New RecTeq CEO

[Threadcutter]

Quality will go down, tech support will get worse......bet on it. I am so sick of hearing/seeing so many successful American made companies selling out to a global country/company, it is simply NEVER the same after that happens. USA.....the country that loves to sell out, instead of staying "made in the USA".

Money talks, bullshit walks. Pretty simple, universal answer. How else will the founders afford their new mansions in Palm Beach ?

 

[SmokeZilla]

Great point everyone. To be honest, most of it is a lot of conjecture. Any company is vulnerable to change. Risk can be both negative and positive. In business, CEOs and Owners come and go. The real proof will be in the future. A larger company may be interested in margins but oversight on this important aspect of the business can typically contribute to the large number of “private” and small company failures. As a consumer, if you are only purchasing one item every few years, how would any company survive without the repeat business. I haven’t heard anyone in this thread talk about buying the company themselves or even flooding Ray with money or purchasing additional smokers for your collection to get him to change his mind. We brag about the reliability of our units and don’t understand that the only way to grow market may include changes of this type with a solid mergers and acquisition strategy. Further, the perceived reliability of our smokers and accessories paired with the long warranty policies, kills off most of the aftermarket sales that become the basis for any repeat business almost ensuring an impact to growth. Without expanding with a strong marketing strategy and other creative tactics to ensure growth in market share companies stagnate. To be honest, My buying decision was influenced by the warranty because I know the repair cycle and associated costs for my Yoder, 3 year old Traeger, and other units was ridiculously expensive. We have all experienced the benefit of a good warranty as a sales incentive but how many of us have told RecTeq to charge us when we needed a replacement part? Absent each of us telling all of our neighbors that we will subsidize their purchases from RecTeq if they send money so the company can continue to grow, they (Ray and team) don’t have many choices if they want to get to the next level with their investment. It reminds me of people that complain when a restaurant’s prices go up but don‘t consider higher prices for the food’s acquisition, or even increase their tips knowing inflation is hurting everyone. With increased insurance, labor, leased space, transportation, supply chain and other cost burdens, would you expect a company to sit by and go under? In summary, we all ask people to be patient and gracious with us or our family when we are new to something, especially our jobs, but don’t look in the mirror and extend the same courtesy to anyone else. Are we so short sighted that we forgot someone had to take a chance on us to get our jobs? Let’s be a little more humane so we can all get along in the sandbox. I know we have anecdotal scenarios to draw from but you rarely hear from the satisfied customer because they don’t have time to engage in non-productive banter.

I apologize for the rant but let’s give the new CEO a break and see what he is capable of. If it doesn’t work out, I will be the first to lay down my proverbial sword. I realize each person is entitled to their opinions but if this is our biggest problem in life, we are all blessed. As participants on this forum and others, we should always remember our nightmares are most peoples dreams! If you don’t believe that, I’ll send you pictures from my trips to India, the barrios of the Philippines, Vietnam, and South America where most people are living off the cost of the food we put on our grills yesterday for their monthly salaries.

I will now relinquish the podium.