Meater Block Buyer Beware ***UPDATE***

[DocShadownix]

Glad to hear yours works, Dirt...hope mine does. Mine is enroute back to company as we speak... same runaround from them, so we shall see... you give me hope. I just don't understand why companies don't get their SH&% together. If I acted half this way at work, well, I would be unemployed.

 

[Ustna]

Uh oh...I just got my Meater Block yesterday and am running into the exact same problem with the update. This really sucks because I need to use it today. I had a Loki which was nice but i broke it on accident.

 

[DocShadownix]

Yeah, I had to send mine in and get them to update. The problem with their customer service is they are kinda idiots. First, they are somewhere not in the US so you only get a response once a day. For the first week it will be "Try this... " and you have to try, say it did not work.... Takes forever. Then they will switch you to a US rep and get you to mail out to them. Make sure they don't fugg this up. Mine had me mail it in a circle...BACK to me... what an idiot. Finally got it then NO communication. I got it back in about a week and it works (so far). Anyway, whole ordeal took about a month. Good luck. Would NOT recommend buying.

 

[Ustna]

What buttons were they asking you to push to try to force the update?

 

[dirtsailor2003]

What buttons were they asking you to push to try to force the update?

All of them when they finally decided to send me a new unit that was updated.

Which I’ve not had any problems with the new unit. It works as advertised and I have tested the probes against all of my other calibrated therms.

The unit hasn’t tried to update yet, but the app has and that hasn’t seemed to create any issues.

It’s nice being able to rotisserie and use the probes with wires.

 

[Ustna]

No one from support has responded yet to my email. Ugh

 

[dirtsailor2003]

No one from support has responded yet to my email. Ugh

Email [email protected]. He was the one that got me on track with a new unit.

 

[Ustna]

Thanks. I will.

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Only issue I'm having is mine still isn't here... no updates other than it being "dispatched" for weeks now. Nothing on my submitted ticket yet. Assuming they are buried from the holiday, so I'll wait til tomorrow.

and they are in stock and available to purchase right now on their site.

One funny note. On the ticket I submitted, the auto response has this little nugget in there...

To avoid delays, please DO NOT reply to your own ticket before you've heard back from us. Otherwise your original ticket will be moved to the back of the queue.


Don't bother us or we will ignore you.

I get the point but that's interesting.

All that being said, I am still very intrigued by this product and want to use it!

just getting antsy.

Glad yours is working good now and you got some resolution dirtsailor2003

 

[dirtsailor2003]

This past weekend I headed out into the wilderness to camp. Which we do all the time. Had a nice roast to cook on a friends GMG smoker.

Went to use the probes on the Meater Block via blue tooth, none would connect. Tried the "Stand Alone" mode. Nothing would connect. Though Okay I have the Meater+ with me and have used the Bluetooth mode on it. No go, the probe wouldn't connect via blue tooth to my phone. Yes probes were close enough. Probe in one hand phone in the other.

Thankfully I had my trusty Javelin instant read (never leave home without it).

So back to Meater CS, I go... Ughhhhhhh!

 

[chilerelleno]

That is really too bad.
The system if it worked properly would be great.
Best of luck getting it repaired or replaced.

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

Dang. was hoping for a home run review of one of the main features! I'm gonna have to try mine out and see now.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Dang. was hoping for a home run review of one of the main features! I'm gonna have to try mine out and see now.

I'm going to do some more testing this afternoon. I haven't tried them since I got back. Every time in the past when I used the Meater+ on blue tooth I've been near WIFI. So wondering...

With the Block there's an option in the set up menu in the app "Allow Pairing Meater Block Probes". Which if you have on is supposed to allow you to use the probes without the block. I tried this setting both on and off and neither seemed to help. I'll do some more testing.

 

[Ustna]

For the record...I was shipped a replacement and it works perfectly. This is an excellent product.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

For the record...I was shipped a replacement and it works perfectly. This is an excellent product.

Have you tried the blue tooth when not near WIFI?

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I had some time to mess around with the Block and the Meater+. I was able to get the Meater+ to connect via blue tooth and no WIFI connection. The Block however would not. I changed settings in the app, used the block in stand alone mode, no blue tooth. Reached out again to CS and have not heard a word.

Another complaint I have is that the app has no real way to contact CS. All the links they have run you around into the tutorial on what to try. NO physical link that provides a phone number or email address.

Other than the BT not working on the block, everything else is. Will try out in the woods again this weekend.

 

[Misplaced Nebraskan]

I had some time to mess around with the Block and the Meater+. I was able to get the Meater+ to connect via blue tooth and no WIFI connection. The Block however would not. I changed settings in the app, used the block in stand alone mode, no blue tooth. Reached out again to CS and have not heard a word.

Another complaint I have is that the app has no real way to contact CS. All the links they have run you around into the tutorial on what to try. NO physical link that provides a phone number or email address.

Other than the BT not working on the block, everything else is. Will try out in the woods again this weekend.

yeah, they make it hard to actually contact them. I understand the referral to FAQs and Tutorials, but an email at least would be nice. Still haven't attempted the stand alone BT mode, but this weekend I'll be away cooking and give it a go as well. *fingers crossed*

 

[dward51]

Glad I resisted the urge to join the kickstarter. To help some of the members here out, here is some contact info that may be useful if they are less than responsive. They are HQ in the UK, but have a California office for USA (per the BBB and google searches).

HUGE RED FLAG - Google 11908 Ventura Blvd, which is supposed to be their California office and it is a hair salon!!!!!!! Did they move and just not update any of the online info? Here is the hair salon's Yelp page:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/salon-true-studio-city-studio-city-3

Google maps street view of 11908 Ventura Blvd as of May 2019 (clearly the hair salon above):

https://www.google.com/maps/place/11908+Ventura+Blvd,+Studio+City,+CA+91604/@34.1427754,-118.3911275,3a,75y,217.98h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIPEGjK64tjIxvbOOW6Qwew!2e0!6s//geo1.ggpht.com/cbk?panoid=IPEGjK64tjIxvbOOW6Qwew&output=thumbnail&cb_client=search.TACTILE.gps&thumb=2&w=360&h=120&yaw=217.97543&pitch=0&thumbfov=100!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2be086bed423b:0x71f6e582b6b3ab39!8m2!3d34.1426353!4d-118.3912579

Here is their corporate phone number in California if anyone wants to try it (from a Manta search):

Apption Labs, Inc
11908 Ventura Blvd STE 202
Studio City, CA 91604-2647
Phone: (818) 929-8907
Joseph Cruz - President

BBB Page (not a BBB member)
https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/studio-city/profile/online-retailer/apption-labs-inc-1216-757698

Apption Labs FaceBook page:
https://www.facebook.com/MEATERmade/

 

[dward51]

Just a personal observation, If someone was inclined to buy one of these now, I would do it via Amazon as at least you can send it back through Amazon returns (and use a real credit card - not a debit so you can do a charge back if they are less than helpful).

 

[dirtsailor2003]

yeah, they make it hard to actually contact them. I understand the referral to FAQs and Tutorials, but an email at least would be nice. Still haven't attempted the stand alone BT mode, but this weekend I'll be away cooking and give it a go as well. *fingers crossed*

Try it before you head out. Really pissed me off getting into the woods and it didn’t work. Nornthe the MEATER+ which is used before via Blue tooth.