diversification
Member
tl;dr - If you're doing some research and thinking about buying a PitBoss smoker / grill (especially a WiFi one) you may want to pump the breaks and look at something else. I just bought the "Pit Boss Platinum Laredo 1000 Sq. in. Wifi Enabled Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker" from Walmart, and the Pit Boss technology & support experience has been a bit of a nightmare so far.
Hi all, I am the new owner of a Pit Boss Platinum Laredo 1000, and I'm already second-guessing my purchase. I can summarize why into a few bullet points, but if you want to read the whole diatribe, feel free to keep going:
So here's the full write-up:
I just downloaded the Android app, and immediately had trouble registering an account. I would enter the credentials I want to use, and it would send me an email with verification code to enter in the app, which would confirm my account. When I entered the code, the app would approve it, but then just clock endlessly with a "logging in" notification. When I would eventually get tired of this and back out of that screen, and try to log in using my newly created credentials, I was met with a screen telling me that my account doesn't exist. I called the number on the website (480-923-9630) and chose option #3 for app issues, which kicked me over to another company that apparently is in charge of the app. I was forced to leave a message, and was told they'd call back.
I continued to mess with the app trying to log in, and did eventually figure out a way to trick the app into letting me log in. To do it, I went to the password reset prompt, had it send me a code, entered my password, and boom, it finally let me in. I was then able to log back out, and then right back in with the email and password I entered.
My next concern was registering my grill to my account, so I figured that the entry may be a bit easier from the website. On my laptop, I went to pitboss-grills.com and went to login with the credentials I'd created in the app. "Something went wrong. What happened? Too many requests, please try again later." was the error code that I was greeted with. I tried again, and again with the same error code each time. I also tried re-creating my credentials, and tried using a different email, tried different browsers, clearing the cache, wiping cookies, using my phone with the mobile browser, different internet connections etc. Every single time, I got the same message.
I called the number (480-923-9630) again, and this time chose prompt #2. The rep who picked up told me that the website is down, and he had no info about the ETA to bring it back up. I asked how long it had been down, and he indicated that it has been down FOR OVER A MONTH!!! Wow. He basically just wished me luck from there, and that was it.
About 30 to 45 minutes after my initial call to the company in charge of the SMOKE IT app, I received a call back. I explained the above to the rep, and was immediately told that they only deal with the SMOKE IT app, and NOT with anything related to Pit Boss. I asked him if that meant the login credentials created in the app do not flow over to Pit Boss, and he confirmed that this was correct, but did note that eventually the Pit Boss and SMOKE IT apps / info will be combined (no timeframe provided on that.) He also suggested that I call Pit Boss support, and to my surprise he gave me a different number than the one on the website.
I called the new number that the SMOKE IT guy gave me (480-542-9456) and talked to a rep of Pit Boss, who was clearly in a different area than the other call. I explained the website situation and he 'went to check with his associates' to see if anyone had encountered this issue. When he came back and said no one had experienced anything like that or heard of any issues, I explained my other calls, and the info about the website being down. He conceded that it had been down for a while, but was back up as of about 2 weeks ago, and hadn't had issues since. His advice was just to try later. I asked him about the difference between the numbers, and he had no clue why there was a different area of support, why there was a different number on the website, or anything like that.
I just bought a $500 grill from these people, and before I've even unboxed the thing, I've gotten one of the most ridiculous runarounds I've ever encountered with any company. How in the world am I supposed to be able to trust these people to support my product, give me correct information when necessary, and if necessary honor a warranty that is apparently supposed to last 5 years. When I can't even get logged into their account to register the unit?
All in all, my impression of Pit Boss is extremely unfavorable. I am sure the smoker itself probably works fine (so long as the controller isn't borked like others are reporting) but man... they really need to pull it together with their website and app.
Hi all, I am the new owner of a Pit Boss Platinum Laredo 1000, and I'm already second-guessing my purchase. I can summarize why into a few bullet points, but if you want to read the whole diatribe, feel free to keep going:
- The website doesn't really seem to work.
- The support team is seemingly divided into 3 separate groups, and the primary one's number isn't even the one listed on the website.
- None of the support teams can provide any actionable help on the issues.
- The app itself just feels pretty suspect, and has TERRIBLE ratings in the Play Store. According to a few Youtube reviewers, this is actually the new and improved version of the app (can't imagine how bad it must have been before) and it STILL doesn't even let you set a new temp for the smoker (among other glaring issues.)
So here's the full write-up:
I just downloaded the Android app, and immediately had trouble registering an account. I would enter the credentials I want to use, and it would send me an email with verification code to enter in the app, which would confirm my account. When I entered the code, the app would approve it, but then just clock endlessly with a "logging in" notification. When I would eventually get tired of this and back out of that screen, and try to log in using my newly created credentials, I was met with a screen telling me that my account doesn't exist. I called the number on the website (480-923-9630) and chose option #3 for app issues, which kicked me over to another company that apparently is in charge of the app. I was forced to leave a message, and was told they'd call back.
I continued to mess with the app trying to log in, and did eventually figure out a way to trick the app into letting me log in. To do it, I went to the password reset prompt, had it send me a code, entered my password, and boom, it finally let me in. I was then able to log back out, and then right back in with the email and password I entered.
My next concern was registering my grill to my account, so I figured that the entry may be a bit easier from the website. On my laptop, I went to pitboss-grills.com and went to login with the credentials I'd created in the app. "Something went wrong. What happened? Too many requests, please try again later." was the error code that I was greeted with. I tried again, and again with the same error code each time. I also tried re-creating my credentials, and tried using a different email, tried different browsers, clearing the cache, wiping cookies, using my phone with the mobile browser, different internet connections etc. Every single time, I got the same message.
I called the number (480-923-9630) again, and this time chose prompt #2. The rep who picked up told me that the website is down, and he had no info about the ETA to bring it back up. I asked how long it had been down, and he indicated that it has been down FOR OVER A MONTH!!! Wow. He basically just wished me luck from there, and that was it.
About 30 to 45 minutes after my initial call to the company in charge of the SMOKE IT app, I received a call back. I explained the above to the rep, and was immediately told that they only deal with the SMOKE IT app, and NOT with anything related to Pit Boss. I asked him if that meant the login credentials created in the app do not flow over to Pit Boss, and he confirmed that this was correct, but did note that eventually the Pit Boss and SMOKE IT apps / info will be combined (no timeframe provided on that.) He also suggested that I call Pit Boss support, and to my surprise he gave me a different number than the one on the website.
I called the new number that the SMOKE IT guy gave me (480-542-9456) and talked to a rep of Pit Boss, who was clearly in a different area than the other call. I explained the website situation and he 'went to check with his associates' to see if anyone had encountered this issue. When he came back and said no one had experienced anything like that or heard of any issues, I explained my other calls, and the info about the website being down. He conceded that it had been down for a while, but was back up as of about 2 weeks ago, and hadn't had issues since. His advice was just to try later. I asked him about the difference between the numbers, and he had no clue why there was a different area of support, why there was a different number on the website, or anything like that.
I just bought a $500 grill from these people, and before I've even unboxed the thing, I've gotten one of the most ridiculous runarounds I've ever encountered with any company. How in the world am I supposed to be able to trust these people to support my product, give me correct information when necessary, and if necessary honor a warranty that is apparently supposed to last 5 years. When I can't even get logged into their account to register the unit?
All in all, my impression of Pit Boss is extremely unfavorable. I am sure the smoker itself probably works fine (so long as the controller isn't borked like others are reporting) but man... they really need to pull it together with their website and app.
