I also had the 14500 problem and he sent me a whole new light.
I sent the old one back to him as he requested via Registerd Airmail with Tracking and he said he would put my shipping costs into my Paypal account.
I sent it back from an Australia Post office and the minimum price to do exactly that was about $25 AUS.
When I sent him the receipt for the shipping he nearly died.
He said that that shipping cost was very high and could I cancel it and he would just send me a new light but I could not do that of course.
He said he would pay it into my Paypal account and still send me a new light but I think he will be asking for a qoute on shipping in any more returns to Balder in the future.
It took about a month all up but I received my new HD-1 ok and it works right now as it should.
I just don't like the hollowed out body surface as it is very hard on my hand when holding it especially when I push the button down for two seconds at a time.
After a few times of turning it off and on and changing modes as well my fingers feel horrible.
If they did that for extra grip it was a bad idea to me.
I tend to use my Olight S10 now because the Balder HD-1 is a REAL PAIN to hold and use with those deep grooves on the body.
Cheers