I have seen multiple inquiries in the forum with regard to DJ repair service especially as it relates to cost.  Yesterday, I was flying my Inspire 1 Pro from a park near my house where I routinely fly on weekends.  Southern California weather conditions were pristine with 16 sats locked and wind at 4 mph.  I had calibrated the compass and confirmed that the Home Point had been updated.  


I had never intiated a Return to Home where I did not cancel the process and complete the landing manually.   Unfortunately, this time I decided to let the RTH complete.  Long story short, the I1P descended over 100 feet from the Home Point and because of my vantage point and the angle of the Zenumuse X5 I was unable to see how close it was to a row of bushes.  It clipped the bushes and fell the final 5 feet.  One of the white shock absorbers broke and another was heavily bent on impact.  The X5 appears undamaged but the gimbal looks like it is out of alignment.  


I will call DJI tomorrow and begin the process of sending it back for repair.  I have only owed the I1P for 4 months.  However, I am pretty confidant that this will not qualify as a warranty repair.  Nonetheless, I hope that the good folks at DJI provide a reasonable estimate for the repair since I spent 5k on the I1P bundle.  Fingers crossed.

I know a lot of you will be interested in knowing how long the repair is going to take and how much it will cost and so I will share the details of my experience as it develops.  

04-04 - Quick update.  I received the quote on 04-01 and it was around $350.00 which I think is very reasonable for the extent of the damage.   I paid it immediately and I hope to have the drone back soon.  I can check the status of the repair online anytime.   
04-07 - I1P was delivered today via Fed-ex.   It's raining so I haven't had an opportunity to take it up, but visually everything looks good, the camera, gimbal, and Qaudcopter.  I attached the X5 and turned on the RC.  Everything looked good.   So short of post-op flight, I am going to say that DJI did me right, including the cost of the repairs and the turn around time.   All very much appreciated!
04-08 - I spoke too soon :-(!   I received the bird and camera yesterday.    I then attempted the upgrade for the 4/7 firmware update.   From that point on I have received a No Signal error.   I spoke with Tech support twice this morning and was disconnected as soon as the tech realized that the solution was not working.  He asked that I downgrade the firmware from the 4/7 update on the remote which I did.   Apparently, the drone has to be updated first.   Regardless,  I cannot update the bird with any firmware.  Nothing triggers the firmware update process (green/red blinking).   I assume at this point that the gimbal and camera may not have quality tested sufficiently before shipping.
04-08:  Just dropped the bird back at the Fed-ex station for delivery back to the DJI repair center in Carson, CA.   I did receive a follow up call from DJI Support which was appreciated.
Stay tuned.

I'm sorry for your accident. Hopefully you can get back in the air very soon. If you are experiencing any difficulties with customer service, please let me know.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-27 20:15
I'm sorry for your accident. Hopefully you can get back in the air very soon. If you are experiencin ...

So far so good.  Thank you.  I received my RMA number yesterday after calling Support and shipped the I1P off to the Repair Center.   More to come.  

Jablinn3,  

Where in Southern CA?  I'm in Lancaster...

Jim09 Posted at 2016-3-30 08:55
Jablinn3,  

Where in Southern CA?  I'm in Lancaster...

Canyon Country - off of Sand Canyon.

Nice...  We'll have to hook up and go fly sometime.  Any feedback from DJI on your Bird yet?

04-08 - I spoke too soon :-(!   I received the bird and camera yesterday.    I then attempted the upgrade for the 4/7 firmware update.   From that point on I have received a No Signal error.   I spoke with Tech support twice this morning and was disconnected as soon as the tech realized that the solution was not working.  He asked that I downgrade the firmware from the 4/7 update on the remote which I did.   Apparently, the drone has to be updated first.   Regardless,  I cannot update the bird with any firmware.  Nothing triggers the firmware update process (green/red blinking).   I assume at this point that the gimbal and camera may not have quality tested sufficiently before shipping.

Not happy!



04-07 - I1P was delivered today via Fed-ex.   It's raining so I haven't had an opportunity to take it up, but visually everything looks good, the camera, gimbal, and Qaudcopter.  I attached the X5 and turned on the RC.  Everything looked good.   So short of post-op flight, I am going to say that DJI did me right, including the cost of the repairs and the turn around time.   All very much appreciated!

04-04 - Quick update.  I received the quote on 04-01 and it was around $350.00 which I think is very reasonable for the extent of the damage.   I paid it immediately and I hope to have the drone back soon.  I can check the status of the repair online anytime.   


I have seen multiple inquiries in the forum with regard to DJ repair service especially as it relates to cost.  Yesterday, I was flying my Inspire 1 Pro from a park near my house where I routinely fly on weekends.  Southern California weather conditions were pristine with 16 sats locked and wind at 4 mph.  I had calibrated the compass and confirmed that the Home Point had been updated.  


I had never initiated a Return to Home where I did not cancel the process and complete the landing manually.   Unfortunately, this time I decided to let the RTH complete.  Long story short, the I1P descended over 100 feet from the Home Point and because of my vantage point and the angle of the Zenmuse X5 I was unable to see how close it was to a row of bushes.  It clipped the bushes and fell the final 5 feet.  One of the white shock absorbers broke and another was heavily bent on impact.  The X5 appears undamaged but the gimbal looks like it is out of alignment.  


I will call DJI tomorrow and begin the process of sending it back for repair.  I have only owed the I1P for 4 months.  However, I am pretty confidant that this will not qualify as a warranty repair.  Nonetheless, I hope that the good folks at DJI provide a reasonable estimate for the repair since I spent 5k on the I1P bundle.  Fingers crossed.

I know a lot of you will be interested in knowing how long the repair is going to take and how much it will cost and so I will share the details of my experience as it develops.  

04-08:  Just dropped the bird back at the Fed-ex station for delivery back to the DJI repair center in Carson, CA.   I did receive a follow up call from DJI Support which was appreciated.
Stay tuned.

That would be great if DJI with permission would upgrade your firmware  after service. Any complications after upgrades could than be addressed and resolved, Even if this is a fee  is it worth it?
I think so.  as anyone upgraded to the new 1.8 firmware hoping all went well.

Wow... sorry to hear that... hopefully DJI will pull through and get your bird turned around quickly.

Sorry for your experience. It would be better if you can provide me your RMA number and email address.

Any news on your aircraft?

I1P arrived earlier this week.   There was no indication of what work was performed from the packing slip.   However, I was able to connect to the X5 which showed that latest firmware.  I still had to update the bird and of course the batteries which don't get sent back to DJI.  

Before I sent the I1P back to DJI the second time I had tried installing the 4/7/16 v1.8.1.00 update.  That update was released the same day Fed-ex delivered the I1P back from DJI support.  The first notification I received in the DJI app was that the RC needed to be updated so I ran it and was unable to connect to the X5.  I then rolled it back, still no connection.  I loaded the .BIN file on the SD card and tried multiple times to update the bird with no luck.  The X5 was unable to bootstrap the .BIN file and initiate the firmware upgrade so there was no choice but to send it back to DJI.  

I have only taken it out once briefly since I got it back.  However, I am cautiously optimistic.  It appears to be 100% for which I am very appreciative.  DJI could have charged much more than $350 to repair it and I would have paid it considering the alternative would have been a complete loss of my 5k+ investment with accessories.   

The Firmware documentation clearly needs to be updated.   I have some additional notes on that which I will post after I review the other threads to ensure it is not redundant.