The George Foreman Grill Story

We got this extra large George Foreman grill as one of our wedding presents in February. It's one of my favorite kitchen appliance. We would use it at least 5-6 times a week to make all kinds of toasted wraps to grilling steaks, hamburgers and even satay! One day, I wanted to turn it on to grill up some pork chops and realized that the red button wasn't lit up. The grill just stopped working! I was pretty upset, two reasons - it's one of my favorite appliance and it's less than a year old!

I knew it was under warranty but I couldn't find a customer service hotline number anywhere on the box or instructions booklet. At last I found the number online and I called the customer service hotline to ask about the warranty. I got one of those voice automated things and I was put on hold for about half an hour! After holding on for half an hour, I would expect to speak to a customer service rep but noooo. A voice recording came on and said that all their customer service reps were still busy and that I should email them if I had any questions. Then I heard a click and they hung up!!! Boy was I upset! Well, that marks the beginning of the long process of getting my replacement grill.

I went back to the website, found the email address and emailed them, explaining the situation and what I was looking to get a replacement grill. There wasn't any reply from them for about a week. At last, a short reply came and asked me what was the purpose of the email, despite me explaining that my grill stopped working and I need them to either fix it or replace the grill. I emailed them again to explain and waited for another 4-5 days to get a reply.

They told me that they would send me a new grill but the model that I have has already been discontinued. They gave me two other choices and I picked one. Then they said that there are a few things I needed to send them first before they can process the replacement. First, I need to cut off the chord from the faulty grill.

Next, I would need to peel off the sticker at the back of the grill.

Then, I would need to mail the chord, sticker, a letter explaining why I needed a replacement grill and a check for $7.50 (for shipping and handling) back to them.

I did all that and waited. And waited. And waited. No news from them for about 2 weeks. At last I emailed them and asked if they had gotten the package. They did and said they will send out the grill to me the very next day. I received an email from them about 4 days later and they said the grill is out of stock. I would need to wait for another 1-2 months before they could send me a replacement. By then I was pretty upset, how long must I wait for my grill? I told them that it doesn't have to be this particular model, they can send me the other model which is in stock. I got their reply the very next day and they said that the model I wanted will be shipped out to me soon! I really don't understand how those people work. One day its out of stock, with a back order of 1-2 months and they miraculously have it in stock the very next day.

I waited for another week or so, and received an email that the grill has been shipped out. What joy! At last I would get my new grill! Wellll...don't be too happy yet. I received the package via USPS. There wasn't any outer box, just a big mailing label glued onto the grill box. This is what we saw when we opened the box.

The grill was broken! You can see puncture holes in the box and the styrofoam was broken!!

All this waiting and I got a broken grill :( Soooo, I had to email them again with photos of the broken grill. Another few days of waiting and I received an email from them saying that another grill has been shipped to me.

After waiting for another 10 days or so, FedEx brought this to my doorstep!

The package was nicely packed in an outer box with lots of paper.

At last my beautiful new grill is here!! I can start making toasted wraps for lunch again! It took a total of nearly 2 and a half months to get a replacement. I think the customer service reps were just incompetent. The grill itself is one of the best things ever invented, just make sure it doesn't break down. It will take it forever to get a replacement!