Avocet
 lvl.1
Flight distance : 15115 ft
United States
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HI Susan ... an aftermath. I simply do not have the time at present to skirmish with DJI's repair service and support team. I paid the price and very unfairly I believe. This is NOT a good business model for DJI or my fledgling UAV business. Here's the problem and the solution:
PROB: A recent flight showed that my forward and reverse right stick inputs were not working (I WAS able to save the craft using other inputs). My P3P controller (gl300C) suddenly would not calibrate through the GO app. Resetting the controller did not work either. It was easy to observe that the calibration of the right stick was failing as forward and reverse movements were not registering on the calibration interface in the app. Clearly, there was a hardware failure on my controller. It has never been dropped, opened, modified and had less than 5 charges on it. It was OUT of warranty by a few months.
I decided to send it to California for repair (DJI). I received a repair quote for 90% of a new controller (approximately $250). The itemization of the quote included controller shell parts, tablet mounting arm, motherboard, all of which were in pristine condition when sent (with the exception of the motherboard which could be the problem source admittedly). If the unit was damaged in shipping, noone said a word to me about that. It was packaged carefully I might add.
After explaining that I own multiple DJI products, am a licensed sUAS pilot, a sUAS instructor at the school I teach at, and had a P.O. on my desk for a SPARK for school, I was told after several debates, that they would discount my repair bill by some "unknown" amount. This discount amounted to $37 dollars.
SOLUTION: My repair totaled 203.13 USD, which I paid, for what was clearly a manufacturing defect. This part did not wear out in 14 months and was never subjected to any physical activity or environments that would cause it to fail (other than, of course, some very light usage). DJI services initially stated that they do NOT repair controllers though their warranty language says "manufacturing defects or warranty repairs". ???? Of course, I still have not received the unit nor know if it has been shipped, so the story is not quite over yet.
I have been a champion for DJI products and technology for more than 3 years now. I have never needed any tech support or repair services in that time largely due to my own skill sets and the quality of DJI products. In this situation, there was clearly a hard defect, and I afforded DJI every opportunity to show that it stands behind its products, its employees and the future of consumer and commercial sUAV systems with the DJI brand. I ignored the online blabber about the failed customer service model and felt confident that my experience in this situation would be a satisfying one. Clearly, I erred in judgement. DJI may be 203.13 USD richer, but I will think long and hard about that P.O. on my desk and just how I refresh the small fleet of sUAVs I use for instruction going forward.
To make things worse, I promised myself that I would not waste more time on this unfortunate situation and I just did. My error this time.
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