Only owned my DJI MAVIC Air for 3 months.
Did a drone firmware upgrade and the usual calibrations. I made sure the GPS signal was there (around 10) before I launched it.

All I did was throttling it upwards, and when it reached the height of ~40m, even with GPS signal 10, it started to drift violent towards a building 60m away and losing more signal along the way before crashing it.

Flight log: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/PSZGML72K4T6KBRS60GK/

I first opened a ticket (#1187576) through DJI website asking for explanation and possible warranty claim. However the email was responded immediately as a repair-case (CAS-1905662-J9D8D8) without any explanation!

I then realized I could perhaps claim my warranty through the 3rd party company DJI uses in Malaysia called ECS. Through them, they sent in my drone to DJI for investigation and I was told that at GPS signal 10, aircraft is safe to fly, and only at around signal 2 will the drone drift and require manual handling:



However based on my flight record, my drone already started to drift violently at signal 10 and I had no time to respond to that at all.

So basically I was blamed for not able to control the sudden drifting of my aircraft in GPS mode, and DJI quoted me this repair price:



MYR3210 is equivalent to USD $784, which is basically the full price for a brand new flymore combo.  This is just ridiculous

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Just few months back my colleague has just flown his DJI Mavic Pro in the same area and experienced no signal lost at all.

I could understand if the signal is already weak before I launch an aircraft. But in this case, the drone just simply went rogue without any cue!

Now I am even more concerned about the safety of flying this drone, does it mean my drone is like a random time bomb where anytime during its flight, it can just suddenly lose GPS and crash into a bypasser or vehicle??

In my case I was lucky to just crashed into a building wall and did not cause any damage on property. It is so scary to think that I could easily get into legal issue just because my drone could suddenly lost GPS signal for no reason.

Hi Liren, we're sorry for the troubles. I have a quick look at the case number you mentioned CAS-1905662-J9D8D8, the team suggested to send it for repair since some parts of it has been damaged. Once we receive the Mavic Air our Data Analysis Team will try to figure out the issue and offer you a proper result. We sincerely apologize if there is any misunderstanding.

Now that the unit has been shipped to the dealer, is there any new case number for reference? Generally, if the dealer cannot handle it, they will report in the dealer system to get a case number.
We'd like to check the exact status and see whether we can help. Thanks so much!

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-8-13 03:20
Hi Liren, we're sorry for the troubles. I have a quick look at the case number you mentioned CAS-1905662-J9D8D8, the team suggested to send it for repair since some parts of it has been damaged. Once we receive the Mavic Air our Data Analysis Team will try to figure out the issue and offer you a proper result. We sincerely apologize if there is any misunderstanding.

Now that the unit has been shipped to the dealer, is there any new case number for reference? Generally, if the dealer cannot handle it, they will report in the dealer system to get a case number.

Hi Susan, thank you for your prompt response.

From what I understand, the company which handles the warranty (ECS Malaysia) has already shipped my drone to DJI China with following details:
SL-104257
MODEL: MAVIC AIR ONYX BLACK
SN: 0K1DF2N2ADSPC9
REMARKS: CRASHED.

Not too sure if the SL-104257 is the new case number.

Now they are asking me if I want my drone shipped back, or repair  itat the cost of ~$800.

liren Posted at 2018-8-13 03:27
Hi Susan, thank you for your prompt response.

From what I understand, the company which handles the warranty (ECS Malaysia) has already shipped my drone to DJI China with following details:

Received with thanks! I managed to get the new case number via the SN, there are some points need to be clarified:
1. Upon checking the flight data, the drone had experienced 2 crashes and the data analysis was conducted based on the first crash. The performance cannot be ensured after the first crash, please kindly note and understand.
2. You can see from the below screenshot, the red line is the GPS signal quality, and the purple line represents the number of satellites. It is normal to drift when the GPS signal quality is 2, while the drone crashed between 2 and 3.
When the aircraft worked in the edge of the GPS mode(GPS signal 2), aircraft will drift in this situation, because aircraft positioning function is not able to work in this situation, it needs the pilot to control the aircraft in every moment for maintaining the position.
We're sorry that we cannot offer you warranty service in this kind of situation. As the drone was badly damaged, most parts need to be replaced, you can find the price list on our website: https://repair.dji.com/repair/price-inquiry Hope for your understanding.

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-8-13 23:15
Received with thanks! I managed to get the new case number via the SN, there are some points need to be clarified:
1. Upon checking the flight data, the drone had experienced 2 crashes and the data analysis was conducted based on the first crash. The performance cannot be ensured after the first crash, please kindly note and understand.
2. You can see from the below screenshot, the red line is the GPS signal quality, and the purple line represents the number of satellites. It is normal to drift when the GPS signal quality is 2, while the drone crashed between 2 and 3.

So it's the number of bars that represent signal level, while the number is merely displaying the number of satellites available?
I just shouldn't launch the drone at the spot then
I guess I was just being confident with the GPS signal at that spot as I just witnessed another drone making stable flight at the same area earlier.

Thanks Susan for your clarification.
In this scenario, is there anyway for me to purchase a full replacement unit at discounted rate?

liren Posted at 2018-8-14 00:53
So it's the number of bars that represent signal level, while the number is merely displaying the number of satellites available?
I just shouldn't launch the drone at the spot then  
I guess I was just being confident with the GPS signal at that spot as I just witnessed another drone making stable flight at the same area earlier.

It takes some time to get the GPS signal and keep the status to hover. As the case was registered under the dealer's info, we sincerely suggest you contact the dealer to ask for replacing, instead of repair, the designated team will check and proceed the further steps. If you send the unit to DJI directly, we'll not share your info with others as well. Hope for your understanding.