I took a big chance when I decided to purchase a Kamado Joe instead of a Big Green Egg. The Big Green Egg brand has been around since the early 1970’s and has a fiercely loyal fan base who absolutely live and die by their famous, Hunter green Kamado cookers.
Kamado Joe, on the other hand, is relatively new to the Kamado grill market and they have some incredibly stiff competition.
I won’t re-hash what I’ve told you previously, but after doing my research on the Kamado Joe brand, I was confident that although it was certainly the least popular of the two, it was a far better choice for my Kamado cooking needs.
The Problem
Immediately upon receiving my Kamado Joe Classic Standalone that I ordered via Wayfair.com (for a tremendous discount, I might add), I was in awe. It was simply a beautiful piece of expertly crafted ceramic and stainless steel with a super-shiny coating of jet black, high-temperature porcelain glaze. A work of art if I’ve ever seen one.
Almost immediately, however, I noticed that it was really difficult to keep the dome opened. I had to every-so-gently, place it in the fully opened position and then be extremely careful not to bump the grill or table or else it would come crashing down – it actually fell completely down twice, but luckily, it never cracked.
Over the first couple months, I spent many hours trying different ways to tighten the bolts and bands in hopes of hitting some sort of sweet spot that would increase the tension enough to keep it from falling forward so easily, but after not having any luck, I simply gave up and decided to just live with it.
That was until it came slamming down a couple weeks ago for the third time. It finally hit me that if I had spent so much money on a grill, the least it could do is stay open when I want it to. So, I decided to give Kamado Joe customer service a call to see if they could help rectify the issue for me.
Kamado Joe Customer Service to the Rescue
So last Monday, I decided to submit an inquiry via their “Contact” page on their website and 24 hours later, I had an email response saying that they were going to send me a complete band and hinge assembly. Unfortunately, they didn’t give me any kind of date or expectation as to when I’d be receiving it, so I figured it would probably be a couple weeks at best. No worries. At least I could still cook on it in the meantime, albeit, carefully.
Well, to my complete astonishment, guess what showed up on my doorstep in less than 48 hours, no questions asked?
That’s right. Kamado Joe sent me the complete band and hinge assembly in less than two days without so much as even asking the first question. I was completely thrilled at this point, but the story gets even better.
In the course of putting the new bands and hinge on, I had trouble installing the high tension springs and wasn’t quit sure what I was going to do since I had spent hours unsuccessfully working with them to no avail. I emailed Kamado Joe and asked for some assistance, and wow, did they ever deliver.
The very next day, Bobby Brennan, the President of Kamado Joe, called and not only gave me step-by-step directions as to how to install the springs, but went a step further and offered to send someone out to do it, free of charge, if I couldn’t get them installed myself. Customer service simply does not get any better than that.
A Brand Evangelist
As luck would have it, I eventually did get the springs installed myself which ended up solving my dome issue, but I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you just how completely thrilled I am with the level of customer service I received from Kamado Joe.
Not only do they have a fan and customer for life in me, but they have a true brand evangelist who will go out of his way to sing the praises of not only their amazing Kamado grills, but also, their unparalleled customer service.
All of that being said, I can certainly understand why you might choose to go the Big Green Egg route if you’re in the market for a new Kamado grill, however company customer service should be a major consideration in your purchasing decision and I can say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Kamado Joe hits it out of the park in that department.
As I look online at the Kamado Joe grills, I see different ones in the picture and then in the video one that looks different. One is advertised as having a stainless steel vent top and what looks like two dials at the bottom to adjust air flow, then in the video showing how to control the heat, has a ceramic vent top and a metal piece that slides back and forth to adjust air flow. I think I am looking for the one that has the ceramic air vent at the top and the metal slide at the bottom. Could one be what Home Depot advertises that I found out is not a Kamado Joe? Is there a website to go to to look at the different Kamado Joe grills on one page?
I have a big joe with the same problem, it came down on my head, which was unlucky. My first thought was that I didn’t have it on level ground, so I moved it and made it slope the other way as to solve the problem, alas it came down unaided some time later. Thanks for your comment, I too was going to fuss about adjusting, think I’ll get onto custermer service as you have done, thanks for the tip, it is a great BBQ besides that. Did the new hinges solve the problem?
Kamado Joe customer service is second to none, even 18 months later after my grill purchase, they still continue to amaze me. Here’s a perfect example:
I was cooking a few weeks ago and noticed that I had a slight hairline crack in my fire box that looked to be nearly a foot long. I simply submitted a warranty claim through the Kamado Joe website, emailed a couple pictures of the crack, and just a couple weeks later, I had a new fire box sitting on my front porch, no additional questions asked. Kamado Joe really does stand behind their products and just as importantly, they are actually accessible – I’ve heard that’s not always necessarily the case from other Kamado grill manufacturers.
As for the new hinge assembly, the answer is YES! The new hinge assembly did resolve the issue I had in which the dome refused to stay open. I will say that it was quite a pain to install it, but if you have a friend to help, a pair of pliers, and a vice grip, you should be in good shape. Let me know if you have trouble with it and I can give you a few pointers. Good luck!
Unfortunately I had the opposite experience with their customer service. I bought the big joe and it came without heat deflectors. Instead of addressing my concerns, I was told that there were over 100 people ahead of me in the line so I should contact my rep instead. Long story short, it’s been a week and so far no sign of the missing parts. Maybe KJ cared about their customers before they became established in the market, but that does not appear to be the case anymore. I am extremely disappointed in KJ’s lack of response to my problem and I will be warning my friends and family to stay away from KJ.