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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking.


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Old 04-30-2018, 07:43 PM   #1
AKMIMNAK
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Default How Is Ole Hickory Customer Service?

Ole Hickory Owners:

1) How often do you need customer service from Ole Hickory (translation: how reliable are the electronics on the thing?)

2) If you've needed service, are they good to work with? Do they stand behind the product?

I ask because I'm considering their smallest, cheapest model - which I think is the ACE JW. I had a very odd interaction with their sales department in which my questions were only half answered and I was told it would probably be best to buy from Big Poppa Smokers.

This was very odd to me, and it's possible that we just weren't understanding one another due to the imperfect medium of e-mail. But I left the interaction shaking my head a bit and wondering if their service is shaky. Input appreciated.
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Old 04-30-2018, 07:50 PM   #2
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I've talked to their sales people a couple of times, they were always professional and knowledgeable on the phone. That's all the experience I've had with them. Maybe you talked to the one inevitable slacker in every group.
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Old 04-30-2018, 08:12 PM   #3
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My friend buys Old Hickory exclusively for competition and his catering simply because they stand behind the product. He just rebuilt a 25+ year old model as a display piece because it was his first smoker. They were awesome finding the parts for him.

The display piece looks like brand new, and even has the very old BBQ Guru units on it with the knobs.

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Old 04-30-2018, 08:24 PM   #4
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Is direct the best way to buy an Ole Hickory Pit? Do they have distributors (other than BPS) where you might be able to get a good deal through?
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Old 04-30-2018, 08:46 PM   #5
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Email can be weird as you mentioned. Did you also call to talk to someone directly? Their number is on the site's contact page.
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Old 04-30-2018, 09:19 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mcyork28 View Post
Is direct the best way to buy an Ole Hickory Pit? Do they have distributors (other than BPS) where you might be able to get a good deal through?
I'd love to hear input from the group on this question.
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Old 04-30-2018, 09:20 PM   #7
AKMIMNAK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason TQ View Post
Email can be weird as you mentioned. Did you also call to talk to someone directly? Their number is on the site's contact page.
I didn't call yet. I need to do that, I just have been avoiding it because I have four or so smokers I'm considering and do not want to sit through four sales pitches. Much rather talk to you guys :)
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Old 05-01-2018, 06:01 AM   #8
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Outstanding company that provides excellent service and products.
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Old 05-01-2018, 08:13 AM   #9
SmoothBoarBBQ
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I was looking at putting a CTO or CTO-DW in my food trailer a while back and I called Ole Hickory and they had some excellent customer service. From what I understand Ole Hickory tends to deal more with businesses as those cookers from their website are NSF rated and have a higher heat capacity. For the home user or maybe even competition cook you can go through Big Poppa Smokers. Those cookers generally have a max temperature of 275 and are not NSF rated.

So like you said email has "no tone" so it doesn't always come across as it was meant. Big Poppa Smokers is a fantastic service and the guy who owns the company (Sterling Ball) is seriously into BBQ. He actually runs his own cooking demonstration every year now and I've been ordering from their website for over a year with no issues.

I would go through Big Poppa Smokers website for the questions and ordering process if Ole Hickory is the route you want to take. I've never heard a single bad thing about Ole Hickory and the food which comes off of them is fantastic.

Good luck!
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Old 05-01-2018, 08:52 AM   #10
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I've worked with Ole' Hickory for a few years when we bought a used CTO. They have been nothing but professional and extremely easy to work with. If you buy used they transfer the serial number into your name and take down your info for easy tracking of what's been done to that specific unit. We had a flame sensor go out and installed a comp. switch. Both times the service guys walked me through the repair. The units are easy to work on and I can only imagine the ACE would be the same since it doesn't have all the moving parts some of the bigger units have. I don't think you can go wrong with an ole hickory!
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Old 05-01-2018, 01:36 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothBoarBBQ View Post
I was looking at putting a CTO or CTO-DW in my food trailer a while back and I called Ole Hickory and they had some excellent customer service. From what I understand Ole Hickory tends to deal more with businesses as those cookers from their website are NSF rated and have a higher heat capacity. For the home user or maybe even competition cook you can go through Big Poppa Smokers. Those cookers generally have a max temperature of 275 and are not NSF rated.

So like you said email has "no tone" so it doesn't always come across as it was meant. Big Poppa Smokers is a fantastic service and the guy who owns the company (Sterling Ball) is seriously into BBQ. He actually runs his own cooking demonstration every year now and I've been ordering from their website for over a year with no issues.

I would go through Big Poppa Smokers website for the questions and ordering process if Ole Hickory is the route you want to take. I've never heard a single bad thing about Ole Hickory and the food which comes off of them is fantastic.

Good luck!
Very helpful! Thank you!

What is the clean up like on an ole hickory?
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Old 05-01-2018, 01:38 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sixeight View Post
I've worked with Ole' Hickory for a few years when we bought a used CTO. They have been nothing but professional and extremely easy to work with. If you buy used they transfer the serial number into your name and take down your info for easy tracking of what's been done to that specific unit. We had a flame sensor go out and installed a comp. switch. Both times the service guys walked me through the repair. The units are easy to work on and I can only imagine the ACE would be the same since it doesn't have all the moving parts some of the bigger units have. I don't think you can go wrong with an ole hickory!
Awesome to hear. What's the clean up like on them?
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Old 05-01-2018, 04:11 PM   #13
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Brethren Jim Bloomfield has the ACE BP, a slightly larger version he purchased through Big Poppa so he can answer questions about the pit and service from Big Poppa.
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Old 05-01-2018, 07:38 PM   #14
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These Ones? Guessing you were told to go thru Big Poppas because they are a Big Poppa exclusive?

https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/ole-...harcoal-smoker

"Presenting the Ole Hickory Ace-BP, co-designed by Big Poppa himself! Ole Hickory pits have an excellent reputation for their quality-built charcoal smokers, "

https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/ole-hickory-ace-jw

Ole Hickory Pits Ace JW smoker is the smallest of the Ace series; Yet delivers the same amazing smoking results as it’s bigger colleagues. Users of the Ace series say that competition teams that use the Ace have an “Ace” up their sleeve. The blue-ribbon BBQ results are just that amazing - it’s almost like you’re cheating! The featured firebox will consistently burn charcoal for up to 6 hours with the help of the fan system - With the Ace JW BBQ Smoker you’ll have a thermostatically controlled fire for a steady and consistent temperature all throughout your BBQ cook. All you have to do is set the time and desired temperature and the Ace JW Charcoal Smoker does the rest. The Ace JW BBQ Smoker does the heavy lifting, while you get all of the BBQ glory (we won’t tell anyone, promise.)

Only 6 hrs on a load of Charcoal.?! 275* Max Temp........ I'd Much rather have an insulated cabinet smokers and get 10-12 Plus hours.......and a smaller cooker with same grate space or much more grate space in a cooker that size.........
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Old 05-01-2018, 09:38 PM   #15
AKMIMNAK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SmittyJonz View Post
These Ones? Guessing you were told to go thru Big Poppas because they are a Big Poppa exclusive?

https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/ole-...harcoal-smoker

"Presenting the Ole Hickory Ace-BP, co-designed by Big Poppa himself! Ole Hickory pits have an excellent reputation for their quality-built charcoal smokers, "

https://www.bigpoppasmokers.com/ole-hickory-ace-jw

Ole Hickory Pits Ace JW smoker is the smallest of the Ace series; Yet delivers the same amazing smoking results as it’s bigger colleagues. Users of the Ace series say that competition teams that use the Ace have an “Ace” up their sleeve. The blue-ribbon BBQ results are just that amazing - it’s almost like you’re cheating! The featured firebox will consistently burn charcoal for up to 6 hours with the help of the fan system - With the Ace JW BBQ Smoker you’ll have a thermostatically controlled fire for a steady and consistent temperature all throughout your BBQ cook. All you have to do is set the time and desired temperature and the Ace JW Charcoal Smoker does the rest. The Ace JW BBQ Smoker does the heavy lifting, while you get all of the BBQ glory (we won’t tell anyone, promise.)

Only 6 hrs on a load of Charcoal.?! 275* Max Temp........ I'd Much rather have an insulated cabinet smokers and get 10-12 Plus hours.......and a smaller cooker with same grate space or much more grate space in a cooker that size.........
I've heard form others that they actually do get 10-12 hours. However, I tend to agree with you on the 275 and the space efficiency. The problem is, I am enamored with the convection and "set it forget it" possibilities.

Ironically, I actually came on here just now to post a thread with the exact question you just answered. I'm curious to see how it goes. Stay tuned.
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