Hi all, I know this may sound crazy but as fast as I received my Yoder YS640 it was shipped back. When we all order are new pellet grills it turns us men into little boys waiting for our new toy. With all the anticipation and excitement we wait for the delivery truck to show up. Our hearts are pounding and the winning the lottery feeling is at it's highest. The momment has come, the grill is coming off the truck and placed in the garage. You do a walk around hoping not to see any damage to the packing material so you can sign the delivery slip and unpack your new baby.
This is the feeling that most go through when we place that oreder. I want every pellet grill manufacturer to know how we fell about placing and waiting for our baby to show up.
This is where my story turns for the worse. When my Yoder showed up there were two tears in the packing material. Taking a closer look the hopper lid was scratched in two places down to the metal. Some of you know how it feels to go from one extreme high to a major let down. When you order a new car would you expect to get it with scratches, NO! All I'm saying is when you order something new you want to receive it that way so you can put on that first scratch. Now that was not the fault of Yoder. Federal Express messed up. I contacted Yoder and they said they undestand me being upset but the paint can easily be fixed. I sent them pictures of the damage to see how to proceed next. Later in the day when I had more time to unpack the grill I noticed some other issues. Under the hopper lid there were additional chips,while small, were down to bare metal. I Lift the hood to find more of the same. I ordered a griddle which was not part of the delivery. Joe said he talked with the team that shipped the grill and they sent it. All I can say is I did not see it when I unpacked the grill. The cover sent for the YS640 was actually a cover for the YS480. When I placed the order I asked if Yoder could drill an access hole to run probe wires and was told that would be done. When the grill arrived the access hole was not there. Joe mentioned he had to order the part and would send it to me when it came in. Yoder should have installed that part and not expect the consumer to do it without giving them advanced notice. I have some tools around the house but a drill I do not. The competition cart was very nice. I ordered two stainless steel logos for the cart. The logo for the front of the cart was put on the back and the one on the back was put on the front. I asked for the logo to say Team CDM and it came saying Team CMD. Could anything else go wrong with this order.
Joe at Yoder said he was embarrassed for what happened and wanted to pick up the grill and refund me. He said after he reviews everything that went wrong he would call me to see if the Yoder is a product for me. The story I just shared may not bother others if this happened to them but it sure killed all the excitement I had placing the order and receiving the grill.
Even after all that I was still thinking about getting another Yoder. I guess that thought has faded. I did not even have a chance to fire up the unit. From some of the forums I've been reading there are still some folks having fan and temp issues. I was hoping my Yoder would not have those issues but I guess I will never find out.
After trying to figure out what pellet grill to get next it came down to a Mak 2 Star, Memphis Pro, Fast Eddy PG500 or PG1000. I think having the good direct heat option along with indirect cooking pushed me towards the PG1000. I thought about the pg500 but having a 7 year old and his friends running around the PG1000 is a better fit. I really hope I don't experience the Yoder issue. Out of all the pellet grills I was thinking of getting I really hope I selected the right one. I look forward to cooking some good food on the Fast Eddy PG1000.
I think Yoder makes one of the nicest looking pellet grills, people who have mo issues love their grills. I feel they have quality control issues and they need to address them quickly before sending grills to the residential consumer. I currenty have a job but would love to be their Quality Assurance employee. No grill would ever leave their shop in the condition I received mine.
Take care all, sorry for the long drawn out story. I'm starting to talk about things that don't need to be talked about in this forum.
Craig
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