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"We can confirm that it's not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered under warranty."

Ninjaron

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"We can confirm that it's not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered under warranty." Says GoPro.

Two weeks ago, like any usual sunny day, my Karma took off in a wide open space. When I saw the low battery signal I immediately press the return button. I saw my drone coming back at a fairly high alititude so I tried to descend it but it wouldn't respond. Instead, it just went straight ahead into a branch and got stuck. Few seconds later it smashed to the ground. The Karma, stabilizer, and even the camera were all total loss.

I emailed GoPro with all the information I could provide including flight logs and pictures. And all I get is "Not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered?"

What do you guys think? What else can I do other than replacing all the parts on my own, which is probably the same price as getting a new one.

Ron
 
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What do you guys think?

I'd need more information.

So you pressed RTH, and as the drone was coming back it flew into a tree, then fell to the ground?

Did it overfly the landing zone, or did it run into something on the way back?

Did you return-to-home, or return-to-controller?
 
"We can confirm that it's not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered under warranty." Says GoPro.

Two weeks ago, like any usual sunny day, my Karma took off in a wide open space. When I saw the low battery signal I immediately press the return button. I saw my drone coming back at a fairly high alititude so I tried to descend it but it wouldn't respond. Instead, it just went straight ahead into a branch and got stuck. Few seconds later it smashed to the ground. The Karma, stabilizer, and even the camera were all total loss.

I emailed GoPro with all the information I could provide including flight logs and pictures. And all I get is "Not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered?"

What do you guys think? What else can I do other than replacing all the parts on my own, which is probably the same price as getting a new one.

Ron

Good Morning,

There is a whole thread that sounds exactly like your issue. I would suggest posting there. NO GPS

It sounds to me it lost GPS signal, sometimes it seems to lose GPS. It tries to regain connection before informing you GPS is lost. Technically GoPro says "if GPS is lost it takes manual control and crashes due to GPS loss are not a manufacturing defect".

Essentially without GPS, it has no idea what to do other than manual control. And when it's on a "return home path" it seems to be very stubborn to respond to your commands. This being said I don't agree with GoPro, GPS loss is not their fault but crash due to people not being aware of the problems and improper training without GPS is entirely their doing.

All that being said, get their accidental coverage plan. And speak with a customer service manager. Point them to the thread above that you're not the only one frustrated. You can purchase the coverage plan up to 60 days after initial purchase of the drone. Additionally, in a situation like this where they didn't properly train and inform their customers on GPS risks, they should still offer you the accidental coverage plan even if you purchased the drone more than 60 days ago.
 
"We can confirm that it's not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered under warranty." Says GoPro.

Two weeks ago, like any usual sunny day, my Karma took off in a wide open space. When I saw the low battery signal I immediately press the return button. I saw my drone coming back at a fairly high alititude so I tried to descend it but it wouldn't respond. Instead, it just went straight ahead into a branch and got stuck. Few seconds later it smashed to the ground. The Karma, stabilizer, and even the camera were all total loss.

I emailed GoPro with all the information I could provide including flight logs and pictures. And all I get is "Not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered?"

What do you guys think? What else can I do other than replacing all the parts on my own, which is probably the same price as getting a new one.

Ron
If you're going to spend more money I'd switch to DJI, this kind of incident with the Karma drone is becoming all to common.... This forum is full of fly away Karmas.... I'd still persist with trying to get a replacement though, you never know...
 
If you're going to spend more money I'd switch to DJI, this kind of incident with the Karma drone is becoming all to common.... This forum is full of fly away Karmas.... I'd still persist with trying to get a replacement though, you never know...

This is something Karma can fix through programming though. GPS loss will happen with any drone, happens to the NAV in my car. All the same technology. The difference between Karma and DJI is how Karma reacts to GPS loss. That being said there are some things Karma can do to fix this through software updates. Also, future Karma models will have better features for self-guidance (w/o GPS) and obstacle avoidance (non-existent on the karma currently). I believe Karma is a better concept and a better value than other drones, the technology in the drone itself though is lacking.

I think for new drone buyers they need to do a value check list.

1. Do I already have a gimbal?
2. Do I already have a go pro?
3. Do I have a reliable phone/tablet?

If you answer yes to all 3 of the above the DO NOT buy the Karma. Even if one of the above options is a no though the allure of Karma becomes very strong. Take the drone out of the equation you still get $700 worth of amazing gear. Also, the Karma Drone is modular, eventually the Karma will be replaced with a newer model and I would be willing to bet money it will support the gimbal and go pro you already have. So then you would only be replacing a $500 drone body rather than $1100 or more for the whole drone.
 
I'd need more information.

So you pressed RTH, and as the drone was coming back it flew into a tree, then fell to the ground?

Did it overfly the landing zone, or did it run into something on the way back?

Did you return-to-home, or return-to-controller?

Exactly, I pressed return-to-controller, seconds after I saw the drone flew into the tree on the way back, then fell to the ground. It didn't even reach the landing zone yet.
 
Good Morning,

There is a whole thread that sounds exactly like your issue. I would suggest posting there. NO GPS

It sounds to me it lost GPS signal, sometimes it seems to lose GPS. It tries to regain connection before informing you GPS is lost. Technically GoPro says "if GPS is lost it takes manual control and crashes due to GPS loss are not a manufacturing defect".

Essentially without GPS, it has no idea what to do other than manual control. And when it's on a "return home path" it seems to be very stubborn to respond to your commands. This being said I don't agree with GoPro, GPS loss is not their fault but crash due to people not being aware of the problems and improper training without GPS is entirely their doing.

All that being said, get their accidental coverage plan. And speak with a customer service manager. Point them to the thread above that you're not the only one frustrated. You can purchase the coverage plan up to 60 days after initial purchase of the drone. Additionally, in a situation like this where they didn't properly train and inform their customers on GPS risks, they should still offer you the accidental coverage plan even if you purchased the drone more than 60 days ago.

What is the accidental coverage plan, the GoPro Care? I purchased my Karma at an authorized retail store and they didn't inform me anything about GoPro Care until I looked it up on the website after the accident. But I'll definitely quote that in when I speak to them again, thanks for the tip.
 
"We can confirm that it's not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered under warranty." Says GoPro.

Two weeks ago, like any usual sunny day, my Karma took off in a wide open space. When I saw the low battery signal I immediately press the return button. I saw my drone coming back at a fairly high alititude so I tried to descend it but it wouldn't respond. Instead, it just went straight ahead into a branch and got stuck. Few seconds later it smashed to the ground. The Karma, stabilizer, and even the camera were all total loss.

I emailed GoPro with all the information I could provide including flight logs and pictures. And all I get is "Not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered?"

What do you guys think? What else can I do other than replacing all the parts on my own, which is probably the same price as getting a new one.

Ron
The first thing they ask you is Did you purchase GoPro Care? Right? Don't stop. Email everyday. Call every other day to support. You will talk to a different person each time. Each time you will think you have a caring person. Not. Stall tactic. Hoping you will give up. Took me 28 days and finally got results. I did have to purchase GoPro Care but they replaced my Karma and gave me 40% off a new hero5 camera. They blamed mine on not calibrating before flight. Not. Just fell out of the sky for no reason 45 seconds into flight at a 325 foot height. Destroyed everything. Don't give up.
 
The first thing they ask you is Did you purchase GoPro Care? Right? Don't stop. Email everyday. Call every other day to support. You will talk to a different person each time. Each time you will think you have a caring person. Not. Stall tactic. Hoping you will give up. Took me 28 days and finally got results. I did have to purchase GoPro Care but they replaced my Karma and gave me 40% off a new hero5 camera. They blamed mine on not calibrating before flight. Not. Just fell out of the sky for no reason 45 seconds into flight at a 325 foot height. Destroyed everything. Don't give up.

Did it prompt you to calibrate before flight? Karma will TELL YOU if it needs to be calibrated before flight. The only reason it would need to be calibrated before flight is if the terrain is different. A flat field at 1000 ft elevation with no obstructions is the same as a 1000 ft elevation field with no obstructions on another side of the country. Calibration simply tells gopro which direction is up and which is level to help provide it some proper bearings. That being said Karma is SUPPOSED to tell you it needs to be calibrated. If they said its your fault you didnt calibrate but it didnt prompt you then shame on them and do not take that crap. File a complaint with consumer reports and call back and raise hell. There support has been terrible for me thus far. Hearing these stories really disappoints me in their brand. They had a revolutionary package for drones and are now blowing it with bull crap responses and bad customer service.
 
I completely agree with never give up!
I also agree with not buying another Karma, get the Mavic. Come back to Go Pro once they get their poop in a group if you want. Because the deficiencies are hardware based, there's nothing they can really do about them. They need to redesign the drone and the controller. That's $700 assuming they keep to the current prices. A little shopping got me 15% off my Mavic Fly More Bundle. Heck, get the Spark! The big bundle is only $700 and it has better range and better gps than the Karma! The Hero 5 is definitely a better camera though.
 
Exactly, I pressed return-to-controller, seconds after I saw the drone flew into the tree on the way back, then fell to the ground. It didn't even reach the landing zone yet.

I sorry to hear that it crashed, and I don't want to compound the situation, but that sounds like pilot error.

You can choose the RTH altitude, and you should always set this to be higher than the tallest obstacle in your flight area. If there are trees that are 25 metres tall, set the RTH to over 30 metres. Karma has no obstacle avoidance, so it's up to you to make sure it comes home at the right altitude.
 
I sorry to hear that it crashed, and I don't want to compound the situation, but that sounds like pilot error.

You can choose the RTH altitude, and you should always set this to be higher than the tallest obstacle in your flight area. If there are trees that are 25 metres tall, set the RTH to over 30 metres. Karma has no obstacle avoidance, so it's up to you to make sure it comes home at the right altitude.

Shoot, the drone is destroyed! Whose fault it is won't change that. I just hope that they decide to help him out. Even if the Go Pro Care thing works, he'll still be out $360. That's still a decent slice of cheddar.
 
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Shoot, the drone is destroyed! Whose fault it is won't change that.

I understand that, but the original post made reference to GoPro's statement that they wouldn't cover it under warranty.

What do you guys think?

I was just answering his question, and hopefully shedding some light on what went wrong.
 
I understand that, but the original post made reference to GoPro's statement that they wouldn't cover it under warranty.



I was just answering his question, and hopefully shedding some light on what went wrong.

Oh I understand that, I'm not busting your balls or anything. I'm not sure why he couldn't control it. To me that's a problem with the unit. Even my Solo allows me to take over during a RTH situation. It sounds like he was trying to do that. Ruminating on what he should have done prior to the crash is Monday morning quarter backing at its finest. Btw setting your RTH high has also caused problems. In fact, forum guys tried to blame me for a crash when my drone hit a bridge stating that I should have set my drone to "hover" instead of RTH. Or "rewind" so it will follow the same path back. One thing I know, one of you guys will always find a way to blame it on the pilot. My Karma loses GPS and never recovers until after I land it. My Mavic has never lost GPS and my Solo will recover it if I keep it in the air a few minutes. Oh wait, that's my fault because I don't calibrate it every time I fly...sigh. I just hope they help the dude out, like I said.
 
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions guys. I've been emailing GoPro back and forth, yet so far it's the same answer; "not a manufacturing defect and won't be covered."

Previously in the last email, they narrowed down to two possible sources that led to the accident; 2nd warning signal, and calibration. I told them numerous times that I immediately pressed the Land button after I heard and saw the FIRST signal. They said according to the flight logs, it's the 2nd one. Then I emphasized that the controller never did instruct me to calibrate before the flight so I assumed it's all good. Like you guys said the drone may have lost GPS or something I don't know. Whatever it is I'm gonna fight till the end until I get a more satisfying solution, and I'm not even sure if I have GoPro Care, so fingers crossed.
 

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