Pit Boss

I have had three PitBoss smokers in the last two years. Pit Boss customer support is practically nonexistent.

They keep sending parts without instructions and expecting me to do electrical work. Not sure how OSHA and other safety organizations feel about this. I have been using smokers 32 years. I recently switched from Masterbuilt to PitBoss.

Man do I regret it! Even though the Masterbuilt has a short usable life *typically about 4 - 5 years), let me say unequivocally" do NOT BUY PitBoss products! They have ruined a 10 pound Prime Rib, over 30 pounds of chicken breasts, and a $100.00 brisket in less than two months.

In case someone wants to say I just dont know what I am doing, I currently have three various grills and four smokers. I am highly proficient with them all.

I have successfully smoked my own custom bacon from scratch hundreds of smoked prime ribs, turkey breasts, drums, and whole turkeys, thousands of pounds of Salmon (I was a professional fishing guide in Alaska) and countless chicken meals of every variety. If it were me, I would have given up years ago and people wouldn't consistently tell me my meals are the best they ever tasted.

Can anyone recommend a smoker brand that works, AND the company stands behind their product?

This is the 3rd time my auger motor has gone out. This time the whole entire smoker caught fire.

Your customer service rep Fay and his supervisor Richard were very unprofessional to the point I recorded the conversation halfway through. I asked to speak with Richard, the manager, and he would not speak to me at first until I said I was going to call HR. As a manager myself, if my customers are having issues or are frustrated, regardless of the solution, I would at least take 5 minutes to show empathy and talk them down. My auger motor has broken 3 times in 3 1/2 years, and my control board has broken twice.

The last time my smoker caught fire, it was chipping big pieces of rust into the food. That's when the smoker is working, of course. I'm very disappointed in the customer service, and I'm very disappointed in the product itself. I loved my Pit Boss at first, and within a year it broke.

Now I can't cook my ham or turkey because the parts won't be here in time due to a back order in the warehouse and it being a holiday. I perfectly understand I should've called earlier, but this is the 3rd time my auger has broken.

I will NEVER BUY ANOTHER PIT BOSS, AND I AM IN MY RIGHT MIND TO POST MY RECORDED CONVERSATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA SO EVERYONE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF SERVICE PIT BOSS OFFERS. (I did make it known that I was recording to the agent on the phone.)

We bought a Pit Boss grill smoker combo and paid a lot of money. We use it on a regular basis.

Sometimes, due to poor engineering, the interior catches on fire even with minimal grease. The cover is cheaply made, and after cold and hot weather, it is ripping. The cheap rubber trim around the knobs is coming apart. The hinges on the smoker oven below were discolored within the first two months and are now all rusted out.

Due to light metal casing the metal case used at the rear of the grill already has a small hole in it. There are also issues with the igniter for the gas, as it does not light up all areas properly. We called Pit Boss, which apparently is either owned by or there are other companies involved, like Dansons. They wanted a receipt, but the receipt from being in the wallet is stuck together, and it was paid in cash.

They said the serial number is valid and shows as their product, but they deny any responsibility for any of the issues.

This is very disappointing, and I will continue to pursue this issue with other help.

We just want to get fixed or replaced whats failing at this point so they can rectify their product and make it better without hurting any other consumers. I hope this will help others with this type of purchase.

Ive had a Pit Boss pellet grill for 4 months. It worked great until tonight.

I purchased high dollar steaks today to grill on it marinated them and when I tried to start the Pit Boss. I got an error code. Went to the official Pit Boss website and watched a fix it video. Did everything it said to do.

Fixed the mechanical problem. Then the damned thing wouldnt power up. So now Im baking high dollar steaks in the oven. Not to mention that I threw the bacon wrapped asparagus away because its not good baked.

Its like a turd painted gold.

Looks all shiny but when you step on it. Its still a piece of ST..

I was excited to begin smoking with an actual pellet smoker, and this was recommended to me to purchase a pit boss smoker. So, I bought a small one, the Lexington.

I used it two times and got an ERR error code. I called customer support, and of course, when I called, the code had gone away. I used it again for two hours, and it came back, which by then their customer service department was closed. I was having a large family get-together that day, so my daughter graciously went out and bought me a new one, which stated on the website I hooked up to Wi-Fi.

I got it home and used it. It was the Austin XL. It did not hook up to Wi-Fi. I was having trouble connecting to Wi-Fi.

The next day, I called about my Lexington, and they had me unplug the purple and white wire that seemed to have fixed it, so we took it to camp this weekend. No, same error message, and it ruined our camping trip for smoking anyway. So, I called customer support today, and they said that it was the igniter, and they were gonna send me a new one, which is BS because I used it a total of maybe four times. This is a brand new smoker that I paid $397 for; I should not have to be replacing parts on it already.

So, I let that go, and I asked them about the Austin XL that I had purchased and told them I was having a hard time hooking it up to Wi-Fi. He asked me for the serial number. I gave him the serial number, and he said, 'Oh, that one does not hook up to Wi-Fi.' I told him it clearly stated on the website that the Austin XL hooked up to Wi-Fi. He said, 'No, it's only certain models.' Boy, this was a huge mistake going with the Pit Boss smokers of any type.

I'm not gonna spend any more than $600, which is what I just spent on the Austin XL, for a smoker. I should've gone with Traeger. They have a much better reputation and much better customer service. Thank you so much for listening.

I do not recommend this whatsoever. Don't buy a pit boss.

I purchased my first Pit Boss vertical smoker on 4/25/25 directly from their website, thinking I was investing in quality. Big mistake.

The smoker arrived on 5/4/25 via FedEx, and while the box was undamaged, the product inside was a different story. As soon as I opened it, I found multiple dents on the bottom and shattered glass on the pellet site window.

I spent over 15 minutes just trying to reach their so-called customer service. After finally getting someone on the line and thoroughly explaining all the damage, I was put on hold for another 30 minutesonly to be told theyd send me a piece of glass and to just ignore the dents! Are you kidding me?

I said absolutely notI paid for a new smoker, not a damaged, dented one.

Thats when the nightmare got worse. They gave me the wrong email to process a return. I had to call back again just to get the correct info. This level of incompetence is unacceptable.

Heres the kicker: while the company is based in Arizona, all their products are made in China.

Cheap parts, cheap labor, and clearly no quality control. Their entire business model seems focused on pushing out subpar products and offering zero support when things go wrong.

This has been the most frustrating experience Ive ever had with a company. Pit Boss clearly does not care about their customersonly about making a quick buck selling low-quality, non-American products.

Ill never do business with them again and urge every American consumer to think twice before giving this company a dime.

Boycott Pit Boss. Returning a damaged smoker shouldn't take an act of God.

Ordered a new auger motor $47.12 after tax and shipping. It arrived damaged and the fan has a real hard time turning.

So before I plugged it in I called their customer service to see if the part has a warranty. They said "I need to call them back tomorrow when I am in front of the grill so they can troubleshoot my issue." When I re-explained the issue they said I still need to video chat them so they can see the box it came in and the damage.

In contrast I emailed Masterbuilt about a missing bracket in my gravity 800, I received an email saying they have shipped me a new bracket kit with hardware.

So my Pit Boss just became $47.12 more expensive for nothing. Don't buy their crap buy a different brand.