So, as others have seen on another post, I've just made a coal basket and some other mods to my CG smoker. The unfortunate thing I have to deal with is that there's only one place around Omaha that sells any other brand of lump other than Cowboy - and they were out.
So I had to bite the bullet.
I got the lump, and was satisfied with the burn. When my smoker had cooled, I went to go clean out the basket, and found this:
Yes, folks, that IS a piece of METAL!!!
Thankfully, I didn't have any meat on the smoker when this happened. So I sent Cowboy an email about it, letting them know how upset I was:
To: [email protected]
Subject: COMPLAINT!!!
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:14:51 -0500
.ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;} To whom it may concern:
I purchased a bag of your Cowboy Lump Hardwood Charcoal about a month ago. I got it from a local vendor here. The bag was not damaged, and it was full of very large pieces of lump.
I reviewed your lump charcoal on a website that specializes in lump charcoal. I saw that it was rated average at best, but I still decided to try the lump since the review was very old.
I did a burn on some of your lump today, and found a piece of METAL IN THE LUMP.
I am very concerned about this, and would like to know what you are doing to resolve this? The review on the website I read was a couple of years old, but it seemed that they had the EXACT SAME ISSUE back in 2007 with your charcoal.
Very Irate and Angry,
Alex
Omaha Nebraska
P.S. - I will be sending you photos of the piece of metal I found in my bag of charcoal. This is very VERY UNACCEPTABLE!!!
So then, I waited for a response. A few days went by, and I got nothing. So I sent this:
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT!!!
Dear CowboyCharcoal,
I still have as of yet to receive any kind of a correspondence from you about the foreign matter I found in the bag of Cowboy Charcoal. I am awaiting a response to my inquiry.
Thank you.
Alex
Omaha, Nebraska
The next day, I got this back in return:
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT!!!
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:45:46 -0500
.ExternalClass .ecxshape{;} .ExternalClass p.ecxMsoNormal, .ExternalClass li.ecxMsoNormal, .ExternalClass div.ecxMsoNormal{margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';}.ExternalClass a:link, .ExternalClass span.ecxMsoHyperlink{color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}.ExternalClass a:visited, .ExternalClass span.ecxMsoHyperlinkFollowed{color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}.ExternalClass p{margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';}.ExternalClass span.ecxEmailStyle18{font-family:'Calibri','sans-serif';color:#1F497D;}.ExternalClass .ecxMsoChpDefault{font-size:10.0pt;}@page Section1{size:8.5in 11.0in;}.ExternalClass div.ecxSection1{page:Section1;}
Alex,
We apologize for your poor experience with our product. Please know that no metal should ever be in a bag of our charcoal. This is something that we will immediately address with our production staff at our plant.
Please send me your address so we can send you a $20 rebate check for your troubles.
Once again, please accept our apology.
Thanks,
Stephen
Stephen Heiman
Sales and Marketing Manager
Cowboy Charcoal, LLC.
P.O. Box 3770
Brentwood, TN 37024
(615) 661-6882
www.cowboycharcoal.com
[email protected]
I'll let you all know if I get the twenty bucks. All I'm going to do is spend it on some Fire King. That piece of metal could have poisoned me and my family.
So I had to bite the bullet.
I got the lump, and was satisfied with the burn. When my smoker had cooled, I went to go clean out the basket, and found this:
Yes, folks, that IS a piece of METAL!!!
Thankfully, I didn't have any meat on the smoker when this happened. So I sent Cowboy an email about it, letting them know how upset I was:
To: [email protected]
Subject: COMPLAINT!!!
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:14:51 -0500
.ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;} To whom it may concern:
I purchased a bag of your Cowboy Lump Hardwood Charcoal about a month ago. I got it from a local vendor here. The bag was not damaged, and it was full of very large pieces of lump.
I reviewed your lump charcoal on a website that specializes in lump charcoal. I saw that it was rated average at best, but I still decided to try the lump since the review was very old.
I did a burn on some of your lump today, and found a piece of METAL IN THE LUMP.
I am very concerned about this, and would like to know what you are doing to resolve this? The review on the website I read was a couple of years old, but it seemed that they had the EXACT SAME ISSUE back in 2007 with your charcoal.
Very Irate and Angry,
Alex
Omaha Nebraska
P.S. - I will be sending you photos of the piece of metal I found in my bag of charcoal. This is very VERY UNACCEPTABLE!!!
So then, I waited for a response. A few days went by, and I got nothing. So I sent this:
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT!!!
Dear CowboyCharcoal,
I still have as of yet to receive any kind of a correspondence from you about the foreign matter I found in the bag of Cowboy Charcoal. I am awaiting a response to my inquiry.
Thank you.
Alex
Omaha, Nebraska
The next day, I got this back in return:
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: COMPLAINT!!!
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:45:46 -0500
.ExternalClass .ecxshape{;} .ExternalClass p.ecxMsoNormal, .ExternalClass li.ecxMsoNormal, .ExternalClass div.ecxMsoNormal{margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';}.ExternalClass a:link, .ExternalClass span.ecxMsoHyperlink{color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}.ExternalClass a:visited, .ExternalClass span.ecxMsoHyperlinkFollowed{color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}.ExternalClass p{margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif';}.ExternalClass span.ecxEmailStyle18{font-family:'Calibri','sans-serif';color:#1F497D;}.ExternalClass .ecxMsoChpDefault{font-size:10.0pt;}@page Section1{size:8.5in 11.0in;}.ExternalClass div.ecxSection1{page:Section1;}
Alex,
We apologize for your poor experience with our product. Please know that no metal should ever be in a bag of our charcoal. This is something that we will immediately address with our production staff at our plant.
Please send me your address so we can send you a $20 rebate check for your troubles.
Once again, please accept our apology.
Thanks,
Stephen
Stephen Heiman
Sales and Marketing Manager
Cowboy Charcoal, LLC.
P.O. Box 3770
Brentwood, TN 37024
(615) 661-6882
www.cowboycharcoal.com
[email protected]
I'll let you all know if I get the twenty bucks. All I'm going to do is spend it on some Fire King. That piece of metal could have poisoned me and my family.