I sent my Phantom in for repair on Monday.  Here is the estimate on how long they say it will take.   This is not acceptable.  



Our estimated time of repair is 7-8 weeks from the date of check-in

Buy another and rotate them out when repair is needed.

sorry to give you more bad news 7 -8 weeks is from check-in, not from when they receive.  check-in been taking  up to 3 weeks for them to pickup you box from the floor in check-in and the set it on another pile for it to get looked at.  There are people here going pass 9 weeks with not a word from DJI.

Mine was checked in just a day or two after it showed that it was delivered.... Checked in about 7 days ago but sent about 9.... The 7-8 weeks is completely ludicrous. Why not just exchange the units and use the ones sent in that don't work as parts or something.

Seriously people stop giving dji so much shit. They make a great product for most of us. I've not had a single problem with both my p2v+ and p3a except for human error. If you calibriate the compass before every flight/new area and do the IMU calibration after every update you shouldn't have a problem.      ***ive sent mine p2 and had to wait 8 weeks and yes it sucked but did I post threads whining and bitching that I crashed it no. If you crash your car do you get a loaner until yours is done? No (rental cars don't count lol) you crashed it you must wait to get yours back, if they just sent you a new one they would end up losing so much money and have thousands just sitting around for parts they might never get used. adding my $.02

TossinHoss Posted at 2015-8-14 12:35
Mine was checked in just a day or two after it showed that it was delivered.... Checked in about 7 d ...

becasuse they would go bankrupt pretty quickly!!

Gabe R Posted at 2015-8-14 12:52
Seriously people stop giving dji so much shit. They make a great product for most of us. I've not ha ...

very well said, but you may want to rethink the "re calibrating compass every time", a lot of fly-aways and "p3 going bat shit" is due to bad compass re calibration!!!
i have recalibrated mine once when i got it and once after a fw update., i have travelled over 800 miles from a mountainous state(WV) to the beaches(FL) without any re calibration and p3 flew rock solid.
now i check mod values b4 every take off, i want to see a value between 1400 - 1600
when i go to somewhere new i put my take off platform with a line on it bearing north(using my compass to find north), i put the p3 nose exactly on that line and check on the app map to see if in fact it is bearing north. if it is then compass does not need re calibration.
I have had 150+ flights in different locations and conditions with only 2 compass re calibration.

Just some info for you and all just an opinion.

have fun everyone

Gabe R Posted at 2015-8-14 12:52
Seriously people stop giving dji so much shit. They make a great product for most of us. I've not ha ...

We wouldn't give them sh*t if they didn't lie blatantly to our faces. If they said 5 months... that is fine with me. It's the lying we could do without. Knowing their history, I quickly buy another one when I crash one, but why let them off easy when they lie? No way... not a chance.

brycerichert Posted at 2015-8-14 15:19
We wouldn't give them sh*t if they didn't lie blatantly to our faces. If they said 5 months... tha ...

It is not lying, it is called a new company growing very fast in a field where not every owner takes responsibility for their own shortcomings and blaming dji and wanting their p3 fixed for free!
Just an opinion

"You can't always get what you want."  I like that song since its so true about life.  The repair wait is tough but at least its available and will probably get better..

Compass Calibration might reduce repair time to zero.  In other words you might not crash and need repairs.

Hola rayrokni,  Thanks for the info and could you explain what you mean by, "a lot of fly-aways and "p3 going crazy" is due to bad compass re calibration!!!  

How do you do a bad compass calibration and not know it?  Do you mean pilots fail to observe the warnings of a bad compass calibration or fail to do a preflight check?   The DJI3 gives you several warnings if the calibration is done incorrectly or there is an error.  Warnings:  Aircraft Status Indicator blinks red and yellow; Dji Go will display compass error;  Check your sensors and if the mod is low recalibrate.  Also if your DJI3 drifts after takeoff something is wrong and might be time to shift to ATTI Mode and land.   

From DJI3A User Manual:
If the Aircraft Status Indicator blinks red and yellow after the calibration procedure, move your aircraft to a different location and try again.
Calibrate the compass before each flight. Launch the DJI Pilot app and follow the on-screen instructions to calibrate the compass. DO NOT calibrate the compass near metal objects such as a metal bridge, cars, scaffolding.

When to Recalibrate
1.When compass data is abnormal and the Aircraft Status Indicator is blinking green and yellow. 2.When flying in a new location or in a location that is different from the most recent flight. 3.When the mechanical or physical structure of the Phantom 3 Advanced has been changed. 4.When severe drifting occurs in flight, i.e. Phantom 3 Advanced does not fly in straight line.

How to safely operate the aircraft when encountering compass error?

A compass error may occur when the aircraft is flying close to strong electric magnetic sources (e.g. power transmission lines). Aircraft Status Indicators blink red and yellow rapidly when a compass error occurs and the DJI Pilot app will display one of the following messages:
• Compass error, calibration required
This warning message indicates the aircraft is receiving abnormal compass readings. It is recommended
to power off the aircraft and re-calibrate the compass at a different location and then resume the flight. • Compass error, exit P-GPS Mode
This warning message indicates that the aircraft is drifting severely. Bring the aircraft to a higher altitude to gain enough GPS satellite locks when this warning message is prompted. The flight controller will automatically adjust the orientation of the aircraft in the midair to mitigate the drifts. The aircraft will switch back to P-GPS mode when the automatic adjustment is completed.

Thanks and have fun flying.

rayrokni Posted at 2015-8-14 15:31
It is not lying, it is called a new company growing very fast in a field where not every owner tak ...

If they would do a little more product testing before release, the repair queue would likely be a lot shorter.  
My RC was bricked by the 1.3.2 upgrade, despite me following directions precisely and getting results files saying "success".  No FPV now - app says "disconnected" and I tried every suggestion posted here several times.  I send it to DJI and just got the email saying 7-8 weeks.
My P3A does not have the shell cracks (yet, at least).  But I wonder if they ever performed a Finite Element Analysis on the shell.  I'm a retired mechanical engineer and used FEA many times.  It would have quickly pointed out an overstress situation including whether the design was sensitive to a little too much torque on the screws.
I can't help but compare to the Windows 10 installation I did last week.  It was absolutely smooth and flawless.  Then when you consider that Windows is installed on many makes and models of computers, with an infinite variety of video cards, network cards, and other accessories the comparison is even more striking.  DJI has total control of both hardware and software.

Given the number of Phantoms that have been sold over the last year, and the number of them that have crashed (for whatever reason), I can't imagine what their repair staging must look like. They have to be overwhelmed with broken drones. Not making excuses for them, just pondering reality.

DJI should have a fast track repair service for warranty related problems, as in moved up in the queue. Operator fault type repairs (like mine,week 9 ) should take lower priority imo. At some point in the hopefully near future the queue should get caught up and the repair process should take considerably less time, we unfortunately aren't there yet!

rayrokni Posted at 2015-8-14 14:16
very well said, but you may want to rethink the "re calibrating compass every time", a lot of fly- ...

Hi Rayrokni,
Could you please post photo of your take off platform?  Also, what material did you use to make it?

psale Posted at 2015-8-14 22:25
Hi Rayrokni,
Could you please post photo of your take off platform?  Also, what material did you u ...

Its not just DJI.  crash your Horizon Hobby 350Qx2 and see how long it takes to get your product back.  

I understand the pain that one must endure being out of their product that is so precious to them, if it wasn't there would be no bitching.  DJI is expanding daily to accommodate the influx of crashed, damaged quadcopters.  I am sure at some point DJI will allow exclusive dealers the ability to handle repairs at locations across the US(world), but first everyone must get trained.  These fixes don't happen over night.  In the near future most of this will be alleviated the long waits for repairs.

Just 2 years ago this kind of aerial photography/flight was almost unheard of unless you have A LOT of cash to blow(way more than 1k), and knew how to build yourself.  I have flown GPS quadcopters now for a few years and have flown the P3P/Inspire 1 daily 3 battery each for two months and I have had zero issues.  I have sold over 374 P3's /Inspire 1's and have had 1 P3 come back for repair and that was pilot error.  I do my preflight checklist, and I check my numbers on GO app making sure no values are way out of line.

It does take time to get your equipment back, I did buy another one when mine went down due to a fly a way, and my original one is somewhere at DJI.

The P3s are ridiculously easy to fly in almost all environments and produce stunning videos,  the complexity in achieving that for a $1k product is amazing.

While I may not like the time to repair, I'm thrilled that DJI will replace or repair it.  I've never been able to return an R/C plane, boat, or helicopter.

I just saw in the DJI twitter feed they are looking for technicians for their Los Angeles facility so it sounds like they are listening and starting to hire to hopefully help with repair turnaround.

http://djiglobal.tumblr.com/post ... -repair-technicians

psale Posted at 2015-8-14 22:25
Hi Rayrokni,
Could you please post photo of your take off platform?  Also, what material did you u ...

It is just a plastic, sterilite, storage box I bought for $8 from Home Depot. Drew an arrow on it which I use to point to north using a compass or a compass app on my phone.

A couple of thoughts:  As others have said this is a company struggling to keep up with demand. The fact that they are hiring indicates that they are trying to respond but gearing up can't be done overnight.  Second lets look at this realistically, so many folks complaining seem as though they can't be without their P3.  I absolutely hate to wait - I am probably worse then most when it comes to not wanting to wait. Truth is folks for most of us this is a toy, a really really cool toy but still a toy. If it is a tool for your business then I question why you would only own one. If it is truly indispensable than shouldn't you have at least two?  All I am saying is before bitching be honest with yourself do you REALLY have to have your unit repaired tomorrow?

Gabe R Posted at 2015-8-14 12:52
Seriously people stop giving dji so much shit. They make a great product for most of us. I've not ha ...

Listen up Gabe -  Nobody gives a shit about your opinion!   I didn't crash my phantom either.  The thing is defective.    Now if you don't have anything constructive to say then STFU!

The problem is here we are talking about an almost $2000 dollar investment when you add up all the add-ons.   Not to mention possible lost revenue if you are using it to generate some.   I've had my phantom since the first week of May and have had zero issues until update 1.26 was installed.   Since then I get no video back to the remote.  I've tried every trick in the book.  I installed the latest firmware and the new app and it worked fine for the first flight so I thought it was fixed!  Then the " No Video" issue came back and I had no choice but to send it in.   Of course it took 3 days of calling to finally get a hold of someone.   So I guess based on user feedback it could be more like 9 - 10 weeks for repair.  Lovely!  

psale Posted at 2015-8-14 22:25
Hi Rayrokni,
Could you please post photo of your take off platform?  Also, what material did you u ...

I'm 6 weeks out with my drone in the Calif repair center with plenty of time on my hands. I made this calibration platform out of nylon bolts/nuts, plastic bubble level, 1/4" plastic, and a tad of crazy glue. I'm thinking of making a round one with three leveling legs next.

kriley50 Posted at 2015-8-15 10:18
The problem is here we are talking about an almost $2000 dollar investment when you add up all the a ...

Agreed.  I, too, had difficulty finding the time to actually speak to a live person at the call center; took me 2 or 3 days to get through.  I asked that my flight logs be reviewed immediately (which I supplied) prior to deciding whether or not to purchase another P3 independent of the repair process/que/etc.  NOPE!  Ship it in.  Not their policy, etc.  

Mine took a couple weeks to be checked in.  So I'm now in the 7 to 8 week wait window, finally!  

I'd prefer those making excuses for the company back it up with a substantial cash donation to a victims fund for those who actually are not at fault prior to waving their pom-poms.  

It's a great product, no doubt.  It's a lackluster support experience!!  

jimcloud74@yaho Posted at 2015-8-14 10:21
Buy another and rotate them out when repair is needed.

Thats what I have done but I have not had to send one in for repair yet.  When I do I'll order a third one.