Just an FYI to anyone gettting their drones from Ebay since it seems like most of them are shipping from South Korea. It looks like you will have to ship your drone to S Korea for repair and replacements. I was reading people saying you could enroll when you recieved the drone, but no one has actually commented on actually doing a repair.
This seems a bit unclear. Are they saying if the drone is from South Korea, meaning the region where its DJI Care is registered, that’s where repairs happen? Or am I reading this wrong? I bought a drone from South Korea and registered it with my USA DJI account like my other drones. So far, no repairs needed, but if I do, I expect it will be serviced in Texas, not South Korea. That would make more sense.
@Zaire
You’re right, the OP is a bit mixed up here.
@Zaire
Exactly. DJI Care is the only thing tied to a region. If you buy the care plan from South Korea, it’s locked there. But the drone itself is a universal product and not linked to any region until you open and register it on your account. The rep is misleading; you just need to buy DJI Care from the US store when it becomes available.
@Kingsley
When setting up the account on DJI’s site, they ask for your region, so I guess that’s how they decide.
I’m curious how they’d track that. Serial numbers aren’t regional, right?
Keller said:
I’m curious how they’d track that. Serial numbers aren’t regional, right?
They don’t track by serial number. Drones are universal with no regional ID. It’s all about where you first register it. If you buy it from Korea and register it in the US, then it’s a US drone.
@Kingsley
The OP is confused and spreading that confusion because of a support agent who likely didn’t know.
All DJI drones come from China with no regional serial numbers or way to tell where they first shipped. They become locked to a region once you open the box and register them. The rep is right about DJI Care bought in South Korea being tied there. So don’t buy DJI Care on eBay. The drone itself can come from anywhere. I bought an Air 3 from South Korea, registered it on my US account, then added DJI Care in the US with no problem. The rep’s info is misleading.
@Kingsley
I bought an Air 3 on eBay from a South Korea seller. It had a sensor error. I contacted DJI warranty, and they immediately knew I was in the US but bought it from South Korea. They told me to ship it back to South Korea for warranty service. I returned it to the seller. Seems DJI has changed and they know where it was bought now.
@Kingsley
It’s not just reps, the latest DJI Care terms say you must buy the Care Refresh and product in the same country or region. Good that it worked for you, but others have had different experiences where the coverage region got locked to the purchase region. There’s also a DJI employee who showed they can find where a drone was bought from the serial number.
@Valen
The example from that employee shows if you bought DJI Care in Hong Kong, your care service is tied there. They’re not saying the drone can’t be serviced elsewhere, just that the Care plan ties it to that region. I won’t buy DJI Care until the US store releases it. Then I’ll get it there.
@Kingsley
That person hadn’t registered any DJI Care yet though, so they were just showing DJI can track the purchase origin from the serial number, even without Care. People say US, Canada, and South Korea drones can all use the same DJI Care, but other countries are more strict.
@Valen
If you buy the drone and Care plan both from Hong Kong, the care ties it to Hong Kong. But if you buy only the drone and register it in Singapore, then it becomes a Singapore drone.
@Valen
The Care terms sound confusing, but in practice, only where you activate the drone and buy DJI Care matters. Drones sold worldwide are identical with no regional differences. For example, a drone sitting in South Korea, shipped to England, then Australia, when activated and DJI Care bought in Australia, will be treated as an Australian drone.
@Nile
I get that. I also believe DJI can tell where it was originally bought by serial number like many companies do. But you can add local DJI Care by registering the drone in that region. The TOS says DJI can refuse service if the purchase region and Care region don’t match, but probably they don’t always enforce that.
Small note, DJI Care is also available in New Zealand, not just Australia as mentioned.
Just to clear things up, the situation OP describes isn’t accurate. A new unopened drone is exactly the same no matter where it comes from. The region that matters is where you activate it and buy DJI Care. So if you buy a drone from South Korea with DJI Care already attached, you’ll have to use repair centers in Asia. But if you buy a new drone from South Korea and register it in the US, DJI Care works normally there. There’s no such thing as a ‘South Korean drone’ versus ‘American drone’ internally or software-wise.
@Nile
I bought my Air 3 from a South Korean seller on eBay and had to return it because DJI said I had to send it back to South Korea for warranty. So something has definitely changed and DJI can track it now.
@Nile
I agree. I checked with South Korean companies, local US stores, and DJI reps, and all confirmed this.