MES 40 arrived banged up- will this cause issues?

[SonnyE]

Sounds like maybe the right thing is beginning to materialize.
I have never needed to deal with Masterbuilt. But others seem to praise their customer service.
And from what I remember, they only want a picture of the smoker with the cord cut off (NOT YET!) to show it is unusable. (Har, har, not to me it ain't!)
Then they shipped a new one. (Yeah, a whole new one!)

Maybe the first call to them got the janitor, and not a CS rep?
Sit tight and see what Masterbuilt does.

 

[PAS]

It does appear to have been banged around a lot! I feel for you! Last Christmas I got a Masterbuilt smoker thru Cableas and it was delivered by UPS in perfect condition. Always a possible problem when ordering.

 

[SquattingHen]

Sounds like maybe the right thing is beginning to materialize.
I have never needed to deal with Masterbuilt. But others seem to praise their customer service.
And from what I remember, they only want a picture of the smoker with the cord cut off (NOT YET!) to show it is unusable. (Har, har, not to me it ain't!)
Then they shipped a new one. (Yeah, a whole new one!)

Maybe the first call to them got the janitor, and not a CS rep?
Sit tight and see what Masterbuilt does.

That would be just fine and easy with me. Hopefully that is the case. I will keep everyone updated. Hopefully I hear back from Masterbuilt soon, as I want to get this thing going. Second option is exchanging at Sams.

 

[AP514]

The problem is the packing by MB..I had a few small dings in my arrival also. What happens is the shipper loads the MB upside down and the Rails that hold the racks come off the pins on the sides. This lets the racks bounce around ding'n up the sides.
MB should put foam up from the bottom and top to keep the rails from coming off the pins.
Some companies are so cheap on the little things that it coast them 10 times more on returns than on spending 3 cents on 2 pieces of foam to keep the racks and rails in place. Plain old CHEAP AND STUPID.........

 

[SquattingHen]

Update - Looks like we are on track for a "return" with Masterbuilt. As mentioned above, I was asked to cut the cord and send in pictures, which I have done. Honestly, I was a bit uneasy doing that, thinking man...what a waste....and I really hope this works out. Anyway, I can update this thread again when I receive my new item and let you all know how it turns out.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.

**I also ordered the Slow Smoker attachment last night. It was on sale at numerous places for $50, so I figured that was a decent price.

I thought about the A-Maze-N tray/tube, but wood chips are cheaper, and I have read they can be difficult to light and keep lit sometimes.

 

[smokesontuesday]

Looks like you're already on your way but I would have yelled until I got an exchange too. I unpacked the same smoker from Sam's last week without a dent to be found. You bought a brand new smoker and you shouldn't receive one that is all dinged up, functional or not.

 

[daveomak]

If the door seals and the food racks line up and work, and the heating element is good.... In a month you won't notice the dents... The meat won't mind.... The cheese won't mind....
I've had appliances fail and my fixes are less than professional but they work... I've drilled holes in my freezer door in order to fix a broken wire so the ice maker would work... 2 hours and $3... better than $1150 for a new door... I'm proud of my fix.. looks not like new but it works...
If you are up for driving around for an hour or longer... filling out paper work.. and doing without a smoker, don't get an ulcer dealing with the return...
Personally, I don't care what stuff looks like as long as it performs very well...
I've gutted my MES 30 to get it to perform better than the original design... Folks have changed out the electronics for better electronics... It's all a matter what's important to you.....

 

[SquattingHen]

Well...I never did get an email stating it was shipped like I was told I would, and when I called yesterday, they said it hasn't shipped yet. Today though, I got a call from the house and it has arrived. But....it is truly only the body. No door, no inside (except the element I guess. that's all), no legs, and no digital display, no guts. The legs were a pain to put on the first one, but I hope the Door and Digital Display isn't difficult to switch over. I will take a look in more detail when I get home, but I really hope it is easy to switch everything over.

 

[fivetricks]

Wow. That's ridiculous...

 

[SquattingHen]

So this is what showed up today. Looking at the picture, I am not sure how some of that transfers over. I am not home now to look at both. Ugh....
Anyone been through this before? Any tips/tricks I should be aware of transferring parts? Also, anything I should save from the old one? I guess the heating element if possible.

 

[dr k]

So this is what showed up today. Looking at the picture, I am not sure how some of that transfers over. I am not home now to look at both. Ugh....
Anyone been through this before? Any tips/tricks I should be aware of transferring parts? Also, anything I should save from the old one? I guess the heating element if possible.

You have a spare element and the two sensors on the back wall and top vent damper and bottom electronics for spare parts which I would not toss out.

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

Man, they made you jump through a lot of flippin hoops to get a new shell that you have to transfer parts to! Unacceptable! But, I would probably just do it and get it over with. Just remember all this if and when you want to replace it or upgrade in the future.

 

[SquattingHen]

Well.... this has turned out awful. There were no instructions and I do not see how to remove the plate that holds the control panel on. I am attaching a picture of the “old” one.

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

You have to drill out those pop rivets. You could replace with small bolts, washers, nuts.

 

[SquattingHen]

You have to drill out those pop rivets. You could replace with small bolts, washers, nuts.

I shouldn’t have to do that honestly. Also there is nothing on the other side to get to them, so I couldn’t do bolts/nuts.

And....Masterbuilt is closed till Monday.

I can’t believe they sent this to me like this.

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

OK, they used pop rivets because it's double walled and you can't access the back. Couldn't tell from pics. I worked for car dealerships in the body shop for 20 plus years. We dealt with pop rivets on a lot of trim pieces. Need to use drill bit slightly larger than the hole in the rivet. Drill just enough to cut through head of rivet. Do not drill through body of smoker. Rivets should fall through and release controller. You will need to use rivets the same diameter as originally used. If you don't have a rivet gun, visit a Body Shop and see if they would rivet it for you.

I can see why you're upset, but I doubt Masterbuilt will do any more than what they have done now.