Weber Customer Support Unhelpful / Sometimes You Get What You Pay For


 
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Bill Freiberger

Bill Freiberger

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Well, I guess what they say is true, you get what you pay for. I mentioned about a month or so ago that I was "lucky" to get 2 WSMs from House2Home for $107 each. It turns out that this was not exactly the bargain I had hoped for.

After purchasing the units I didn't have time to put them together right away. But this when this past Sunday rolled around I decided it was time to tinker a little.

When I opened the boxes I discovered that both were infested with termites. And that the termites had even spread a little to my garage (the exterminator is coming today). These little bugs were all over all the parts to my new WSMs and had left a rather unpleasant residue.

I don't know where the termites were introduced into the boxes (Weber, transit, House2Home) but I was hoping that Weber customer support could help me out with the problem. I figured that most of the parts don't come in contact with the food so I could burn off the residue. But I was a little uneasy about cooking on the grates. Also the plastic packages containing the vinyl covers and manuals were completely full of bugs and had to be thrown out.

I called customer support on Sunday and explained the situation. I was told that the woman had to speak with her supervisor and would call me back Monday. I never heard from anyone Monday so Tuesday Morning I called back. I was told that Weber's Corporate Policy was not to Warantee items sold at a discount and they couldn't replace any of the damaged parts.

I was rather surprised because if something comes in a sealed box (as opposed to a floor model) it shouldn't matter how much I paid for it. Weber received the same wholesale price from House2Home that they would have recieved if I paid $180. I was also surprised because in the past they have been very helpful and willing to solve problems with their products.

So I guess the point of this tirade is "Let the buyer beware." I guess I'm just a bit disappointed in Weber, in the past I've felt that their customer support was beyond reproach.

Oh, well. Live and learn.

Your pal,
Bill
 
Hi Bill:

I'm sorry to hear about the situation with your two WSMs. I also hate to hear that you were promised a call back, and then didn't get one. We have the Customer Support line available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long for only one reason - to provide our customers with help by answering questions, and offering assistance in many areas. As you mentioned, you called on a Sunday and actually talked to someone, but sadly - they apparently dropped the ball by failing to call back. What should have been a positive, is now a negative.

I'm not going to discredit what you were told by the rep on Tuesday, but I would amend it a bit toward your circumstance. The policy is directed mostly toward House2Home stores, as they have decided to sell everything "as is". That means the same as "clearance" or "no refunds/ returns". This is because of the condition of the product at the time of sale. For the most part it relates mainly to "floor models" that have been stripped of parts. We've had $500 gas grills that were sold for $200, but that need at least $150 worth of parts in order to work. H2H was then telling customers that all they needed to do was call Weber for the parts at no additional charge, and so finally we had to make the policy that affected you.

I can't tell you where the termites came from, but only that I've never heard of that problem before. It is most likely a H2H warehouse issue.

Anyway, I don't know what parts you were looking for, but if you'd like to give me a call - I'll help out however I can. I think Chris will vouch for that.

Call me between 11:pM and 7:AM either Wednesday night or Thursday night. Otherwise I'm not going to be back until Monday night (going to the Olympics!).

Again, sorry for the problems.
 
Bill,

Duck hit on a good idea. My WSM sleeps in the garage so I've got an extra cover I'll never use. I don't believe I've even opened the bag it came in. Just email your address to me and I'd be happy to send it to you.

Hope I can help.

Ken
 
Thanks to both of you. That is a very kind offer. I keep my cookers outside in my back yard, so the covers are necessary. I'm going to call Weber Dave later to see what we can work out. But it's great to know that people in this community are willing to help out.

your pal,
Bill
 
Bill,

I'm glad you'll be calling Dave. I'm sure he'll help you in any way he can, under the circumstances. He's also a good guy to talk with too...he's just as passionate about barbecue as we are! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Dave will certainly be able to send you a replacement owner's manual, but if you don't want to wait that long you can download a copy from the Web site. Here's the link.

Good luck,
Chris
 
Well, Weber Dave has come through for me. After all the back and forth with the other customer support people Dave has arranged for me to get new cooking grates for my twin WSMs. Now I don't have to worry about feeding termite residue to my family. I guess I did get a bargain after all.

So thanks to Weber Dave and to Duck and Ken for the vinyl covers and to Chris for the PDF version of the manual (and for the great site).

I can't wait to start cooking on my good-as-new WSMs.

Bill
 
Hey Bill,

Sounds like you need to change the title of the thread.

Glad to see you got everything worked out to your satisfaction.

Darren
 
Boy, am I glad I didn't buy the two WSM's at Home2Home a month ago. Who knows what was in it or not in it. Three cheers for Weber Dave for coming through. Now, if only his superiors could educate the folks at BBq Galore into stocking and selling WSM's.
 
I recieved my new Weber gold kettle today that I ordered from Amazon. Somewhere along the line it tangled with some other cargo and punched a hole in the side of the box and dented the fire bowl and chipped the porcelin badly. I gave Weber a call and told them what had happened and the are shipping me a new bowl, hopefully it will arrive in better condition than the first one. When I asked what to do with the dented one, the lady told me they didn't want it back so I guess I'll have a spare. I have had several dealings with Weber customer support and must say that they have always come through for me. I hope that Bill's experience was an abberation and not something that will happen again. My only gripe is now I'll have to wait until the new part arrives to use my new grill. By the way, I love the way the people here help each other, I guess that The Brotherhood of BBQ is stronger than most people know.
Don
 
Don,

It seems I got caught in a battle between Weber and House2Home. House2Home was having a clearance sale because they were going out of business. They were selling a lot of stuff (floor models and such) with many, many parts missing. The sales people told customers to simply call Weber to get all the replacement parts that were needed. This caused a "run" on Weber who was being asked to replace as much as 50% of the parts that an item was supposed to come with.

Weber finally made the decision not to replace parts that were missing from items bought at House2Home.

My situation was a little bit different in that I didn't buy a floor model. I bought two WSMs that were complete and in the box. However, I ran into trouble because the boxes were infested with bugs. The bugs left all kids of residue on the cooker. I called Weber and asked them to replace the cooking grates that were coated with this stuff that I couldn't identify (and didn't want to eat off of). I figured any residue on the rest of the cooker could be burned off.

Normally Weber would have replaced the few parts I needed, but when they heard it was from House2Home, they lumped my purchase in with all the floor models that were missing half the parts. The woman who I was dealing with was very polite, but she couldn't see the difference in my situation and the others. When Weber Dave read my post, he saw the distinction and rectified the problem immediately.

So, yes, my situation was unusual and out of the norm for Weber. And despite that, they still ultimately fixed the problem. They are a good company built on a great product and great customer support.

Bill
 
I received my new undented fire bowl for my Simpson special today. Thank you Weber. The new part was packaged way better than the original. All I can say is I wish I didn't need their customer service, but they are the best when you do need them. Thanks again Weber. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Don
 
Ken,

The cover arrived on Friday. Thanks again for sending it. Now that I have the grills, cover and instruction manual (thanks to you, Dave and Chris) I'm ready to start cooking. I think some baby backs are in order.

Bill
 
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