Masterbuilt Customer Service is a joke.

[normanaj]

What a joke.The very worst customer service I have ever dealt with,hours and hours spent just trying to break through their automated system to simply be put on hold for more hours.The regular 800 number actually suggests to call another 800 number to get direct service and guess what?.......more hours on hold.And the crazy thing I've been doing this for two days,last Friday and today.Love my MES its just to bad they don't care enough to support it.

After being told to have a blessed day an automated message came up just now that the service department is closed!Why not just say this at the very beginning instead of wasting many hours of my valuable time,I work for a living.

 

[oddegan]

I believe they sub contract their customer service from Comcast.

 

[normanaj]

Finally just got through.Either I was denied my $30 rebate(Cabelas black Friday deal) or I wasn't,they couldn't tell me either way.What a joke.And apparently their customer service dept. is not closed!?

 

[johnmeyer]

I am sorry to hear of your experience. I hope this isn't something new because most reports I have seen in this forum are just the opposite.

I myself had great support and when I reported it in the link below, I noted at the time (exactly one year ago) how many other people had similar, positive stories to tell:

MES Shut Off Problem (my post about support)

[edit]I am 99% certain (my memory isn't perfect) that I contacted them via their web page, and not via the phone.

 

[zwiller]

I had GREAT contact with the service department BUT you just reminded me I too have not received my $30 rebate (same deal).

 

[johnmeyer]

I only read the first post and didn't realize the complaint was with a rebate. That fact didn't show up until the second post, and I didn't read that.

Oddegan is absolutely correct: rebates are subcontracted to an outside firm. I have a LOT of experience with rebates in the computer industry. The subcontractor's job is to fulfill the rebate; to weed out the fraud (there is a LOT of fraud with people claiming rebates to which they are not entitled); and to pay as slowly as the law will allow in order to maximize the "float" (the amount of time Masterbuilt gets to hang on to its $30). Twelve weeks is the typical time it takes to receive a rebate. This is true with ALL rebates, from all companies. I have applied for over a hundred in the past thirty years, because I used to love rebates. And, I briefly ran a company that was in its final demise because of the world's stupidest rebate (they gave a 100% rebate at the cash register -- unbelievable). Whatever I hadn't already learned about the rebate process before then, I quickly learned as I laid off half the company due to this stupidity.

In the old days I would recommend that you call Masterbuilt, or their rebate agency, but these days most rebate fulfillment firms are designed to be reached via a web page. If you are still getting the runaround, I would suggest that avenue: go to the web site for the rebate and take it up there. That is how I've dealt with my past several dozen rebates.

 

[oddegan]

I was only trying to make a joke about crap customer service. Never take anything I post to seriously.

 

[normanaj]

John Its not so much about the rebate as it is about actually getting through to someone in their customer service dept.To continually be recycled through the automated system over and over again to only end up being timed out and having to start the whole process over again and in the end to finally get a message to have a blessed day and that the dept. is closed.Very frustrating.

 

[johnmeyer]

John Its not so much about the rebate as it is about actually getting through to someone in their customer service dept.To continually be recycled through the automated system over and over again to only end up being timed out and having to start the whole process over again and in the end to finally get a message to have a blessed day and that the dept. is closed.Very frustrating.

I feel your pain. Even those companies who still do their own customer service, rather than the all-too-common outsourcing to India, the phone tree is often so exasperating that when I finally get to a live human, I have to control myself so the first words out of my mouth are not a curse. There is no excuse for the way automated phone trees are constructed and, unfortunately, Masterbuilt is not alone in doing this.

FWIW, I often write a letter to the president of the company after an episode like this. I then snail mail it (yes, a stamped envelope). This is a really good technique because most managers now have to deal with hundreds of emails a day, and most get ignored, but they only get one or two letters a month. Thus, by using this old medium, you get right to the head of the queue and almost always get an answer. What's more, since support is often the last thing the top person thinks about, getting a reminder about this forgotten group, and hearing about issues which affect customer loyalty, often actually produces results, especially in a small to medium-sized company like Masterbuilt.

Big companies are impossible to change.

I spend a lot of my time fixing things, for myself and for neighbors, and am therefore constantly in touch with support organizations at many different companies. I have lots of tips and techniques for how to get to someone who can actually help you.

 

[zwiller]

Complete opposite for me. I don't remember EXACTLY but I sure as heck didn't wait long and ended up talking to a real nice lady to answer a pretty stupid (what generation is this model #) question. I am still impressed but waiting on my rebate. In complete honesty, I mailed it last day of rebate expiration (NYE) so I am not gonna be PO'd if I don't get one but I am sure as heck will be impressed if I do! 12 weeks means end of March for me...

 

[zwiller]

Still no rebate...

 

[normanaj]

Still no rebate...

Same here still.

Love my MES but if Masterbuilt is going to offer a rebate to a particular group(aka Cabelas customers) I really don't care if some third party company takes care of rebates in the end its on Masterbuilt.Five months is a joke to wait for a rebate.

 

[zwiller]

Been a long time since a rebate was "lost in the mail"...

PS - I am bass player amongst other instruments and a big fan of Steve Harris' style.

 

[Bearcarver]

Oh No!!
I hope this isn't a new trend from Masterbuilt.
Back 8 to 9 years ago, they were terrible.

Then all of a sudden their Customer Support was Fantastic, and it seemed to have stayed that way, going by all the reports from guys on this forum.
Now this is the first bad report I've heard (read) about them in years. I hope they didn't get a new bunch in the office, like they had 9 years ago!!!

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

I was only trying to make a joke about crap customer service. Never take anything I post to seriously.

I figured you were joking, but only because you mentioned "Comcast", who is known to be one of the worst @ Customer Service, along with Verizon in my area.

Bear

 

[normanaj]

PS - I am bass player amongst other instruments and a big fan of Steve Harris' style.

That man can play some serious bass.2019 can't come fast enough...smoker going at another Maiden tailgate!

 

[ghostguy6]

I hope it is the rebate subcontractor making things so difficult. I have to call tomorrow about my new grates rusting away after 4 uses. Sounds like it might end up being a long day....

 

[ghostguy6]

I have to say, it has been 7 days since I sent my original warranty request via the Masterbuilt website and so far I have not got a straight answer via email. They keep giving me the run around trying to sell me new grates rather than answer if I'm covered under warranty or not. I just tried calling them only to be put on hold for 20 minutes before being hung up on.
I am not impressed with their customer service so far.

 

[Bearcarver]

I have to say, it has been 7 days since I sent my original warranty request via the Masterbuilt website and so far I have not got a straight answer via email. They keep giving me the run around trying to sell me new grates rather than answer if I'm covered under warranty or not. I just tried calling them only to be put on hold for 20 minutes before being hung up on.
I am not impressed with their customer service so far.

I'm sorry to hear that---Like I said above, I hope they aren't going to go back to the way they were 8 or 9 years ago.
Which Masterbuilt Smoker do you have that has Grates that rust?

Bear

 

[ghostguy6]

I have the MES 40 gen 2 or the Sportsman Elite as they call it. The original racks lasted me 4 years until I cleaned them with a scratch pad (my mistake). The racks in question are the replacement racks from Cabela's https://www.cabelas.ca/product/94256/masterbuilt-40-smoker-rack-accessory-kit. From MES

The replacement racks for your unit are p/n 9007120012.

The new racks only lasted 4 or 5 smokes before rusting at the weld joints but also were the chrome has chipped off already.