My wife bought this at Sam's two years ago. As other reviews have indicated, it is more tediously annoying to assemble than the 3 Webers that we previously owned.
I'm mechanically inclined, and my overall impression of this unit is that it's more cheaply designed and constructed than it should be for the price.
For example, in addition to the tedium of putting the grill together, it includes a lot of loose parts that use gravity to stay in place. That's fine if the grill lives in one place. However, if one has to move it some distance -- as one might, depending upon where one is going to use it -- a surprising number of loose parts have to be removed.
Another annoyance is the grill's tiny wheels. These are totally inadequate for rolling on anything but smooth concrete. As we found out trying to roll the grill across an expanse of lawn.
The grill's wheels insert into thin steel 'box' mounts on the bottom grill frame. The box mounts have two short strings of dot-like welds along two sides of each box. One of the strings of dot welds, on one wheel mount, completely detached, while rolling the grill across grass.
The mount's detachment left its caster wheel unbraced. Therefore, the top of the mount bent away from the grill frame. Not only did the grill stop rolling after that happened, it no longer sat securely on a flat surface, without tipping to one side.
Furthermore, the way that these wheel mounts are designed prevented us from hammering the bent portion back into place. The edge of the grill frame gets in the way. And there is no way to bend the mount flat again, without first breaking the other string of dot welds loose.
So in sum, the grill has poorly welded wheel mounts and a design that makes fixing them, when they break, more difficult than an intelligent engineer would have planned for.
So tell me, why would one use such weak welds on the part of the grill that is most subjected to varying vectors of stress?
A mildly similar 'what were they thinking' critique applies to the grill's side tables, one of which contains an additional burner. These tables are not easily removable, once assembled. That's a pity.
The grill would take a lot less room in winter storage, or in use on smaller patios and decks, if at least one of the side tables was conveniently easy to remove and reattach, depending upon temporary circumstances.
In conclusion, the broken wheel mount episode sums my assessment of this grill. It is questionably designed, cheaply constructed and looks better than it really is.
This grill compares unfavorably to its major competitor in virtually all respects. A little more thought in the Members Mark design and construction would have overcome this negative comparison.
By way of illustration, one of our Webers occasionally used to go airborne in Front Range Colorado's chinook winds. Despite landing on its 'head' or 'face' in during these episodes, it never suffered significant damage. Nor did its wheels or their mounts break, while rolling it around rather frequently.
Customer reviews for Member’s Mark Pro Series 4-Burner Gas Grill with Thermostatic Control for
