Well about two months ago I had to ship my Inspire 1 off to the North American repair center in California because of a persistent ESC error. I was told the warrantee repairs might take from 4 to 6 weeks and indeed they have. Here is my story ...
It all began when I called the DJI support line and after a couple of minutes waiting in the queue I reached "Mike". He told me that he was now assigned to helping me get everything right as quickly and painlessly as possible. Mike was now my go-to-guy. He told me the ESC error indeed something that could have disastrous consequences if not repaired and after looking up my records, he told me to relax and that everything would be covered under warrantee including the shipping both ways.
Within an hour I received an emailed with an RMA number and complete packing instructions and forms and by the end of the day I had the whole thing signed sealed and delivered to UPS and on its way. A few days later it arrived at the service center where it was immediately entered into the work queue. I know this because they sent me a complete inventory of everything they had unpacked, a tracking number, a number in the queue (73) and a selfie of my Inspire and Mike with a big smile on a get well card.
A few days later I got another email change of address from Mike letting me know that their repair facility was being re-located and that my Inspire was being moved “to a better place” and not to worry, they were looking after it.
Well another week went by and I was beginning to wonder when an email alert pops up with a repair update. I had now moved up to queue position 45 and it looked to me like getting to the actual work done was going to take some time longer than I had hoped. At this point he told me they were going to discharge my batteries down to 30% since it is not good store them charged for longer than a few weeks. While having to wait is not fun it sure is nice to hear they are taking care of things.
Another week, and another week, and well, you get the picture. Well actually I did, each week, repair work or not, my go-to-guy sent me email status updates, my queue ranking and photos, of the service center, the repair benches, and even the stacks of other birds waiting for repairs. While this didn’t really get my Inspire back to me any faster it felt good to know that I was not alone and that someone was looking out for me.
After four weeks I got another selfie. This time of my Inspire and the technician, Matt, assigned to work on my bird. There it was sitting on his bench, hooked up to all kinds of wires and tubes as if on life support. He couldn’t tell me how much longer it would take but I was reassured that he would do his best and that soon my Inspire would be returned to me, not just fixed but better than new.
It still took another week in intensive care and tests after tests. Matt took a few minutes of video during the one of the test flights so I got to see the repair center from the air and from MY Inspire. Pretty nice digs I must say. Once the problem was fixed Matt sent me a detailed explanation of the problem and how he fixed it with a new part. In the process he discovered a little chafing on one of the landing gear wires and went ahead and replaced that too. He outlined all of the other refurbish work that he did including ensuring that all software was up-to-date.
Soon after my Inspire went to their shipping department I got another email from Mike, my go-to-guy, to confirm my return address. Apparently they have had a number of cases where the repairs took so long people had actually moved away ... imagine that! Shortly after confirmation he emailed with the last selfie of my Inspire on the shipping dock waiting for UPS pickup. The next day I got a congratulations and thanks for choosing DJI card and UPS tracking number. She's coming home at last!
And then I awoke from my dream ...
DJI this is how it could be, should be. If you want to keep your customers happy, coming back to buy more products and letting the world know what a great company you are then you have to dare to be a great company.
It all began when I called the DJI support line and after a couple of minutes waiting in the queue I reached "Mike". He told me that he was now assigned to helping me get everything right as quickly and painlessly as possible. Mike was now my go-to-guy. He told me the ESC error indeed something that could have disastrous consequences if not repaired and after looking up my records, he told me to relax and that everything would be covered under warrantee including the shipping both ways.
Within an hour I received an emailed with an RMA number and complete packing instructions and forms and by the end of the day I had the whole thing signed sealed and delivered to UPS and on its way. A few days later it arrived at the service center where it was immediately entered into the work queue. I know this because they sent me a complete inventory of everything they had unpacked, a tracking number, a number in the queue (73) and a selfie of my Inspire and Mike with a big smile on a get well card.
A few days later I got another email change of address from Mike letting me know that their repair facility was being re-located and that my Inspire was being moved “to a better place” and not to worry, they were looking after it.
Well another week went by and I was beginning to wonder when an email alert pops up with a repair update. I had now moved up to queue position 45 and it looked to me like getting to the actual work done was going to take some time longer than I had hoped. At this point he told me they were going to discharge my batteries down to 30% since it is not good store them charged for longer than a few weeks. While having to wait is not fun it sure is nice to hear they are taking care of things.
Another week, and another week, and well, you get the picture. Well actually I did, each week, repair work or not, my go-to-guy sent me email status updates, my queue ranking and photos, of the service center, the repair benches, and even the stacks of other birds waiting for repairs. While this didn’t really get my Inspire back to me any faster it felt good to know that I was not alone and that someone was looking out for me.
After four weeks I got another selfie. This time of my Inspire and the technician, Matt, assigned to work on my bird. There it was sitting on his bench, hooked up to all kinds of wires and tubes as if on life support. He couldn’t tell me how much longer it would take but I was reassured that he would do his best and that soon my Inspire would be returned to me, not just fixed but better than new.
It still took another week in intensive care and tests after tests. Matt took a few minutes of video during the one of the test flights so I got to see the repair center from the air and from MY Inspire. Pretty nice digs I must say. Once the problem was fixed Matt sent me a detailed explanation of the problem and how he fixed it with a new part. In the process he discovered a little chafing on one of the landing gear wires and went ahead and replaced that too. He outlined all of the other refurbish work that he did including ensuring that all software was up-to-date.
Soon after my Inspire went to their shipping department I got another email from Mike, my go-to-guy, to confirm my return address. Apparently they have had a number of cases where the repairs took so long people had actually moved away ... imagine that! Shortly after confirmation he emailed with the last selfie of my Inspire on the shipping dock waiting for UPS pickup. The next day I got a congratulations and thanks for choosing DJI card and UPS tracking number. She's coming home at last!
And then I awoke from my dream ...
DJI this is how it could be, should be. If you want to keep your customers happy, coming back to buy more products and letting the world know what a great company you are then you have to dare to be a great company.
