Oven/Grill thermometer brand rant - is this okay? (If not, mods please delete or tell me)

I got a 4-probe leave-in-place thermometer set last December, sold by ThermoPro. Worked well for 11 months, and had an interesting (to me, a Neanderthal who can barely work his phone) accompanying app that could graph the temp changes over time.

In late November one of the probes went AWOL on me. Reading 90 degrees ambient when the other 3 probes read my usual kitchen temp of 65°F. I moved the probes to different ports, and it was the one probe itself, not the ports.

I tested all 4 probes in iced water and they read 36-36-36-60. (I know the 36’s aren’t real, but I can deal with a couple of degrees off.)

I reported this to the company via email, asking (a) can I get a replacement for the bad blue color-coded probe (as I was within the 1-year warranty period), and (b) is there a way to calibrate the others?

I got nothing for a few days (other than autobot reply), so repeated the question. Then I got a real person saying they were looking into it.

Then after a week I got a reply telling me that they needed me to test all 4 at ambient temp, and at boiling. Why, I don’t know. I’d already told them that the one was way off at ambient and at freezing. But I promptly tested them as requested and reported.

Then they ghosted me for a week. I sent another inquiry. Nothing. A bit later I got an autobot email saying that they had closed out my ticket and were hoping I was satisfied (“We’d love to hear what you think of our customer service”), and would I complete a survey?

Darn tootin’ I did the survey (not satisfied with zero resolution and lack of response), and emailed the customer service portal twice, but have heard nothing back from them (human) since 20 days ago.

It seems like they don’t stand behind their product.

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I don’t know anything about ThermoPro as a company except that they seem to have been founded around 2014.

I do know they aren’t ThermoWorks, which is more or less the gold standard for instant-read and probe thermometers.

Personally, I would almost NEVER count on a ‘secondary’ brand product to stand behind their warranty/customer service claims. Unless they have an active reputation to protect, most of these are simply cheaply copying existing tech at a lower price point, which inevitably means more lax quality control. Sometimes, the price diff. is enough that I’m fine with that gamble, and if I get a crappy one, well, that’s how it goes.

Anything where the initial cost is more than I’m comfortable treating as ‘disposable’, I’ll probably spend the extra for the big name brand, figuring 1) it probably WON’T break and 2) if it does, I stand a better chance and resolving it in my favor.

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ThermoWorks has done extremely well by me. So much so, that it was worth the $ just for the over-the-top customer service when I had a problem (which turned out to be user error - however, throughout the entire incident, I was repeatedly told they’d replace the unit if I couldn’t get it to work). The guy I was emailing was so attentive and helpful, I was happy I’d spent the extra $.

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I’ve had the same experiences with Thermoworks. The company is very proud of the employees, and vice versa. The website has a directory of employees, with photos and bios, and they all look genuinely happy. How rare is THAT these days?

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Very rare. But that’s the kind of business model I’m happy to pay for to support.

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I have a thermoworks Dot probe thermometer. Just their most basic model. No smart functions, no app, just a probe, cable, and unit with selectable temp and an alarm that will go off when that temp is reached. Oh, and a magnet so it’ll stick to your range hood or the faceplate of your oven/grill. Totally utilitarian. Love it.

I have an ‘off-brand’ instant-read I picked up at a restaurant supply place. It’s been going solid for at least 5-6 years. I’ll probably spring for a thermoworks version if it ever dies.

Maybe an interesting further validation of Thermoworks here. A few years ago I bought a Thermoworks combination instant read AND infrared unit. It was rather pricey (maybe $150 IIRC) but it was extremely useful. Then it stopped working. Thermoworks had me return it for a new one. That mad several years ago and no problems since then. Great service.

The only negative for me is that they stopped making that unit shortly after I got my new one. I’m assuming it was because they had too many quality and/or production issues. It’s disappointing but also nice to think they are that conscious of product integrity. They still make several instant reads and also infrareds, just not a combo.

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I have the Dot, too, along with the Chef Alarm. It hangs out in my fridge right now.

Thanks for all the replies. Going with ThermoWorks as soon as a second probe goes South on me. I can get by with 3 probes but usually not 2 because I want one in the cabinet, and one each in different types or sizes of meat.

Last night I did a couple of 2.75 pound bone-in ribeyes and 5 petite sirloins (sirloin total weight was just 2 pounds). I did a lot of checking with an instant read because I wasn’t sure I could keep trusting the 3 remaining probes, but none went crazy on me.

Edit - come to think of it, since I’m having to back check/verify with the instant, I might as well head on over to TW’s website now…

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What a customer service fail. If a company can’t/won’t follow up properly, it’s an empty charade to send out customer surveys like this.

Agree with the other posters about ThermoWorks. They have sales too. Watch their website and catching a sale price may make moving on from that other company’s product all the sweeter.

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Thermoworks is very innovative in lotsa small but helpful ways. E.g., glow-in-dark boots, color-coded cable collars and spools, wipes, guides. One feature I wish they’d build into Thermopen is a LED flashlight to aim the probe. And maybe displays on both sides.

I can’t wait to try their RFX leave-in probes.

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Awwright, y’all convinced me. I just ordered this 4-channel.
image

It’s supposedly $70/35% off right now, plus using code TWGYW4RA9Z at check-out is another 10% off.

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Solid unit and great price. Congrats.

The only (minor) weak link is the mini-plug type probes aren’t rated especially high for temperature.

Those little color-coded O-rings are pretty useful, as are the matching spools.

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For anyone ready to pull the trigger on Thermoworks items, there’s a stackable additional 10% discount off items in the Christmas Sale. Use Code TWGYW4RA9Z

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I have had good luck with Thermoworks products too, and IIRC, better from their website thfrom Amazon. Can’t recall why. Maybe you can’t be sure of getting a “real” one on Amazon?

That used to be the case when Amazon was not an authorized seller.


So far just for the IRs like ThermaPen and ThermaPop. I’ve never seen the leave-ins on Amazon.


Ahem.

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I’ve always bought just from the manufacturer. Isn’t worth the hassle of getting a counterfeit - or something of dubious provenance.

Confirmed. I had to point out the DOT to my partner specifically precisely because I could NOT put it on my Amazon wish list.

Hope it works out for you.

I got my built in oven thermometer and then I own two Thermopen One Thermometer readers - they read the temperature in one second.