Mixed feelings

[ModelMaker]

Don't know about the rest of you but I'm perfectly satisfied.
Ed

 

[mschwirian]

I have a Stumps and have owned a Lang, both amazing tools that have been slammed for quality issues. I've been dealing with Lexus for a year trying to get my wife's dash replaced for cracks. Shouldn't have happened and shouldn't have taken this long to fix but it looks like it's going to work out. I'm sure very few business owners on here have been able to satisfy 100% of their customers. Everybody makes mistakes, and I'm an airline pilot, it's how you handle those mistakes that count. Stumps is making it right, Lexus is making it right, finally.
I remember a post from a guy that was livid with his Shirley when the tongue broke on his new smoker on the way home from picking it up. They made it right. Nobody is perfect.

 

[pjtexas1]

Not too quick to praise Stumps here. If this thread didn't happen, no action would have been taken. And (I forget who posted this), those issues went beyond cosmetic, in my mind. Warped grates? Really?

i had a similar thought but then we don't know for sure when Stump himself was made aware of the issue. maybe the guy on the phone thought Stump would never find out?

 

[Jrogers84]

I wonder how many Brethren took it upon their self to email stump to let them know how disappointed they where about this. Either way hope the OP is satisfied now

I can tell you one for sure :heh:

This seems like it was handled very well. I would of been pissed if I was the OP and it is obvious it did not get handled well out of the gate. That being said in the end it was handled. I am not going to praise Stumps for fixing what is obviously their error in the first place but I dont think we should hold the error against them. They caused the problem, they fixed the problem, life moves forward.

 

[Ron_L]

Well I finally made the BBQ Brethren membership list tonight.

Welcome! Thanks for posting your side of the story!

It sounds like everyone is satisfied with the outcome!

Now that you're here, feel free to hang around and answer questions as they arise. You also have the option of a Brethren Ventures subscription, which will give you a dedicated section of the forum to use as you see fit.

 

[Knothead]

Nice job Stumps. That's how you make it right.

 

[txsmkmstr]

I've had two custom pits made over the years and I can tell you that no amount of pre-purchase research can overcome an off-day by the fabricator and they ALL have them. It's disappointing when things don't go as expected (perfection required) - especially when all you read is how wonderful every other purchaser's pit came out. You too want to be able to sing the praises and share the good news.

Ultimately, you're left with how the supplier responds to the situation as to your degree of satisfaction. Make no mistake about it - having to deal with any issue as the end purchaser automatically lessens the enjoyment of your new toy. It doesn't really matter what level of compensation or method of resolution occurs, the experience is tainted to a degree.

I'm glad the OP was able to come to a mutual agreement with the supplier. I just hope they can avoid staring at the "defects" every time they use it.

 

[twe372]

My last post on this and I'm putting it to bed. I've got a customer that assured us he was more than happy with the outcome..... And that's what's most important.

I did answer the post (on Easter Sunday no less) and did give him my apologies on the matter and asked for photos to get the ball rolling on a repair or replacement. I also sensed his unhappiness and also stated "with your sentiments I would make an exception and refund your money if you wanted me to." He wanted to go a different route that would NOT have been our normal standard warranty procedure. So in the end I let the Customer choose his path regardless of my sentiments.

So no delay in action or not caring enough about the matter at hand was ever relayed on my part. I have all the emails to prove it.


My answer to the QC problem. The person whom I sent home for 3 days knew better than what he seen and still let it go out the door. MAJOR issue with that thought process. But he is a long time employee and we have never had this issue before, so I issued him as stiff of a penalty as I could without firing him. As hard as it is to find quality help today, it was better to learn from this rather than make a final statement.

 

[D&D BBQ]

It sounds like the QC problem is handled and Stumps is doing his best to make it right (after a lot of bad PR)... However, as a former business owner, I know your reputation is EVERYTHING in a competitive business, and probably more so in a high end luxury item like a custom built smoker line. If I was the owner, in addition to suspending the QC employee, I would let him know that I would personally be doing random followup QC checks so he'd better stay on his toes because businesses can't afford too many hits like this.

 

[Pstores]

In today's world it's always better to retain employees and try to get the best quality from them. Costs too much to orientate, train from scratch. Rather than to re-train and follow up with a current employee. Although ongoing issues with the same employee can warrant more severe consequences. Glad you used some management skills to retain atleast one of the employees. To bad you had to loose one. Good luck in the future, and hopefully QC catches the imperfections prior to shipping.

 

[smokeswirl]

Rough crowd! Keep in mind these things are hand made - not mass quantity runs. A skilled craftsman can work wonders with a manual sheer, break & punch, but those people are hard to find. I'll bet you all know young people who couldn't even change a tire on their own.

You're kidding right? If you cant keep quality up, keep the quantity down. Or at least charge less.

 

[KevinJ]

If I was the owner, in addition to suspending the QC employee, I would let him know that I would personally be doing random followup QC checks so he'd better stay on his toes because businesses can't afford too many hits like this.

We had a saying in the Army don't expect what you don't inspect.

 

[Big Swole]

Good news is, I bet the work from here on out for future customers will be SPOT ON...At least for a good little while.

Those future customers will benefit from this for sure.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I don't own a top of the line smoker, but that's besides the point. At the end of the day here's a customer that has spent thousands on a custom built piece of equipment, regardless of the dollar amount, the manufacturer needs to make the buying experience as satisfactory as possible. And if that means a new smoker, then by all means getting the customer a new smoker should be without hesitation. That's what makes a reputable and successful company stand alone from the rest. Good luck to you OP and I hope this works out for you and you enjoy your purchase.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Seems like shipping out a new smoker in this situation would be absurd. Most of this stuff is a small fix... the latch appears to work just fine and needs a small adjustment with basic tools. The racks not being straight could be fixed with new racks being sent out. The fix for the wheels is to drill out the holes a bit more (again, basic tools), and I don't see an issue with 1/16" on the exhaust vent cap.

Instead of shipping a super heavy piece of equipment across the country this could much more easily be fixed by either just breaking out some basic tools and fixing it yourself, or even taking it to a machine shop and Stumps footing the bill to fix the issues.

I have to say this just feels more like "buyers remorse" than anything else. Complaining about the thickness of the metal really shows the buyer didn't know what they were buying in the first place. I agree that QC could have caught most of the "issues" about which he's complaining, but again, shipping out a brand new unit is a "Last Resort" type option and not the first course of action.

Also, we only have OP's side of the story about how the conversations have gone. I have to say that none of the stuff he's complaining about is going to have any effect on how the unit operates or functions... it's all very petty aesthetic issues.

 

[TedW]

it's all very petty aesthetic issues.

Petty? Petty is in the eyes of the beholder. He also be holdin' the BBQ rig, and the bill.

 

[KevinJ]

Also, we only have OP's side of the story about how the conversations have gone. I have to say that none of the stuff he's complaining about is going to have any effect on how the unit operates or functions... it's all very petty aesthetic issues.

Actually if you read through the whole thread now we do and I think Stumps did as much as he could do after the fact and is taking measurements to ensure situations like this (as much as he can) do not happen again.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Petty? Petty is in the eyes of the beholder. He also be holdin' the BBQ rig, and the bill.

Regardless, it's all petty aesthetic issues. Also, now that there's been a reply from Stumps, it's kind of strange that OP even made this post. They offered to take it back and fix it but he refused multiple times.

Look, I just dropped $5700 on a cooker : http://imgur.com/a/FQp2Z
Johnson Smokers Chargrill Trailer

It's a very good piece of gear and it cooks amazingly well. But after working with it for about 2 weeks now I've noticed a few small, insignificant, aesthetic details but I realize that it's nothing to worry about. Small stuff like the doors (which seal quite well) don't line up at a perfect 90 degree angle when shut. The drain valve for the smoking chamber also is directly above the trailer frame, so I can't really put a bucket underneath it when I wash it out. No worries though, just small stuff which has no impact on the cooker. As beautiful as these cookers are, they are just that : cookers. We're putting grease and smoke through them to cook meat... why are we so hung up on insignificant and petty aesthetic details?

Just my opinion... I love my new cooker even if there's a few small aesthetic problems. Certainly not going to make a thread whining about it, especially if I'd already spoken to my pitbuilder and he'd offered to pick up the cooker and fix it all.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Actually if you read through the whole thread now we do and I think Stumps did as much as he could do after the fact and is taking measurements to ensure situations like this (as much as he can) do not happen again.

Correct... just saw his responses a few minutes ago. Kind of makes me wonder why OP even bothered posting this thread when Stumps offered to have the unit shipped back and have it fixed for free. Were I Stumps I'd be pretty pissed that even after talking with the customer about it OP still posted this thread and made it sound like they were just gaffing him off.

 

[Big Swole]

SmoothBoar,


If I spend $5000 ( I actually spend $4K on my LSG), I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO BREAK OUT ANY TOOLS!!!!!!!!!!! I shouldn't have too!!!

That's a ridiculous comment in my opinion.

I personally don't think the OP was trying to start something major and that's why he started the thread. He just wanted some feedback on whether his reactions were justified.

Anyway... For that kind of money and advertised expectations, it SHOULD have been perfect...But I do realized "Stuff" happens...It's how it's handled that matters. Looks like NOW, it's been handled properly.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

SmoothBoar,


If I spend $5000 ( I actually spend $4K on my LSG), I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO BREAK OUT ANY TOOLS!!!!!!!!!!! I shouldn't have too!!!

That's a ridiculous comment in my opinion.

I personally don't think the OP was trying to start something major and that's why he started the thread. He just wanted some feedback on whether his reactions were justified.

Anyway... For that kind of money and advertised expectations, it SHOULD have been perfect...But I do realized "Stuff" happens...It's how it's handled that matters. Looks like NOW, it's been handled properly.

I agree that you shouldn't have to break out tools for a $5k pit, but like you said, stuff happens. I disagree with what I highlighted from your post : OP made some pretty negative comments towards Stumps and calling them junk multiple times.

Here's a quote from OP, post #45
"So if you want some junk buy a stumps." This was a few days AFTER Stump had contacted him and requested they pick it up and fix the unit, but OP refused that and said he'd rather keep it. (According to Stumps)

Anyways, I've posted a lot in this thread and I'm just basically repeating myself. I hate that OP feels like he didn't get what he wanted, but he had a "way out" and refused. I really feel it's just buyers remorse and no matter what Stumps does he's not going to be happy.