I bought brand new 22 1/2"WSM 3 weeks ago while I was in KC. I got it home, put it together and discovered that the barrel was out of rounf and did not mate up correctly.

I called and was assured that a new one would be shipped out the next day.about a week and a half later when it hadn't shown up, I called again and was told that there was no order placed to replace it. the lady said that she would see to it that one would go out the next day. About a week later, still no new barrel, so I called again. this time I was told that there was a back order because they weren't stocking any parts being stocked yet, and that they had no idea when they might begin stocking them. In other words, I bought a defective one and for quite a while to come, I was stuck with a $400 purchase that was of no use.

I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told by her that there was nothing they could do. At that, I suggested that they should not be shipping out new units for folks that hadn't bought one yet if they couldn't stand behind the ones that folks had already bought, and suggested also that they should take one from a new unit and send me one of them.

She said she would check and see the next day if they could do that and then promised to call me at my office the next day. It is now the next day and guess what, no call.

If I had any idea that customer service would be so poor, or that the company would not do any better job of standing behind their product than this, I would never have bought the unit, and as it stands right now, I will not buy another Weber product.

I would also encourage anyone that is considering buying the new WSM, that they should wait until at least they start carrying replacement parts for warranty, or for that matter, with their cust. service quality falling off like it has, perhaps concier not buying Weber products at all.

I suppose this is just what happens when a company gets too big. They just decide that they don't care about a customer of 35 years because they can always get more.

Hey Tim, sorry to hear about that. I have delt w/ Weber and have always had great results. But...obviously in your situation this is not the case. I have heard of those being out of round or off. I dont have one but it ticks me off there QC doesnt catch it (or they dont care) That is a nice chunk of change and it should be delivered to you in 100% perfect condition. If not, it should be taken care of. Hope it works out for you. Keep us posted.

I don't fault them for the defect, but to tell me that i have to wait until they are old enough for them to start stocking replacement parts while they continue to ship what I consider to be MY barrel out to other customers it inexcusable.

to make it worse, I had inquired as to whether or not I could order the metal handle loop for a 22" kettle. they tols me that i could, but that i had to order the whole handle assy. I did, but what I got was the plastic handle parts,l one top and two bottoms. Now what am I gonna do with those?

I called back and they told me that I could not in fact order the metal handle loop. She told me that she would issue a call tag to pick up the other parts. when i called back about the barrel, they had no record of that either.

I have figured it to be about a 7: ratio of lies to truth out of these folks.

Weber products are really a bit overpriced for what you get IMHO, but you could always justify buying their stuff because of the way they stood behind their stuff and the quality of their customer service.

I have found that all of that has changed, and now my opinion is simply that they are over priced stuff with no back up.

I might as well buy Lowe's made in China house brand.

I guess there just isn't any quality or cust svc in anything anymore.

I had almost the same deal with them. I gave up after a while. they did not help me at all.

Sorry to hear that you've been given the run-a-round with Weber and bad service because in my opinion, there is no excuse for it.
Down here in Australia, we have a government department called 'Dept. of Fair Trading' and if you have a problem with a business over product or service, you make an official complaint to them they'll sort it out.I have won a few times with them on my side with business's that think they can rip you off.
Do you have a similar Gov. department in the US?
If so, let your tax dollars do the talking and get them on Weber's back untill you've been looked after.

Cheers

Davo

Hey Davo, I wish we hd one of those. We really need one. It didn;t used to be that way. Used to be that businesses just did what was right out of conscience, but nnot annymore.

We have a couple Aussies that visit our ooutdoor cooking forum www.theqjoint.com

You ought to drop by and pay us a visit.;-)

Thanks for the Invite Tim,I'd love to be involved in anything involving BBQ.

I beleive that most businesses are pretty darn good but unfortunately there are some that make you wonder why they are still in Business and as I explained earlier we have Government protection here in Australia against unscrupalous (spelling? ) businesses whether you buy from a shop or online as all businesses must be be registered with the State government.Even If I was to buy something online from the other side of the country and I was given the shaft,then the Dept. of fair trading can contact the same office from that State to deal with the Business and in the worst case scenario, they have the power to close a business and take them to court if neccessary.
Even one cranky customer relations person from that company can undo a lot of good work previously done.
On saying this and the complaint against Weber, I would find it highly unusual because many I've seen writing in this forum have had pretty good experiences with Weber service but have had problems with a retail agent of the product.
I recently had a little problem with a Weber Performer which I bought new last year and the gas lighting regulator failed so they came out to my house and replaced it under Warranty for free, no questions asked.I can't fault that.

cheers

Davo

Wow. I've had nothing but great customer service from Weber over the YEARS. That inculdes an order for 2002 Performer parts last month.

Courtesy, honesty, integrety. The parts I needed, when they said I would receive them.

I stand behind Weber. 100%

We've already got a "bad customer service" thread running in the WSM 18" & 22" Forum. Closing this one.

Chris