First of all, the smoker works as illustrated. Results were perfect Now for the problem I encountered. When the auger was feeding the pellets, it was making a thump sound. When it was not turning ,everything appeared fine. I called Pitboss ,and after 20 minutes, I finally could talk to a representative. I explained the problem to a lady, unfortunately, I did not ask her name. She had to discuss the issue with another, and it was decided that the auger was the problem. She sent a new one and it was received in two days. I was asked to do the repair. She sent me a video to follow . Under warranty and I have to do the labor? I am 76 years old, so I layed on the floor to remove the case hardened 4 screws on the bottom of the smoker ,As many people have noted, those screws do not remove easily. Before I stripped them, I had to resort to a screw driver and hammer to break the grip. The video then guides you along to remove the power cord grommet and then disconnect 6 connectors in the box and then 4 screws , two on each side to remove the cover. Before I started disconnecting, I went on You Tube. All I had to do was remove the 4 screws and proceed to the video Pitboss sent. All that work for no reason. I replaced the auger and guess what, same problem existed. I called again, this time , I had to wait for only 10 minutes. I spoke to John who was extremely helpful. I give him 10 stars, not 5. He discussed the issue with his team and the issue was with the pellets, not the smoker. I used pellets that contain some larger pieces. The auger was breaking these up causing the thump sound. I ordered Pitboss pellets and feel comfortable that was the issue because this morning, I vacuumed all the remaining pellets and fired up the smoker. I pressed the feeder until the auger was clear of pellets. Great news, it worked as expected. I would give the smoker a 5 rating but because of the scenario mentioned, I gave it a 4 star. Customer service was great, but the issue could have been resolved so easily. Lesson to those out there, watch what kind of pellets you are using in your Pitboss. Update---- Added the Pitboss pellets as suggested by them. The pellets did not work, and the thumping continued. So I called Pitboss again and was on hold for 35 minutes this time. I brought my phone to the smoker and had the lady listen to the thumping. She heard it three times and went to her team for direction. She asked that I take a video of it, call them again and then send the video. I questioned that my word and your word from hearing was not good enough for them? Conclusion: I am disassembling this smoker and sending it back and will purchase a Traeger.