My Phantom 3 Standard has been shipped into the facility 3 times. I have worked with several representatives regarding my issue. DJI has sent me three statements saying that I caused my drone to crash. I have repeatedly challenged the findings with a complete flight summary, photos of the area and images of the incident. I provided a video of the area where the drone crashed clearly indicating there are no obstacles at the GPS coordinates provided by DJI and the height stored on the DJI servers as well as on my phone. I was promised a phone call from the investigative team to review my data and discuss the issue but that call never came and now I am being told by the California service center that I have no more options, nobody else to talk to, and that I have to accept the findings when I know them to be false. I was transferred to a "supervisor" that didn't know my case and was apparently on the same hold queue as the normal technicians. This after repeatedly being told by the representative I didn't want to be transferred because they were only going to tell me exactly what he told me. In one email chain for this case there are 86 emails alone regarding this issue. I have done my due diligence to respectfully challenge the findings of the investigators and at a minimum raise a reasonble doubt in the data being used to claim I caused this accident. As an example the DJI investigators said my drone collided with a tree based on a GPS overlay stored on the server. I know I didnt hit a tree I was standing right there watching my drone drop from the sky. I put the data from that overlay in 5 different GPS location sites and in every case it shows the drone away from the tree including the DJI server imagery. I might add that the tree is 100 feet tall. The lowest branch on the tree is roughly 40 feet high at the widest spot. My drone fell from 19 feet which is considerably lower and well beneath the lowest protruding limb of the tree by a nearly 20 feet. My battery was smoking and I was attempting to return the drone to me. I flew it backwards so that I could keep the battery in sight in case it caught fire. At 19 feet before I could land the drone it made a wild series of noises, swung to the right and fell to the ground, hitting me, slicing through my shirt and upper arm, and impacting the ground.  I went to the drone as a flame began to emit from the battery. I removed it from the drone and tossed into sand to try to extinguish it with no success. I can provide photos of the burning battery taken immediately after I removed it taken by my neighbor. I have images of my injury sustained by the drone. I have photos and video footage taken from where I was standing showing there are no trees within the line of sight. I have multiple GPS records I can share. I will even be happy to live stream with someone from DJI and walk them through my back yard so they can see where the incident occurred and that there is nothing that could be in the path of the drone. I have had three summaries sent to me all of which are the same printed sheet with no reference of any of the data I sent or even an acknowledgement it was reviewed. The investigation is based off of data taken from a drone with a failing battery which leaves a minimum some doubt in the info it recorded as it failed. I would like to find an alternate method to discuss my case with someone because today I truly felt I was misrepresented and the "supervisor" I talked to was just another phone representative. I have worked in the phone support industry for 20 years and its pretty easy to see the tricks. I do not like being toyed with especially after nearly 2 months of back and forth discussions and multiple shipments.

I would like to speak with someone that is a real supervisor regarding my case and properly review the data I have submitted. As of yeterday evening my quote for repairs went up 50 dollars roughly which means that during all the shipping something else has been broken in all the shipping which I do not feel I am responsible for. Right now my drone is at the California facility and before it gets shipped back again I would like to speak with someone regarding this. If you need my case ID or further information please let me know.

On a side note I live in Houston and am recovering from Harvey. As you can imagine there were some really odd things that happened during that storm. Case in point, my tankless water heater failed. I spoke to the company's tech support and after doing some investigation on the heater we discovered that a part designed to never fail.........failed. They shipped me replacement parts at no cost even though I am out of warranty and today I repaired my heater. My television was damaged due to excessive power surges, the manufacturer though surprised at the damage has replaced the TV under my existing warranty even though it could have been an electrical issue which is sometimes not covered. In both cases the companies gave me the benefit of the doubt when doubt existed. DJI I have come to you with a truly odd situation, I have provided you evidence of , at a minimum< reasonable doubt. Would you please work with me to find an amicable solution so I am not out a drone and a battery and completely grounded from flying a drone I only had for roughly 3 months. I would like to continue flying and get my business off the ground so to speak.

Upon request I can provide all imagery and videos that were supplied with the three cases that have been assigned to this drone.

OK, let me explain to you a few things. DJI is a Chinese company. They have very little idea of how customer service is practised. In fact, this is true of most Chinese companies. It is a very different culture to other parts of the world, most especially the US. You will not get the same sort of service as you did from your heater company. DJI will base their decision on the flight data records, and once they make a decision, it is unlikely that will change their minds on the case.

You may get one of the DJI reps come here and ask for your case number so they can go away and follow it up. This may or may not result in the decision altering in your favour.

Geebax Posted at 2017-9-19 20:26
OK, let me explain to you a few things. DJI is a Chinese company. They have very little idea of how customer service is practised. In fact, this is true of most Chinese companies. It is a very different culture to other parts of the world, most especially the US. You will not get the same sort of service as you did from your heater company. DJI will base their decision on the flight data records, and once they make a decision, it is unlikely that will change their minds on the case.

You may get one of the DJI reps come here and ask for your case number so they can go away and follow it up. This may or may not result in the decision altering in your favour.

Yes, no they don't treat us any different, it's only our spoiled perception that is confusing...



RedHotPoker

Geebax Posted at 2017-9-19 20:26
OK, let me explain to you a few things. DJI is a Chinese company. They have very little idea of how customer service is practised. In fact, this is true of most Chinese companies. It is a very different culture to other parts of the world, most especially the US. You will not get the same sort of service as you did from your heater company. DJI will base their decision on the flight data records, and once they make a decision, it is unlikely that will change their minds on the case.

You may get one of the DJI reps come here and ask for your case number so they can go away and follow it up. This may or may not result in the decision altering in your favour.

At this point I have no more options. I cannot afford to repair the drone even if I wanted to. Kids, School, Harvey.......funds are non-existent. If I cannot find a suitable solution the drone will most likely sit till next year. Ill be out a battery which was what caused the issue as well as hundreds of dollars in drone repairs including the magical 50 dollars that recently appeared out of nowhere. I spent several hours today getting played with on the phone. All this for an issue I know I didn't cause and am seriously having difficulty explaining to DJI. I respect DJI and love their products, April at the support desk was awesome in getting me help and keeping me informed to what was going on. I think what hurt the most was getting told essentially I am a liar and then being played with by the phone staff with the supervisor game. I think that is what drove me here in hopes of at least finding a different route or at least someone I could get a proper dialogue started with. Thanks for the feedback and being honest. it is appreciated.

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-9-19 20:31
Yes, no they don't treat us any different, it's only our spoiled perception that is confusing...

I have tried to be very polite and responsive to them and provide clear consistent data. Yeah they are looking at the server data but it is obviously flawed. It says I had impact with something when the drone was in clear air with no obstacles around it. The only thing it hit was me as it fell to the ground. That hurt alot by the way, stupid me tried to catch it.

Doomer1 Posted at 2017-9-19 20:42
I have tried to be very polite and responsive to them and provide clear consistent data. Yeah they are looking at the server data but it is obviously flawed. It says I had impact with something when the drone was in clear air with no obstacles around it. The only thing it hit was me as it fell to the ground. That hurt alot by the way, stupid me tried to catch it.

Are you sure there wasn't a small bird strike?

I have no real answers, but have you looked over the flight LOG?

www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload

Post a link, to the LOG once you have it. Thanks.


RedHotPoker

Doomer1 Posted at 2017-9-19 20:42
I have tried to be very polite and responsive to them and provide clear consistent data. Yeah they are looking at the server data but it is obviously flawed. It says I had impact with something when the drone was in clear air with no obstacles around it. The only thing it hit was me as it fell to the ground. That hurt alot by the way, stupid me tried to catch it.

While I sympathize with you, I really do, the advice you have got here is good albeit what you don't want to hear.
Also, it is way late for you but others here should read and heed, get insurance.  All State is identified as an insurer that will insure you for $60/year on your UAV.  From what folks have said here about that, they get rapid and fair response about loss.  
It is not likely that DJI is going to change their business model any time soon, sorry to say.

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-9-19 20:48
Are you sure there wasn't a small bird strike?

I have no real answers, but have you looked over the flight LOG?

No this was clearly something different. I had been troubleshooting an issue with a firmware update that came out late June. It was July 4th and I was prepping the drone for some sunset flying. I could not get the drone and the remote to remain paired between each shutdown. I was always having to re-link them manually. So this flight was a short test flight. No sim card, camera was not on. I flew out just trying to see if maybe having some activity, or flight time would have any impact on the problem. I had just finished reloading the firmware update. While flying back I noticed a ton of alerts appearing on my phone, I looked up and saw smoke drifting from the drone. I had seen enough lipo battery fire videos on youtube to know that was bad. I had the drone facing away from me, and I watched the battery as I flew the drone back toward me. At 19 feet and about 4 feet away from me the drone started making these odd sounds and rotated to the right spinning downward toward the ground. I reached out for the drone and it slammed into my upper arm, cutting through my shirt, slicing my upper arm and leaving a bruise in the shape of the engine pylon on my arm. It then hit the ground at the base of the tree behind me. I saw the flame appear from the battery, pulled it out and tossed it at the nearest dry sandy area I could see to prevent it from igniting  my dry grass. 10 minutes later I'm on the phone with DJI and the tech says he will have it all covered. Creates a case for the drone and a case for the battery and says not to worry.  Impact with the ground dislodged the camera and cracked the mounting bracket.

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-9-19 20:51
While I sympathize with you, I really do, the advice you have got here is good albeit what you don't want to hear.
Also, it is way late for you but others here should read and heed, get insurance.  All State is identified as an insurer that will insure you for $60/year on your UAV.  From what folks have said here about that, they get rapid and fair response about loss.  
It is not likely that DJI is going to change their business model any time soon, sorry to say.

When i bought the drone I basically spent all my "disposable" funds on it. I knew it was a risk but I trusted DJI and their product. I had done ample research and had spent several months practicing with a friends drone prior to receiving mine. If I had the money I would have definitely gotten insurance or something. Just a guy on a budget with a large family.

Doomer1 Posted at 2017-9-19 21:10
No this was clearly something different. I had been troubleshooting an issue with a firmware update that came out late June. It was July 4th and I was prepping the drone for some sunset flying. I could not get the drone and the remote to remain paired between each shutdown. I was always having to re-link them manually. So this flight was a short test flight. No sim card, camera was not on. I flew out just trying to see if maybe having some activity, or flight time would have any impact on the problem. I had just finished reloading the firmware update. While flying back I noticed a ton of alerts appearing on my phone, I looked up and saw smoke drifting from the drone. I had seen enough lipo battery fire videos on youtube to know that was bad. I had the drone facing away from me, and I watched the battery as I flew the drone back toward me. At 19 feet and about 4 feet away from me the drone started making these odd sounds and rotated to the right spinning downward toward the ground. I reached out for the drone and it slammed into my upper arm, cutting through my shirt, slicing my upper arm and leaving a bruise in the shape of the engine pylon on my arm. It then hit the ground at the base of the tree behind me. I saw the flame appear from the battery, pulled it out and tossed it at the nearest dry sandy area I could see to prevent it from igniting  my dry grass. 10 minutes later I'm on the phone with DJI and the tech says he will have it all covered. Creates a case for the drone and a case for the battery and says not to worry.  Impact with the ground dislodged the camera and cracked the mounting bracket.

Sorry, about the drone destruction and your injured arm. That must have stung, for a minute?

Reading these drone accounts, always makes feel queasy, uneasy, bad.

Have you already looked over the flight LOG?
www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload

That would have been my first action or reaction, once we arrived back home.
Find out, if there was a problem within the drone.


RedHotPoker

We are so sorry to hear about the accident and trouble caused, please take care of your injury firstly.
Then could you please post the case number here? We will help to check more details of data analysis and make it clear for you. Thank you.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-9-19 22:40
We are so sorry to hear about the accident and trouble caused, please take care of your injury firstly.
Then could you please post the case number here? We will help to check more details of data analysis and make it clear for you. Thank you.

I just received update emails this morning from Howard as well as a DJI US Support email address indicating that my case is now CAS-1017811-X9H7M4, They indicate I am to keep my communication lines open and an escalation manager will be reaching out to me. I will keep a clear line of communication.

I have this video which I will try to make sure you and also the new contacts provided to me get to see.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/ ... /view?usp=drive_web

Did you see RHP's links?  Or maybe you're just ignoring them...?  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-9-20 02:57
Did you see RHP's links?  Or maybe you're just ignoring them...?

No I saw his links I had reimaged my cell phone a few weeks back due to a problem and lost all my flight logs from my app. Attempts to sync/retrieve the hundred plus flights I have made does not appear to be working. I am looking for my old backups in my timecapsule and itunes backups. See what I have to work with. Sorry if it looked like I was ignoring him

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-9-19 21:17
Sorry, about the drone destruction and your injured arm. That must have stung, for a minute?

Reading these drone accounts, always makes feel queasy, uneasy, bad.

Here is the link - http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/V72CS0AYQIW2QPVPCFJG/#

Looking at this it does not help me in regards to explaining what the battery was doing the numbers look normal. For a smoking battery that sort of impressive. Testament to the DJI product I guess. But this log does help me immensely because it clearly indicates I was away from the tree as well as reconfirms the height and the interruption alerts I was getting. The 3:58 mark is when I saw the smoke. Wish I had known about this tool 2 months ago.......This single image would have made it extremely clear I did not hit a tree. There is one nearby but its still a good distance away. Thank you this at least backs up my video. I was nearly dead on pointing to where my drone was. This is something at least, more than I had 20 minutes ago that for sure, thanks for sharing.

Doomer1 Posted at 2017-9-20 03:21
Here is the link - http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/V72CS0AYQIW2QPVPCFJG/#

Looking at this it does not help me in regards to explaining what the battery was doing the numbers look normal. For a smoking battery that sort of impressive. Testament to the DJI product I guess. But this log does help me immensely because it clearly indicates I was away from the tree as well as reconfirms the height and the interruption alerts I was getting. The 3:58 mark is when I saw the smoke. Wish I had known about this tool 2 months ago.......This single image would have made it extremely clear I did not hit a tree. There is one nearby but its still a good distance away. Thank you this at least backs up my video. I was nearly dead on pointing to where my drone was. This is something at least, more than I had 20 minutes ago that for sure, thanks for sharing.

This is odd its different that what was on my phone display and the DJI server data that April shared with me. This shows my altitude was even lower than I expected. I had made it to 15 feet before the drone fell. Also if you rotate the map I get something I finally can show. I can show the height of the tree, the fact I was not directly under it. But at the height recorded this is further proof I was nowhere near hitting it.

My understanding of GPS is it's merely a track of latitude and longitude.  My understanding of these maps is that the track you're looking at and the supposed locations are on a plane - meaning there is no sense of altitude.  Each point is on a vertical line relative to the surface of the earth.  So to get the best assessment of your flight path, you want an image that is from as straight above as possible.  And even then it may be off a bit.   On this one, you can see the front doors of all the houses so the path relative to the image is probably off by a bit.  Even on msinger's site map, the image is at an angle.  Also, a *.kml file coupled with google earth would give you a better idea of altitude in regards to the track.  

Can you tell us what exactly happened at the end of the flight as far as your point of view?  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-9-20 04:52
My understanding of GPS is it's merely a track of latitude and longitude.  My understanding of these maps is that the track you're looking at and the supposed locations are on a plane - meaning there is no sense of altitude.  Each point is on a vertical line relative to the surface of the earth.  So to get the best assessment of your flight path, you want an image that is from as straight above as possible.  And even then it may be off a bit.   On this one, you can see the front doors of all the houses so the path relative to the image is probably off by a bit.  Even on msinger's site map, the image is at an angle.  Also, a *.kml file coupled with google earth would give you a better idea of altitude in regards to the track.  

Can you tell us what exactly happened at the end of the flight as far as your point of view?

Once I saw the drone was smoking I flew it in reverse toward me to watch the battery. It was always in a clear line of sight and I had a spotter. I would continue to see the interference alerts up till the point the drone was roughly 5 feet away from me. I had slowed the drone but it stopped in the air, I heard the engines spin up and down. Sort of like when your holding the drone and tilt it and it fights to keep balance but much louder and more rapid. I saw the drone turn and tilt to the right which was not anything I was doing on the remote. I put the remote in my right palm of my hand and stepped forward to try to "catch" the drone. It impacted me then hit the ground nearby. after it hit me the drone went quiet and I could hear a hiss which was when I saw the flame emitting from the battery. I pulled the battery free and tossed it at the nearest dirt i could see. Battery was very very hot. All of this happened in milliseconds in my mind. Seemed just a blurr. I still have my scars from this incident today.

Yeah I have to agree it doesn't look like pilot error.  MHO

The post by Geebax pretty much says it all.  Sorry you had to waste so much time and effort.

ALABAMA Posted at 2017-9-20 05:47
The post by Geebax pretty much says it all.  Sorry you had to waste so much time and effort.

I just can't give up you know. This was a huge investment for me and a chance at a new career path. I will continue to fight for this because its just the right thing to do. I know I didn't crash my drone. Plus I really love my drone, had fun getting outside with the kids and travelling to film things. It really was changing our lives for the better. So to me this is about more than just the drone. I have hope and will believe in miracles.

Realistically, I think you perhaps  MIGHT get a discount coupon or something, but not what you are asking for.  I have seen cases where when one puts up a valiant fight, then they will
basically compromise with a little something.  Keep in mind it's better than nothing.

I guess what is disconcerting here is all the negative posts regarding this service format. I had always had the impression it was better. April sure impressed me when I was working with her. Sounds like others have had bad experiences with this resolution model. I want to keep a positive outlook and keep plugging, maybe help DJI improve the service as well. Everything is a learning opportunity.

In the first repair bill they sent me if they had waived the repair fee the actual parts cost were 28 bucks which is why I felt like I had a fighting chance. This new bill they sent recently that is quite a bit more expensive , it has roughly 88 dollars in parts. But they are not the same parts which is confusing.......its like its somebody else's bill given to me by accident. It does not even come close to resembling the first two repair statements, and I am sure the old items on my bill would still need repair. A landing leg is important but its not included on the new bill. An upper and lower cover probably still need some attention.........Yeah they sent me another customers bill by accident.

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-9-19 20:51
While I sympathize with you, I really do, the advice you have got here is good albeit what you don't want to hear.
Also, it is way late for you but others here should read and heed, get insurance.  All State is identified as an insurer that will insure you for $60/year on your UAV.  From what folks have said here about that, they get rapid and fair response about loss.  
It is not likely that DJI is going to change their business model any time soon, sorry to say.

DJI Care can provide a good insurance to assist for the fiscally minded. Drone insurance makes sense as it can be considered like car insurance. Probably will be more common place as time goes on.

DJI-Mark Posted at 2017-9-20 09:22
DJI Care can provide a good insurance to assist for the fiscally minded. Drone insurance makes sense as it can be considered like car insurance. Probably will be more common place as time goes on.

Yes I wanted to invest in DJI Care. Because I needed some extra items for my drone to be able to learn how to use it in a business, I decided to wait. If I ever get a resolution to this issue with DJI, two things are certain. I will be sourcing some insurance of some type and I will never fly near my house ever again. From now on big huge empty fields

Doomer1 Posted at 2017-9-20 09:50
Yes I wanted to invest in DJI Care. Because I needed some extra items for my drone to be able to learn how to use it in a business, I decided to wait. If I ever get a resolution to this issue with DJI, two things are certain. I will be sourcing some insurance of some type and I will never fly near my house ever again. From now on big huge empty fields

Just a suggestion: If you are looking to get into a business with your drone, consider getting multiple drones so you always have a backup.

DJI-Mark Posted at 2017-9-20 09:54
Just a suggestion: If you are looking to get into a business with your drone, consider getting multiple drones so you always have a backup.

DJI-Mark, I think your advice is point on. Buying a second or even a third drone, for business purposes.
For real investment, I would suggest an Inspire 2. But at this juncture, I would advise acquiring two drones of different manufacturers.

Variety is the good spice of life.


RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2017-9-20 11:11
DJI-Mark, I think your advice is point on. Buying a second or even a third drone, for business purposes.
For real investment, I would suggest an Inspire 2. But at this juncture, I would advise acquiring two drones of different manufacturers.

Thanks Red Hot. Pretty logical assessment there. Sounds like you got some strong knowledge yourself.

If it was me, I would definitely have a P2V+ for back up.  No sudden NFZ surprises.  

DJI-Mark Posted at 2017-9-20 11:17
Thanks Red Hot. Pretty logical assessment there. Sounds like you got some strong knowledge yourself.

I only have a very basic knowledge. But nowhere near the smarts of you and many others here.

I'm only standing on the shoulders, of the drone soldiers that came here before me... ;-)



RedHotPoker

I want to thank DJI for having someone call me today and work with me. I appreciate the call and the open discussion regarding my case. We came to an amicable solution that will satisfy DJI as well as me as the customer. All in all it was a long 2 months but the end results will be satisfactory to us both. This thread can be closed.

Glad ya got it settled!

Doomer1 Posted at 2017-9-20 17:02
I want to thank DJI for having someone call me today and work with me. I appreciate the call and the open discussion regarding my case. We came to an amicable solution that will satisfy DJI as well as me as the customer. All in all it was a long 2 months but the end results will be satisfactory to us both. This thread can be closed.

Glad to know the case was sorted out by satisfying resolution, we apologize again for the long time frame of the communication and appreciate your time and patience. Hope everything goes smoothly.

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