy ​
Also, please note that DJI Sales department could not offer any files to the end customers.

Thanks.
Best regards.
DJI Sales dept.

Good to know; seen thread of folks wanting to travel to USA on vacation and purchase a DJI then head back home to their country. Would be a bummer if they didn't have warranty cov.

I had to fly to the states and buy one, there is NO dealer in the country i am (its not a big country!) and DJI store will not ship there so no choice.

I've got a very soft image on the left side of my camera that would be a warranty issue however as im unable to get a warranty im stuck with it and just have to crop the left out of photos!

I spend a large chunk of my life travelling around so home country varies.  Its annoying but DJI are far from the only ones to have this policy.

Do you have any friends/contacts in the country you purchased it?
Maybe they can be the "go-between", and get the warranty work done that way.
Or you can send it to The fellow @ Thunderdrones He is in Diluth, Georgia, and he repairs Mavics.
The only issue would be the sipping back and forth, and you would be paying for the work done, NO warranty work.

gnirtS Posted at 2017-9-15 09:56
I had to fly to the states and buy one, there is NO dealer in the country i am (its not a big country!) and DJI store will not ship there so no choice.

I've got a very soft image on the left side of my camera that would be a warranty issue however as im unable to get a warranty im stuck with it and just have to crop the left out of photos!

"I spend a large chunk of my life travelling around so home country varies.  Its annoying but DJI are far from the only ones to have this policy."

That's the bit that gets me.  If I was buying a freezer or washing machine, it'd make sense.  But higher end quads, particularly ones that have great cameras and are meant to pack and take, appeal to mobile types - by design!  
Given the nature of DJI's business, I'd think such a restriction would do more harm than good.

Flycaster Posted at 2017-9-15 10:36
Do you have any friends/contacts in the country you purchased it?
Maybe they can be the "go-between", and get the warranty work done that way.
Or you can send it to The fellow @ Thunderdrones He is in Diluth, Georgia, and he repairs Mavics.

I appreciate the suggestions, but I'd be buying in Europe and then be going to Australia, where the costs of shipping are very high.  
The issue for me is that this does very little to demonstrate a company that thinks much about how to ensure their customers are well served.  
DJI does some things soooo well.  For instance, I've had great experience with using DJI Care earlier this year.  The design of their machines is clearly impressive and recognised by their substantial market share.  It's a shame that they expose themselves to so much customer ill will through poorly thought through handling (and misinformation) of the post-launch deliveries of the Mavic -- and having restrictions on the international warranty.  

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-15 09:42
Good to know; seen thread of folks wanting to travel to USA on vacation and purchase a DJI then head back home to their country. Would be a bummer if they didn't have warranty cov.

Yes - I was surprised by their response.

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-15 09:42
Good to know; seen thread of folks wanting to travel to USA on vacation and purchase a DJI then head back home to their country. Would be a bummer if they didn't have warranty cov.

Another reason is the standard rip off pricing in Europe etc.
Rough example, Mavic flymore combo price in the US - $1300.  Same thing in the UK is £1350 ($1833) so it works out $500 more expensive to buy the thing in the UK/europe than the US for example.  Thats a lot of money.
Yes you're meant to declare the purchase for customs duty but im sure most dont and won't get caught.

The crazy price fixing worldwide on electronic goods like this means its very attractive for someone to buy something on holiday elsewhere.  Canon and other photographic equipment has the same massive pricing difference and regional only warranty policy.

This is great info to be aware of thanks for the post..

gnirtS Posted at 2017-9-15 16:20
Another reason is the standard rip off pricing in Europe etc.
Rough example, Mavic flymore combo price in the US - $1300.  Same thing in the UK is £1350 ($1833) so it works out $500 more expensive to buy the thing in the UK/europe than the US for example.  Thats a lot of money.
Yes you're meant to declare the purchase for customs duty but im sure most dont and won't get caught.

"Rough example, Mavic flymore combo price in the US - $1300.  Same thing in the UK is £1350 ($1833) so it works out $500 more expensive to buy the thing in the UK/europe than the US for example.  Thats a lot of money."

Wow that's a big difference.

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-15 17:24
"Rough example, Mavic flymore combo price in the US - $1300.  Same thing in the UK is £1350 ($1833) so it works out $500 more expensive to buy the thing in the UK/europe than the US for example.  Thats a lot of money."

Wow that's a big difference.

Yeah, it is.  I wonder why though.

That brings back memories.  My dad and I once went to New Zealand and had to declare our two cameras at customs.

Customers can obtain warranty service only at a designated DJI repair center in the region where he/she purchased the product. However, depending on part availability, customers can obtain cross-regional repair service at an additional charge. This is a part of our aftersales service, and you can learn more here: http://www.dji.com/service/policy. Hope your kind understanding.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-9-15 22:20
Customers can obtain warranty service only at a designated DJI repair center in the region where he/she purchased the product. However, depending on part availability, customers can obtain cross-regional repair service at an additional charge. This is a part of our aftersales service, and you can learn more here: http://www.dji.com/service/policy. Hope your kind understanding.

Is there any chance that DJI Care Refresh could be adapted to include international warranty cover?  For me that would solve the problem.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-9-15 22:20
Customers can obtain warranty service only at a designated DJI repair center in the region where he/she purchased the product. However, depending on part availability, customers can obtain cross-regional repair service at an additional charge. This is a part of our aftersales service, and you can learn more here: http://www.dji.com/service/policy. Hope your kind understanding.

Hi Thor
So in my case, my Mavic developed a fault whilst on my big USA trip; rather than wait until I got home to send the Mavic in for repair, I actually bought a second Mavic in the USA as I still had a fair bit of my trip remaining.
From this thread and your comments, it now seems that I don't have any warranty on my new Mavic as I'm back home in the UK.
This is pretty poor!   Is there any way to fix this situation?  

Ian

https://www.youtube.com/IaninLondon

Wellsi Posted at 2017-9-16 10:50
Hi Thor
So in my case, my Mavic developed a fault whilst on my big USA trip; rather than wait until I got home to send the Mavic in for repair, I actually bought a second Mavic in the USA as I still had a fair bit of my trip remaining.
From this thread and your comments, it now seems that I don't have any warranty on my new Mavic as I'm back home in the UK.

I think most of you warranty will still be intact, you might end up with problems of shipping charges , I've seen others here who have had to ship back to the states and also have to cough up for return shipping. I'm not sure but I think it's to do with the base price setting for each different continent. Because it's much more expensive to buy in Australia than in Hong Kong or New York,
I haven't heard anything explaining this from dji so I could be wrong.

It’s funny. I had a MP. Loved using it, till it got stolen. Held off till the MPP upgrade arrived, but given all this, I’m not buying as I’ll be without a decent warranty when I’m back in Australia. Shipping Oz to Europe for repair is a killer.

As far as I was told, dji care does not care about where you bought your drone.

it will bite Dji in the butt at some point..    while it is considered a standard practice and policy a lot of high end stuff doesn't fall into the same bracket.    some drone maker will catch up to Dji in terms of popularity and design and they will take the apple approach that they dont care as long as you get it handled by one of there own directly...

like that example mentioned with Apple and iPhones, yes absolutely correct apple doesn't care, as long as it is is handled with them directly by some means, apple store/applecare/phone/online/etc..   not saying apple is the best but, if you care about warranties and that sort of stuff, and you dont take your devices to joe blow down the road to be fixed, then Apple tends to handle situations the best..  uniform pricing, uniform repairs and policies, you can damage your macbook pro or iphone anywhere and if you take it to a legit apple store they will fix it or have it fixed for you..

Although apple do charge extortionate figures for simple repairs that "joe blow down the road" could often do just as well for 10% of the cost and in half the time.

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-9-16 13:42
As far as I was told, dji care does not care about where you bought your drone.

Who told you that? DJI?

gnirtS Posted at 2017-9-16 15:21
Although apple do charge extortionate figures for simple repairs that "joe blow down the road" could often do just as well for 10% of the cost and in half the time.

not always...  example was my screen..  nice guy and all down the road.. he wanted $135 for new iPhone screen on a iPhone 5S at the time.. he said he cover it for 30 days..  apple did it for $150, reason i picked them was because they also gave me full year to cover defects.  

now when i did have a issue with my macbook, back when apple was having issues with their nvidia GPUs on macbook pros..  i think it was nvidia, Apple claimed something stupid like i water damaged it.. i asked the kid to show me and he denied me, so i sold my macbook pro to a repair guy who knew the issue, $850 cash on the spot, gave me my SSD back before i left even.. also confirmed my suspicion i was lied to!  he showed me the board has no evedence of water damage, cleanest board he ever had in thats been used..

so i fully understand, but as i said it depends..


but ya this is different... im just making an example here that apple is extremely uniform with policy and care and coverage, globally..  dji isn't.. and dji should be!  as long as you use dji themselves it shouldn't matter what nation it goes to..

Montfrooij Posted at 2017-9-16 13:42
As far as I was told, dji care does not care about where you bought your drone.

Of course not. They want to sell equipment. As a buyer, given that there’s no international warranty, it’s for the BUYER to care, if they’re not staying in one place.

GMG Posted at 2017-9-16 02:25
Is there any chance that DJI Care Refresh could be adapted to include international warranty cover?  For me that would solve the problem.

Sorry, don't support yet. I hope that we will support in the future.

Wellsi Posted at 2017-9-16 10:50
Hi Thor
So in my case, my Mavic developed a fault whilst on my big USA trip; rather than wait until I got home to send the Mavic in for repair, I actually bought a second Mavic in the USA as I still had a fair bit of my trip remaining.
From this thread and your comments, it now seems that I don't have any warranty on my new Mavic as I'm back home in the UK.

Sorry, this is true that you can only obtain the warranty on the country where you bought the drone. If there is a warranty case, if you have friends in the USA, you can ship to them for help, but I think it is kind of impractical if the freight is more expensive than the repair fee. In your case, just for my own opinion, you can ship it back to the USA if there is a need and you can also purchase DJI Care Refresh when you go back home, then if it is faulty on your drone, you can use your Care Refresh quota.

GMG Posted at 2017-9-16 13:20
It’s funny. I had a MP. Loved using it, till it got stolen. Held off till the MPP upgrade arrived, but given all this, I’m not buying as I’ll be without a decent warranty when I’m back in Australia. Shipping Oz to Europe for repair is a killer.

Sorry to hear about your case, and we expressed our regret for no attempt to help you to recover the drone. And it will be more convenient for obtaining the warranty in the country or area where you will always stay, as you can see, the warranty has a certain period of time, so users can consider where to buy according to his needs.

Wellsi Posted at 2017-9-16 21:43
Who told you that? DJI?

This is true. You can purchase DJI Care Refresh even when you are not in the area where you bought the drone. Refer to the FAQ 11 of DJI Care Refresh: http://www.dji.com/service/djicare-refresh/info#s4

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-9-19 23:03
Sorry, this is true that you can only obtain the warranty on the country where you bought the drone. If there is a warranty case, if you have friends in the USA, you can ship to them for help, but I think it is kind of impractical if the freight is more expensive than the repair fee. In your case, just for my own opinion, you can ship it back to the USA if there is a need and you can also purchase DJI Care Refresh when you go back home, then if it is faulty on your drone, you can use your Care Refresh quota.

Thanks for the reply Thor, altho obviously not quite what I wanted to hear   
As I was travelling in mountains with poor internet, I missed my 48 hour window to get Care Refresh on the new Mavic.  So I guess I'll just have to hope I don't need a repair!  An international company like DJI with worldwide distribution and repair facilities really should get this sorted; it reflects poorly on the company image....
Any way, as ever, thanks for your help and guidance

Ian

https://www.youtube.com/IaninLondon

Wellsi Posted at 2017-9-20 22:36
Thanks for the reply Thor, altho obviously not quite what I wanted to hear   
As I was travelling in mountains with poor internet, I missed my 48 hour window to get Care Refresh on the new Mavic.  So I guess I'll just have to hope I don't need a repair!  An international company like DJI with worldwide distribution and repair facilities really should get this sorted; it reflects poorly on the company image....
Any way, as ever, thanks for your help and guidance

I second that.  Given the nature of DJI's business and it's customers, it's annoying and, in my case, has stopped me from buying DJI's products.  

Wellsi Posted at 2017-9-20 22:36
Thanks for the reply Thor, altho obviously not quite what I wanted to hear   
As I was travelling in mountains with poor internet, I missed my 48 hour window to get Care Refresh on the new Mavic.  So I guess I'll just have to hope I don't need a repair!  An international company like DJI with worldwide distribution and repair facilities really should get this sorted; it reflects poorly on the company image....
Any way, as ever, thanks for your help and guidance

I understand the frustration, hope we will support in the future. Besides, if you missed the 48 hours condition and your drone had never purchased a DJI Care Refresh, you can also buy one. You can surely contact djicare@dji.com for more information.

Dear Pilots,

Here in Brazil I have no DJI Store, I have no warranties, I have no care refresh.
Because of abusive taxes I cannot buy it abroad.
I cannot sent it to anywhere.
So, what else lasts to me: fly....and PRAY