KingSong is bricking wheels on purpose. Dont use their apps.

[Circuitmage]

@Feynman

So, I see where you were going with those edits, however my point was the irony of how Shane Chen tried to escape China's culture of stealing ideas by coming to the US...only to end up seeing a Chinese company throwing a fit about the same problem.

1) I don't believe there was a US company that invented the EUC. It was Shane Chen in 2008 that innovated the wheel and started trying to market it. (although he did have a company Inventist). I don't believe he had set up manufacturing for it initially, which also leads to other companies taking over. 

http://www.inventist.com/about/

2) Shane Chen was actually quoted as saying he understands that is how Chinese companies work. It is not impossible to defend IP in China (it may be difficult)  but not impossible. In fact there is some history about how Mr. Chen eventually partnered into Solowheel. Probably around this forum somewhere.... it took years but he did get some credit. 

3) I would have to say it is not necessarily "cheaper". All of the companies I have seen that took his idea actually added several other features to his basic idea and took off with some great designs (hence their success). The high end wheels have been costing more (especially with the US Tariff's in place...consumers are really paying for that in the end).

4) If you look at the engineering that goes into these wheels and what they have done...it's impressive.

5) See #1

Edited August 13, 2020 by Circuitmage

[Feynman]

I don't know the history of EUC, so I assume you're correct about all of that.  My thread hijack (sorry) was re tech in general.   I've been in grad school and worked in my field with mostly Chinese for the past 2 decades.  Just my experience.  ymmv

Edited August 13, 2020 by Feynman

[eskaryo]

I let KingSong support know this decision has influenced me to cancel my order for the S18 from ewheels. @Jack King Song

I'm your customer not your leverage point. Well, I was.

[Shura Balaganov]

Hello, i made the purchase today, before i found this forum...  

I'm getting my wheel from AliEpxress Seller KingSong S18  White. 

 

It is still not late and i can open the dispute  and make refund. 

The seller assures me (of course) that if the wheel gets blocked  they will contact KingSong general manager and will unblock it and it will not repeat again. 

Please advice me what to do. Should I cancel the order and get refund while it's not too late? 

and maybe get it from  https://myewheel.com      it's 400 eur  more expensive than from Ali 

 

can you advice what to do please? 

 

in case i decide to keep the chinese wheel ?  will it be bricked?  or was it a software bug  and   the will can be unlocked?  will it be constantly repeating with locking? 

I also wrote and asked for official statement to kingsong facebook  official group, to get answers from them. 

 

Please help.

[null]

You can check the serial number for the letter P towards the end, it shows a Chinese market wheel.
If the seller havent shipped it yet you could ask what the serial is, its written on the pedal sticker and maybe the box (can't remember)

Maybe the seller can get it white listed, it has happened before. But currently the stance of KS is that only wheels from before this summer will be whitelisted. Its possible that the seller have a contact they pay or whatever to get it done. If you have time left for the dispute you could give him a couple of days to try that.

Else there might be some sort of workarounds involving VPNs, fake GPS and stuff like that but I havent looked at it in detail.

Good luck and have fin once it works!

Edited November 13, 2020 by null

[Shura Balaganov]

@null thank you for quick reply 

 

So i should ask seller for serial number?    

  The seller says that the wheel is whiteListed,  but they can say whatever one needs to hear  only to sell the wheel. 

Seller says that he can contact general manager any time to unlock it  ,  and he says if this happens, it happens only once after unblock it will be fine, says that i can update the firmware as well.

i'm still scared  that i probably made a most stupid decision to buy from ali, i don't know 

[null]

No problem @Shura Balaganov I understand.

If you don't want to take any risks you could tell the seller you only want a wheel which is not Chinese market (P) and have him give you the serial, but it is possible he don't have international version and then you will have to buy local more expensive. If you are willing to take the risk to get the lower price you could rely on PayPal dispute protection to get the seller to whitelist it, (or fiddle with apps to try and unlock it anyway)

Sorry I can't give you any sure way (except by paying more) but even with a P wheel it should be possible somehow.

Edited November 13, 2020 by null

[Shura Balaganov]

@null thank you for your reply.   

    I purchased from Aliepxress store with name "Flame Wheel Store"   and the seller is very slow with answers. 

I asked the seller to provide the serial number of the wheel that i already paid for     (10 days for processing and shipment)    otherwise , as i wrote him,  i will cancel the order and will get the refund. 

 

Another wheel store from ali expresss Wheel Tech Store,  assures me about unlocking with the following message: 

(i hope this will be useful to know for community , what the sellers say from china, how they assure, and what actually  happens) 

 

Wheel Tech Store says:

"

If it's locked, The wheel will lose its balance

But we sell the European version, There is no locking problem in this version

Even if that happens, We can do that by replacing the motherboard,  and we will send you a new motherboard"

 

[null]

I don't know the seller "Flame Wheel Store" (sounds scary! :D) maybe he's fine though, I don't know.
Good about the serial. its an expensive item, he can take it out of the box if needed.

The most known around here are "green and fashion" (chicway), "Wheel tech", "loomo".

[Shura Balaganov]

The Flame Wheel Store Ali seller  replied 

“

Question 1 
Tell me when is the latest batch ? 
A: The latest batch of production will be carried out around November 25, if you are willing to wait, you can wait until November 25 start shipping.

Question 2
and how long should I wait until it arrives to Austria, Vienna ? 
will you provide tracking ? 
A: thanks to know that as the wheel is a special product with lithium battery, it delievred by Special Logistics line (by train) + Local transportation（UPS） , and the logistics company is responsible for customs clearance and we will responsible for paying customs duties.
After the customs clearance is completed, the package will be delivered by UPS.
Estimated shipping time (after we ship out): 35-40 days
We can provide you one tracking link.

question 3
when will you send me the credentials for Chinese account of KingSong App ? 
A: KingSong allows us to sell unicycles (international version of unicycles) to Austria, so we will provide you with international versions of wheels. You can use the latest King Song App. You can always open the app’s positioning system.

Question 4:
if I need spare parts like Battery , Tire, inner tube , suspension, how much does it cost ?  
A：Because no one needs to pay money to replace these parts so far, we have no price records and need to ask the factory for quotations.

Question 5:
if I accidentally spike the tire and tube , can I use analogous inner tube from 18inch bike wheel ?   are the any tires 18 inch from bikes and scooters  18x2.50 that I can use for my KingSong s18 ?
A: You can use install all 18 inch wheel, we recommend you install the same as the wheel original tires.We are sorry, because I was busy arranging delivery on 11.11 recently, so we did not reply to your question in time.
 

Question 6:
====you say in your store that you sell international version,   is the serial number of my wheel I ordered - international or Chinese ?  send   me the serial number  of my wheel urgently within the next 24 hours  (it is on the box and on wheel pedal ) otherwise I WILL CANCEL THE ORDER AND WILL GET THE REFUND
=====

A: we will sell the international version wheel to you, In our warehouse is China version wheel, the international version need shipment direct from KingSong factory. we can provide the serial number to you before we shipment out.“

 

and meanwhile the Ali seller Wheel Tech Store replied, I asked for example of Serial number and he sent it in picture where they blurred some numbers but left all letters and some of numbers , 

 

please take a look below I fetch the picture with serial and a link 

is it Chinese or international version ? 
It doesn’t seem to contain “P” 

and there is CE sign which is european certification 

Link to Serial Number Photo

 

 

[Shura Balaganov]

And I wrote to Flame wheel store : 

 

“does it have Chinese serial number  or international serial number ? 
if it has  international serial number why do I have to switch off GPS and deny access to location during the first time usage of KingSong App ?” 

 

and got the reply form Flame 🔥 Wheel Store (FWS ) (🔥WS)

 

”It will is international serial number, Please ignore the previous message, which was sent to friends in France and Spain.
Your don't need to switch off GPS on Austria.”

 

[mrelwood]

 

Quote

is it Chinese or international version ? 
It doesn’t seem to contain “P”

The relevant letter is the fourth digit from the end. It seems to be “F” in the photo, which indeed points to an international version.

Edit: I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that KS did immeasurable harm to it’s reputation just to block Ali sellers, with an explanation pointing out the lack of customer support with non-local sellers. Now the Ali sellers are just selling international wheels directly from KS, with absolutely no change to the customer support channels. Like... what?

Edited November 14, 2020 by mrelwood

[Shura Balaganov]

Ok , I got an update from Flame Wheel Store ali Seller 

he said that in their Warehouse they have Chinese wheels with Chinese serial that contains „P“ 

and sent me example of such serial 

https://ibb.co/bdLhPY7

but he said that for international customers they Make shipment directly from KingSong  factory  and serial will be international 

Here is that latest messages from Flame Wheel Store Ali Seller: 

„Hi dear, we have answer your quesion. In our warehouse is China version wheel, the international version need shipment direct from KingSong factory. Because different country friend buy it, we need teel us KingSong engineer update diferent country firmware, add paste one seril number on the wheel.

You choose to buy in our shop, I think you believe us. We can promise you that if the wheels you receive are locked, we will refund you the full amount, and you do not need to return the wheels.„

 

and they say I can choose either the 2nd batch (current , end of October 2020 production )   Or wait a week and get the wheel from  3rd batch (November 25 Production ) 

 

I think I will get from 3rd batch as I heard they have some mechanical improvements in 3rd batch 

[alexmusich]

Hello dear Community, 

I have ordered KingSong S18 Wheel from chinese seller (ali)  

The seller (Flame Wheel Store)   has provided the serial number.  Destination:  Europe, one of EU Countries.   The seller claims that in my country there is no official distributor therefore they are allowed to ship international version there. 

The seller claims that the wheel serial number is   international serial number

 

Please help me identify if it's true or not, if the following serial  number  is NOT chinese, but  is INTERNATIONAL SERIAL NUMBER

Thank you all in advance!!! 

 

Serial number looks like this:   KSS181 ??? OCO ????

as some members in this thread mentioned above, that if serial contains "P" letter - then it might be chinese version. This one doesn't seem to contain "P"  it contains "C"

But can it mean that "C" stands for "China" ?     

Please help me identify , thank you!!!

here below i provide photo from the box of my ordered product with serial 

 

https://ibb.co/FJPhZRf

 

 

Please help me identify

[url=https://ibb.co/FJPhZRf][img]https://i.ibb.co/HYJKw5M/serial-number-KS-s18-EUC.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://500pxdownload.com/]instagram photo download online[/url]

 

[null]

I havent heard any other letters than "P" are blocked, you should be good.

[xiiijojjo]

King Song used to be a competitor to gotway now it just seems they are trying every which way to speed up natural selection and end themselves by any means necessary be it the shoddy design of the S18 or now this locksong bricking. Maybe they only want to exist in the asian market?

As i see it there are 2 euc companies as of now Gotway and Veteran all the others are making expensive toys of questionable quality or doing insane things like locking wheels. I really want to see more euc companies flourish but i also don't mind the companies unworthy of our money snuffing themselves out good job Kingsong

[alexmusich]

@null thank you for your prompt reply and taking my worries away by your answer

 

Looking forward  for my KS S18 EUC  to arrive  in the end of December 2020   

 

[Rudy Sijnke]

On 12/14/2020 at 11:55 PM, alexmusich said:

@null thank you for your prompt reply and taking my worries away by your answer

 

Looking forward  for my KS S18 EUC  to arrive  in the end of December 2020   

 

Any update?