I know, I know, poor planning. Where did this month go? I don't know if Amazon can get it to me by the weekend, so are there any national stores that sell them?
Most chains only carry the ET-72-- the single-probe model. /infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif Maybe you could call The Gadget Source and get them to overnight you one.
From Amazon, it ships in "1 to 2 business days"-- which means it doesn't even get out the door until then-- from a third party vendor, and at $10 higher than Gadget Source. If you gotta gotta have one, I still think they're your best shot. Can't hurt to phone and ask.
You may want to have a backup plan. Here's an email I received from The Gadget Source after I had 2 bad thermometers sent to me:
It has been brought to our attention that our most recent supply of Smoker
Thermometers have this same factory defect. Several have already been
returned to us as defective. We have contacted the manufacturer, who is
shipping us replacement units. We expect to have them in the next couple
weeks.
In the meantime, please do send both units. Upon their return, we'll send a
replacement thermometer or refund your purchase price and shipping
charges -- whichever you wish.
Please accept our apologies for this delay. We appreciate your patience and
thank you for ordering from us.
I was sent the following e-mail after I tried to order an ET-73 from GadgetSource. I wouldn't be in any hurry to get one - if one shipment is bad, that could mean anywhere you did get one might be defective. Best to wait.
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It has been brought to our attention that our most recent supply of Smoker Thermometers have a factory defect. Several have already been returned to us as defective, and to prevent further inconvenience to our customers we will be holding orders on this item until we receive replacement thermometers from Maverick. We expect this to be by the end of May.
***************************************
I purchased it from GadgetSource. They sent me 1 and the range was about 2 feet. So, they sent me a replacement and it had the same problem. After some advice from Jim Minion, I think I'm giving up on cheap digital thermometers. For many, they seem to work fine, but not for me.
The CS rep at The Gadget Source told me they had gotten an entire shipment of defected ET-73s, and they sent them back. They are still waiting on the next shipment.