DJI trying to rip me off?

[Garrie]

Two months ago, when I first got my P3 Pro and started flying for the very first time in my life, I crashed my bird on the 2nd day of ownership.

Gimbal bracket broke. Sent my bird back to my hobby shop, paid $700+++ Singapore dollars and got a replacement 4K camera gimbal on the spot, and sent my broken gimbal back to DJI for repairs.

Two months later, my hobby shop, acting as the middle man, sent me the quote from DJI

"Dear Garrie,

Thank you for your email,

I’m xxx from (hobbyshop)- Repair department,
I would like to inform you regarding your repair Cost for your P3 PART 5 4K CAMERA is $818.32,
And for your info the new P3 PART 5 4K CAMERA is $765.28."

Needless to say, I'm not gonna pay for that kind of "repairs". All I had was a broken gimbal bracket, I'm sure a replacement bracket or spare part would not cost 800 bucks! DJI is clearly trying to rip me off.

Why would I spend 800 bucks for repairs when a new gimbal camera cost less?

This was an expensive lesson for me.

 

[phantomnoobpilot]

i wonder why was there even a need to send it back to DJI when you paid up front to get a replacement camera gimbal on the spot.

 

[Garrie]

i wonder why was there even a need to send it back to DJI when you paid up front to get a replacement camera gimbal on the spot.

That's because the gimbal arm was broken. As I crashed from waist height. I doubt the camera was damaged as I've heard stories of phantoms dropping from great height and have their cameras intact. I sent it back hoping that they would have a spare part for the gimbal arm. After all, it's just a metal component. If they were to quote me a price just to replace the gimbal arm, then I could get it back and keep it as a spare or sell it off to someone else.

 

[Ascend]

I don't think they're trying to rip you off. It often costs more to repair things than replace.
You asked for a quote. They gave you a quote. Obviously the decision is yours on how you want to proceed.

 

[burlbark]

Look at my avatar..... The only time I have not been able to repair them is when the main board is damaged. If your j-arm flexed the main board during the crash it will be a difficult and time consuming repair. Cost of repairs is usually under $200.

Jeremy

 

[Ascend]

There you have it. You can get your gimbal bracket fixed from Burlbark for about $200

 

[Mako79]

Did you clearly tell your middle man (hobby shop) to send back to DJI??? Or did you just say get it fixed?

If you did tell your middle man to send back, than I think your middle man is ripping you off. They may have repaired the gimbal themselves or wanted to keep as spare parts. Ask for the assessment/repair/tested notes done by DJI. If he hasn't got this, demand for your part back.