I’ve recommended Traegers in the past as I have loved mine. Recently mine overheats (temp spikes) and it shuts itself off.

I figure, no problem, I’ll call customer service and resolve it, after all it’s under warranty. Customer service is a 2 hour wait. Must be covid, so I leave my number and they will call me back.

Didn’t call me back on Tuesday. So I do it again Wednesday, they still didn’t call me back. So I’m sitting on hold now (37 minutes in). I wondered if this is covid related so I start googling...nope this is SOP for them. The internet is full of complaints on their service. They say they will send parts to customers who actually wait for hours to speak to them and then never send them.

I wish I saw all of these customer complaints before I bought it. It’s great when it works, but this is awful. I’ve not seen customer service this poor in a very long time. In today’s world, this is really unacceptable. If anything goes wrong with your Treager, you’re screwed folks.

So, having said all that, my Traeger is going to the dumpster and I will never buy another one. I still have my Komodo Joe so I’m not starving, but I like having a pellet smoker too.

What brand of pellet smoker would y’all recommend. I don’t really have a budget per say, but around $2k seems reasonable. I know some are up around $4k-$5k but I’m no master BBQ’er so that just seems overkill for me. Thanks.

I don't have one personally (Pit Boss here which I love, also have a Kamado Classic Joe), but I've heard good things about these guys:

https://www.rectecgrills.com/RT-700-Wood-Pellet-Grill

And the 700 model comes in well below your given price range.

KAMADO JOE has excellent customer service, The fire liner inside the shell cracked after 6 years of use.Called customer service and sent a couple of photos.Within 1 week I received an improved fire liner with no charge.

I’ve heard good things about Green Mountain and Rec Tec.

Yoder

I’ve been pleased with Camp Chef on their products and customer service.

Rec Tec... Amazing customer service. When I got my 680, there was a business card inside with the 2 owners cell phone numbers. They claim they will pick up if you cannot get through to customer support... Even on weekends!!!

I have used their customer support and they have been stellar.

The smoker has been rock solid. I called for support for some upgrades I was considering (that is the other nice thing, you can upgrade it with factory parts from newer models if you like).

Regards,

If you are willing to consider other types of smokers, take a look at the offerings from Cookshack. They are American-made and pretty bullet-proof. Great CS as well. I love mine. They burn small chunks of hardwood instead of pellets.

Cookshack

Instead of throwing it in the trash sell it online for cheap with full disclosure of the problems and poor customer service.

Somebody handy will probably buy it to fix-up, your ad will increase the visibility to Traeger's issues, and if enough people do the same it will cut into their sales numbers.

I've owned, Traeger, Rec Tec, Yoder, Camp Chef, Green Mountain, pellet grills. They all perform similar and do a great job.

Best Build = Yoder
Best Service = Rec Tec
Best Value = Camp Chef Woodwind (what I currently have)
Only one that I ever had problems with = Traeger

This message has been edited. Last edited by: LBTRS,

quote:

Originally posted by bozman:
Rec Tec... Amazing customer service. When I got my 680, there was a business card inside with the 2 owners cell phone numbers. They claim they will pick up if you cannot get through to customer support... Even on weekends!!!

I have used their customer support and they have been stellar.

The smoker has been rock solid. I called for support for some upgrades I was considering (that is the other nice thing, you can upgrade it with factory parts from newer models if you like).

Regards,

^^^^^^^^^^
Love my RECTEC as well, great product, I have the 680 that’s 4 years old and flawless!

Meh, if I lived closer I'd come get it!

Mines probably 7 years old, runs like a champ, used at least weekly if not several times a week from Smoked brisket, boston butt, bacon, burgers, steaks.

The only problem was a front wheel caster that gave out after 6 years, out of warranty, Traeger replaced both front swivel wheels, at no charge no shipping costs. Other than that it rocks cooking.

Everyone has issues, Green Mountain, neighbor bought one, raved, all the neat features, which it has, and he had to have the control board replaced twice and the network connection drops constantly, finally he's got it running. Not a knock, just saying shit happens.

With the COVID stuff I'd give them the benefit of the doubt, they sell way more than the other brands, so complaints will be higher, lots of reasons.

Try the facebook page leave them a message or use FB messenger, I find that works better than Phone.,

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Tr...s/?ref=page_internal

If CS is important to you look at Weber pellet grills. You will never find better CS and Weber products are top notch.

https://www.weber.com/US/en/gr...series/23510001.html

Jim

I have a Pit Boss PB820D2 and love it. I have also read glowing reviews on their customer service.

Yoder. Built like a tank and awesome customer service.

I bought a Sam's Club private label pellet smoker made by Ember Grills for a little over $200 a couple of years ago. I already had a Traeger, but wanted something bigger, and for the price, who could beat it? It has heavier gauge metal for a more consistent temperature than a Traeger. My Traeger croaked, but not due to low quality, but an accident. I have to say, my current grill is both better than a comparable Traeger, and cost me 25% of a Traeger brand. Unfortunately, it does not look like Sam's carries them anymore. I could have bought the last floor model for $109, mad at myself for not doing so.

I'll second the Pit Boss recommendation. I looked hard at the Traeger, they seemed very flimsy for the premium price. I bought an upright Pit Boss and I love it. If you like the barrel ones, they are a bit more expensive at Lowes VS Walmart, but the ones at Lowes had obvious heavier components.

Just curious as to what you're looking for in a pellet smoker?


If it so you can set it and forget it, you might want to look into temperature controllers that are compatible w/ your Kamado Joe. I've got a home-built Heatermeter that's been great on my WSM (building another to use on my KJ too) and there are several other similar off the shelf products out there. One of the things I love about the HM is that I can set alarms to notify me when the pit temp is too high/low and when my meat probe reaches a set temperature. Gives me a heads up if I'm running around that I need to get back to tend to something (or when dinner's ready ).

+1 on RecTec. I just gave my RT-700 a deep cleaning this weekend and almost got it looking brand new...ON THE INSIDE! I love the stainless steel construction. I've had mine for about 18 months and we use it A LOT!

After I deep cleaned it, I gave it a good burn and it reached 600˚, which I could never do with my Lil'Tex elite in the summer. The highest I could ever get was 475˚ with the Traeger.

Some food from the past...








I'm considering getting "The Matador" with the carbon steel cooking plate so I can do Philly Cheesesteaks.

Tony.

I went with a MAK 2 star when I retired my old Traeger. Great service, great product, American made and all that. It sure looks better, and it does heat up faster and use less pellets, but the food tastes just the same as it did off my old grill. If I had it to do over I would just buy another Traeger.