- Oct 29, 2022
- 13
- 20
Hello all!
First post here but I've been reading for a while. But, I basically want to go through my experience of dealing with Masterbuilt Gravity 800 series smoker directly through Masterbuilt approximately a year and three months ago. This grill has been stored in a dry climate, in an indoor patio, and with their heavy duty grill cover. Please enjoy this review; pictures for fun!
Original versus
versus
I purchased my 800 gravity series smoker from Masterbuilt.com for 900+ dollars. When it arrived, it was packaged poorly and the lid had a dent. I reached out to Masterbuilt and they sent me a new lid; this one arrived with scrapes and scratches than the original. The outer box was in perfect condition and the inner box was destroyed. I reached out again and they sent me yet another lid, but this time for the wrong grill. The third time, however, they were able to get me an intact lid for my grill. They wouldn't let me return either of the damaged or incorrect lids so they became industrial metal waste. Great work guys.
As a side note, they glue huge stickers inside of the grill that cannot be easily removed. They'll burn off on your first cook, but the glue will first drip over your grates if installed! See this video for reference:
Additionally, this unit was having issues connecting to my Wi-Fi after being used once, and then turning on again. It would lose the connection and I'd have to re-pair it each time. I was asked to supply all of the details of the app, my phone, my Wi-Fi, and the grill. They never reached out to me with an update or any sort of follow up. The new control unit I purchased FIXES this issue. Cool.
and
Next up, the thermometer got stuck on a random temperature, causing the thermometer to be useless. Then the cheap hopper handle broke (obviously defective) from normal opening and closing. They replaced these. And gave me a tumbler for my trouble.
Then, the lid sensor died causing me to not be able to heat my grill fully. They replaced this for me and then that worked for about 3 months and it failed again. Then both sensors on the hopper and the ash door also failed. They are obviously defective. I ended up putting in my own contact switch because trying to deal with support to get another was too much of a hassle. I now have inline sensors and fan control that I can enable or disable with switches (cool, right?).
Additionally, at this point, even with regular cleaning the internals of the grill are rusting due to their material choice. I have bought aftermarket stainless components to somewhat fix this issue. I clean the grill after each use. My last grill lasted over 10 years without this kind of wear.
Finally, I pull the grill out to cook some steaks and smoke a chicken and then the control unit will not power on. I reached out to support, now out of warranty, and they ignored all of the quality defects I've so far had and said it looked like I had an order in (for almost 90 dollars!). I said yes, but I explained that I was reaching out to express my dissatisfaction with their quality control. I've had this grill a year and although it cooks great, it is a nightmare. THEY NEVER BOTHERED TO REPLY TO ME EVEN TO SAY "SORRY".
This is the picture of the control board. It has two problems: 1) the solder used to connect to the board is essentially non-existent. This is a major QC issue. 2) the cable is in no way glued or held together. The black clip does not prevent slipping. Because of that, the forces of gravity with the cable pulling on it WILL cause that solder to fail. There is also no sort of rubber gasket inside this component to prevent moisture build-up in the components for those that live in wet climates.
My review score: 0/10 quality control. 8/10 meat smoking, if it works.
Do not purchase a Masterbuilt Gravity Series grill or you will find yourself where I am today. A grill should last more than 1 year. Masterbuilt should care about their customers and their quality control. They do not. If anyone wants to see the full e-mail chain spanning from delivery to now of them not caring, I'd be more than happy to share it!
First post here but I've been reading for a while. But, I basically want to go through my experience of dealing with Masterbuilt Gravity 800 series smoker directly through Masterbuilt approximately a year and three months ago. This grill has been stored in a dry climate, in an indoor patio, and with their heavy duty grill cover. Please enjoy this review; pictures for fun!
versus
I purchased my 800 gravity series smoker from Masterbuilt.com for 900+ dollars. When it arrived, it was packaged poorly and the lid had a dent. I reached out to Masterbuilt and they sent me a new lid; this one arrived with scrapes and scratches than the original. The outer box was in perfect condition and the inner box was destroyed. I reached out again and they sent me yet another lid, but this time for the wrong grill. The third time, however, they were able to get me an intact lid for my grill. They wouldn't let me return either of the damaged or incorrect lids so they became industrial metal waste. Great work guys.
As a side note, they glue huge stickers inside of the grill that cannot be easily removed. They'll burn off on your first cook, but the glue will first drip over your grates if installed! See this video for reference:
Additionally, this unit was having issues connecting to my Wi-Fi after being used once, and then turning on again. It would lose the connection and I'd have to re-pair it each time. I was asked to supply all of the details of the app, my phone, my Wi-Fi, and the grill. They never reached out to me with an update or any sort of follow up. The new control unit I purchased FIXES this issue. Cool.
Next up, the thermometer got stuck on a random temperature, causing the thermometer to be useless. Then the cheap hopper handle broke (obviously defective) from normal opening and closing. They replaced these. And gave me a tumbler for my trouble.
Then, the lid sensor died causing me to not be able to heat my grill fully. They replaced this for me and then that worked for about 3 months and it failed again. Then both sensors on the hopper and the ash door also failed. They are obviously defective. I ended up putting in my own contact switch because trying to deal with support to get another was too much of a hassle. I now have inline sensors and fan control that I can enable or disable with switches (cool, right?).
Additionally, at this point, even with regular cleaning the internals of the grill are rusting due to their material choice. I have bought aftermarket stainless components to somewhat fix this issue. I clean the grill after each use. My last grill lasted over 10 years without this kind of wear.
Finally, I pull the grill out to cook some steaks and smoke a chicken and then the control unit will not power on. I reached out to support, now out of warranty, and they ignored all of the quality defects I've so far had and said it looked like I had an order in (for almost 90 dollars!). I said yes, but I explained that I was reaching out to express my dissatisfaction with their quality control. I've had this grill a year and although it cooks great, it is a nightmare. THEY NEVER BOTHERED TO REPLY TO ME EVEN TO SAY "SORRY".
This is the picture of the control board. It has two problems: 1) the solder used to connect to the board is essentially non-existent. This is a major QC issue. 2) the cable is in no way glued or held together. The black clip does not prevent slipping. Because of that, the forces of gravity with the cable pulling on it WILL cause that solder to fail. There is also no sort of rubber gasket inside this component to prevent moisture build-up in the components for those that live in wet climates.
My review score: 0/10 quality control. 8/10 meat smoking, if it works.
Do not purchase a Masterbuilt Gravity Series grill or you will find yourself where I am today. A grill should last more than 1 year. Masterbuilt should care about their customers and their quality control. They do not. If anyone wants to see the full e-mail chain spanning from delivery to now of them not caring, I'd be more than happy to share it!
