DJI Care - is it worth it?

thetechnobear · Mar 10, 2021

k, lets start out by assuming we are all flyng responsibly, and are not planning on putting our FPV is manual mode and flying it into a tree.....

but accidents do happen...

does anyone have a link to the DJI Care Refresh that is applicable to the DJI FPV ?

my understanding for the DJI FPV, its (approx) 200 euro for a year, and covers 2 replacement drone BUT you have to pay 250 per replacement.
lets say an DJI FPV on its own costs 700 euro.
so if you crash once , its cost you 200+250 = 450 euro, so you have saved 250 euro... (700 - 450)
if you crash a second time(!) , this time you save a whopping 450 (since the 200 year cover was sunk in first crash), so 700 total saving , and entire FPV !

however, I realised its not quite a simple as this....

watching youtube videos, it seems unlikely you will completely destroy the FPV... the most common damage seems to be loosing one arm. ( first arm takes most impact, perhaps)
so I wonder what the repair costs are for one arm replacement (250 euro would seem steep!)

also... if you chose instead to buy a replacement FPV...
a new FPV comes with a new battery... so that is worth 150 euro! (also some new props), so really the FPV cost is more like 450 euro!
also, unlike sending it in... you keep the broken fpv, so perhaps if you crash again - you have some spares (you just have to hope you dont break the same arm

)

of course, it might be you do much more serious damage, e.g. break a couple of arms + camera , and that 250 is going to seem very reasonable.
(I'd also like to see refresh t&c, e.g. does it cover flyaways ? ... though this seems less likely with an FPV than an mavic?)

thoughts?
did you buy it... is it worth it?

memlak · Mar 10, 2021

Not worth it.

200€ DJI refresh + 250€ cost = 450€
Add 150€ battery that comes with the new drone that's 600€.

So you save 150€. If you can sell the crashed drone for more than 150€ on Ebay or something, you are better off without DJI refresh.

thetechnobear · Mar 10, 2021

memlak said:
Not worth it.

200€ DJI refresh + 250€ cost = 450€
Add 150€ battery that comes with the new drone that's 600€.

So you save 150€. If you can sell the crashed drone for more than 150€ on Ebay or something, you are better off without DJI refresh.

yeah, thats why Ive hesitated (my drone is ordered and out with UPS) - it seems ott

frankly, I can see in a few months, a single arm from an dji fpv being worth 150 euro

---------

of course, there are two exceptions to this....
crash it a second time, and the refresh cost is already sunk, so....
i think dji care might have other benefits e.g fly away ?though I need to see dji fpv specifics !

but it does feel like they may have priced it a bit over the top....

the other possibility is, even if dji dont do spare arms - perhaps a 3rd party might, to fill the gap - might even be a niche buisness in buying up crashed dji fpv and selling spares!

venomoussvt · Mar 10, 2021

i bought it because i like insurance, but then again, i've done no other research on it and what it takes to actually get this drone repaired through it... a wise man once told me "if you're gonna fly a $1000+ drone, you're gonna crash a $1000+ drone."

I consider myself a far too docile flyer to be taken seriously in the fpv community and im ok with that. I like soaring around, I like being one with the bird and enjoying flight. I used to spend time learning freestyle stuff, but honestly, i feel more fulfilled after a flight of just cruising around and enjoying the flight. I will say that if the money doesnt seem worth it for repairing, then a better use of that $200 would be the wand controller thing. I hear its a blast actually.

thetechnobear · Mar 10, 2021

in fairness, I bought dji care for my mavic air... so im not against it really.
(didnt use it, which I view as good!)

similarly, I think im more into crusing and no acro ambitions...though easy to say before its in my hands

(if that itch is there, Im hoping DJI will release an DJI air unit v2, then will build/buy a freestyle 5", and use with the googles/controller)

my fpv should be here on monday, but unfortunately the motion controller + spare batteries, are being shipped in a later shipment, no date for that yet, hoping not too long... but the fpv is the main thing

droneguy · Mar 10, 2021

I personally think the math doesn't really add up for most people. The drone is $749USD and the DJI care refresh is $200USD +$259USD for the first incident and $279USD for the second. The first replacement basically adds up to $459USD. This is 60% of the price of the drone. Unless you completely destroy it, this is an enormous amount of money. This expensive price only makes partial sense because few parts are currently available. I know people buy it justify it in a really bad crash, but you would be better off buying a second drone and use the first for parts. What happens when you crash and break an arm? Are you going to use you DJI Care refresh for an inexpensive part like that? Once parts become more available, it will definitely not make sense anymore.

The big question that remains is how many inexperienced pilots will rush into Manual mode and crash badly enough to severely damage the drone.

A.O. · Mar 11, 2021

I'm putting it in manual the first day and go zipping into my woods!!

Phantomrain knows its true!

See my avatar? thats me when I find my first tree!

venomoussvt · Mar 11, 2021

thetechnobear said:
in fairness, I bought dji care for my mavic air... so im not against it really.
(didnt use it, which I view as good!)

similarly, I think im more into crusing and no acro ambitions...though easy to say before its in my hands
(if that itch is there, Im hoping DJI will release an DJI air unit v2, then will build/buy a freestyle 5", and use with the googles/controller)

my fpv should be here on monday, but unfortunately the motion controller + spare batteries, are being shipped in a later shipment, no date for that yet, hoping not too long... but the fpv is the main thing

im with you on the air unit v2 stuff.. I have my existing race quads, but I'd LOVE to convert a couple of them to digital now. I'l likely run the caddx version merely because of price, and because I have my transmitter for flying already, so i really only need video to my goggles.

venomoussvt · Mar 11, 2021

A.O. said:
I'm putting it in manual the first day and go zipping into my woods!! Phantomrain knows its true!

See my avatar? thats me when I find my first tree!

that sounds like a great idea..LOL

thetechnobear · Mar 13, 2021

wow... this throws the cat amongst the pigeons!

so, an arm repair is costing $108 (including shipping), turn around in a few days (excluding shipping) - thats I think much less that many were expecting.
with care refresh it would be - 199 + 269.

of course, you might have a much worst accident.... and perhaps you want a replacement drone...
but its adding weight to the idea that care refresh is not as vital as perhaps its being made out?

JoostGT3 · Mar 15, 2021

memlak said:
Not worth it.

200€ DJI refresh + 250€ cost = 450€
Add 150€ battery that comes with the new drone that's 600€.

So you save 150€. If you can sell the crashed drone for more than 150€ on Ebay or something, you are better off without DJI refresh.

This. I have had DJI Care on all my drones so far (Mavic Pro, spark, Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic Mini), and used it a couple of times. However, the cost was often about €80,- or less, and the cost if you send your drone in are lower as well. For the FPV I did the same calculation as you did: Cost of a drone replacement is €450,- vs €720,-... That is a risk I am willing to take.

Lon Denard · Mar 15, 2021

droneguy said:
I personally think the math doesn't really add up for most people. The drone is $749USD and the DJI care refresh is $200USD +$259USD for the first incident and $279USD for the second. The first replacement basically adds up to $459USD. This is 60% of the price of the drone. Unless you completely destroy it, this is an enormous amount of money. This expensive price only makes partial sense because few parts are currently available. I know people buy it justify it in a really bad crash, but you would be better off buying a second drone and use the first for parts. What happens when you crash and break an arm? Are you going to use you DJI Care refresh for an inexpensive part like that? Once parts become more available, it will definitely not make sense anymore.

The big question that remains is how many inexperienced pilots will rush into Manual mode and crash badly enough to severely damage the drone.

I can't say if it's worth it or not for anyone else but it's come in handy for me. One of the things that is often missed when discussing Care Refresh is that it's not just a replacement service. Especially, if you buy the 2 year or Care Refresh +, it's an extended warranty. Also, when you contact DJI and you have Care Refresh, you are sent to "special" customer service reps. No lie, whether it's chat or call, I get answers immediately after I contact them. It's not documented but it seems that they go out of their way for Care Refresh customers. They repaired my Crystalsky after I dropped it no charge and replaced 4, over 18 month old M2P batteries with hardly a peep. They also replaced my Mavic Pro after I crashed it into a river without recovering it. Just my experiences, of course.

After you crash with Care Refresh, you contact DJI and are presented with a choice. 1- send the drone in for evaluation and possible repair or 2- Express Replacement. Either way, they email you a shipping label to the closest DJI repair facility. If you choose option 1, they check out your drone and email you a repair estimate. You then can choose to pay the fee and have it repaired or pay the deductible and have it replaced. If you choose option 2, you pay the deductible and as soon as they get your old drone, they ship a "new" one. Shipping is covered both ways if your drone is replaced. I don't think they claim to pay shipping if you opt for repairs but they didn't charge me for shipping.

Lastly, so far this doesn't apply to the FPV drone but DJI has started including "Flyaway" coverage in Care Refresh that would cover you if you crashed into a river or any other incident where the drone was unrecoverable. There was no extra charge when they rolled it out last year for the Mavic Mini and Mavic Air 2. Pretty cool.

droneguy · Mar 15, 2021

All good points Lon! It's a good perspective. There is a huge difference when comparing DJI repair service to repairing FPV racing drones and I think depending on what side of the fence you have the most experience with, it may dictate your opinion on the subject. Personally, I stand firmly in the "fix it yourself" camp mainly because I have the skills and know how to do so, but many people may not and opt to have a complete service offering like DJI Care provides. There's no right or wrong answer. It's a personal choice for everyone to make and due to the cost, it sometimes becomes a financial deciion or prohibitive for some. I think DJI service is one of the reasons they are so successful as a business. The customer experience they provide is second to none.
If I had the budget, I'd probably buy into it, but I'm just too cheap to pay anyone to fix my stuff! LOL!

Lon Denard · Mar 16, 2021

droneguy said:
All good points Lon! It's a good perspective. There is a huge difference when comparing DJI repair service to repairing FPV racing drones and I think depending on what side of the fence you have the most experience with, it may dictate your opinion on the subject. Personally, I stand firmly in the "fix it yourself" camp mainly because I have the skills and know how to do so, but many people may not and opt to have a complete service offering like DJI Care provides. There's no right or wrong answer. It's a personal choice for everyone to make and due to the cost, it sometimes becomes a financial deciion or prohibitive for some. I think DJI service is one of the reasons they are so successful as a business. The customer experience they provide is second to none.
If I had the budget, I'd probably buy into it, but I'm just too cheap to pay anyone to fix my stuff! LOL!

Thanks. I started flying drones back when it was all DIY... the Parrot AR Drone 1.0 was a REVELATION! Later tinkering with the 3DR Solo, etc... I guess I'm just over spending hours on the bench just to fly for a few minutes, you know? At this point, I have a half dozen drones I typically fly, if I break one, I'll send it out and fly another. To some building/ repairing is part of the hobby, maybe even the best part, but I don't work on cars, motorcycles or drones anymore. I just want to drive, ride and fly. Hahaha!

It's what I keep trying to tell "real fpv" guys that are complaining about this drone's repairability or whatever. This drone wasn't designed for you, it was designed for guys like me.

thetechnobear · Mar 16, 2021

after a lot of to and fro, I decided to get the care refresh.

I think in a few months, it will be a little easier to decide if non-dji repair (diy or 3rd party) is easy enough of not.
but at the moment, there's a lack of parts and its too early to see crashed drones for sale..
so for now Ive gone the 'easy' route, for 1 year - I think in 6 months we wll have a much better idea of options.

Im with @Lon Denard , primarily at this stage my interest is just flying (and the video side) , Ive got the skill to build/repair, but its really not that interesting to me (at the moment) , so really the dji fpv (and dji services) is a good match.
perhaps, I'll get more into the whole fpv race/acro side, then I'll go look at whats available (and I suspect might build from a kit)

btw: Im not sure flyaway is covered on the fpv.. it seems to say only mini/air

Lon Denard · Mar 16, 2021

thetechnobear said:
after a lot of to and fro, I decided to get the care refresh.

I think in a few months, it will be a little easier to decide if non-dji repair (diy or 3rd party) is easy enough of not.
but at the moment, there's a lack of parts and its too early to see crashed drones for sale..
so for now Ive gone the 'easy' route, for 1 year - I think in 6 months we wll have a much better idea of options.

Im with @Lon Denard , primarily at this stage my interest is just flying (and the video side) , Ive got the skill to build/repair, but its really not that interesting to me (at the moment) , so really the dji fpv (and dji services) is a good match.
perhaps, I'll get more into the whole fpv race/acro side, then I'll go look at whats available (and I suspect might build from a kit)

btw: Im not sure flyaway is covered on the fpv.. it seems to say only mini/air

Yea its an expense but time is money as well. BTW I mentioned that Fly Away insurance doesn't pertain to this drone.

TxArch DroneGuy · Mar 21, 2021

droneguy said:
I personally think the math doesn't really add up for most people. The drone is $749USD and the DJI care refresh is $200USD +$259USD for the first incident and $279USD for the second. The first replacement basically adds up to $459USD. This is 60% of the price of the drone. Unless you completely destroy it, this is an enormous amount of money. This expensive price only makes partial sense because few parts are currently available. I know people buy it justify it in a really bad crash, but you would be better off buying a second drone and use the first for parts. What happens when you crash and break an arm? Are you going to use you DJI Care refresh for an inexpensive part like that? Once parts become more available, it will definitely not make sense anymore.

The big question that remains is how many inexperienced pilots will rush into Manual mode and crash badly enough to severely damage the drone.

Agreed, Drone Guy