J Grotz
TVWBB Wizard
Jon, one quick action Weber could take today is to stop selling Smokefires. I also think Weber and its private equity overlord could afford a recall now. Smokefires have been in user hands for about a week. There are only a few thousand out in the wild. A recall will only get more expensive as time goes on. Every 1,000 cookers they sell will be at least $1,000,000 to recall....
It is hard to see any quick solution for Weber to implement. They may not be able to afford a complete recall. Even if they do that, what can they do to overcome so many design issues? The software can - and will - be fixed, but some of these problems seem to be inherent in the daring design ideas utilized. You are talking massive scrapping of already manufactured parts, disassembly costs to keep what could be salvaged and engineering that obviously needs a lot more time to design, test and implement any changes. And where will all this work to rebuild theses things be done? Will it be outside Chicago or crated and shipped to China? I feel really bad...
The blowing ash/embers, missing "filter" issue, the hopper issue and the grease drainage issue are not things that can be fixed without major changes to the design of the cooker.
A big social media mea culpa, stop sales, and recall would lead to short term pain, but would save their reputation and give them a chance at profitability in the future.