What’s with Rec Tec?

[Weekend pitmaster]

ive been smoking pork, beef, salmon, you name it for years. I’ve been using electric smokers until recently when I ordered a rec tec based on reviews. Wow am I disappointed. This grill shipped out with a damaged lid and incorrect hardware. The lid was wavy, dented and had all these bumps that were painted over. Very poor finish. Called customer support and the crap customer service started. CS told me to rig up the legs and use bolts that were too short and that lock washers the instructions said to use were not necessary. They did offer to ship me a new lid to replace the defective one however they charged me shipping! I saw stamped on the box “made in China”. It looks like this company is trying to cut corners to maximize profits, however they are shipping out junk now. I couldn’t even assemble the grill. The bolts were too short. The owner called me personally and said elbow grease was necessary to assemble the grill with the bad hardware they knowingly shipped out. He also said he has no control of what ships with the product defective or not, I guess because it all comes from China. They just ship out bad products and hope people want to rig up their $1k grills. I returned this cheap crap for a full refund. Don’t let the good reviews fool you. The new product they are shipping is cheap defective Chinese crap. Buyer beware!

Anyone have a suggestion for a quality pellet grill? I’m looking for hassle free and good quality. American made preferred!

 

[3montes]

I know little to nothing on pellet grills but I do know Camp Chef makes one and I have a good deal of other Camp Chef products and they are all quality. I can attest personally that their customer service is top notch. I ordered a Camp Chef Pro 90 camp stove about a month ago. It came with a minor dent in the aluminum plate next to the burner controls.
Simply cosmetic had no effect on operation what so ever. I let customer service know simply for quality control purposes. Told them upfront it affected the operation in no way and it was cosmetic only.
They promptly refunded me $40 or I could have returned it on their dime for a complete exchange.

 

[SmokinAl]

That's too bad, because RecTec had a great reputation.
I can agree with the above about Camp Chef.
I have one of their flat tops, and a Smoke Vault 24.
Parts are readily available & they make quality products.
Al

 

[markh024]

Sorry to hear about your unsatisfying purchase. I'm another very happy camp chef owner. I was gifted a PitBoss only to return it quickly because it had insane temp swings of 100+ degrees. Went with a SmokePro STX and couldn't be more pleased. Came boxed very well and had it set up in 30 minutes. Give CC a consideration if you switch brands. Best of luck to you.

 

[ross77]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I've had my RecTec for just over a year and besides the ignitor rod failing twice I've had nothing but good experiences. Customer service has always been great for me, even responding on the weekend. Replacement rods were shipped out quickly and completely free. They even shipped out spare rods as well.

They've always been made in China though and I knew that prior to purchasing. You got a lemon and it sucks but I wouldn't apply that to all the grills they ship out. Many brands are made in China including Camp Chef, Traeger and more. China doesn't always mean it's junk.

Maybe the quality has slipped since I bought mine? Lots of people are happy with the RecTec and I don't think they're lying. Hopefully not. Maybe we'll start hearing about these issues more often now.

I am surprised at the owner's response though. The grill wasn't exactly easy for me to assemble but he should have just sent the proper hardware and a free lid.

Some brands made in the USA include: Yoder, Blaz'n, Mak and Memphis.

 

[ross77]

And if I recall it stated in the assembly documentation that they test all the units. From what you said it sounds like they aren't doing that anymore. So the customer will find the defects before the company. Perhaps their volumes have increased to the point where they decided not to do it. Better hire some more QC people. You don't want the customer doing your QC.

 

[Weekend pitmaster]

It really just blows my mind at the arrogance from Rec Tec, the cofounder Ray called me personally and he acted like the grill was above me. He said he could assemble it for me but it would take some elbow grease to get the bolts that are too short to work. I asked him to do just that, come assemble this product with the wrong hardware. He flat out said no I’m sorry you are too far away and I should just ship the grill back for a refund. I told him that I know stuff happens. Ship me a new unit with a good lid and correct hardware and I can have what I thought I purchased. He refused. Wanted me to swap parts and make the short hardware work. Unreal these guys.

Based on some research today, I’m leaning more towards green mountain grills. The WiFi controller is really appealing. These grills are also made in China, however customer service and quality control seems to be in check. Lots of options to choose from. Is it too much to ask that a company stands behind their products!?

 

[jtrainor56]

For all of the aggravation you should look at the Yoder YS640 or YS480.. Made in the USA in Kansas and backed by an awesome warranty and support staff. Also look at a Fireboard for monitoring your pit and food temps. Wi-fi sounds neat but buying quality over useless gadgets is not worth it. I will have owned my YS640 for four years come March and started it up this morning at -7*, after shoveling the snow off my deck.

 

[Mastercaster]

I recently received a new RT-680 and my bolts were too short as well. Aggravating, but other than that everything else was perfect.

 

[chef jimmyj]

I was thinking of picking up the small Rectec but now am apprehensive. I don't want to hijack the thread, but....Reminds me of a new neighborhood Sub Shop that opened with plenty of area competition around. They sold at similar prices but LOADED the sandwiches with meat, cheese and veggies. Fabulous! Soon the line was out the door at lunch and dinner time. Within six months the quantity of meat was reduced to less than some area shops and they went from quality name brand meats to what ever water loaded crap the distributor had on special. It's a shame when companies got it good,they cut quality to increase profit...JJ

 

[Gbert]

[New member here... been lurking for a bit and finally decided to register, so not trying to shill for Rec Tec or anything]

I got a Rec Tec 680 as a gift in November. The bolts I received were a LITTLE short in that with the lock washers they provided, a couple were about 2 threads too short to make it easy to start the nut but I got it assembled with the provided parts and have had no problems with them since. Even though it was a gift, I got good communication about delivery and the usual personalized business card in the package. Talking to people on the phone, I never got any arrogance (but then again, I didn't have any problems to complain about either). I was pretty pleased overall with the process. I've only had a chance to smoke a couple things so far but have loved it.

I don't know if I'd let the experience make you shy away from it. It's still a solid product.

 

[jakester]

You can get a Yoder YS480 for about 200 bucks more, wouldn't it make sense just to go with the Yoder? I believe it's similar in size too.

 

[lwestby]

Very strange. I've never heard anything but positive experiences with their customer service. I've seen plenty of posts about damaged grills / lids from the shipping process and they always made everything right. I'm really confused why they would not do the same for you.

 

[Weekend pitmaster]

Wanted to update this thread. I ended up ordering a Blaz’n Grillworks pellet grill and couldn’t be happier. It’s has been working great the last few months. I’ve used it for everything- Boston butts, briskets, salmon, chicken, sweet potatoes, chops, shrimp, vegetables, Mac n cheese, everything! It’s well built, made in America and I love it. I chose it over the Yoder because of the weight. I have to move this thing around when I want to cook and can’t imagine trying to maneuver the Yoder. So glad there is a better product made and supported right here in the US. Rec Tec really dropped the ball on this. I’m going to recommend Blaz’n Grillworks for taking the time to answer all my questions over the phone and providing a superior product! Happy grilling ladies and gentlemen!

 

[TonyBones]

Wanted to update this thread. I ended up ordering a Blaz’n Grillworks pellet grill and couldn’t be happier. It’s has been working great the last few months. I’ve used it for everything- Boston butts, briskets, salmon, chicken, sweet potatoes, chops, shrimp, vegetables, Mac n cheese, everything! It’s well built, made in America and I love it. I chose it over the Yoder because of the weight. I have to move this thing around when I want to cook and can’t imagine trying to maneuver the Yoder. So glad there is a better product made and supported right here in the US. Rec Tec really dropped the ball on this. I’m going to recommend Blaz’n Grillworks for taking the time to answer all my questions over the phone and providing a superior product! Happy grilling ladies and gentlemen!

How long is the wait for your new rig?

 

[Weekend pitmaster]

How long is the wait for your new rig?

It took ~2 weeks for it to be delivered.

 

[TonyBones]

It took ~2 weeks for it to be delivered.

Cool man I would love to see it in action. Will be waiting for your posts!

 

[smokingbro]

I got an RT-700 2 weeks ago and have been cooking every day on it since. IMO, quality is top notch. Assembly was very easy. And this thing smokes, grills, bakes, with ease. Great temperature control. My wife loves it because she hasn't cooked for 2 weeks. Customer support has been excellent. I had problems with UPS shipping (lost first RT). Rec Tec immediately shipped a second grill. 6-year warranty, and from what other owners tell me, they ship replacement parts quickly with no questions asked if anything ever breaks. I love this thing.

 

[CountyCop911]

I too just recently purchased an RT-700 and may live to regret it. What happens with Customer Service is yet to be determined because I am in the middle of negotiations.

First, no matter what, the grill would not connect to my network. It recognized all of my neighbors as far as 4 houses away, but not mine even though it was 10 feet away. I later found out that they have issues connecting to the popular Netgear Router and Wireless even though it is top of the line and probably will never connect without an upgrade to the controller however how is that done if I cannot connect to the Internet, it cannot and I was not offered an upgraded replacement.

Some of the Washers in the parts pack were incorrect.

After assembly, the Lid smacked the Smoke Stack and sounded like a Bell every time I opened and closed it. Probably can be adjusted.

I set the temperature at 250 and as I was watching it, it jumped to > 300 in the blink of an eye and went into a "Cool Down" mode which is not mentioned in the documentation. Was it actually at 250 and now being cooled, or was it really at 300 and did not reflect that fact. Then after reaching set point temp the fan would cycle on and off every 5 seconds, again not mentioned in their documents as acceptable behavior. At this point I had no idea what was going on and if I was even cooking a grill full of meat.

I cleaned the grill the next day and noticed there was not even one drop of grease in the drip bucket. It was all down under the drip pan to the left, the opposite direction in which it was supposed to drain. I did everything I could to try to change the angle of the drip pan and it is not possible. I measured the angle and there was maybe a 1/2-degree difference between the shelf on the front of the grill fixed to the frame, and the drip pan. Rolled it around my patio and no change. The two level images are on the fixed shelf and the difference on the drip pan.


There are nuts and bolts in two holes on the side of the grill in which the controller needs to be installed and instructions say nothing about removing them. They were doing nothing except sitting there in holes I needed however, I was hesitant to remove since instruction manual does not refer to them. They were not needed and had no function whatsoever.

Was supposed to get a Rec-Tec Shirt with the shipment, don't care probably would not wear it anyway however was not included. Also advertised to get a personal letter along with a business card to call day or night but that was not included as well.

Needless to say, even though I had opportunities to use, I am not going to risk the chance of ruining another meal until I trust it.

That being said, not matter what grill I end up with, wish I would have bought the Yoder, I think it is a smart idea to buy replacement parts that tend to wear out. If you purchase a pellet grill and it stops functioning, you are out of luck finishing your meal.

 

[ross77]

Judging by the photos it appears you may have the drip pan reversed. I can’t tell for sure without a wider shot but it appears the gap is getting wider on the left.

As for the WiFi, I have a Netgear router and it works with the RecTec. Are you using a 2.4ghz network? It’s not compatible with 5ghz. A mesh router can also cause issues.

Lid hitting the smokestack is just an adjustment.

RecTec should take care of all of the issues. They’ve bent over backward with any questions or issues I’ve ever had.

Problems can arise but none of this sounds typical at all.