Fireboard 2 Experience thus Far

[Bif Hunkly]

Just received my Fireboard 2 + extra probes and base. Looks sturdy, probes look like they are of amazing quality (they should be), magnetic base is nice. It came half charged which was cool.

UNFORTUNATELY, I can't connect my phone to its bluetooth. I have an iPhone 8+ and after following the instructions over and over and for an hour and about 15 resets, it just won't work. You are supposed to open the app and give it bluetooth permissions. After you do that, it looks for the device and finds it. Then the bluetooth symbol blinks once on the unit and that's where it ends for me. When you try to refresh the app to search again for the Fireboard it says nothing is located. Then you have to reset the Fireboard to get it to show up again. I've done their troubleshooting on their website (which is basically an endless loop - "If it doesn't work, check the activation options" which are just the setup instructions). They have no support chat or even a number listed online. There's a number in their book. When you call it, it asks you for the parties extension if you know it and then tells you to go their knowledge base online. If you stick around, customer service is 1 or you can press 0 to leave a message. If you press 1, they ask you to leave a message.

SOOOOOOO, I'm not happy. I'll add to the thread when I hear back from them but at this point, I wouldn't recommend the Fireboard 2. It's one thing to maybe get a lemon, but it's another to not have any options to reach out to a tech support person besides "leave a message" or "fill out our form."

Sorry for my rant. I'll update when I hear back.

 

[Greg Jones]

Might be worth a look to confirm the app has Bluetooth access. That’s in Settings>Privacy>Bluetooth.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Thanks, it does have access. When it initially connects (for a second) the diagnostics on the Fireboard says "Bluetooth: -32db" then it says disconnected again and the only way to find it is to reset the Fireboard.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

They wrote me back and said they are a small company and were talking to another customer when I called. Asked if I wanted to troubleshoot or return. I wrote them back and asked if it was normal for it to do the "-32db" and then shut off it's bluetooth connection. They have yet to respond back so I'm just asking for a return. I'm all about supporting small businesses and stuff but if I buy something for this much, I need it to work or at least to be able to contact somebody without jumping through hoops if it doesn't.
Thermoworks is having a 20% off sale. I guess I'll get the Signal and get a power strip if I'm anticipating smoking something for more than 16 hours.
I was really excited about this too. Ah, life. Makes me extra glad I didn't by a Yoder though, I think their temp control unit is a Fireboard.

 

[bfletcher]

You're obviously allowed to rant if you feel that's your honest opinion, lol, but I just feel bad for you that you're not able to use it this weekend.

I'm not here to suggest that I prefer them over Thermoworks or any other vendor but many vendors are truly impacted by COVID-related events. I have some experience in industrial and commercial manufacturing and it is disheartening to know of some of the challenges that face many businesses during this difficult time.

I don't have the V2; I have the original unit. I don't mean to suggest your assessment is not accurate but during a quick search I see they have a YouTube channel. There's not a chance this would help you, would it?

 

[Bif Hunkly]

You're obviously allowed to rant if you feel that's your honest opinion, lol, but I just feel bad for you that you're not able to use it this weekend.

I'm not here to suggest that I prefer them over Thermoworks or any other vendor but many vendors are truly impacted by COVID-related events. I have some experience in industrial and commercial manufacturing and it is disheartening to know of some of the challenges that face many businesses during this difficult time.

I don't have the V2; I have the original unit. I don't mean to suggest your assessment is not accurate but during a quick search I see they have a YouTube channel. There's not a chance this would help you, would it?

I know - I have an 8lb pork shoulder that I was going to test it on...

I'm with you completely and understand that vendors are being impacted but they made it sound like they have one customer service/support person right now. I just spent over $300 and needed some questions answered about the product I bought not working.

I watched the video. If you look at it, my unit didn't get past the pairing. The bluetooth icon showed up and disappeared. When I was emailing their support person about the bluetooth shutting off and the diagnostics saying -35db or whatever, he said he didn't know because he couldn't look at the diagnostics since I couldn't get it online. He asked me if I did the knowledge base stuff (which I did, many times as stated above) and that was about the limit of it. He sent me a link for returns. If they deem it a bad unit I get the shipping costs paid back, so there's that.

I didn't mean to come off as somebody who just complains. If I had a good experience with any of this, I'd have written accolades. I didn't. It could have just been me but my dealings with their customer service left a lot to be desired. Especially after dealing with RecTeq. I can just about guarantee they would have sent out a new unit and sent me a packaging label for the one I can't get to work.

Good customer service goes a long way with me. I didn't get it with Fireboard. We'll see how Thermoworks works out.

I appreciate your response and taking the time to send the link to me in the hopes that it would help.

 

[bfletcher]

I didn't mean to come off as somebody who just complains.

I did not take it that way; you didn't come across as a complainer.

I don't know what would be plan B if it connects to another device but do you happen to have another phone to make the connection attempt, if you would want to try that for the immediate?

 

[Bif Hunkly]

I did not take it that way; you didn't come across as a complainer.

I don't know what would be plan B if it connects to another device but do you happen to have another phone to make the connection attempt, if you would want to try that for the immediate?

Thanks for recommending that. I hadn't even thought about it. I just now reset the Fireboard and tried to pair to my wife's phone. Does the exact same thing. This time, I went to the diagnostics on it as I kept trying to "find device" after the initial attempt and it blinks. It'll say "Bluetooth: -42db" and then immediately say "disconnected."

When I unpacked it, it was just kind of sitting nestled in the box, not wrapped with anything to protect it. I thought that was kind of funny. Maybe I have unit that somebody paired and returned? I know it says it won't work if it's registered to somebody else but I'm not sure if the app tells you that it's already registered to another account.

However, after looking at the video again, it says the unit displays a wifi and a bluetooth signal on it when it detects them. Mine doesn't do that. So I'm definitely thinking I got a defective unit.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Signals from Thermoworks came today. I installed the app and it immediately picked up on my bluetooth and connected. I won't have a chance to really use it until I get something to smoke again, but that made me happy. I must have received a bad unit from Fireboard.

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Hopefully the last update with Fireboard. They received my return yesterday (cost around $17 to ship back to them). I wrote them this morning about a timeline for a refund and they said that it should be today and that I could of had another shipped out with a return label for the bad unit.

I told them I wish I had been given that option.

I get notification that they accepted the return. However, rather than paying back my shipping, they deducted their Fedex shipping charges from my return.

I wrote them again and asked why. They said they were able to get it to work but it needed a firmware upgrade. I wrote them back and said that in order to get the firmware upgrade I would have needed to connect to wifi. In order to connect to wifi, I needed to connect to bluetooth, which I was unable to do because it needed the firmware upgrade.

They then said they'd refund their shipping charge but not mine because I had the option to get a new unit and I chose to return it instead. THEY NEVER GAVE ME THAT OPTION. I sent my earlier conversations back to them and quoted their return policy where they say they'll refund your shipping charges.

At this point, I'll NEVER purchase anything from them again or recommend them to anyone. I'm sure their product is great if you can get it to work. Buyer beware if you cannot. A $17 lesson learned.

 

[mooncusser2k]

Yikes

 

[MT26]

Wow, I just read this thread and was getting ready to buy the Fireboard. I was excited with the 6 probes and great reviews. But I will not support any business with shitty customer service. That's the biggest reason I jumped from GMG to RecTeq. I mean quality was obvious, but GMG's service sucks too!

 

[Aclarke44]

Business 101...Who determines the success or failure of a business?? The CUSTOMER!!

Customer service is why companies like Pit Barrel Cooker and Recteq have thrived when others have failed.

 

[kennethk]

Thanks for the information. How do you like the Signals?

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Thanks for the information. How do you like the Signals?

I like it a lot. I did blow my ambient air probe because I was trying to rearrange my rib set up (bought them from Costco and didn't realize it was a three-pack) and I caught the probe wire, it pulled out of it's holder and the tip touched the grates. Other than that, it's worked really well. Too well. I'm constantly adjusting the RecTeq to keep the temperature I want on the Signals.
Battery life is pretty good for me. I did a 10 hour pork butt followed by 4.5 hours of beef jerky and it alerted me that the battery was getting low but it made it through.
Also, we had a freak rainstorm that turned into snow while I was smoking a brisket. The unit is water/weather tight.
I love it but wait for it to go on sale (they have a lot of them).