This would be not the first time that a successful startup is loosing mindshare after the exit of the founder. Especially if the startup is sold to a large corporation.
I noticed more complains from new Fliteboard users in Facebook groups this year, which may indicate that Fliteboard had some issues with their production this year. Especially the Marc Nesson and Flite Air products were mentioned.
I agree, the content above is probably AI generated. The question is just what Fliteboard did with Fliteschool_Bali. They seem to be a long term partner since 2020 according to their Instagram profile.
It’s best to avoid speculations so I just asked Fliteboard directly. They said yes support has been slower this season as you would expect after such a major transition of the company and their over commitment to too many different models launched last year that’s why Flitelab was also delayed and MN came very late. As for Bali school they ended that partnership.
I didn’t notice any more than normal. But as more boards are sold, complaints will naturally increase.
My Newson board is perfect. My AIR board was replaced as it had too much excess glue.
I also had a call with Fliteboard yesteday and they are doing fine and planning a lot of great things for 2025. As for Bali they obviously could not comment to me on that because I am not a part of the company but that cooperation ended as they did not meet the standards.
In the Facebook groups there were certainly more concerns about the Fliteboard quality this year. Even our Flite reseller in the neighborhood confirmed that he (and his customers) are getting more and more frustrated.
My opinion is that Fliteboard has a problem. Nobody can maintain such a big portfolio (we are talking about hundreds of configurations) in such a niche market of may be 10.000 (probably less) eFoils sold worldwide a year. How can you maintain so many configurations, if they sell may be 3.000 units a year. It just makes no sense.
I have a lot of respect of founder David Trewern, but it almost looks like he was inflating the company before selling it to a corporation which has no clue about this market.
Holly shi* - just scrolled through the Fliteboard Owners Group on FB. Next to the typical Flite fan boys & employees you see more and more Fliteboard customers complaining.
Following information is a view based on our personal experiences and forms an opinion only from what we are told and what we have seen and a It’s what’s happening in my experience also
From What I’m seeing and from what I’m hearing from more than a dozen Flite partners is that Flite is now the McDonalds Mc Corporation American ignorance has become ambivalent Profit over people, is the aim
Flite does not give a flying f__k about loyalty or respect to partners and is more the happy to destroy their business partners and take advantage of the opportunity,
They will promise and vow to support your business in writing, and before the ink is dry you may receive a cessation of contract,
Especially if you have a high review rating are profitable and have been successful for the last 4 to 6 years
You are a perfect target,
The best thing you could do for yourself is to find the a better partner for yourself, save yourself from American corporate crooks with no concept of respect for their own resellers and people who have supported them for years and paying their own money for the privilege,
FLITE IS DEAD
MORAL IS DEAD
SUPPORT! Good luck
The halcyon days are over
IF YOU WANT TO GET SCREWED OVER
FLITEBOARD will Oblige
FAILURES ARE INCREASING QUALITY IS FALLING, new models are only profit driven for Designed OBSOLESCENCE
The only genuine innovations at Flite is FLITE LAB
it won’t save Flite but it may branch out and become a serious contender if they allow it to standalone independently
Partners are being pushed away treated like pests and potential clients directed towards the Flite website, aiming to reap greater profits.
Flite HQ is not a good place fact remains that Flite have little chance of recovering any loyal fans from partner’s injuries caused by the punitive action of Flite,
I believe a class action is being considered by financially damaged partners
My first piece of advice
Don’t take mine!
A smart operator will always be ahead of the game
And will be looking for a plan B
RIP FLITEBOARD
This thread does not provide an objective picture and exaggerates everything in an unfairly dramatized way.
All eFoil brands have issues. Everyone remembers Waydoo’s broken masts and Lift’s battery fires. No brand is perfect.
The more boards you sell, the more issues you’ll see. A higher number of customers naturally leads to more complaints and problem reports—this is normal.
Fliteboard, like any brand, has its flaws. I owned one of the first Fliteboard Pro models and experienced minor issues (unpaired remotes, battery stopping at 20%, etc.), but nothing major.
Customer support tends to decline as companies grow and transitions to Brunswick. This is a common reality—try reaching Google support, and you’ll understand.
Fliteboard is the most innovative brand in the industry. Saying they lack innovation is absurd. They’ve consistently pushed the industry forward, and that deserves appreciation.
P.S.Claiming they only care about money is also absurd. The purpose of any company is to generate profit for its owners—there is no other purpose. If you’re doing something purely out of passion and don’t care about money, that’s a hobby, not a business (like my personal YouTube channel, which is a hobby since I don’t profit from it).
As you know I honor your opinion. In this case I think you are missing some background information.
Brunswick is terminating Fliteboard employees/contractors to replace them with Brunswick people
Brunswick terminates Fliteboard resellers who do not accept to sell Fliteboard exclusively.
Fliteboard had a huge increase in support cases in 2024. The percentage was ways above other brands last year. Burned jets, burned motors and ESCs, hanging updates , boards which break, the list is long. I experienced it myself. Also check with Wayne, he will tell you.
But what is the worst is, how they handle these cases. They argue like a C-Brand that it is not their fault and put all the burden on the resellers/service centers. Components which needs to be replaced are not replaced, but the resellers shall repair them. I had cases where we spend 8 hours or more to get it repaired. It would have been cheaper to replace the component.
The Support team acts like AI. People who just copy and paste standard text blocks and ask the same questions again and again. Just ask Wayne.
Innovation. Not sure. What was new 2024 and 2025 (Series 5). Okay Flite Lab, but Flite Lab has a very small target group. You are one of them The biggest news on Series 5 is a silent jet. Well, Fliteboard always had the loudest eFoil because of their gearbox. Now they finally removed the gearbox at the jet, but only the jet. The propeller is still using the gearbox and you can hear the Fliteboard from 200 meters on flat waters.
The list is even longer, but I think by now it should be clear that Fliteboard became another successful startup which will be destroyed by a corporation. Let’s talk again in 2 years. Time will tell.
I will pause with Fliteboard in 2025. I had so many customer complains in 2024 about breaking boards and slow support that I don’t want to have this again in 2025. Some of my customers were without a working board for 2 months in a 4 months summer. And the boards were from 2024. By now we have enough successful eFoil alternatives.
You usually don’t see me writing openly in a negative way about brands, but this one is different. The first time I am making such an experience in this industry with a so called “A-Brand”.
Thank you for update, I hope they will turn it around eventually rather than becoming another seabob. Today they launched a new silent jet series 5.
I don’t defend Fliteboard because I was never part of the company, but I do recognize their contribution to the industry and the innovation they brought to the market.
Brunswick, with its 180-year history, isn’t going out of business because of Fliteboard, but the changes are obvious, and some will inevitably be negative. That said, some of the core team is still there, and they’re working to improve things. With Flitelab set to launch this summer, I’m staying optimistic.
Hi Andreas, you have been a great support to fliteboard over the years and I am sorry to hear you feel this way.
I am a Fliteboard employee at HQ so just want to clear some things up.
I am sorry but I am not sure where you got this info from but it couldn’t be further from the truth. The team has been expanding since the Brunswick transition with the majority of them been external hire and not from Brunswick. No once has been replaced by a Brunswick employee. We have some Brunswick Employees join the team in upper management and they are some of the most efficient and professional people I have ever worked with.
As far as I know we parted ways with one reseller which had been on the cards for years. There is always two sides to the story!!
3,4,5. Everything up until Series 5 had been developed before Brunswick took over. We develop a huge amount of product in a tight timeline. That along with having more product in market than ever has put a strain on support cases but we are expanding the team and catching up with both QC and further testing when we develop new products so we can support our customers and resellers as this is rapidly becoming a much larger challenge as we grow. It’s the No.1 priority from Brunswick to get this right moving forward.
We have had a huge amount of innovation over the years and that is not stoping. You can’t out innovate every brand every year. FLITELab has an insane amount of innovation this year. Not sure why you think it’s a very small target group. The surf foil, wing foil, Downwind and Wake is a substantially larger audience than efoil. We have a range of products coming out at launch not just one board.
Hope this clears some things up. We are all super excited with the changes that are happening in here and also about all the products we have in the pipeline for the future. There has been many companies that Brunswick has taken over that have been a huge success story.
History has shown that FLITEBOARD was a s small innovative company able to change direction quickly and efficiently and effectively
Flite was the best in the world
We were lucky to have been part of that group who experienced the best of the best,
Since the master of vision has left and most of the original creative and engineering team have gone by the roadside, some treated shabbily some resigned were the few who actually understand the dream, the vision and the concept and design fundamentals behind the scenes of original success, ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING AND WUTH HIM THE FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPY OF FLITEBOARD
I HAVE OVER THE YEARS NOW HAD 9 x Flite boards
Since the series 1
To series 3 now series 5 is ENGINEERED OBSOLESCENCE TO INCREASE PROFITS,
They treat resellers with disdain and contempt
They mislead and deceive those who supported them for so long those who invested $100,000’s of dollars promoting the brand exclusively
They are dumped like rubbish and punitively to damage the resellers
What is it you are failing to understand that I can address with objective facts that you are trying to understand absolutely anything you require I can provide evidence of substantial proof with a lot of other partners in the same boat
It’s disappointing to see where this is going. Bad for Fliteboard fans and customers, but at the end of the day this big US corporation Brunswick will just follow what they do since decades. Buy brands and put them under the umbrella for the corporate goals.
Innovation will slow down, quality may even go down and Flite will become just another water toy in their huge overall portfolio.
Hi Chris, I am a disappointed fellow Fliteboard Reseller. If I were in your job position, I would investigate, review, reflect and improve on your corporate practices and culture instead from now on. I am open to share all the various specific details of incidents in my dealings with FLITE, should anyone be interested to hear.
Hello to Andreas, Wayne and Mike there, I believe we have communicated before in the past via emails too, discussing news and events on the jetboard and efoil scene.
The biggest news on Series 5 is a silent jet. Well, Fliteboard always had the loudest eFoil because of their gearbox. Now they finally removed the gearbox at the jet, but only the jet. The propeller is still using the gearbox and you can hear the Fliteboard from 200 meters on flat waters.