We had a Phantom 3 flyaway / complete failure over a week ago (Sept 9th).
I keep emailing support.eu@dji.com but they are absolutely useless. In fact, I've just received a reply telling me to email the SAME address I emailed!!

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support

I do apologize for the inconvenience you have been faced right now, with regards to that concern, could you please send this attachment here on the email; support.eu@dji.com, so that they could handle your concern better.

For further questions, please dont hesitate to email us back, Thanks

Thank you for Choosing DJI

Best Regards,

Kevin


Is there a phone number for DJI Europe? I am seriously unimpressed by their inept customer support.

Hello sir, really sorry for your unpleasant experience, may I have your ticket number or your e-mail address? I'll help you look into this case.
BTW, you could contact local support through online service：Monday to Friday, 11:00AM-5:00PM (Netherlands Time UTC/GMT +1), here is the link: http://www.dji.com/support/product

DJI Natalia Posted at 2016-9-21 03:58
Hello sir, really sorry for your unpleasant experience, may I have your ticket number or your e-mail ...

Here are the ticket numbers:
First one: 285866
Second one: 292989
Still waiting for a response that is not ask me to email the same address again (support.eu@dji.com)...

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-21 22:27
Here are the ticket numbers:
First one: 285866
Second one: 292989

We will help to bring this to the attention of our support team. Thanks for you feedback.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2016-9-22 03:59
We will help to bring this to the attention of our support team. Thanks for you feedback.

Thank you. I am still waiting for a reply...

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-24 19:58
Thank you. I am still waiting for a reply...

Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Have you received a reply recently?

DJI Mindy Posted at 2016-9-26 05:15
Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Have you received a reply recently?

I have just received a reply, stating that the battery temperature was too low and therefore it is pilot error... which I find very hard to believe. I think the real cause is this: http://forum.dji.com/thread-55331-1-1.html "Fixed the Intelligent Flight Battery to prevent automatic restarting in cold environments."

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-26 20:27
I have just received a reply, stating that the battery temperature was too low and therefore it is ...

Just to clarify, what kind of temperatures were you flying in? If you responded to them just recently, then you should get a response with further clarification on their results shortly.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-9-26 23:21
Just to clarify, what kind of temperatures were you flying in? If you responded to them just recen ...

It was at the summit of Mont Blanc - 4810m altitude. A project which had taken us a year to organise! Below the 6000m limit that DJI has on the Phantom 3 specs (http://www.dji.com/phantom-3-pro/info) and the temperature was above freezing (1-2 degrees), which again is within the limits of the Phantom 3 specs.

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-27 11:26
It was at the summit of Mont Blanc - 4810m altitude. A project which had taken us a year to organi ...

Quick update: DJI have confirmed that the battery temperature was 6 degrees, which is well within the limits of the Phantom 3. How can DJI treat their loyal customers like this?

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-27 12:13
Quick update: DJI have confirmed that the battery temperature was 6 degrees, which is well within  ...

DJI are saying that 6 degrees is not within the battery specs, which they then went on to list as -10 to 40... unbelievable! Are they confusing Celsius with Fahrenheit?!

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-29 18:18
DJI are saying that 6 degrees is not within the battery specs, which they then went on to list as  ...

The spec that is provided on the DJI Website is the threshold for the battery to turn on at all. Regarding the firmware, 1.9.6 has been out for 3 months, and we do recommend that customers use the latest firmware available. Via the downloads section of the Phantom 3 Pro page, choosing to not use the latest firmware that has been provided is at your sole risk and that DJI is not liable for any damage to the craft because of that action.

Regardless of firmware, once you armed the motors, you were given a warning that the battery temperature was below 15° C and was told to allow the battery to warm up to at least 25° C before you continue to fly. This message was ignored, which unfortunately means that the consequences could not be covered under the warranty. The battery barely warmed to 13° C when the flight log ended.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-9-29 18:28
The spec that is provided on the DJI Website is the threshold for the battery to turn on at all. R ...

Jamie, you are missing the point! The drone battery failed at 6 degrees C (43 F)... and your excuse is a recent firmware update? The Phantom 3 has been out for 17 months, and a firmware released 3 months ago is too little too late I'm afraid - there will be plenty of pilots flying this winter without updating. Are you saying that their warranty is now also void?

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-30 02:50
Jamie, you are missing the point! The drone battery failed at 6 degrees C (43 F)... and your excus ...

In your case, a firmware update is not the "excuse" for why you are being denied warranty. With that said however, it does not help your case. The larger reason as to why you are being denied warranty is because you chose to ignore the temperature warning from the Go app and did not allow the battery to properly warm up to the minimum temperature to safely operate the aircraft. Should you had allowed the battery to warm up as instructed and the issue still occurred, then the consideration for warranty would be more plausible.

The specs on our website indicate that the operating temperature is -10 degrees to 40 degrees.
Battery needs to be warmed up before flight. And the app only can detect the temperature of the battery's surface.
The battery must warn up the battery cells and the app also have you a warning, which you ignored.
Please refer to the screenshots of your flight records.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2016-9-30 04:21
The specs on our website indicate that the operating temperature is -10 degrees to 40 degrees.
Batt ...

That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why advertise an operating temperature of -10 to 40 degrees, if the aircraft will drop out of the sky at 14 degrees?

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-9-30 17:17
That doesn't make a lot of sense. Why advertise an operating temperature of -10 to 40 degrees, if the aircraft will drop out of the sky at 14 degrees?

DJI Mindy - can you reply to my question please?

DroneAlps Posted at 2016-12-17 01:31
DJI Mindy - can you reply to my question please?

The drone can operate at 10-40 degrees because it can warm the battery to a safe operating temperature before flight.

How can you not understand this?

If your car flashes "break failure"  warning when you start it up ... will you drive it ?  Actually you probably would drive it straight into a wall.... then complain that the car specs clearly stated it could break.

These DJI moderators amaze me.... i mean how do they do it ? how do they put up with thread after thread of rude people who not only wont except responsibility for their own actions ... but they get angry as well.

z4k4tt4ck Posted at 2016-12-16 18:07
The drone can operate at 10-40 degrees because it can warm the battery to a safe operating temperature before flight.

How can you not understand this?

What is a "safe operating temperature"? It would be between 5℃ and 35℃ right?

"It uses the battery's power to raise the battery temperature to the optimal operating range: 41℉ to 95℉ (5℃ to 35℃)"
From http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-battery-heater

My drone dropped out of the sky when the battery temperature was 14℃, how can you not understand this?

WARNING BATTERY LEVEL BELLOW 15 WARM BATTERY TO ABOVE 25 BEFORE FLYING

Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp

Sorry to hear about the loss of your Phantom 3 DroneAlps.
With battery operating temperature being so critical, I'm somewhat surprised the drone would allow take off before this had been met.
Sure, it could be frustrating having to wait for warm-up when necessary, but a "Not Safe to Fly - Yet" which can't be ignored or bypassed,
would be much better than a total loss.
Judging from the temperature in the posted log images, another minute or so warming up would have probably seen you through.
Not having much experience cold weather flying, I'm not sure if the battery warms more quickly on the ground or whilst in flight.
So, perhaps there is a reason why take-off is not restricted in such a way.
Still, a horrible loss in an unforgiving environment. I imagine a loss to us all, as we don't get to see the breathtaking scenery you would have taken.

Floating_Glass Posted at 2016-12-17 12:01
Sorry to hear about the loss of your Phantom 3 DroneAlps.
With battery operating temperature being so critical, I'm somewhat surprised the drone would allow take off before this had been met.
Sure, it could be frustrating having to wait for warm-up when necessary, but a "Not Safe to Fly - Yet" which can't be ignored or bypassed,

Interestingly the new firmware does not allow you to fly if the battery is below 15 degrees... so DJI knows there is a serious problem with their batteries.

We managed to fly 1 battery (and swap memory cards) before it crashed, so you can have a look at the scenery briefly here:

DJI Mindy Posted at 2016-9-30 03:21
The specs on our website indicate that the operating temperature is -10 degrees to 40 degrees.
Battery needs to be warmed up before flight. And the app only can detect the temperature of the battery's surface.
The battery must warn up the battery cells and the app also have you a warning, which you ignored.

Hi Mindy,

Can you send me this flight log please? john@dronealps.com

Thanks!