Weber Summit S-420 Crumbling


 

Miguelito

New member
Hey Grill Masters, sucks that my first post has to be about my S-420 falling apart but I am glad to have found this awesome forum. Need some feedback on my Summit that is falling apart. I went to clean the grill over the weekend and the the frame is literally disintegrating from rust. I have a call out and pictures sent to customer service so I am hopeful that Weber will be able to provide a solution. This is my 4th weber in 20 years and I currently own 2. All have been solid and very durable with the most expensive one by far somehow being the exception. I have only called customer service once before and that had to have been over 10 years ago and I don't even remeber what it was about but I know they took care of it. I think it was relatively minor, nothing like this.

I currently own two webers, my other weber is an old Genesis Platinum that I keep in Sebastian, Florida across the street from the intercoastal and the frame on that grill hardly shows any rust. Meanwhile the Summit is also kept under cover almost 30 minutes from the coast and looks like it's been underwater for a year. I also have a 14+ year old big green egg on the original stand "nest" kept right next to it and while taking pics of the Summit to send to customer service I checked out the nest and it is rust free besides the nuts and bolts and a little on the wheels. I maintain all my grills the same taking them apart 2-3 times per year and cleaning them with a light pressure wash and then putting it back together. To make it worse, I bought my Dad a Genesis Silver A a long time ago and he doesn't even keep it covered. Just under the roof overhang and that thing still looks like new.

So, the reason behind my post, besides to complain about my Summit's condition, I searched online but haven't found others that their S-420 has fallen apart like mine. Do you guys know of a bad batch from the factory with similar issues? Any options for me in case customer service isn't helpful and this is my last weber? Looking at the cost for the parts not sure if I want to rebuild it on my dime. Besides the rust, the burners, grill, and firebox all are in great shape. There is some pitting on the stainless hood and shelf but that is not a concern of mine. The heavy rust is.

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Boy for the $$$ they charge that is awful. I have seen others complain about this too. Sadly there is not enough actual metal there to restore. Looks like you need a whole new frame and other parts
 
Wow, really sorry your grill isn't aging well. How old is it?

Weber customer service is known to be very good. I'll be curious to see what they say about this.
 
Not necessarily a cost effective option, unless you can weld...disassemble grill and have new frame built with 1x1 tubing and get it power coated if there are no other options. I hope Weber customer service will come through for you.
 
Thanks guys for the feedback. I sent all requested info and pics above to Weber Monday morning. I have not heard anything back.....may follow up today. Will definitely keep you all posted.
 
sent an email tonight. It has been 12 days and multiple calls to weber customer service. Not happy. This may be my last weber. I've had my eye on a yoder or rec tec pellet smoker.
 
This is becoming far more typical of Weber as they are no longer a family owned company and are becoming nothing more than a Chinese importer with what had been a great name and a great product. Count me as sad :-(
 
Alright so here is the big resolution 2 weeks out. After not hearing from anyone I called again, got bounced around a bit and transferred, finally landed on someone with half a brain. Ended up selling me the side panels, rear panel, doors, bottom panel, new tool racks for just shy of $200. She sold me most of the items 50% off and through in the rest no charge. I was satisfied with that and thought it was fair. In my original email complaint I was never filing a warranty claim was just looking for relief from the cost of all the parts to repair. This was not nearly as smooth a call to Weber as it has been in the past but in the end I'm happy with the resolution but not necessarily with the route it took to get there.
 
Glad that it worked out for you in the end Miguelito. Shame that it happened in the first place though.
 
So rebuild is done. It took about 4 hours, didn't really mess with the firebox all that much. I am now having problems with the burners but I think it is the regulator.
I did check for leaks and didn't find any. Will hopefully have time to replace that tonight. Let the fun continue. For the most part the instructions were pretty clear and accurate. It was a little annoying that you were expected to reused some of the screws on the parts that were to be replaced.

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