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


 
MikeLucky said:
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..
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Okay so you are saying weber is a junk company on the level of &$@&. And untrustworthy. Okay.
Would you prefer we not fix the problem and watch Weber circle the drain.

Way to go ...
 
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Tony-Chicago said:
Okay so you are saying weber is a junk company on the level of &$@&. And untrustworthy. Okay.
Would yoi refer we not fix the problem and watch Weber circle the drain.

Way to go ....
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No, I think they rushed this to market and are planning to fix things down the line. If you've ever had any experience with a software development company then you would know it's pretty standard ops.

I think it's way more unreasonable to call the SmokeFire as complete failure as a final verdict one month in.
 
MikeLucky, what’s your goal here? In one post your saying that these pics are going to make you buy a SmokeFire, and then a few posts later you are saying fWeber shouldn’t even be in the pellet business. Do you work for Weber? Have they contacted you to tRy to make a mess in forums raising concerns with the SmokeFire?
 
ShaneF said:
MikeLucky, what’s your goal here? In one post your saying that these pics are going to make you buy a SmokeFire, and then a few posts later you are saying fWeber shouldn’t even be in the pellet business. Do you work for Weber? Have they contacted you to tRy to make a mess in forums raising concerns with the SmokeFire?
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I don't think Weber should be in the pellet business and if Weber hadn't made a pellet grill I wouldn't ever have any reason to own one.

But, after seeing some of the food coming off of it, I'll probably get one. But, I'll definitely wait for the kinks to get worked out.

My goal was just to point out that some people are really overreacting to this whole situation.
 
The more I read this thread and others on the subject of SmokeFire, the more I think some marketing graduate students need to do a case study of how Weber marketed SmokeFire and how customer reacted to the product launch. I'm being serious, there's a lot to unpack here.

As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It's not a case of cataclysmic failure for Weber, nor is it a home run. It's also not a case of, "Folks, keep moving, nothing to see here." Something went sideways here. Factors include:
  • Unrealistically high customer expectations based on marketing claims, Weber reputation, etc.
  • Weber over-promising and under-delivering on certain features, performance factors, and ease of use when they should have under-promised and over-delivered.
  • A base of customers unfamiliar with the realities of pellet grills. When confronted with concepts like fly ash and pellet bridging and the need for a Shopvac to frequently vacuum your grill, uncertainly begins to mount in customer minds.
  • Social media giveth and social media taketh away. To Weber's benefit, YouTube influencers spread the gospel of SmokeFire with little first-hand cooking experience. To Weber's detriment, YouTube influencers and average Joes quickly spread videos of what appear to be product fails. Sorting out operator errors from real operational issues proves difficult to do in real time on social media.
These factors also explain, or at least contribute to, some of the angry and hyperbolic comments seen on forums and other social media. Most of these comments are just unfortunate, like things you say during an argument that you later regret and apologize for :) but some are a reflection of the disappointment people feel upon learning that this pellet grill does not live up to their expectations. Are angry comments a rational response to disappointment in a pellet grill? You'll have to ask a psychiatrist and a brand marketing specialist about that one, I'm sure there are deep issues involved. :D
 
Chris Allingham said:
Most of these comments are just unfortunate, like things you say during an argument that you later regret and apologize for :) but some are a reflection of the disappointment people feel upon learning that this pellet grill does not live up to their expectations. Are angry comments a rational response to disappointment in a pellet grill? You'll have to ask a psychiatrist and a brand marketing specialist about that one, I'm sure there are deep issues involved. :D
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Get out of my head.!,.!.😵

But seriously. Another well thought out response from the voice of reason. I don't necessarily disagree with either side of the coin. But I also don't don't have any real skin in the game having not bought one. So I'm armchair quarterbacking from my perspective. Both sides have valid points and IMO just goes to show how passionate we all are about BBQ. :coolkettle::coolkettle:
 
PDay said:
Hi, is the quality of the Smokefire really ant surprise when you consider the decline in quality in other BBQ types they make? Not only that, but even the accessories like spatulas and forks are so thin and flimsy. I thought it odd that so much of their promotional material for the Smokefire was around high temp cooking when nearly everyone who is interested in Weber products already own something that does that. The move into the pellet market and a product that was supposed to meet both needs of the BBQ market seems ill advised. The beauty of older Weber products is the simplicity of use and the quality of build. I think the idea of the Smokefire is too clever for its own good, is over engineered and which by law of averages will result in more technical issues.
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i honestly don’t hit the “like” button enough times for this!!!! Great statement!
Tim
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Larry, you’ve had an issue with Weber about customer service before
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I felt I needed to address this once more. If you call being let down by a company promising a warranty period of XX years on a VERY expensive premium product an "issue" than so be it. If someone buys a premium expensive product and does so because they feel the company has such a stellar reputation, and makes such excellent products, that even if the product were to fail the company would be there for them and said company then says "oh too bad so sad we cannot honor your warranty because we don't make the repair parts any more" I don't call that a CS issue I call it fraud
 
Jon Tofte said:
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.
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I wasn't dissing RT, just,showing they all seem to have the same problems now and again.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Reverse sear Tomahawks on SmokeFire

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So, let me get this straight.... people are complaining that at the 600 degree setting they are getting ash and embers? LOL. Go to the 8 minute mark of that video and tell me that isn't the same as searing over an open fire. How could anyone differentiate that they are getting any level of ash kickup in that searing inferno. What am I missing here? That video clearly shows an amazing grill in use. Again, what am I missing here?
 
MikeLucky said:
So, let me get this straight.... people are complaining that at the 600 degree setting they are getting ash and embers? LOL. Go to the 8 minute mark of that video and tell me that isn't the same as searing over an open fire. How could anyone differentiate that they are getting any level of ash kickup in that searing inferno. What am I missing here? That video clearly shows an amazing grill in use. Again, what am I missing here?
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That was one of the things Weber said wouldn't happen. They specifically said that other pellet cookers had ash all over the food, but the SmokeFire wouldn't. What you are seeing in alot of the backlash is people reacting to Weber's claims versus reality. You have to look at all of the reaction with that realization. Complaining that a company didn't deliver on promises isn't an entirely new concept and it isn't unreasonable. Your expectations are based on their promises. If someone is not happy with the SF because they have to use drip pans after being told for months that they wouldn't is completely fair.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
This is interesting, here's Trendkill's uploaded videos ............ notice the number of views on his SmokeFire vids compared to those he did previously. Google will be writing him a bigger check this month :)

His Juicy Lucy burger got 98 views. One of his SmokeFire vids got 17,000 views.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCux5WwCUWhR-qgBPUl8ZssA/videos
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Well, I was wrong. He says in this vid that his channel is not monetized. I should've known since we don't have to watch any ads. I've got a lot of respect for that.

 
Derrick H said:
That was one of the things Weber said wouldn't happen. They specifically said that other pellet cookers had ash all over the food, but the SmokeFire wouldn't. What you are seeing in alot of the backlash is people reacting to Weber's claims versus reality. You have to look at all of the reaction with that realization. Complaining that a company didn't deliver on promises isn't an entirely new concept and it isn't unreasonable. Your expectations are based on their promises. If someone is not happy with the SF because they have to use drip pans after being told for months that they wouldn't is completely fair.
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Trendkill talks about ash in that last vid I posted. Says he's not getting ash on his food, but a lot of ash underneath.
 
Chris Allingham said:
The more I read this thread and others on the subject of SmokeFire, the more I think some marketing graduate students need to do a case study of how Weber marketed SmokeFire and how customer reacted to the product launch. I'm being serious, there's a lot to unpack here.

As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It's not a case of cataclysmic failure for Weber, nor is it a home run. It's also not a case of, "Folks, keep moving, nothing to see here." Something went sideways here. Factors include:
  • Unrealistically high customer expectations based on marketing claims, Weber reputation, etc.
  • Weber over-promising and under-delivering on certain features, performance factors, and ease of use when they should have under-promised and over-delivered.
  • A base of customers unfamiliar with the realities of pellet grills. When confronted with concepts like fly ash and pellet bridging and the need for a Shopvac to frequently vacuum your grill, uncertainly begins to mount in customer minds.
  • Social media giveth and social media taketh away. To Weber's benefit, YouTube influencers spread the gospel of SmokeFire with little first-hand cooking experience. To Weber's detriment, YouTube influencers and average Joes quickly spread videos of what appear to be product fails. Sorting out operator errors from real operational issues proves difficult to do in real time on social media.
These factors also explain, or at least contribute to, some of the angry and hyperbolic comments seen on forums and other social media. Most of these comments are just unfortunate, like things you say during an argument that you later regret and apologize for :) but some are a reflection of the disappointment people feel upon learning that this pellet grill does not live up to their expectations. Are angry comments a rational response to disappointment in a pellet grill? You'll have to ask a psychiatrist and a brand marketing specialist about that one, I'm sure there are deep issues involved. :D
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Some things did go sideways.
The embers is the dangerous one but may be fixable.
Needing pans may be a total redo.
Adjusting fan may help with several issues along with new "firewalls" may help with several issues.
Fix the pellet feed, simple enough.
Fool-proof, dead simple the controls. Apps, face, use.
Re strengthen etc low priority.

Was there adequate engineering before and during development.
How much testing took place.
Even before alpha beta testing.
Any use experiment should would have shown issues. As stated months ago, a perfect brisket machine would be better than a hodge-podge.

This is not a case where customers are to blame or expectations.

Redo the machine with or without open bars. High sear to attract all-in-one is diminishing..
Weber forever
Or...
 
I ran a couple test by placing tin foil strips on the left and right side of the cooking grated simulating the size of a St. Louis spare ribs and very little ash landed on the right side and almost none on the left side in a 4 hour pellet only burn. There was still a huge amount of ash all around the fire pot and in the cookbox. Seems kind of odd with all the ash in the cookbox but Weber’s new mantra changed from No Ash in the cook box to “no ash at the cook grates”. The “ash” on the exterior almost seemed more like pellet dust in the few runs I did on it. Did have a breeze each time so maybe that had something to do with the fine coating all over the outside of the pit. Not sure if this was blown out of the pellet hopper or from the burning pellet embers that were blown out the fire pot into the ash box. There are open holes from the fan ducting into the ash box so ash does get blown around in there.

Here is something funny! Amazon has 17 reviews of the smokefire EX6 with a 2.3 out of 5 stars. I found that to be a really low number of the thousands of grills that have been sold. Out of curiosity I clicked on the write a review link and you get this:
A3172379-6CB9-41D8-B580-BEE4CF6E4012.jpeg
 
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Derrick H said:
That was one of the things Weber said wouldn't happen. They specifically said that other pellet cookers had ash all over the food, but the SmokeFire wouldn't. What you are seeing in alot of the backlash is people reacting to Weber's claims versus reality. You have to look at all of the reaction with that realization. Complaining that a company didn't deliver on promises isn't an entirely new concept and it isn't unreasonable. Your expectations are based on their promises. If someone is not happy with the SF because they have to use drip pans after being told for months that they wouldn't is completely fair.
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Did you watch the video in the quoted post? I didn't see anything of the sort, that's why I was asking what I was missing.
 
Chris Allingham said:
...
These factors also explain, or at least contribute to, some of the angry and hyperbolic comments seen on forums and other social media. Most of these comments are just unfortunate, like things you say during an argument that you later regret and apologize for :) but some are a reflection of the disappointment people feel upon learning that this pellet grill does not live up to their expectations. Are angry comments a rational response to disappointment in a pellet grill? You'll have to ask a psychiatrist and a brand marketing specialist about that one, I'm sure there are deep issues involved. :D
Click to expand...

Thanks for the new ignore button, it's a lot cheaper than therapy! :D
 
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