Jon H.
Mystery box sale participant
I recently participated in the mystery box promotion that Zgrills sponsored on their website. For those of you unfamiliar, you pay $399 and get one of five grills described on the site. There is no deception or fraud here; customers are well aware of how the sale works when they purchase a grill. I received perhaps the smallest pellet grill offered in this promotion. Given that I cook for my wife and myself, and sometimes my inlaws, I thought that was a good choice for me. And since I only paid $399, I got it for $80 less than the regular price listed on their website. The shipping was delayed by a few days after FedEx picked it up, but only about two or three. Normal when shipping something of this size and weight, I think (box weighed nearly 100 lbs.). My son and I put it together in under an hour. I did the initial burn-in process, and used it for my first attempt at smoked ribs a few days later. The PID controller works as advertised, the grill performers just as a pellet grill should, and the ribs were pretty decent for a first attempt. Unfortunately, in the last couple of days, I found a dent in the hopper, one that I believe probably happened in shipping (no marks on the grill, so I believe that the impact happened when it was protected by cardboard, plastic, and styrofoam). Even in spite of that, the grill works well and performs as it should. When I contacted customer service about the issue, I was given a reasonable resolution to the situation. In fact, if I could rate FedEx separately from Zgrills, I would give them a single star. Zgrills performance both during and after the sale was exemplary. They processed the order, shipped it, sent me the tracking information, and from there, it was out of their hands. FedEx delayed the shipment and managed to dent a metal product that was well-packaged. If I were Zgrills, I would find another shipping company (DHL? UPS?) and see if customer satisfaction goes up, and reports of damaged grills and late deliveries go down. In all, I'd buy another pellet grill from Zgrills... but I don't think I'll have to. As long as I can get FedEx to keep their hands off of it, I think my grill will last a long time.


