board caught fire and company told me to "throw it in trash"

ocpelon01

100 µW
Joined
Feb 4, 2025
Messages
7
Location
california
hi I'm posting this in hopes it my help someone out there. I have an eskateboard that is from a company here in California, they are a pretty big company. three days ago I plugged it in to charge, I live in a studio, not 15 mins later I smelled something, the skateboard was smoking really bad. my first thought was to push it outside, I live on second story apt bldg. when I pushed it onto my porch I turned around got my dog and before I could exit. it blew up right in front of me, flames and all. I was now in apt and no way of getting out. long story short. my manager managed to push it away from my front door. it burned for over thirty minutes the fire dept came. the smoke created by this in my apt was horrible. I emailed the company the same day. I only wanted to let them know what had happened in hopes they would be interested in making sure it didn't happen to anyone else. I have the three email conversation with this company. it ended with the company saying throw it in the trash the battery was probably outsourced from china. I have pics of the board now. I have never written on a forum but am still in awe of this companies response. I have no problem saying what brand this was it clearly shows on the pics. though not sure if allowed to say on here. also any thoughts as to how to proceed with this thank you
 
I only wanted to let them know what had happened in hopes they would be interested in making sure it didn't happen to anyone else.
Sounds like you did what you (easily) could - told them and posted here. It would help if you put more details, like manufacturer, model and purchase date, but that's up to you.

What else would you like to have happen?
 
Nobody here ( a group of evehicle builders ) will tell you that lithium batteries aren't dangerous with a straight face.
A prebuilt vehicle seller, on the other hand..

The cheaper the unit you buy, the lower the battery construction quality, the higher chance of a random fire like that.

One of the main reasons i build my own evehicles is so i know it has a good battery from a company that stands behind their product and does good work. The battery is the last part i cheap out on, knowing that today's technology still doesn't have perfect safety.

Where do you want to go from here?
 
I’m
I have the three email conversation with this company. it ended with the company saying throw it in the trash the battery was probably outsourced from china. I have pics of the board now. I have never written on a forum but am still in awe of this companies response. I have no problem saying what brand this was it clearly shows on the pics. though not sure if allowed to say on here. also any thoughts as to how to proceed with this thank you
There is a "Vendor Relations Corner" subforum for this type of thing. That's a better place to post if you want to provide more details, pics, or attachments, etc. As others mentioned, how you proceed depends on what you'd like to accomplish, but if it's for alerting others, then posting on the vendor forum will likely have your post be seen rather than buried under a bunch of other posts in a day or two.
 
I thank you guys for your responses. I think I'm going to post in the vendors relations corner as someone pointed out, my first and really only concern was that something like this should be taken serious by the manufacturer of the product. I have 42 nephews and nieces and I would hate to have them experience what I did. I sent an email today to them and they replied saying they are concerned, then asked me if I had a box to send it back to them. end of email. I'm going to post the company name and information in the vendor post. not because I'm upset, but because Im just not feeling there taking this as serious as it is. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to attach a pic of the board with this response. ill try, and the company logo Is clearly visible on what's left of this board. as to where do I want to go from here. I dont think ill be using an electric skateboard any time soon. too scared it could happen again. it would be great if they reimbursed me even a percentage of what I paid. but I dont think they intend on doing that
 

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Upload all the pictures you want!
 
I think I'm going to post in the vendors relations corner as someone pointed out,
i moved it over there for you. :)

You can edit the title of the thread to whatever you want by eiditng the first post.

feel free to put as much detail and pictures as you like.
 
Upload all the pictures you want!
again thanks to everyone for the responses. until I put this post up on here, I was thinking that how the company responded is the norm in these situations. I'm finding its far from. You guys are the first to hear of this and the only place I've posted this and the pics that follow. a question? should I ask them about replacing the board. I've never had to deal with a situation like this. and if asking is going to create a ton of back and forth, then the most important reason may get lost in the shuffle
 
We see broken, undocumented, poorly engineered stuff like this all over the forum lately, along with non existent tech support because the company lasted a year or maybe changed their name.

Lots of crap out there, man. it's why we focus on DIY on this forum!
 
hi sorry I forgot to put the pictures here they are. if you notice by the wheels I didn't use it much before this happened
 

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What would be an indication that they are taking this as seriously as you think they should be?


Absolutely. Worst they can say is no.
im not sure if I'm allowed to post the email convo between me and the company which lasted 3 emails. when I told them about the fire and showed them the pics. I asked if they would like the skateboard to look into why it caught on fire. I then said I was just planning on throwing it out because the smell was horrible. they replied and said yes throw it out, our boards are sourced from china. end of email
 
We see broken, undocumented, poorly engineered stuff like this all over the forum lately, along with non existent tech support because the company lasted a year or maybe changed their name.

Lots of crap out there, man. it's why we focus on DIY on this forum!
I agree I've owned electric bikes electric scooters and boards. I specifically picked them because they are in Irvine california and I've lived in Orange County my entire life. there site makes you assume that the boards are customized here in california for the buyer. I would have boughten a board from someone. I just liked they were local from my area and I thought helping out by buying from them would be a good thing. I dont want to imply that I am trying to make them look bad. I've had three email convos with them. they first asked if I charged it wet. there in Irvine I'm in anaheim. it hasn't rained much yet and I would never wet or charge my board in my apt if I thought it was wet.
 
they replied and said yes throw it out, our boards are sourced from china. end of email

Don't you have consumer protection laws? Doesn't matter where they source it from, if the retailer is local he is the one who has to make sure his products adhere to local regulations, and is the one responsible for warranty up to a certain period.

At least that's how things are in the EU.

One of the reasons I feel more comfortable with buying from PSWPower directly instead of through Ali, their EU website/office is in France and as such they have to adhere to EU regulations.

I remember you wrote somewhere that they indicated they suspected you were using an aftermarket battery? That's standard 'ow it's not our legal responcibility' talk, the kind of talk which usually indicates that they are aware 'it' actually is their legal responcibility.
 
I know there are some laws in the works regarding eskateboards. until I posted this on here. I believed when they saw they pictures they would have responded differently. I have not responded to them since I posted here because my main concern was them looking into this for future buyers of their boards. but they immediately went on the defensive and only because of everyone on here. I am confident they will change there approach to this. when I posted this it was literally hours after it happened. what I didn't put in the post was my whole building was evacuated, I had to be taken out through my balcony because the board was at my front door and the smoke it gave out is still lingering everywhere. its all the stories I've read on forums like these but never believed it would happen to me, I dont modify anything I buy electric I use the original charger I only charge if I am there watching it. I have a whole different attitude about e anything now. for anyone who has never seen lithium batteries explode and catch fire. it was a surreal moment and scares me to think its happening a lot
 
it was a surreal moment and scares me to think its happening a lot
..


.. and I still daily take the elevator with my bike, battery and all...

I have not responded to them since I posted here because my main concern was them looking into this for future buyers of their boards.
You know what I find weird? If I had a fire in my building, caused by my e-whatever, and it caused the building to be evacuated.. the police would confiscate the remains for investigation I assume. Even if just to rule out causes where they could charge any eventual costs involved on someone 'responcible'.

If they start claiming you 'did something wrong' and 'don't need it back for further investigation' -> the best way you could look after their customers is to file some official complaint as they won't do anything and you can't even be sure this hasn't happened before nor have they indicated anything which could reassure you there is less risk of this happening to someone else.

'ow we source from China' is not an excuse to sell possibly defective devices.
 
Don't you have consumer protection laws? Doesn't matter where they source it from, if the retailer is local he is the one who has to make sure his products adhere to local regulations, and is the one responsible for warranty up to a certain period.

We do but with China they've generally turned their eyes away until now.
We also subsidized their postage from China to here but not the other way around ( ungodly expensive, usually more than the item )
So Chinese vendors know they can ship and dip w/o any consequences.

It would take me a lot to trust the build quality/safety of a chinese designed, chinese vehicle of any kind.. seen way too much shoddy designs in this low end stuff.
 
We do but with China they've generally turned their eyes away until now.
We also subsidized their postage from China to here but not the other way around ( ungodly expensive, usually more than the item )
So Chinese vendors know they can ship and dip w/o any consequences.

It would take me a lot to trust the build quality/safety of a chinese designed, chinese vehicle of any kind.. seen way too much shoddy designs in this low end stuff.
But as I stated, 'sourced from China' doesn't mean the seller isn't responcible for his own products. That's not how consumer laws work afaik. And you can 'turn a blind eye to that' all you want, morally. But not legally.

I know all about dip and skip, I still have a 'REAL 20Ah' battery lying on my balcony, using 3p 2600Ah cells from China and real shoddy wiring... it's probably discharged totally by now, been sitting for over a year without me knowing what to do with it. There is no way I am hooking that up to a charger ever again... but maybe I could recycle those cells and use them for something else ( like a 12v battery pack for my trolling motor, even if I have several lifepo4 batteries for that already ). But I bought that directly from China myself. Here OP bought through a local retailer.

Local retailers should accept responcibility for their own products.
 
+1 to the above, Name n Shame the company that is fobbing you off and avoiding their responsibility to you as a paying customer. 1) Demand a refund in full, here in a country with consumer protection laws thats a given and failure is an invitation to sue in small claims..
2) Get legal advice.. that thing is/was DANGEROUS im sure a few ambulance chasers would rub their hands in glee at the prospect of offering you a no win no fee deal for 20%+ of any payout..

If Ignorant or simply avoiding their responsibilities, wake them up and dont get ripped off.. the poor sods who buy similar dodgy products direct from china etc do not have the opportunity for recompense that you have EXPLOIT IT!

edit.. talk to local fire-station officers for leads to interested legal parties and perhaps for backup too.
 
I mean, @neptronix you posted a link to an article about the EU cracking down on Chinese e-commerce platforms for not adhering to EU consumer protection laws.

But what is the point of cracking down on direct from China bought products, is 'turning a blind eye' towards local retailers reselling the same stuff we're worried about buying directly?
 
Pretty serious. If I were your neighbor, I might be preparing a lawsuit against you for endangering my health, Your landlord could be getting ready to evict you. As my lawyer buddy used to say, you need to be talk to him and see if you need representation. AT the very least, a refund of the hundred bucks the board cost,
 
But what is the point of cracking down on direct from China bought products, is 'turning a blind eye' towards local retailers reselling the same stuff we're worried about buying directly?

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I dont modify anything I buy electric I use the original charger I only charge if I am there watching it.
Already you are more careful than most ("I only charge if I am there watching it.")

By that wise practice, you probably averted more catastrophic damage.

Looks like you as the consumer have gone above and beyond expectations. I wouldn't be shy about pressing for a full refund. The vendor is looking like they are trying to quickly brush you off.
 
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