From Weber's CEO on Smokefire and recent customer service delays.

[DaveG74]

https://consumer-care.weber.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040719432

UPDATE FROM OUR CEO
To Our Valued Customers,

I wanted to provide a personal update on two important topics during this very challenging year and very busy grilling season.

First is an update on our new Weber SmokeFire® wood-fired pellet grill, which has undergone some fantastic upgrades in the last several weeks.  When we introduced SmokeFire in February, we made a promise to bring a new grilling experience to our customers – a true pellet "grill":  one that could sear at high temperatures as well as smoke low-and-slow.  It was also our first-ever wifi-enabled smart grill, with software and firmware solutions to evolve the grilling experience via Weber Connect™.

We recognize that some early purchasers did not have the experience that is expected from Weber.  We meticulously reviewed customer feedback and have been making hardware, firmware and software improvements steadily over the past few months to enhance performance and to reduce and eliminate any questions or issues.

Enhancements have been aimed at improving temperature consistency, pellet flow, management of flare-ups, remote-control functionality, connectivity and user experience, among other improvements.  In recent weeks, we implemented an upgrade, which automatically installs when you power cycle the grill (you should be on #04025 or later), and it has been extremely well received by owners – check SmokeFire message boards or the recent Engadget review to see more.  We are confident that these improvements will deliver both current owners and new buyers the full potential of the SmokeFire grill – consistent with what you expect from Weber.  We are also committed to a continual stream of improvements and enhancements on a monthly basis going forward, making SmokeFire a grill that keeps getting better and smarter over time.

The vast majority of SmokeFire owners have had good experiences and made absolutely amazing food.  For anyone who has any type of issue, we will provide full assistance and if needed, on-site service at no cost to you.  And finally we will fully guarantee your satisfaction or we will take your grill back.  We stand behind the SmokeFire grill, as with all our grills, and we stand behind Weber customers.

Second is an update on our Consumer Care lines.  Any of you who have called or emailed Weber Consumer Care recently has likely had a challenging experience with much longer than normal response times.  With families spending nearly all their time at home, grilling activity is up tremendously compared to a normal year.  This has resulted in a massive spike in call volume into Weber – about 500% more than what we have ever seen in the past.

Our consumer care team, which is located here in Illinois, has also been working from home, and we simply could not keep up with that much call volume.  We take pride in our personal service at Weber, and we want to help you as fast as possible – we are working aggressively to catch up, adding employees to our customer care team to answer your questions, and we expect to be caught up in the next couple weeks.  We know this is frustrating, and we appreciate your patience as we strive to reach everyone as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your support, and I wish you a safe and happy summer.

Chris

[JEBIV]

Cool

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[Saturday morning]

Thank you!


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[Pezdogs]

I can't fault them at all as I recieved a follow up email regarding my Glen Blue 26" at 2am today. I am in Retail and if I was working from home I am not sure I would do that myself. Well done Weber Team

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[Foster Dahlet]

That is an effective letter. 

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[TheFinkFarm]

So anyone know the upgrades to the Gen 2?

[TheFinkFarm]

https://www.weber.com/NZ/en/blog/news/smokefire-second-generation-difference/weber-2059356.html.
Found this if anyone else is looking.

[Hogsy]

https://www.weber.com/AU/en/blog/news/smokefire-second-generation-difference/weber-2059356.html


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[Hogsy]

I've been using the EX4 Gen 2 model for the last couple of months. It hasn't missed a beat so far


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