Hi, I repair battery packs and electronics here in the UK. I have 7 customers' battery packs here with blown BMS' in need of a replacement, however they're all out of warranty. I tried the french Evolve website where they have them in their shop, however, they've referred me to you guys. Can I purchase 7 BMS' from you please in order for me to fix them? Many thanks, Kevin.

Hi, I think you're misunderstanding. The fault with the battery packs of these customers is that the BMS has failed, therefore it just needs replacing within the stock battery pack. I've tested the pack and that is not the issue. Will Evolve UK replace it free of charge if its out of warranty then? If so I'm sure my customers would be pleased to hear this... They're from all over the EU. If that is not the case, then what you're saying is that these people's boards are rendered useless as it's not possible for 3rd party qualified repairers to obtain the necessary parts..? Is this to hold a monopoly? Shame on Evolve. Or maybe it's just planned obsolescence? I know for a fact that Evolve UK sell the parts to customers to make their own repairs as I've had to put right a couple of failed repair attempts already. These people generally have no idea about electronics yet you allow them to attempt repair themselves? At least let someone qualified undertake these repairs (who isn't an Evolve tech) do it for them, otherwise the publicity when it goes wrong would undoubtedly be detrimental to the Evolve brand..? Regards, Kevin.

So what you're saying is, you're not allowing an Evolve board owner to choose whom they would like to repair their board? They MUST go through you and ultimately pay you for doing it? Regardless of whether or not it's in or out of warranty? So you're basically holding them to ransom! You don't get this with any other product of this kind, not even Apple goes to this extreme regarding replacement parts, their parts are readily available for anyone, qualified or not to undertake their own repairs through whichever repairer or company they choose... Regardless of these boards with blown BMS', now rendered useless unless they pay your ransom, because you refuse to sell a spare part... It's my belief that Evolve undertook in planned obsolescence with regards to your stock battery packs, given the fact that they only come with 12 months warranty and it's just after that period of time that the average user would start to see cell degradation with these cheap pouches Evolve uses. The very fact that you'd threaten an individual, with what can only be perceived as legal action, who's stepping up to the plate to deliver to Evolve customers where Evolve has failed, says a lot about Evolve the company... or is it just the UK division? Probably not. Are you just in this for the money, or do you actually care about your customers' satisfaction and the esk8 community? These customers could easily tarnish the Evolve brand by many means, least of all taking too various social media platforms to complain about Evolve's shortcomings with regards to reliability, quality and product longevity, but they're not doing that now, because there are people like me, who want to help the esk8 community, make some pocket money and see their fellow eSk8ers enjoying esk8ing again! Shame on you Evolve and your Apple-like grapple on your clients... Kevin.