It’s SmokeFAIL official... the UPDATE! Weber refunded my money and is picking up the EX6.


 
You actually need to reread what I wrote. What I wrote goes FAR beyond Weber, Frigidaire, GE or whoever. If goes to manufacturers as a whole. If a company makes a claim an item is "designed and built" to perform a task and does not perform that task why is that on me?!

Because that's how things work. Do you think infomercials are 100% accurate and describe all their products completely how they actually perform? No, you don't. That's why you don't buy that crap. You use your brain and make a reasoned decision. Why does that process stop because it's a BBQ grill?
 
Why does that process stop because it's a BBQ grill?
Because it's Weber. A company we love and trust. A company that we expect a lot from, maybe more than we should.

If Weber says they've improved the pellet grill and have a new system that sends grease to an internal tray and 70% of ash to a drawer, people want to believe them because it's Weber. Weber has earned our trust over the years--Weber is not equivalent to an infomercial. So when a claim about ash and grease management turns out not to be true, at least in some people's experience, folks get upset. They feel that bond of trust has been broken.
 
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Lol. I was just using that as an example and the analogy works just fine. And, I hear all the same complaints about other pellet grills for cleanup, fires, and hopper issues. Again, it's just my opinion, but this is not much more than inflated marketing claims by Weber, which isn't nearly as big of a deal as everyone seems to be making it.



The SmokeFire makes great BBQ, as there are several examples here on this very board. And, in fact it apparently does very much go to 600 degrees and get hot enough to sear a steak. There are clearly some issues when it does that, but if we're arguing semantics then I'd say their claims aren't even false. Plus, it's been an entire raging month that they've been on the market. lol. Folks are ready to SERIOUSLY kill the whole Weber company over this. LOL to that. Seriously folks, get it together. If you don't like it, don't get it. If you bought it sight unseen in the first month and it's not 100% matching YOUR expectations because you are so much more of a discerning customer than everyone else, then you probably should stop being an early adopter. The market will bear this out. Weber will either fix the issues or they won't. But, if they don't I don't think we'll have to buy all our Webers on Craigslist for the rest of time. lol. Just saying.

Lol this lol that. Nice hyperbole that no one on this board said ever. Lol, seriously, lol. You like automotive analogies, so if you had a Pinto, it would be incumbent upon you to not get rear-ended. After all, the Pinto started, stopped and drove just fine. Just my opinion lol.
 
Because that's how things work. Do you think infomercials are 100% accurate and describe all their products completely how they actually perform? No, you don't. That's why you don't buy that crap. You use your brain and make a reasoned decision. Why does that process stop because it's a BBQ grill?
I don't listen to infomercials because the claims on them are typically not made by the company making the product but by paid spokespeople (by whom I have no clue) but I am smart enough to know they're BS. However AGAIN when a company makes a claim it's product will do XYZ and do it better than any other company's then it darn sure better perform the task(s) I bought it for. I have issues with lots of companies that make claims they cannot uphold. Bottom line Weber should to save themselves do the right thing. Step in and buy back the units or offer full redesigned units to current customers, make the items to do the repairs free if they're simple to do, there is much they can do to help their own cause here and save face. I know for sure the Weber of George Stephens would have, this new one jury is out
 
Lol this lol that. Nice hyperbole that no one on this board said ever. Lol, seriously, lol. You like automotive analogies, so if you had a Pinto, it would be incumbent upon you to not get rear-ended. After all, the Pinto started, stopped and drove just fine. Just my opinion lol.

No one ever? Here's one just from this thread alone. There are many more littered through the board.

If you paid for it by credit card you can call the company and dispute charges and perhaps get their attention that way. I had to do that once with a tire/service center I once took my truck to. I was recovering from surgery and could not get under it and they sold me a bill of goods that didn't fix and worse yet much of which they didn't even perform then tried to tell me other parts were at fault. Took the truck to the dealer for final word and they proved the falsehood. I filed with the CC company and got a full refund
BTW I would post videos of the failures on Weber's own facebook page or at least links to YouTube ones you make and every time they try to remove repost it. George Stephens is turning over in his grave I am sure though this is the kind of thing I expected especially after my "experience" with them on my Summit "warranty?". Grill fails (under warranty) Weber response "Oh too bad so sad we don't carry the repair parts any more". Thank you very much, but never again will I spend hard earned cash on anything new from them. I will buy a used one now and then or something else new, but your experience just confirms how low a company they can be and have become. Would not surprise me one bit to one day see a big "For Lease" on the big Weber building at Rt 47 and Interstate 90 in Huntley IL

And yes, if I owned a pinto and found out they explode, I would get rid of it. And, I wouldn't buy one just because Ford said they were fine. I'm not going to buy it and then just be angry because the product didn't match what they said. Oh, and if we want to talk incongruous analogies, dying in a fiery auto crash probably doesn't equal getting ash on my brisket. Lol

I'm glad the OP got his money back, but the absolute overreaction to a less than a month old product is WAY too much. And it's especially for supposed Weber fans. If you are a fan and have enjoyed their products over the years so much that you are a poster on a message board for that company, wouldn't you be the people that should have the most patience with said company? I mean with friends like this....
 
spent most of the day reading the Rec Tec forum. First thing that jumped out at me was the complaints about the app, ash, not holding temp, and even a grease fire or 2.

I'll have to go find a Traeger forum.

I think you will very quickly find a bunch of very dissatisfied Traeger owners as well. In fact any pellet grill has people who swear by them and others that say they are junk or even dangerous. I guess we shouldn’t be shocked about at least part of the reaction to the SmokeFire, although it seems clear there are true issues that Weber needs to fix.

I can only reflect my personal experience with my Rec Tec and say that it is decently built -much more rugged in my opinion then the lower price competitors I have seen. It has worked virtually flawlessly and is not that hard to clean and maintain. (See my other post about Rec Tec.) in the mid-price field I still think Rec Tec is a top contender.
 
I guess there isn’t such a thing as false or deceptive advertising? It is just the stupid consumers fault that they didn’t “use their brain” because they bought a product from a reputable company and believed that the product would do what the company said it would. What a joke!

“The FTC prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that's not true.”
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I guess there isn’t such a thing as false or deceptive advertising? It is just the stupid consumers fault that they didn’t “use their brain” because they bought a product from a reputable company and believed that the product would do what the company said it would. What a joke!

“The FTC prohibits unfair or deceptive advertising in any medium. That is, advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. A claim can be misleading if relevant information is left out or if the claim implies something that's not true.”
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So the consumer holds ZERO responsibility? Lol.
Congratulations, you are 100% right and absolutely correct.

However.....

Being an early adopter brings certain risks. Who is the smart one? The one who buys instantly and then lays ALL the blame on the company, or the one that says, "hey, $1000 is a lot of money, and even though I may be right, I'd rather protect myself and my money until I can make a more informed decision for my own protection."

Would you rather be right or smart enough to protect yourself and not lean on the company being infallable and assuming they will always do the right thing?

I'll tell you this. Based on 3 photos alone that I saw on one thread today, I will own a SmokeFire. And, I might even spend full price. But, I will go ahead and wait until the kinks are worked out. I won't lay my $1000 and absolute trust in any company or the FTC. That's just me.
 
Because it's Weber. A company we love and trust. A company that we expect a lot from, maybe more than we should.

If Weber says they've improved the pellet grill and have a new system that sends grease to an internal tray and 70% of ash to a drawer, people want to believe them because it's Weber. Weber has earned our trust over the years--Weber is not equivalent to an infomercial. So when a claim about ash and grease management turns out not to be true, at least in some people's experience, folks get upset. They feel that bond of trust has been broken.
Well spoken.
 
You posted 2 of the 3 pictures that will lead to me getting a SmokeFire. Lol. That rib was wow.
That was a crazy smoke ring. I would let the ash settle and see what Weber has to say about the few issues it does have. That being said I’m definitely keeping it and can work around the issues it does have.
I went through 2 bags of pellets and didn’t clean it yet, there is a lot of ash in the bottom that if I let the grease run into the smoker it would be gross.
 
My first use of the SF was last week and I did a couple of steaks, just to try it out. Had great results. My second was Saturday when I did a pork butt, which was seasoned, sliced into strips, and smoked in a pan for 7 hours. It wasn’t your normal BBQ since it was seasoned for carnitas for National Margarita Day (I had Jameson; don’t judge me). This is after I moved it to a crock pot for transporting to a friend’s house.
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Today we cooked a pork loin in a cast iron skillet at 350.
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So, that‘s high heat, low heat and medium heat. All have turned out very tasty. Admittedly I haven’t done a real fatty cook without a pan, but I don’t have a problem with a pan, drip or otherwise. I do keep an eye on the pellets, but even there I realized I don’t have to monitor them as much as I feared. Fingers crossed that this continues.
 
Off topic question: why were the grill pellets invented and when ? or is it that manufacturers needed a new revenue stream and came up with something new ?
My WSM and my regular steak grill use the same fuel; charcoal but are entirely different designs.
Knowing that can the “fuel” pellets be used for both in the same machine ?
Are the pellets “fuel” naturally more towards smoking or grilling ? do completely different machine designs need to be created to support completely different functions ?
(machine i am referring loosely to grills)
 
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Being an early adopter brings certain risks. Who is the smart one? The one who buys instantly and then lays ALL the blame on the company, or the one that says, "hey, $1000 is a lot of money, and even though I may be right, I'd rather protect myself and my money until I can make a more informed decision for my own protection."

Would you rather be right or smart enough to protect yourself and not lean on the company being infallable and assuming they will always do the right thing?
Being an "early adopter" does not mean that you should settle or expect less for your money than what the company advertised. Anyone remember the Saturn auto company? They were like the modern version of Tucker. The claims that they made for their cars were unlike anything else on the market and even their sales process was different. I bought one of the first ones available in my area at the first dealership. To this day, that is the one and only NEW car I have ever purchased and you know what? EVERYTHING they claimed in their advertising was absolutely true and it was one of the best cars I ever owned. Did I take a chance or did I expect a company to deliver exactly what they advertised for the price I paid? So why would I expect that an established company like Weber would spend years and millions in R&D and testing to design and manufacture a pellet grill that would not live up to 100% of their claims? Is that really expecting too much?
 
Being an "early adopter" does not mean that you should settle or expect less for your money than what the company advertised. Anyone remember the Saturn auto company? They were like the modern version of Tucker. The claims that they made for their cars were unlike anything else on the market and even their sales process was different. I bought one of the first ones available in my area at the first dealership. To this day, that is the one and only NEW car I have ever purchased and you know what? EVERYTHING they claimed in their advertising was absolutely true and it was one of the best cars I ever owned. Did I take a chance or did I expect a company to deliver exactly what they advertised for the price I paid? So why would I expect that an established company like Weber would spend years and millions in R&D and testing to design and manufacture a pellet grill that would not live up to 100% of their claims? Is that really expecting too much?

Admitting there are problems and wishing they had it more"finished" before they released it is fine.

But this thread and this board is littered with comments like Weber is now going bankrupt, Weber might completely die because of the SmokeFire, and threatening to never buy another product from them is just absolutely ridiculous.... Especially when the grill has been out a month.

It is extremely rare that any new product launch is perfect and everything works the way it's supposed to. Apple doesn't do that, Samsung doesn't do that, Microsoft sure as hell doesn't do that, and it's not the end of the world that Weber didn't do it on the SmokeFire.

But what everyone on this board should know is that Weber will keep working towards making it right and if I was a betting man I'd bet they will get it right. And yes, the early adopters get the product first and often times that means they get to put up with some crap. Just the way it is. So, yes, my contention is that being a bleeding edge early adopter and expecting it to work to 100% flawless performance IS too much to ask.

And if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty on this, let's look at the fact that the SmokeFire is by far the most complex and truly new technology they've ever attempted that wasn't their innovation. Charcoal grills and propane grills are way easier to create and develop than the SmokeFire. Overnight Weber became a software and computer development company and had to design a whole new concept for them. This is a whole different world for Weber. In my opinion that alone should buy them some patience, especially from their most familiar customers.
 
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There are days I get a lot of enthusiasm looking for a redhead or bluehead older Genesis Silver in the classified knowing that it has a true and trusted design and I know each bolt size and each part and what it does and will work 100% when restored.
What is sad in all this I don’t think there will be anything like that with the SF fifteen years from now.
 
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Mike, can’t be in agreement with you.

And that's okay. Lol. We don't all have to agree with each other on this board. The discourse, even in disagreement, is still worthy.

Truth be told, I don't think Weber should be making pellet grills at all. I'm not a fan of the medium and I don't feel like it accomplishes anything you can't already do better on one of their current products.

I mean if you want true set it and forget it, just get a masterbuilt electric or gas and be done with it. If you want to do traditional smoking get a WSM or a offset stick burner. From the first time I saw a pellet traeger in about '02 or '03 I thought it was a gimmick. I haven't really changed my mind on that. I feel like the last two new Weber products (Summit Charcoal and SmokeFire) were complete board room decisions to get into niches they weren't currently in. Personally I'd rather see Weber leave the kamado to BGE/kamado and leave the pellet grills to traeger and rec tec. Keep focusing on what you do better than anyone else and stop trying to fill every role.

Hell, I'd rather see them do an offset but utilize the double walled porcelain covered technology they came up with for the Summit Charcoal. They could even make the firebox mimic a traditional kettle shape and it could do double duty as a traditional kettle like you see the fireboxes of a normal stick burner be used for normal charcoal grilling. But, as a smoker you open the damper and the cookbox would be essentially a sideways WSM, except it would be double walled as well. The capacity of a WSM with the simplicity of a Weber kettle. Then you could do different colors and you would truly have a do it all grill/smoker that is far more true to the style and spirit of Weber. And, as a company you wouldn't be hiring software engineers and have to push out firmware updates and patches for a damn grill. Lol. Just saying. But, I'm just the dude sitting on his couch arguing on the internet with other dudes, so.... Take all that for what it's worth.
 

 

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