The BBQ King — Restaurant in Sydney

Summary: Sales staff keep changing the story.

TL;DR;

Went to The Barbeque Store to purchase a new BBQ. The sales attendant Malcolm was very easy to talk to and had some very helpful advice. He pointed out a runout Steel model (they are rebranding Steel to BBQ King). Even though the Steel was more than we wanted to spend, we saw a good deal.

Malcolm said the warranty was "at least 3 years". Asking for clarification he said BBQs sometimes offer "lifetime" warranties but he doesn't like to claim that because he thinks "lifetime" is not well defined, instead stated that their BBQs are all at least 3 years. They offered free delivery for local customers which we were. And lastly, they said they had a few of these models left in stock.

The next day (less than 4 business hours after we spoke), I called and they said they no longer had any stock except the display model. I find it highly unlikely that in those 4 hours they go from "a few in stock" to none. The display model had some scratches etc and so they were willing to throw in some Steel accessories to compensate.

We then returned to the store to take a closer look at the scratches on the display model. While there I asked for further clarification on the warranty. Not knowing the exact warranty, he pointed me to the paperwork in the bottom of the BBQ and asked me to look it up for myself. Turns out it is actually on a 2 year warranty.

Finally, I asked how this demo model would be delivered. Would it be disassembled? He stated that the BBQ would be delivered assembled. Then asked if we had flat access at our house. I said there were some stairs to get to the property and immediately he said we would have to pay for delivery.

At this point we had had enough: Said there was stock - then there wasn't Said it was 3 year warranty - then it was 2 Said it was free delivery - then we had to cover delivery

We expressed our frustration with the continually changing story and his response was "I am just being honest with you".

It was such a dissappointment. If from the start he had said, "Look, here is a demo model. It's a 2 year warranty, and since it is assembled you would have to handle delivery yourself" we almost certainly would have bought it. But the customer service and continually changing story of this guy turned us off doing business with him or the store. If this was the level of service and honesty of the pre-sales experience, why would we expect any better after sales support. And given this was a product made in Italy with no other importers (AFAIK), that after sales support was going to be...

The most frustrating delivery experience I've ever encountered. I ordered a BBQ online in November 2020, and after weeks of following up, the response was the BBQ was delayed because of covid until January. Then in January after me chasing them again and again it arrived, but without two accessories. I've since chased them for these two accessories. The cover got delivered last week and now after chasing again, they tell me the rotisserie won't be here until the end of March. The communication from this company is a -1. I would not give a dollar more to them ever.

Update: today is 20th April, still don’t have the rotisserie. Last week I had a PDF form letter emailed to me, purportedly from the Sales Manager basically saying that the delay was caused due to Them overselling their application of Napoleon BBQ’s and Napoleon didn’t have enough stock to fulfil due to global demand. I pre-paid for this in November 2020- you would have thought that in December they would have returned my money, but kept my order- instead they held my money for 5 months. Still don’t know when it will come.... there has been nothing from The BBQ King even attempting to try to recover from this situation. I wonder how many other people got caught in this.

Ha! the saga continues. Thew last email said that the container was arriving on the 5th May and items would be shipped in the following week. Today is the 24th May. i have not been contacted so decided to call again. John the previous guy that emailed me doesnt work there anymore, and the lady I spoke to told me another story that now the are out of stock globally, which i replied, no mine was on the ship that was arriving on 5th May... so is it or not? I asked her whether it was reasonable for me to have to continue to call them, rather than me having to call them for updates; she replied: "we don't have enough staff to call everyone with a backorder". She then said to me that it was a 'bonus item' so in other words, you didn't pay for it, so why are you complaining.

They certainly know how not to train their customer service staff.

Next update on this fiasco in... maybe a month?

Wow! Finally received the rotisserie. Have had it for a week now... unwrapped it tonight, dusted up two chickens with a nice rub, put them on the rotisserie, all seems great. Then realised they have shipped it to me with a faulty switch! Are you f*ing serious?!?

I will retire this post though - I’m sure no one wants to sit through the trying to get a...

**Could not be happier with my Smoker and the experience!! - I visited this store on a Saturday afternoon in March '17 with the intention of buying a particular Smoker. I was advised by the storeman that they did have one in stock however he advised against the purchase as it had given other customers issues. He did seem genuine and then proceeded to advise me of alternatives that may suit my needs. However I only had one other alternative in mind but it was outside my budget. They did have a special on the unit so I decided to pull the trigger on it. It would, from that point take a week or so to arrive from Melbourne (I am in Sydney) and that was acceptable. I then received a phonecall from the store on the following Monday advising me that the model that I had purchased was in fact not in stock. The feeling of disappointment set in, but then the gentlemen went on to advise that the same model only with a Stainless Steel lid (an additional cost of $200 dollars) is in stock and asked if I would like to purchase that one. I agreed whilst reaching for the credit card only to be advised that the original amount paid is sufficient and there is nothing further to pay – he chalked it up to inconvenience incurred. Follow that up with a delivery that came, not only within the timeframe promised, but a few days earlier with a phonecall in the morning on the day of delivery advising of the close to exact time of arrival was the icing on the cake. If you are thinking about buying a BBQ and want a purchasing experience without fault or issue (or in my case – absolutely awesome), then give the team at this...