Help! I Crashed my New DJI Phantom. What do I do now?

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?

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Do I need to Register My Replacement Drone with the FAA?

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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.