Weber’s policy, I was told, is to replace only the parts of the grill that were damaged. Which was pretty much everything except the cook box itself, the lid, the metal frame and four legs. The whole control apparatus — switches, control knobs, feeder tubes, wires — and the supporting side tray would need to be replaced.
“Erika,” I implored, “the entire grill is an FRU at this point.”
“Sorry, Mr. Nibbe, that is our policy.”
This makes no sense to me. One, because nobody seems to know what caused this accident to occur in the first place, I can’t be sure it wasn’t related to some design flaw in the grill itself, so why would I risk continuing to use a rebuilt version, and two, the cost to Weber of replacing the damaged parts (plus handling and shipping), in addition to my time and effort to install and troubleshoot has to be equal to, or more likely greater than, the cost of a new grill.
No, I think the offer was intended to be absurd, so I’ll go away. Which at this point I will probably do, but not to buy another Weber grill that’s for sure.
Update: Erika left me v-mail to call her. Perhaps they’ve reconsidered? In the meantime, we have to broil the salmon fillets for dinner.