So you took your new Christmas drone for a spin and it didn’t go exactly as planned? We’re not accusing you of not reading the DJI manuals or watching the “How-To” videos prior to take-off (but that may be the case). Did you fail to calibrate the GPS? Did you fly it into you neighbor’s chimney? Or did it take off and travel in an unexpected direction only to be found hours later a bit worse for wear?
It doesn’t matter now, does it? You have a broken Phantom. You have tried to fixed it on your own, fiddled and diddled, and it’s still broken. There’s no Jiffy Lube for drones down the street. So what do you do now to get your Phantom back in the air?
Do I need to Register My Replacement Drone with the FAA?
You might consider going directly to DJI as they guarantee “fast, effective, professional, and quality after-sales service”. Many would argue with DJI’s definition of “fast” with reports of customers waiting months for the return of their injured Phantoms. Regular Facebook comments to DJI posts criticize the manufacturer’s less than timely repair service. DJI provides a list of Phantom support centers. Before sending it to one of these locations for repair, call to gauge the center’s backlog and hourly rate.
Atlanta Hobby who’s labor rate is $60-$125 per hour is running 7-10 days on repairs depending on parts availability.
The best deal we were able to find was through DRONEFLY. They offer a repair service for $99 service. The fee includes all the time that the DRONEFLY techs needs to spend working on the Phantom. If parts(which are not included in the $99 charge) are needed, you will be notified in advance. Typical turn around time is 1-3 days, but this may change depending upon volume. DRONEFLY reports that 99% of the drones they receive are fixed internally without needing to be sent to DJI for evaluation. From the DRONEFLY website:
Customer pays for shipping to us, We pay for shipping back via UPS Ground! (U.S. Domestic 48) Turn Around Time: 1-3 business days. (Most Cases)
Please Note*
Gimbals and Vision Cameras are not repairable with this service. We will have to ship it to DJI for repair.
We do not fix Phantoms with water damage or flyways units. Please see Dji.com. Please do not ship us damaged lipo batteries.Our Dronefly techs are very good and can fix almost everything. In the event that we cannot make repairs, we will not charge the customer. (Minus Shipping Costs Outside the U.S. Domestic 48). We will then contact the customer and send the phantom back or send to the Dji techs in Los Angeles, California. Dronefly, Inc. cannot be held responsible for any future issues or parts that may fail. We will also not be held liable for any crashes. By purchasing this repair service, you agree to these terms. This service is for customers in the USA only. If you are sending in your phantom please include your remote controller. Once a repaired product is shipped back and received by the customer, all claims must be made within 7 days of receiving the item.
CEO DroneLife.com, DroneRacingLife.com, and CMO of Jobfordrones.com. Principle at Spalding Barker Strategies. Has enjoyed working with and around the commercial drone industry for the last 10 years. Attendance and speaker at Industry Events such as Commercial UAV, InterGeo, Interdrone and others. Proud father of two. Enjoys karate, Sherlock Holmes, and interesting things. Subscribe to all things drone at DroneLife here. Email is Harry@dronelife.com. Make Sure that you WhiteList us in your email to make sure you get our Newsletter. Editor1@dronelife.com.
I had good luck at Cloud City Drones. They sell parts as well as do repairs. I needed some hard to find Mavic items and they had them.
There in Rhode Island and a DJI authorized seller.
http://www.omniviewtech.ca
These guys are awesome. repaired my drone in under 24 Hours. rate are exceptional as well best in the market, have gotten hourly rates from all and they seem to be the best and most reasonable. spoke to their tech and they seem extremely knowledgeable
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLZsSKZ2H6nFwbmHUJMctEg
I just got back from the Phillipines and My phantom 4 suddenly lost altitiude over open water on a clear day. and descended onto the water , bounced off it , then flew back up and I was able to fly it back to shore. Some of the locals said magnetism from limestone cliffs nearby play havoc with drones there. I blew the drone off let it dry a little but on another run 2 hrs later it smoked. My dealer here in brooklyn looked at it here a week later and decided it’s toast . You can see it here https://www.instagram.com/p/BMFN9vcBjlX/?taken-by=brooklyndronesnyc . It only submerged past te camera but i guess it was enough to do considerable damage. Now I’m looking for the best solution to another drone. Is it worth anything towards a new or used trade in ? Any ideas appreciated. Batteries and props were unscathed. Also any idea why it descended on a nice day only about 50 ft from shore 25′ high ? ?
Thanks
Daniel
I was looking for a company to fix my Phantom 4. Luckily i landed on this page and found the company OmniVIew Tech. Gave them my drone they turned it around in less than 24 Hours. Hands down the best service i have revived. They also gave me some training on how to use my unit. These Guys ROCK!!
You would have to be mindless to not take your stuff to them
http://WWW.OMNIVIEWTECH.CA
I was looking for a company to fix my Phantom 4. Luckily i landed on this page and found the company OmniVIew Tech. Gave them my drone they turned it around in less than 24 Hours. Hands down the best service i have revived. They also gave me some training on how to use my unit. These Guys ROCK!!
You would have to be mindless to not take your stuff to them
If you have crashed a phantom 3 the quickest way to get back in the air might be to fix it yourself. Check this guide out, it’s not as hard as you might think http://www.dronepilotsfederation.org/phantom-3-professional-rebuild
Well, my phantom 3’s body was stuck open on the side, from a crash on grass from 3 feet, and we fixed it to only find that the body itself was bent out, and the blade hits it, I would have thought it would have cracked before a 1in bend
My JJRC H5C is acting weird. I was fixing a wire with solder and then afterwards I tried to bind it with the controller and they didn’t. Can anyone help me?
Hi,
I recently bought a Syma X8W and I am trying to fly for the first time however it seems like one of the motor is running slower then others and Remote Control is showing the signal keep flashing. Can you please help and do you know why the signal keep flashing? I have already full charged the battery and try to calibrate and re-sync few times.
The Drone wont fly due to one propeller moving slowly then others.
Thanks!
i have purchased almost all the drones DJI has released and any time i have a crashed (Which is alot) i go to company called OmniView Tech. They are great fast and Knowledgeable. the also do repairs on alot of other stuff too
http://omniviewtech.ca/pages/service-centre
Anyone know if some of these services make international repair? I’m in japan and I who are here through late, hard to find a place to fix my P3X. Please help me
In a Melbourne the place to go is Drone Doctor. Plenty of DJI expertise and parts in stock, with a 5 day turn around on most repairs.
dronedoctor.io
I recently used SkylabBoston to repair my Inspire 1 after a run in with some trees. I spoke to a guy named Justin who was Super Knowledgeable about DJI Products and was also the Technician who preformed the repairs. DJI had told me 8-10 weeks before they would get to it and that didn’t sit so well with me. I decided to hit the web in search for an alternate option and came across this post and decided to give them a go. Skylab Boston was able to take my Inspire 1 in right away, quoting me a turn around of 3-5 days for parts to arrive. 4 days later i get a call that my Inspire 1 is Complete and once again air Worthy! I couldn’t believe that in just 4 days these guys had managed to have my drone fixed and flying, Talk about service! Anyways i figured i would come back and share my experience. These guys are top notch and would recommend anyone to them who is seeking service or custom work, Honest reliable service is few and far between these days so it was quite comforting to find someone who still looks out for the customers. Thanks again for the recommendation! there website is http://www.SkylabBoston.com
Hello I just crashed my phantom 3 cracked shell bent my arm and dirt in my motor do you think there price is reasonable on fixing it
Hi guys. If you’re in the UK you get a great service from the team behind FirstPersonView.co.uk. They now run their own REPAIR service here http://www.dronedoctor.co.uk/dji-phantom-repair-services/ with good rates and quick turnaround
First person view don’t offer a great service. They could not fix a ribbon cable to the camera and quoted me 500 pounds for a repair of the plastic and a new camera! Fixing a new ribbon cable is time consuming and they said it was not cost efficient but it is one of the most common problems after a crash.
Check out SKYLABBOSTON.com they fixed my inspire 1 within 24 Hours. Great customer service !
Hello quick question was there price for fixing your drone reasonable or close to buying a new drone
I took a tumble flying a stairway and needed some help and recieved help from the http://coptershop.com/, a local DJI distributor. After replacing some rotors, a quick calibration and I was off an flying again.
I used droneshopcanada.ca for dji repairs in Canada. Thought I’d let your readers from Canada know. Keep up the great blog!
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the tip and yes, they are the best!