It saddens me that I have to write this but I have experienced the worst customer service by DJI. It all started with my new DJI phantom 4 pro that malfunctioned and ended up slicing multiple fingers on my hand.

  

  

I am a long time RC user and DJI enthusiast with multiple aircraft ranging from the mavic to the inspire, I have had over 200 successful flights and loved the aircraft that DJI produce. That was until my new Phantom 4 Pro I purchased was faulty – buyers beware.

  

  

It was Valentines day, 2017 (Feb 14th) at 18:18:56. It was a perfect day with great weather. The sun was setting soon so I decided to use my drone to take some pictures of the beach and sunset. I was on a boat that had been beached on a sand bar just off the Key (refer to pictures for satellite image). There was no wind and we were in a for a great sunset. I have flown in this same area, taking off from the same position many times prior.

  

  

After powering on my drone, I connected to 15 GPS satellites (p-mode), I had 100% battery, return to home point set (200m RTH height). The aircraft had full remote signal strength. The flying condition were great – no wind, no rain, no clouds. Once all pre-flight operations were satisfied, I started the aircraft motors, everything was fine. This is where the aircraft malfunctions. Usually I push throttle up on the joysticks and the aircraft would gain altitude but not this aircraft, it had no response to gaining altitude, instead the aircraft flipped over onto itself, upside down with the motors still running – a complete malfunction that was not a pilot command. I pushed the throttle down in order to stop/slow the motors but it was still spinning around upside down so I went to grab in order for it to not fall into the ocean. As I grabbed the aircraft, the blades sliced through my left fingers and landed upside down in the shore. I immediately jumped overboard to recover the aircraft and power it down.

  

  

[See attached screenshot provided by DJI to see controller inputs]

  

  

I immediately went home and spoke to a DJI rep explaining what happens, he opened a case for me and told me to ship my DJI Phantom 4 Pro back to the factory in order to replace it under warranty. I sent the aircraft off the next day when the UPS store opened.

  

  

The next week I received an email from DJI with a $1,200 invoice stating “User throttled down causing the Phantom 4 to dive into the water.” This is very wrong because the aircraft was upside down crashing into the deck of the boat. I printed out an explanation and put it inside of the box so the technician could read it but they obviously didn’t.

  

  

I hopped back onto the DJI chat and told them I wanted to speak to a manager so they can read the explanation of what happened. This person “escalated” my claim and I got a response the next day saying

  

  

“I attached a screenshot from the flight data analysis. It's showing the left stick pushed down while 0.1 meters above water. There's nothing indicating it being upside down. Not saying it isn't possible, but there's no known defect or malfunction that flips these aircrafts. It would need to be influenced by strong wind or an impact, something of that nature. If the craft did flip from some defect, this would still be a non-warranty repair, as the manual advises flight away from bodies of water. Users can of course fly wherever they like if it's not a no fly zone, but it's at the user's own discretion.”

  

  

  

The person that sent the email did not send any attachments with the email so I responded stating:

  

  

“I have a few issues here:

  

  

(1) Nothing is attached to the email you sent (you stated there is a screenshot of the flight data analysis)

  

  

(2) I am very familiar with reading flight logs and have read my flight logs. If you read them, you will notice that I never touched the "left stick" I only used the right stick, as I am in mode 1 which the right stick controls my throttle.

  

  

(3) Reading my flight logs, it shows that I pushed the right stick up which should increase the altitude of my aircraft - this is the issue, the drone did not take off with an increase in altitude, instead it flipped backwards and was UPSIDE DOWN.

  

  

(4) Since the aircraft was "upside down" this is the reason why I pushed down on the right stick (throttle down) which if you look at your original invoice statement, the reasoning states "User throttled down causing the Phantom 4 to dive into the water." this is very inaccurate as the phantom 4 was not over water, it was upside down from the malfunctioning throttle up. I pushed the throttle down when the aircraft was upside down in order to stop the motors and stop the aircraft from falling off into the water. “

  

  

After sending this email that included a few other bullet points, I did not receive a response for a week so I decided to chat again with a DJI rep. The next day I received a picture of the screenshot showing my flight log [see attached].

  

  

In the log you will see the description of what the DJI technicians believe:

  

“customer pushed throttle down while only 0.1 from the surface. Customer dive the drone into the water by himself. No warranty”

  

  

Again, this is SUPER INACCURATE, it is completely wrong! The drone crashed on the deck of the boat first before going into the water. I could go on and on about everything that is wrong with this, but I believe the technicians did not even read the scenario of what actually happened.

  

  

Also in the flight log screenshot, you will see the technician circled my left joystick which correlates to nothing?

They blame me for not read the manual and flying around water - well if the phantom 4 pro did not malfunction and crash, then it would not have fell into the water after being upside down with its motors running.

They also state that there is no known defect with the p4p flipping over. Of course there is no known defect or they would all be recalled - this is an isolated case where my specific drone malfunctioned.

  

  

I am very upset with the way DJI is handling my case – their technicians are very incorrect in their assessment, not even close to what actually happened. Now they want me to pay $1200 on a new phantom 4 pro when I just purchased my brand new phantom 4 pro very recently and sent $1,500 to DJI but they sent me a malfunctioning drone.

  

  

This phantom 4 pro malfunction was caused by a defective unit and not a pilot error.

I want to warn others  that the phantom 4 pro still malfunctions and DJI will try and charge you $1,200 when it does malfunction - buyers beware.

  

  

  

  

Here is my case # : CAS-458559-F8Y2Y6

I have sent an request to designated team for further diagnosis.In order to follow up your case, may I change the tittle into Data analysis dispute?

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-3-14 22:09
I have sent an request to designated team for further diagnosis.In order to follow up your case, may I change the tittle into Data analysis dispute?

Mindy,

Thank you for your fast response.

I am open to changing the title as long as the DJI technician treats my case properly. As of right now, my title "DJI WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH PHANTOM 4 PRO" is true and should not be changed. I am willing to change once I receive a positive customer service. Thank you.

fans523ecfdf Posted at 2017-3-14 22:49
Mindy,

Thank you for your fast response.

I have confirmed with our engineers.
You were flying with your stick mode set to mode 1. Please refer to the screenshot.
You pushed the right stick up (throttle) and the aircraft ascended 0.1m.
At the same time, the right stick (Roll) was pushed to the right when the aircraft was almost at ground level (presumably your boat). It flipped and crashed after that. We cannot attest as to why your drone flipped backwards, but this flight data indicates that sizeable stick inputs were made at a very low altitude, leading us to conclude that the stick inputs caused the accident.
  
Flying DJI drones on a boat can be risky.
We have determined the cause of your crash to be pilot error. Sorry about your crash.

The insidious "pilot error".

Looks like an open and shut case, I would get drone back buy a new one without RC and keep other one for spares.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-3-14 23:46
I have confirmed with our engineers.
You were flying with your stick mode set to mode 1. Please refer to the screenshot. [view_image]
You pushed the right stick up (throttle) and the aircraft ascended 0.1m.

DJI Mindy,

Thank you for your detailed response.

I have two MAJOR issues with your findings:

#1- The original finding by your engineers was, and I quote, “customer pushed throttle down while only 0.1 from the surface. Customer dive the drone into the water by himself. No warranty”. Why did you provide that finding when your new response is completely different?

#2- When taking off the drone flipped BACKWARD AND TO THE LEFT. If you look at my inputs to the controller that you posted, you will see that my inputs on my controller at up to increase my altitude and to the right – why did the drone malfunction and flip over backwards and to the left?

From changing your stance completely on your original “findings” and still continuing to make up another “pilot error” scenario – this is why I believe I have not had positive DJI technician service.

All I want is for the drone to be repaired or replaced with a refurbished unit. The drone was faulty and malfunctioned, this is not by pilot error.

I am not saying that my experience is exactly as yours, however, I had a similar experience, almost exactly the same happen to me and my Phantom 4 while flying on the open ocean.  At almost the exact moment I gave it throttle, starting from a launch pad on the bow of the boat, a gust of wind (strong breeze) came over the bow and combined with the initial rocking of the lift off caused the drone to tilt back at enough angle the rear props hit the pad and tipped over backwards.  It landed on its back and I was quick to shut down the engines  and was lucky it got caught between the gunnels of the boat rather than going off into the ocean.  It spun with enough force to grind the props tops down to almost the top of the motor in the seconds it was spinning on its back.  Lesson learned... always hand launch and/or launch from the stern.  Even when calm, the ocean can surprise you with a sudden blow or wave you just didn't anticipate.

Out of curiosity, why do you fly in mode 1?

Have one question for you, what is your boat made of? Is it any kind of metal or wood or fibreglass?

My worst nightmare

fans523ecfdf Posted at 2017-3-15 20:03
All I want is for the drone to be repaired or replaced with a refurbished unit. The drone was faulty and malfunctioned, this is not by pilot error.

If it fell in the sea then there are going to be a lot of faults that now need repairing, all the electronics will need to be replaced!  It is going to be very hard to identify which fault DJI is responsible for among all the others that you or your insurance are responsible for, and by the time the rest have been fixed it will probably be working anyway.  

Seems sensible to get it fixed, then do a test flight on land, and then if there is still a fault with take off then you can demonstrate it properly, collect some good log data and get DJI to fix it under warrantee.

BengalBoy Posted at 2017-3-15 21:25
I am not saying that my experience is exactly as yours, however, I had a similar experience, almost exactly the same happen to me and my Phantom 4 while flying on the open ocean.  At almost the exact moment I gave it throttle, starting from a launch pad on the bow of the boat, a gust of wind (strong breeze) came over the bow and combined with the initial rocking of the lift off caused the drone to tilt back at enough angle the rear props hit the pad and tipped over backwards.  It landed on its back and I was quick to shut down the engines  and was lucky it got caught between the gunnels of the boat rather than going off into the ocean.  It spun with enough force to grind the props tops down to almost the top of the motor in the seconds it was spinning on its back.  Lesson learned... always hand launch and/or launch from the stern.  Even when calm, the ocean can surprise you with a sudden blow or wave you just didn't anticipate.

This has happened to me on dry land with no ocean for thousands of miles and when the original poster described what happened this was the first thing that came to mind. These birds are very difficult to get upside down but one seemingly light gust of wind just at lift off is easily enough to flip it over on it's lid. I've personally experienced this.
Sorry this happened to you OP.(Not saying it was due to a wind flip because I wasn't there.)
I still don't understand why in the screen shot it shows 100% stick up when the aircraft is that close to the ground. Seems reckless to "floor it" that close to the,,, water. Smooth steady inputs seem paramount until the bird is well up in the air.
I hope everything works out for you.

SPIKE_151 Posted at 2017-3-16 07:04
Have one question for you, what is your boat made of? Is it any kind of metal or wood or fibreglass?

Fibreglass, it is a 34' Sea ray Sundancer

P4P+ Posted at 2017-3-15 21:34
Out of curiosity, why do you fly in mode 1?

Mode 1 is what I am used to in other configurations (right stick to throttle)

E.T._Drone_Home Posted at 2017-3-16 18:45
This has happened to me on dry land with no ocean for thousands of miles and when the original poster described what happened this was the first thing that came to mind. These birds are very difficult to get upside down but one seemingly light gust of wind just at lift off is easily enough to flip it over on it's lid. I've personally experienced this.
Sorry this happened to you OP.(Not saying it was due to a wind flip because I wasn't there.)
I still don't understand why in the screen shot it shows 100% stick up when the aircraft is that close to the ground. Seems reckless to "floor it" that close to the,,, water. Smooth steady inputs seem paramount until the bird is well up in the air.

Thank you for your response.

In order to get the aircraft off the ground, I had to throttle up all the way - initially the aircraft had zero response to my inputs which is why it flipped over because it malfunctioned.

I have flew many times in the same situation and scenario, nothing has ever caused my aircrafts to fall over backwards unless it is malfunctioning (electric or mechanic)

What gets me is how DJI original response was completely different from what they said later on.. I wonder how many cases people have just believed DJI and DJI has got away with it. In my case the drone malfunctioned and was not pilot error after there different claims they keep coming up with.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2017-3-14 23:46
I have confirmed with our engineers.
You were flying with your stick mode set to mode 1. Please refer to the screenshot. [view_image]
You pushed the right stick up (throttle) and the aircraft ascended 0.1m.

DJI Mindy did you get this?

Thank you for your detailed response.

I have two MAJOR issues with your findings:

#1- The original finding by your engineers was, and I quote, “customer pushed throttle down while only 0.1 from the surface. Customer dive the drone into the water by himself. No warranty”. Why did you provide that finding when your new response is completely different?

#2- When taking off the drone flipped BACKWARD AND TO THE LEFT. If you look at my inputs to the controller that you posted, you will see that my inputs on my controller at up to increase my altitude and to the right – why did the drone malfunction and flip over backwards and to the left?

From changing your stance completely on your original “findings” and still continuing to make up another “pilot error” scenario – this is why I believe I have not had positive DJI technician service.

All I want is for the drone to be repaired or replaced with a refurbished unit. The drone was faulty and malfunctioned, this is not by pilot error.

I'm sorry to disagree I'm new to the P4P, but have flown "dumb" drone for years.  

I do full power up for about 2m that way you are out ground effect and less chance for wind interference.

GreenHornet55 Posted at 2017-3-16 19:31
I'm sorry to disagree I'm new to the P4P, but have flown "dumb" drone for years.  

I do full power up for about 2m that way you are out ground effect and less chance for wind interference.

Exactly! This is why I do throttle up 100%. Sad that my Phantom 4 Pro malfunctioned. Be careful.

I am sorry for you loss, but it is part of this hobby. Buy a new one and you'll forget it soon.
Could the P4P legs have hit something while flying up and to the right?
I have had crash with a earlier phantom that was not on a horizontal surface. It tumbled and became very aggressive. While rotating on the ground I had to pull the battery to stop the props.

fans523ecfdf Posted at 2017-3-16 19:28
DJI Mindy did you get this?

Thank you for your detailed response.

Sorry for my late reply.
#1 - We sincerely apologize for the first inaccurate analysis results.
We have reviewed your case and find a different answer, but still found the cause to be pilot error. Anyone with questions about data analysis is welcomed to ask us to review or clarify our data analysis results.
#2 - When a drone is hovering very close to the ground, the airflow might change and possibly result in a Vortex Ring State, which otherwise won't happen to DJI drones. This might result in the drone vibrating or flying uncontrollably.
We are sorry for your crash.