R.Perry
Well-Known Member
My apologies, we do have a tendency to get side tracked. I wish you the best of luck in the future.
First drone crash
- Thread starter MavicMapper
- Start date
My apologies, we do have a tendency to get side tracked. I wish you the best of luck in the future.
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2018
- Messages
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- Reaction score
- 19
- Age
- 34
Update on my crashed M2P. Dropped it off at Best Buy (where I bought it) on 7/8/19. Finally got the call today (43 days later) that they “repaired” it and it is ready for pickup... Except they decided to send it to the store where I dropped it off which is 150 miles away (I was working out of town when the crash occurred). So now I must wait an extra 7 days for it to arrive at my local store.
Along the way, no one at the Best Buy store or repair headquarters could give me a straight answer on the repair status or location of my drone. Very disappointed with the quality of customer service at this establishment, especially as a loyal customer!
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, I shouldn’t have bought my drone at Best Buy in the first place. You would be correct. But this is a lesson learned for me to 1) not buy expensive equipment for my business at consumer retail stores, and 2) not to buy any sort of protection plan at said retail store because it is a total sham.
Anyway, water under the ridge. I just need to get the bird back in the air so I can eliminate my backlog of work from the past month and a half.
If anyone has any ideas for tests I can perform with the drone to verify the quality of the repair, please let me know. Two motors were severely damaged and the camera/gimbal had a significant impact mark from where it hit the pavement in the crash. So I want to make sure it is right and tight before I use it for any sort of business activity.
Along the way, no one at the Best Buy store or repair headquarters could give me a straight answer on the repair status or location of my drone. Very disappointed with the quality of customer service at this establishment, especially as a loyal customer!
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, I shouldn’t have bought my drone at Best Buy in the first place. You would be correct. But this is a lesson learned for me to 1) not buy expensive equipment for my business at consumer retail stores, and 2) not to buy any sort of protection plan at said retail store because it is a total sham.
Anyway, water under the ridge. I just need to get the bird back in the air so I can eliminate my backlog of work from the past month and a half.
If anyone has any ideas for tests I can perform with the drone to verify the quality of the repair, please let me know. Two motors were severely damaged and the camera/gimbal had a significant impact mark from where it hit the pavement in the crash. So I want to make sure it is right and tight before I use it for any sort of business activity.
I was at my local Best Buy last night to inquire about their
extended warranty. $499 is just too big of a pill to for me
for a $1500 purchase. As the OP has found, they are trying
to apply their standard warranty to a very specialized
product that has virtually no support inside their system
for that product. That's their marketing department trying
to keep their jobs.
My draw to buying drones at Best Buy is the 15 day return
policy. I hope I will be able to update the firmware, test fly,
and check for focus issues within that time frame. If not,
I'll return & try again. It took me 7 days to get the firmware
updated before I could fly my Spark. I decided that morning
was the last day, but I finally got it going. Very frustrating to
get that done, but problem free & very pleasant since then.
I am a very conservative sUAS pilot and the lack of decent
support from what I have read about DJI Care Refresh &
Best Buy extended warranty means I'll just have to be extra
careful with M2P. I suppose an Enterprise will be next on my
list from DJI.
As for the earlier discussions about drone proficiency tests,
I agree and that seems to in the works. I am a Class 3 pilot with
my own home built experimental, and self taught my self on drones
with a used P34K, and then a new Spark. And I bought a second
Spark from a friend. I have dropped my first Spark once when I was
doing a sliding pan into a tree 40 feet directly over my head. No
damage incurred.
MM, I hope your M2P is GTG.
Sorry to ramble. Still working on my coffee...
extended warranty. $499 is just too big of a pill to for me
for a $1500 purchase. As the OP has found, they are trying
to apply their standard warranty to a very specialized
product that has virtually no support inside their system
for that product. That's their marketing department trying
to keep their jobs.
My draw to buying drones at Best Buy is the 15 day return
policy. I hope I will be able to update the firmware, test fly,
and check for focus issues within that time frame. If not,
I'll return & try again. It took me 7 days to get the firmware
updated before I could fly my Spark. I decided that morning
was the last day, but I finally got it going. Very frustrating to
get that done, but problem free & very pleasant since then.
I am a very conservative sUAS pilot and the lack of decent
support from what I have read about DJI Care Refresh &
Best Buy extended warranty means I'll just have to be extra
careful with M2P. I suppose an Enterprise will be next on my
list from DJI.
As for the earlier discussions about drone proficiency tests,
I agree and that seems to in the works. I am a Class 3 pilot with
my own home built experimental, and self taught my self on drones
with a used P34K, and then a new Spark. And I bought a second
Spark from a friend. I have dropped my first Spark once when I was
doing a sliding pan into a tree 40 feet directly over my head. No
damage incurred.
MM, I hope your M2P is GTG.
Sorry to ramble. Still working on my coffee...
While I hate that you've had a bad "After Sales Service" experience with Best Buy I do buy (if in a pinch) drones and drone equipment from Best Buy. I just don't buy their "Extra Service" stuff because if I need service I send it to an Authorized DJI Repair Center rather than a Big Box retailer.
As mentioned above, Best Buy's return policy is spot on and gives me some degree of comfort knowing if it's truly a defective item I'll know in under 14 days and I can return it for new or refund very easily... I've done it with other BIG ticket items there.
Hopefully you'll get your aircraft back soon and it operates flawlessly going forward.
On a side note, you really should consider having a back up unit for commercial work. Being down because you only have one aircraft could lead to lost customers/revenue. In the commercial industry 1 is NONE and 2 is ONE. Most of us have backups for our backups just in case. Ironically the only time I have needed my backup drone I was on a job with a new client but who happens to be a good friend and it was "just down the road". My Mavic had never EVER missed a lick in 3 years and I was confident this was an easy job and didn't need a backup drone. Showed up, talked a bit, and powered up the Mavic. It not focus and the camera kept "Resetting". Nothing I did (calibrate everything, reset everything, reboot everything) helped and I had to leave the job embarrassed and looking much less than a professional. Come to find out it was simply a bad SD Card ( I did NOT change the SD card at the job site... mistake #3).
As mentioned above, Best Buy's return policy is spot on and gives me some degree of comfort knowing if it's truly a defective item I'll know in under 14 days and I can return it for new or refund very easily... I've done it with other BIG ticket items there.
Hopefully you'll get your aircraft back soon and it operates flawlessly going forward.
On a side note, you really should consider having a back up unit for commercial work. Being down because you only have one aircraft could lead to lost customers/revenue. In the commercial industry 1 is NONE and 2 is ONE. Most of us have backups for our backups just in case. Ironically the only time I have needed my backup drone I was on a job with a new client but who happens to be a good friend and it was "just down the road". My Mavic had never EVER missed a lick in 3 years and I was confident this was an easy job and didn't need a backup drone. Showed up, talked a bit, and powered up the Mavic. It not focus and the camera kept "Resetting". Nothing I did (calibrate everything, reset everything, reboot everything) helped and I had to leave the job embarrassed and looking much less than a professional. Come to find out it was simply a bad SD Card ( I did NOT change the SD card at the job site... mistake #3).
R.Perry
Well-Known Member
I would bet you that Best Buy sent your drone to a DJI repair center. Why, they don't want the liability if it crashes and injures someone due to faulty repairs. There is an company by the name of LinkedAll Drones in Houston, Texas that sells DJI parts and they are a repair center, I'm told they are very good with prompt turnaround on repairs. I have bought Inspire 2 parts from them and had reasonable delivery time on each order.
As for Best Buy, I have bought photography, computer, and stereo equipment from them and they have always given me excellent service. They even sent a sound technician to my home to match speakers to my home, and what a difference it made. Like it is said, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. I wish you the best of luck.
As for Best Buy, I have bought photography, computer, and stereo equipment from them and they have always given me excellent service. They even sent a sound technician to my home to match speakers to my home, and what a difference it made. Like it is said, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. I wish you the best of luck.
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Received the drone yesterday. It appears that the repair was completed satisfactorily. I’m still yet to put it in the air (it rained yesterday when I got home and visibility was poor). Here is a list of things they repaired:
Gimbal axis arm, gimbal cover, UV filter, upper & lower cover, ESC board, front & rear Left & Right arms, battery
It looks like a brand new drone and I had to run through the whole setup process again upon turning it on. So far I am satisfied but will try it out this evening.
I am curious what coverage plan would be good for me now that my Best Buy coverage has been utilized. I was prompted during setup to buy DJI care refresh. Anyone have experience with this plan? I am open to suggestions for coverage options. I use SkyWatch.io for liability insurance and noticed they have hull coverage as well.
If anyone can chime in that would be great. I have about 36hrs left to buy the DJI care refresh plan if I decide to go that route.
Gimbal axis arm, gimbal cover, UV filter, upper & lower cover, ESC board, front & rear Left & Right arms, battery
It looks like a brand new drone and I had to run through the whole setup process again upon turning it on. So far I am satisfied but will try it out this evening.
I am curious what coverage plan would be good for me now that my Best Buy coverage has been utilized. I was prompted during setup to buy DJI care refresh. Anyone have experience with this plan? I am open to suggestions for coverage options. I use SkyWatch.io for liability insurance and noticed they have hull coverage as well.
If anyone can chime in that would be great. I have about 36hrs left to buy the DJI care refresh plan if I decide to go that route.
Ice_Man_CPRA
Member
What sort of elevation finder are you referring to? Like a range finder (golf/hunting) or something else? I think this is a great idea and would like to look into this further to see what sort of devices are out there.
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Perhaps a golf range finder would work. I just want to be able to sight an object and determine its height relative to my position. Obviously a total station would do this but I do not have that in my arsenal and something handheld would be ideal
Congratulations on your crash! Now that that is out of the way and you proved to yourself that you definitely are not an immortal aviator, you can focus on 'dat piloting thing. You have confirmed that crashing is not a matter of 'if' but a matter of 'when'.
My elevation finder is a DJI Inspire 1. I take off and fly above the obstacle and then drop altitude until I am satisfied with the height (2-3 feet higher is close enough for me).
With Best Buy's warranty plan, if they replace the drone, then a new
plan will have to be purchased to cover the drone you just received,
if you want it covered. In other words, the plan only covers one replacement.
After that, you must purchase a new plan. And I think DJI Care Refresh works
the same way. It sounds odd to me, but after thinking about it, it's not too
bad. If I total the drone with the plan, I will at least get my drone repaired,
or get a working refurb, or possibly a new drone for the $499, and save a $1k
against having to buy another M2P outright. But only for the 2 year period of
time.
I know DJI will look at the flight logs to help them determine if it was pilot
error, and if so, they will/have been known to deny a warranty repair/claim.
I haven't seen any indication that Best Buy wants to see the flight logs.
If SkyWatch.io covers hull, do you need Refresh or Best Buy's plan?
John
plan will have to be purchased to cover the drone you just received,
if you want it covered. In other words, the plan only covers one replacement.
After that, you must purchase a new plan. And I think DJI Care Refresh works
the same way. It sounds odd to me, but after thinking about it, it's not too
bad. If I total the drone with the plan, I will at least get my drone repaired,
or get a working refurb, or possibly a new drone for the $499, and save a $1k
against having to buy another M2P outright. But only for the 2 year period of
time.
I know DJI will look at the flight logs to help them determine if it was pilot
error, and if so, they will/have been known to deny a warranty repair/claim.
I haven't seen any indication that Best Buy wants to see the flight logs.
If SkyWatch.io covers hull, do you need Refresh or Best Buy's plan?
John
Do you mean Skywatch.AI?
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SkyWatch.AI - Drone Insurance | Liability & Hull Coverage
Drone Insurance by SkyWatch.AI ✅ Liability and hull ✅ Flexible annual, monthly and hourly plans ✅ Commercial liability coverage for part-107 pilots. Trusted by thousands of drone professionals. 5⭐service. Rated A Excellent by AM Best
www.skywatch.ai
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Do you mean Skywatch.AI?
SkyWatch.AI - Drone Insurance | Liability & Hull Coverage
Drone Insurance by SkyWatch.AI ✅ Liability and hull ✅ Flexible annual, monthly and hourly plans ✅ Commercial liability coverage for part-107 pilots. Trusted by thousands of drone professionals. 5⭐service. Rated A Excellent by AM Best
Yes... my mistake
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Yes that is exactly right. My Best Buy policy is considered fulfilled at this point so it no longer applied. So I’m searching for the next option. I was just curious what other people’s experiences were with the DJI or SkyWatch plans and if they are worth it (I’m a fan of SkyWatch’s liability coverage but have not used hull coverage yet.
That is interesting that they may pull the flight logs, but not surprising. Not really a concern for me as I’m not doing anything that is frowned upon. But I’m sure for an uninformed rec pilot it could be a hassle.
Red90
Well-Known Member
Tenuous connection to the thread here, but am iI reading it correctly that you guys in the US just literally need to complete an online test to qualify as a professional pilot?
Here in the UK we need to complete a 2 day ground school, write a 40+ page Operations Manual on our UAV & how we intend to fly it & then complete a 20 minute practical flying exam!
Here in the UK we need to complete a 2 day ground school, write a 40+ page Operations Manual on our UAV & how we intend to fly it & then complete a 20 minute practical flying exam!
The ONLINE test is only for Part 61 FAA (Manned aircraft) pilots who are also Current in their Pilot Certification. If you are CURRENT with your Part 61 (meaning you've met the Federal time & training requirements in the last 24 months) then you have already demonstrated your knowledge and understanding of the National Airspace System (and ALL that entails) so it's just an online test specific to sUAS rules & regulations.
If you are not a CURRENT Part 61 operator you have to take the full test, in person at a testing facility, and pay $150. Don't let that seem overly burdensome because this test is overly simplified and has absolutely ZERO physical flying demonstration of skills/techniques. You can (and many have BTW) take and pass this test with never having owned, flown, or even seen an actual sUAS what so ever. To say we've set the bar ridiculously low is an understatement but we had so many people complaining about how overly burdensome the previous allowance for sUAS was (It did require an actual Pilots License) that the FAA knee jerked and swung the pendulum 180deg.
I did buy the DJI Refresh after all. $140+ is not too
bad for $1500 investment and is a lot better than
$500. I have a few test flights on the M2P. I'm still
getting the settings configured and learning the
system. But it flies great!
John
bad for $1500 investment and is a lot better than
$500. I have a few test flights on the M2P. I'm still
getting the settings configured and learning the
system. But it flies great!
John
But many more will follow, making the process of learning to fly with an expensive camera drone a foolishly expensive one.
Learn to fly with cheap drones, ones that are affordable to replace. Once people learn how to fly and gauge distances crashes become rare events.
If we took a poll of experienced operators asking how often they crash due to operator error the frequency would likely be once, or less, every 3-5 years. I know my last crash occurred in 2016 due to an FC failure, aircraft replaced by maker. My last “at fault” crash occurred in 2014. I suspect many others in here have fewer than I.
Learn to fly with cheap drones, ones that are affordable to replace. Once people learn how to fly and gauge distances crashes become rare events.
If we took a poll of experienced operators asking how often they crash due to operator error the frequency would likely be once, or less, every 3-5 years. I know my last crash occurred in 2016 due to an FC failure, aircraft replaced by maker. My last “at fault” crash occurred in 2014. I suspect many others in here have fewer than I.
