recteq.com Reviews 3

I purchased the Recteq 2500 pellet grill last year for summer during a special for around $2,300 (normally close to $3,000) along with the cover. I bought it because of the glowing reviews, intending to use it at summer street festivals in New York to earn income while my Caribbean business was closed for the slow season. Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the most frustrating and costly experiences of my life

Order and Delivery Issues
It took nearly eight weeks to get the grill. After about three weeks of waiting, I had to call Recteq myself to find out whats going on because it should have taken two weeks I was told there was a “payment mix-up,” which wasn’t true. Because if that was the cause they could’ve called me and asked me or my colleague to use a different credit card but they did not call me even though two credit cards with spotless credit were used.

When the grill finally arrived, we assembled it and took it to our first festival. It looked beautiful and drew attention—people were impressed enough to line up to place their orders before we were even fully set up. But then disaster struck. The grill did not work.
From 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, I tried everything, including all the steps customer support suggested and nothing worked,Nothing ! This was a brand-new grill , cost almost $3,000 and it did not work I tried to get it to work for almost two months and back and forth with recteq Customer Service and Repairs
The worst part? It was a weekend, and Recteq was closed I left messages and emails and finally got a response days later. Their solution was to send me a replacement part and have me install it myself. Imagine paying top dollar for a “premium” grill and then being told to do your own repairs. I am not a mechanic, plus I did not expect to do anything and the repair was extremely difficult to access and install. Even after replacing the part, the grill still did not work
Then to make matters worse, the grill had edges at the bottom that one of those edges jabbed me in my heel while moving it around I send a photo to rec Tec customer service of the injury and they did nothing. I should’ve sent that photo to my lawyer, but I was not thinking at the time, that edge jam me so deep people were shocked to see how much I was bleeding RECTEQ offered me no compassion
Only that they were sorry are they offered something I would not have been so upset and disappointed not even one dollar in credit even at that point if they had offered me something for consolation, I would’ve feel better. I’m still upset at this company until today. I would never recommend this company no matter what the review said because they should’ve do a quality control check before they sent a grill that cost $3000 to a customer. My only conclusion is that since it’s made in China, the grill came directly from China so they could not check anything by American product people do not buy these Chinese inferior products. I should’ve bought TRAIGER it’s an American company. I’m sure I would’ve not experienced that
So finally, when the grill lit up the thermostat was inaccurate and there was almost no smoke output. For a pellet smoker, that’s unacceptable.

The Financial Impact Because of these failures: I lost approximately $7,000 between U-Haul rentals, festival fees, and lost revenue. Recteq refunded the purchase price and took the grill back because they saw what was going on but offered no compensation for the lost time, money, and stress. No credit, no discount, no goodwill gesture whatsoever.

Bottom Line
This was the worst equipment purchase I’ve made in 14 years of grilling and catering. My simple wood grill outperforms this machine. If you’re thinking about investing in a pellet smoker, save your money. Consider other brands (Traeger, for example) or stick with a traditional wood grill. The Recteq 2500 may look nice, but my experience proves it’s not worth the risk.

Warning to Buyers
Do not believe all the hype. My belief is this grill came directly from China. It was not checked before shipped out. this purchase has cost me so much financially I’m considering filing a lawsuit for damages and loss because I’m in debt because of this purchase

UPDATE: The same day I posted this review, I received a call from Customer Service Manager, Ashley Brown. Ashley share with me that based on their opinion, my interaction should not have been less that 4 stars. After listening to Ashley, I explained to Ashley why I rated 1 start. Ashley, just like the other representatives, did not have all the information in front of them. Ashley only knew about the call and just like the representatives, they did not read everything in detail. During the entire call, Ashley kept cutting me off and would say things like "we took over 20,000 calls in May" or "Im best friends with the founder"

I don't think Ashley wanted to do anything but change my mind on my rating. Had he taken the time and not cut corners and actually research the details of my complaint, I may have changed my review. But all he did was boost himself and the company first instead of taking the time to listen to me. He did offer to throw in a free cover and pellets should I buy a grill as well.

I spoke to the folks at Yoder Smokers and Grilla Grills and asked the same exact questions I asked to Recteq and received excellent customer support. This is what I was hoping from Recteq.

Horrible customer service from both the phone representatives and the online messaging feature. I've spent a week trying to get answers on a $2000 grill before I purchase. Each representative I dealt with either one, didn't read my message in it's entirely (it was written very clearly) or, my experience on the phone, the representative was annoyed and condescending. I hate to avoid a company but with a warranty claim, I don't want to deal with this same customer service I experienced.

I purchased the BFD, $2,700 and it's a boat anchor. Only a year old, burns everything on the right side, even set at 180. They give you a run-around story about the wind and smokestacks. Now, it overheats, and I have to unplug it from power. They suggested I place raw meat on a cold grill as the new fix. They also told me not to open the lid, so that my meat burns. You will be disappointed if you spend the money on one. Support is horrible, almost ignorant on purpose. They will simply waste your time with no solution.