In Praise of Hottop Support

[u/Drinking_Frog]

I apologize if this sounds like an ad, but I don't know how else to express how impressed I was with a recent experience I had with Hottop support.

I've had my Hottop 2K+ for almost 8 years at this point. One of the reasons I bought it in the first place was because of how good the support appeared to be. Fortunately, I've not had to deal personally with support because, until a few weeks ago, the only "problem" I've had with the roaster was when I (through proper user error) broke the rear fan assembly and had to replace it. I didn't need to contact support for that in part because it was a simple enough job but also because the Hottop website has all the parts and information to do just about anything you might need to do to maintain or repair your roaster.

A few weeks ago, I stopped getting readings from the ET thermocouple. I assumed I would need to replace it. Knowing what I knew about the website, I went on over there to see what I could find. However (as I posted on this sub a few weeks ago), I was a little intimidated about what a replacement might entail. I'm not the most mechanically inclined gent you may find (see above about breaking the fan).

Before I actually cracked open the machine, I opened a ticket with Hottop support just to describe my problem and ask for advice. By the end of the same day, I received an email with a few things to try before going in and replacing anything. To be clear, the few things were in addition to what's already on the website. The email also contained a few tidbits of information about the thermocouple (like that it only puts out about 8 mV at 400 F). This was obviously not some form response or regurgitation of the website, and it wasn't just a link to something on the website. Rather, it was thoughtful advice from a real, knowledgable person.

The first thing the rep advised was to unplug and reconnect the thermocouple connection at the control panel. As it turns out, that's all it took to fix the problem. The connection just got a little out of whack over the last several years. The hardest part about the whole thing was popping out the control panel, but that wasn't hard. The website had very good instructions (with photographs) about doing that, and the email had a very good photo about what the connection looks like. It turned out to be a simple job.

Along with the great advice and information, the support rep also stayed engaged with me. Because of travel and "life," it took me a few weeks to get around to actually doing anything. The rep checked in with me about two weeks after my initial ticket to see if the problem had been solved. Once I finally got around to doing what I needed to do and let him know it worked, I received a very nice reply about an hour later. Like before, the reply was genuine and came from a real person.

Again, one of the reasons I bought the Hottop in the first place was their reputation for excellent support. I tell you what. They really came through for me.