# TRAEGER TIMBERLINE 850 LEMON



## IowaHawkeye (Jun 29, 2019)

Wanted to give an update to my Traeger Timberline 850.  Purchased the Traeger direct from the company, and got it in May.  Put it together, it wasn't that hard to assemble. 

Tried to connect the Trager app to my grill and it wasn't working.  I called their help desk and was told there was no one there that could help, they were in meetings and would not be available all day or the next.  That should have been my first clue about their customer service or lack of.

I will fast forward through some other issues, after all, it takes some time to get use to a new product especially a grill.  I called customer service again after noticing my grill would not heat properly, and figured out that my temp gauge was not working properly.  They emailed me an attachment wanting me to take my fan apart and see if its working properly. Only one problem the attachment was not for a 850 Timberline, it was for another one of their grills. Fan was working just fine.

Called them again, and this time they said we will ship you a new thermocouple, but it will take 7-10 days.  Again, this was not the problem.

Yesterday, I called in again, and was told they will be sending me a new Controller to see if that is the problem.  I can expect delivery in 8-10 days. So now I will have a new thermocouple, and soon controller and have yet to have a decent smoke on the New Traeger 850 Timberline.

One last thing, when I called in asking why I could not get the  grill and my phone app to connect the customer service agent said she didn't have any idea why it would not work, so I asked to speak to a supervisor.  I was told, they didn't have one available, but was told one would call me in 7-8 days. (Great Customer Service :-( …  I never did get a call back and when I called them, I was told they are really busy...….if all Tragers work like mine I can see that they are busy.

This 850 Timberline from Trager is a lemon, and their customer service is even worse.


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## 6GRILLZNTN (Jun 29, 2019)

That supervisor was probably on the phone with my neighbor who had similar issues with his Traeger he got last year.  It would not get up to temp, had WILD temp swings, and then it caught on fire.  It sounds like you have your experience well documented, so you could either wait until the new controller comes in and see if that fixes your issue, or have them return your money and pick up the smoker AT THEIR EXPENSE!  It seems a few pellet smoker brands are glad to send out controllers, thermoprobes, etc., but not a repairman to actually do the work.  I do hate you are having these problems because a properly running pellet smoker/grill is a great piece of kit to have on your porch.  Good luck with everything.


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## IowaHawkeye (Jul 1, 2019)

Thank you for your reply.  I will let everyone know what happens once I put in the new Controller.  It amazes me that Traeger has such poor customer support. You can only neglect the customer for so long before their business suffers.
Have a great 4th!


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## banderson7474 (Jul 1, 2019)

I'm told Traeger recently went to a cheaper controller and there has been a lot of problems since.


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## banderson7474 (Jul 23, 2019)

I'm told that when the owner of traeger went to pitt boss, the Traeger grills went down in quality and the pitt boss went up. 


https://pitboss-grills.com/traeger-founder-joins-pit-boss


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## IowaHawkeye (Aug 2, 2019)

My Traeger Timberline is a lemon!  Traeger's support is terrible at best. Traeger has sent me a new controller, and thermocouple and it still doesn't work as advertised.  They have now sent me a Hopper Burner Assemble, made in "China" Mr. Traeger was a man of his word and when he sold his company he went to Pitt Boss...it was a WIN for Pitt Boss and a LOSS for Traeger.  I would never recommend buying a Traeger.


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## Fueling Around (Aug 2, 2019)

Good friend has a 2 year old Traeger pellet pooper.
He has had NO issues.

They have been a China built product since the mid 2000's when Traeger sold out to the multinational.
Hmm, joining Pitboss last year was the end of his noncompeting contract?


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## 2008RN (Aug 2, 2019)

5GRILLZNTN said:


> That supervisor was probably on the phone with my neighbor who had similar issues with his Traeger he got last year.  It would not get up to temp, had WILD temp swings, and then it caught on fire.  It sounds like you have your experience well documented, so you could either wait until the new controller comes in and see if that fixes your issue, or have them return your money and pick up the smoker AT THEIR EXPENSE!  It seems a few pellet smoker brands are glad to send out controllers, thermoprobes, etc., but not a repairman to actually do the work.  I do hate you are having these problems because a properly running pellet smoker/grill is a great piece of kit to have on your porch.  Good luck with everything.



I just had a friend that had similar problems their Traeger. Fire started going down the auger  while they were cooking a pizza and flames everywhere. Traeger said it would be 2-3 months before they would have parts.  Not Good.


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