Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Charbroil model I ordered, which is apparently an Amazon exclusive, perfectly fit my needs on paper. I was upgrading(?) from an old Ducane 3 burner that had just basically rusted out, and couldn't be salvaged. When I first received the grill, it arrived in a large box, which was partially open. I put it on my hand truck, wheeled it to the backyard, and unfortunately had to wait a few days before digging in to build it. Upon unboxing the product, I didn't notice anything wrong, and was excited to get started on the project. After opening the manual, and getting to step 1, I realized the one of the MAJOR pieces (the left support frame) had been bent during shipping, and there was no possible way to continue assembly. Very disappointing. I called Charbroil, and left a message for their customer service (of course, it was after hours) and expected more frustration to come. Surprisingly to me, they called the next day, and we worked out to register the product, and send me a replacement part. Great - more waiting. It arrived 3 business days later, and was the correct part. I finally got some time to assemble this thing and I have 2 first impressions versus the Ducane it is replacing: The firebox and shelves are WAY more flimsy, using a thinner gauge steel by a fairly wide variance. To the point where I would say that the shelves, if they were holding your utensils, probably couldn't handle much more weight. The instructions say "do not use more than 10lbs on this shelf" so, your mileage may vary. I am used to some pretty sturdy shelves, so this was disappointing. The firebox, I finally discovered, is also bent. Probably from shipping. In fact, the torsion on the stainless steel is preventing the grill from closing flush with the base. Is that driving me nuts? Yes...yes it is. Does Charbroil need to improve its packing to prevent this? Yes it does. Would I pay a little more for a unit that had some better designed shelves? Probably. The saving grace is that it heats up well, the grate is excellent so far, and food cooks evenly. So, I give it an overall 4 stars. It feels like for the money spent, I am getting decent value. If this is all your budget can handle, go for it. Again, i would have liked the components to be slightly sturdier, but at the price point, I like it. Just dont love it. Good luck.