5 Common Problems With Blaze Grills

A backyard grill can be much more than the round, black charcoal Weber found in countless homes nationwide. These higher-end products promise a more refined grilling experience, and may even be built into an entire outdoor kitchen. An experience like this costs vastly more than a couple of hundred dollars, so when you make the financial commitment to it, you don't expect broken parts, unreliable heat, and even more expenses.

Unfortunately, many unhappy buyers bear these complaints and more about Blaze grills. Blaze Outdoor Products was started by the founders of BBQGuys as a spinoff brand of grills and grill accessories. BBQGuys remains a prominent retailer of Blaze products, including grills, though both companies are now owned by Brand Velocity Partners, a private equity firm.

Unsatisfied customers have years of common complaints about Blaze grills, including damaged parts, wildly inconsistent grill heating, and critical components breaking. Some customers have even had to buy replacement parts themselves without reimbursement, adding more insult to injury than the frequently unhelpful — or even hostile — customer service.

One of the most frustrating parts of shopping is when your new item arrives damaged, and this is especially true of a grill that costs several thousand dollars. It may not necessarily ruin the experience: One otherwise satisfied Blaze owner said that their grill arrived with two bent door frames, and took about a week to get new ones.

But while that timeframe may be reasonable, another particularly upset customer said that it took several weeks to receive undamaged parts. It's hard to make a direct comparison without knowing what specifically went wrong with this second grill. But such a frustrating experience can feel innately unacceptable at these price points.

Even more unacceptable is when the customer has to pay to make a defective grill workable. One such buyer discovered that their grill had an incorrect regulator installed, which governs the flow of gas to the burners. But Blaze Outdoor Products didn't send them the correct part, or even sell it to them: They had to buy the correct regulator on their own, plus installation, from a third party.

Zones of high and low heat are essential to the rule of threes for a perfectly grilled steak, but many complaints suggest Blaze grills take it to an unhelpful extreme. The same buyer who had a lengthy wait for undamaged parts also noted inconsistent flames and heating; a grill technician confirmed that their unit ran too hot and needed further testing to discover the problem. It wasn't just this one unusually unsatisfied customer, either.

Many more users concurred with either uneven or extreme heating issues of their own. On Reddit, one unfortunate customer said that, despite months of adjustments and supposed fixes, "it burns everything."

A self-described engineer laid out similar problems and, even after tinkering with the grill to reduce the heat, was still unable to get it below 425 degrees Fahrenheit. That's an appropriate temperature for some things, but as they told Reddit, "Chicken? Burnt. Ribs? Burnt. Brisket? Burnt." Grills at this price point should be able to cook a chicken.

For other customers, it's not just the temperatures that are too extreme; the flames themselves are too high for a proper grilling experience. One customer told Reddit that the flames flare high regardless of the grill's setting. They suspected that it may be related to the grill's flame tamer, with which other shoppers have also had issue. Another buyer said theirs glowed bright red, and flames charred the grill grates.

Another unsatisfied Blaze customer had a laundry list of complaints with their grill — expensive, sharp edges, poor storage — but they led with the harsh flames. They told Reddit that "Blaze has little temp adjustment from low setting to high. Items sear rapidly within a minute but easily start to burn. ... The burners are to[o] close to the grill surface." A number of other complaints followed, but none more paramount than the aggressive flames.

Failing igniters and other controls are one of the tell-tale signs it's time to replace a grill after years of good service. But a number of Blaze grill owners said their knobs and other key components broke inappropriately soon, one even shortly after purchase. Another reported that their control knobs melted, though that was a minor issue compared to a faulty valve that took months and several hundred dollars to repair.

It's not just control knobs, though. One customer complained that a built-in searing station on their grill mysteriously stopped working within a year, on top of other common issues. And another customer's grill developed issue after issue over years, from broken burners to faulty valves and premature rust.

Savvy shoppers know that a generous return window for any reason means Costco has a better appliance return policy than Home Depot or nearly anywhere else that sells such items. But returning a Blaze grill, or even getting any kind of customer support, appears to be unusually difficult. As one angry customer said on Reddit, "Blaze doesn't support their products, even if they arrive defective, and they state as much." 

Many buyers complained of lengthy back-and-forths with customer support, only to receive denials of responsibility, promised parts that never shipped, and other unsatisfactory results — or even hostility. Some complained that customer service ghosted them or fought with them.

Another Reddit user with a Blaze horror story said that "when we contacted Blaze Grills, the customer service representative was argumentative, uncooperative, and rude, ultimately stating that they didn't sell us the grill, it was their [distributor]. Talk about a run around!" Customer service interactions can go a lot of ways, but arguing with the customer is both unacceptable and unprofessional.