Master Forge BBQ Grills

[unhappycamper]

I bought a Master Forge grill from Lowes two years ago. When it started warming up in Boston this year, I went off to get a refill on my propane tank. I get home, hook the tank up and fire up the grill. Since I haven't fired this thing up since last year I was looking forward to a baked potatoe with some bratwurst.

I had trouble lighting up the burner on the left side so I turn off the gas and take a look. Gas grills have a shield over the burners to prevent fat and 'stuff' from leaking on the burners. It turns out that the shield covering my burner was laying on the burner.
Hmmmm. The shield on this model of grill is held up by small brackets tack welded to the inside of the grill. (The material used is chintzy at best.) The tack welds failed on both brackets on the left side on one of the brackets on the right side.

It's off to the internets to find the Master Forge home page. Not so fast.

A quick google search of "master forge"+home turned up:

Master Forge at Lowe's: Gas Grills, Charcoal Grills, Smokers

About halfway down page 1, I saw this: Lowes - Lowe's Master Forge Grill - Pissed Consumer

Then this: Master Forge Gas Grills Sold at Lowe's Stores Recalled Due to Fire and Burn Hazards; Made by Guangdong Vanward Electric

Oh well, let's google "Guangdong Vanward Electric "

http://vanward.en.made-in-china.com/product-group/dbeJGNUvCaVP/Gas-Grill-catalog-1.html

So the bottom line is this: Lowes contracted their grills out to China. Master Forge is a Lowes in-store brand name. The Chinese-made grills rust out with all the abandon of a 196os Toyota.

I'm headed down to Lowes this morning with a rusted bracket (that fell off), a rusted burner shield and pics I took of my Master Forge rust bucket.

Let's see how Lowes responds.

[JayhawkSD]

1. Well, I don't know about your grill, but...

...two years without maintenance might be a problem. Did you winterize it after its final use of last season? How often did you lift the cooking grates and clean the gunk from the pans which protect the burners, and from the bottom of the burner pan?

I have a Master Forge, and keeping it clean is a regular part of my use of it. Clean grills don't usually rust out in two years. I've only had this one for a year, but I had the preceeding one for 14 years.

Good luck with Lowes. I've never had anything but very positive experiances with them, but then I haven't approached them quite as pissed off as you seem to be.

[Warpy]

2. China's quality control is piss poor

It's not that their workers are substandard, far from it. It's that those workers are worked like galley slaves on products the factory owners have cut every corner they can on and still have it hang together on a showroom floor.

Definitely take that thing back. You should have taken it back a couple of years ago when half of it wouldn't light. They get enough people taking stuff back and leaving it in the store and driving their waste hauling bill up, maybe they'll lodge enough complaints with the manufacturer to get some changes made.

What kills me is that stuff like BBQ grills won't even pass safety inspections half the time, even if they're subjected to them.

(Yes, I've been burned on cheaply made but expensively sold Chinese crap. We all have)

[unhappycamper]

3. 6.18.2014 UPDATE

I made a stop in Lowes yesterday and ending up talking with a manager. His first question: "Did you buy the extended warranty?" "Nope."

So I asked "What can you do for me?" The manager said he could give me a 20% rebate if I bought a new Master Forge grill.

Fast forward to today: I decided to try Mass law first: http://www.mass.gov/ago/consumer-resources/consumer-assistance/consumer-complaint.html

Complaint filed - will let you know how it turns out.

Time to start researching the fed consumer laws.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. I love when they tell you they will sell you the same piece of shit at a slight discount.

How fucking insulting.

GE did that to me when I called GE to see about getting some help on my partner's mom's 14 month old under-cabinet microwave that quit working.

The woman offered me $50 dollars toward the purchase of a new GE microwave. THEN got huffy when I asked her "Why would I buy another GE when this one lasted a little over a year?" . Told me she refused to deal with me because I wasn't the registered owner as if I insulted HER.