Story of a Disgruntled Yarbo Customer

[Ex-Yarbo-owner]

After owning and using Yarbo for two months, I decided to move on. Below are several reasons why this love affair ended.

Customer Support Challenges

1. Ineffective Level 1 Support
   Level 1 support is incapable of resolving issues—every problem is “escalated” to the technical team.

2. Slow Response Times
   Responses are very slow and often require multiple follow-ups. Since the support team is based in China, East Coast U.S. support is practically nonexistent.

3. No Replies for Days
   There are often no responses for several days, especially over weekends.

4. Chinese Holidays Affect Global Support
   Holidays in China impact customer service for all regions, regardless of where the customer is located.

5. Delayed Replacement
   It took 25 days to receive a replacement core. During that time, the mower was unusable, and my lawn grew 16 inches tall—right in the middle of the growing season.

6. Facebook Support Group Experience
   While there is an official support portal, many users turn to the active Facebook group for help. My experience there was mixed:

   • Moderation Issues: Every post requires moderator approval. Why? Are they trying to suppress complaints or avoid negative publicity?
   • Post Rejections: Many of my issue-related posts were not approved. In some cases, an automatic support ticket was created instead. Is this a form of cancel culture? Why prevent customers from helping each other?

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Usability Issues

1. Not Suited for Small or Complex Yards
   Yarbo is designed for large, open spaces—not smaller or intricate suburban lawns.

2. Damages Lawn During Turns
   It repeatedly turns in the same spot, tearing up grass and digging into the soil—especially about 3 feet in front of the charging dock.

3. Forced Zero-Point Turns
   On my 1-inch ryegrass over sandy soil, the tracks cause significant damage. Support confirmed zero-point turns occur:

   • When returning to the charging station
   • In parallel dead ends where the next pass starts behind the previous one

4. Poor Obstacle Detection
   Yarbo frequently runs into cars, flowerbeds, and other objects, causing extensive damage.

5. RTK Navigation Issues
   In narrow areas, Yarbo cannot reverse in a straight line and veers off by several feet—despite the RTK antenna being only 20 feet away. Support acknowledged this as a known limitation.

6. Frequent Rescue Missions
   Major incidents in just two months included:

   • Running over and destroying plants in a flowerbed
   • Climbing a wall during a smart turn, damaging vinyl siding
   • Breaking a chain-link fence and getting stuck underneath

Hardware & Software Challenges

1. Incomplete Object Avoidance

   • Only front cameras are enabled—360° vision is not functional
   • Supersonic sensors are disabled

2. Heavy and Unwieldy
   The core and mower weigh ~170 lbs, making them impractical for many situations. (Though great for snowblowing.)

3. Inadequate Waterproofing
   Many users received waterproofing kits or replacement cores. I didn’t receive one, and my core failed due to water intrusion. Fogged-up cameras render vision-based avoidance useless.

4. Power Board Failures
   There are multiple reports of power boards frying or catching fire.

5. Frequent Mower Disc Breakage
   Poor object detection and navigation exacerbate this common issue.

6. Track Motor Noise
   The high-pitched whine is audible from 20 feet away—even indoors. Neighbors have commented, and their dogs bark at the sound. I’ve owned tracked snowblowers that were quieter.

7. Fragile Antenna Design
   The external antenna breaks easily and frequently. Internal antennas, now standard in most robot mowers, would have been a better choice.

Warranty Concerns

1. Limited Warranty
   The product comes with a 2-year warranty and no option for extension.

2. Uncertain Long-Term Costs
   Given the product’s unreliability, post-warranty ownership costs are likely to be high.

Conclusion

1. Yarbo is not ready for autonomous use—especially not in complex suburban lawns.
2. Significant software development is needed across the firmware and app to achieve true autonomy.
3. Hardware limitations can’t be fixed with software alone. A hardware revision—perhaps a “Yarbo II”—is necessary.

I truly wanted to love Yarbo and was thrilled when I first bought it. But the honeymoon ended quickly. I hope to return to Yarbo someday—but that day feels far off.

[Yarbo-Forum]

Hi there,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to share such detailed and sincere feedback about your experience with Yarbo. We truly appreciate it. While we respect your decision to step away from Yarbo for now, we would still like to address each of the concerns you’ve raised.

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Customer Support Challenges

1. Level 1 Support:
We fully understand how important it is to strengthen our Level 1 support so that more issues can be resolved efficiently without escalation. To address this, we’ve launched an ongoing training program for some of our most capable Level 1 support staff, helping them grow into more technically specialized roles. These team members are also being tasked with mentoring others to raise the overall quality of our front-line support. This is a continuous effort we are actively investing in.

2. Response Delays, Missed Replies, and Holiday Impacts:
We require Level 1 support to respond within 24 hours and have recently implemented new guidelines to ensure timely escalation when necessary, rather than allowing time to be wasted on ineffective responses.
In cases where replies are delayed for days, it’s often because the case has been escalated to our R&D team, which requires more time for investigation. We also recognize that limited availability of technical experts can slow the process. We are actively working to increase our resources to improve this.
Regarding support during Chinese holidays — while we do have technical staff on duty, the number is limited. We acknowledge this shortcoming and are considering ways to strengthen global support coverage during holidays.

3. Delayed Replacements:
We sincerely apologize for any delayed replacements. Under normal circumstances, replacements within the U.S. should arrive within 3–7 business days. For any unusual delays, we investigate the root cause and are working to prevent such issues from recurring.

4. Facebook Support Group Experience:
We maintain a dedicated Facebook group, Official Yarbo Support & Solutions, for after-sales support. In addition, we’re available on this forum and in the Discord community chat, where both our staff and enthusiastic community members actively help resolve issues.

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Usability Issues

1. Turf Damage and Forced Zero-Turns:
Regarding the issue with turning near the docking station: this has been forwarded to our product team for further evaluation. Forced zero-turns are currently used to prevent Yarbo from going out of bounds, hitting obstacles, or leaving uncut patches of grass. That said, we recognize the need to balance performance with lawn protection, and we’re continuously fine-tuning the turning logic.

2. Obstacle Detection:
We’ve made steady improvements in this area. Recently, we released an update to enhance vehicle detection on pathways, preventing the lawn module from approaching parked cars. We’re also working on optimizing rear-camera obstacle detection to further improve safe operation.

3. RTK Navigation & Frequent Rescue Missions:
We acknowledge that improvements are still needed in this area and are actively working to enhance navigation stability and reduce rescue events.

Hardware & Software Challenges

1. Power Board Failures & Waterproofing:
We’ve proactively sent waterproofing kits to all users as a precautionary measure. For cases involving power board failures, we’ve provided replacements. We have also redesigned the board’s placement and sealing in newer units to prevent recurrence.

2. Antenna Design:
We are currently testing a newly designed antenna that is more durable and less prone to breakage.

3. Ongoing Improvements:
Both obstacle avoidance and navigation are core to Yarbo’s performance. We are fully committed to refining these systems continuously.

Warranty Extension:

We understand the need for an extended warranty and are actively discussing this internally. Our goal is to ensure your long-term satisfaction and peace of mind with Yarbo ownership.

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Once again, thank you for your past support. While you’ve chosen to step away from Yarbo for now, we hope you’ll continue to keep an eye on our progress. We are fully committed to improving the product, and we look forward to the possibility of welcoming you back to the Yarbo family in the future.

Warm regards,
Team Yarbo

[c141medic]

Very well stated. As another Yarbo user whose unit is not functioning after literally 2 hours of operation from brand new I’m also not very happy. As of now, their R&D are trying to figure out what’s wrong with the system. Hopefully, it’ll be resolved as I’m eager to give Yarbo a fighting chance. We’ll see what happens.

[Kevin2]

We have owned Yarbo for longer but our experience is very similar.

We have never had Yarbo work as designed nor completed a work plan.

[cobradunn]

I’m not discounting anyone’s experience or results. There are lot of unresolved issues and features that don’t work as intended or at all. However, prior to purchasing, I spent a considerable amount of time reading through user forums and gaining a thorough understanding of the system’s limitations. As a result, I felt well-prepared going in. The only issue that genuinely caught me by surprise was the battery overheating problem, particularly due to the absence of an appropriate error message to indicate the cause (fixed in 3.9.16).

From my initial mapping, I approached the setup with a clear strategy—dividing the property into manageable Areas to address potential trouble spots. I was also aware of the limitations of the vision system and made extensive use of no-go zones to enhance reliability.

In just over a month of ownership, I have experienced only two incomplete work plans, both of which I attribute to my own error. In one instance, it became stuck on a raised tree root I had already suspected might be problematic. My property spans approximately four acres has a little bit of everything, so I anticipated a certain degree of trial and adjustment.

[bryan.wheeler]

I had the same expectations and experience. It does 99% of the heavy lifting for me. For now that is good enough. Are there problems, absolutely. The difference is they are listening and actively trying to resolve it. Being a small global company with such a complex piece of machinery, these things take a lot of time to fully resolve. Very few things have caught me by surprise because I did my research and asked a ton of questions up front in all the live streams and other events.

[rgloverii]

I am fortunate to have been using robot mowers (and vacuums) for many many years now, so I am quite familiar with their pros/cons. Whenever I buy a new robot, I take my time to learn all about them in advance, so I am not caught off guard by potential dealbreaker issues. I don’t expect a turnkey experience. There is always trial and error, and an adjustment period. With Yarbo, I feel I was very well prepared, and my actual experience thus far has mirrored my expectations. I am confident that with the productive feedback the user community is providing, Yarbo will continue to improve. I look forward to participating as Yarbo becomes a more mature and stable platform.

[jeremyj114]

This is all great sentiment for those purchasing today. I pre-ordered 2024 Yarbo 4-in-1 back when they first announced it. Before Forum even existed. All I had to go on was the marketing website, and some YouTube videos of people’s experience with the original snow blower, which seemed positive. I knew this was a gamble, but generally I’m okay with a slightly-unfinished product, with the anticipation of some quick development to finish things up after the release. Around that same time I also purchased a Rivian second-generation, and it also was delivered with a lot of software bugs, just like Yarbo. The difference? They resolved EVERYTHING within about 4 months.

The problem is not that it handles 99% of the grass cutting. That is partially true. Especially if you have large fields, or are looking to “get-er-done” and don’t care much about the result (or are flexible with the results). The problem stems from the fact that Yarbo’s marketing language makes it seem like this thing will just “do the right thing” and you can sit back and drink your coffee, unattended. And your yard will be perfectly cut every time. Have you seen their marketing videos lately?

I’m sure with enough effort they will get there, but that is simply not the case right now. The robot needs way too much intervention, requires WAY too much effort to setup, and adjustments after each firmware. Many of the features that were advertised as features simply aren’t built yet, or are so under-developed that they are just not usable.

This is a clear example of a problem that exists in the tech world today. Put a product out that is not quite ready for production, and ask for forgiveness while you finish the software. Apple does it. Google does it. Many tech startups do it. But NOT TO THIS DEGREE. This product is horribly unfinished. I would argue we aren’t even beta testers, we are alpha testers. This is not OK. Why is this not OK? Because I didn’t buy knowing I would be an alpha tester. If anyone feels the need to be empathetic and go soft on Yarbo, feel free to. I’m stuck with it, as I am out of my warranty window, but what they did was wrong. They sold a product that was not ready, and we are all suffering because of it.

Unless Yarbo will give me a refund, I will continue to provide feedback, but I’m not going to hesitate to call out the fact that someone made a bad (for the customer) decision to release this WAY too early.

Yarbo, prove me wrong. Show us you are making the necessary corporate changes to get this thing production ready. Put more resources on your development team. Or make the changes necessary to get the right talent on your team. Be more transparent about what the limitations are with every release. Release more often. Don’t tell me you need to develop, test, PPP test, etc. etc., and then release an update that is full of more bugs, introduces more issues, has UI/UX problems, then say we are working on a hot fix. This clearly shows you have major issues in your dev pipeline.

If you, as a current Yarbo customer, or a potential buyer, experience or see what is going on and are willing to deal with it, there is nothing wrong with that. Jump in, and have fun. Yarbo is quite capable. Let’s just not sweep the underling issue under the rug. Yarbo lied about what it can do, and they can’t seem to get it to do what they claimed it would. We are half way through the first summer season, and the experience is generally worse off than it was at the beginning. Some bugs fixed, others introduced.

Will I still use Yarbo? Yep. But I’ve had to come to terms that I will still have to babysit, re-map, re-map, re-map, manually cut area corners, ruin parts of the grass, etc. etc.. I’m accepting it is what it is, because I would still rather be doing something else while Yarbo is cutting the main area (which, for me, normally takes about 2 hours). I don’t want to do THAT every few days, for sure.

Rant over. I hope my perspective shed some light.

[Ex-Yarbo-owner]

I 200% agree with @jeremyj114

I started using robot vacuums about 6yrs ago and they have come a long way. I have a 3 floor house, with a vacuum on each floor. They are plumbed in, for auto refill and drainage. They vac+mop 100% autonomously, with zero intervention. With robo vacs to have evolved so much, expectations from a robo mower are going to be high.

As a software engineer, I am very technical and happy to troubleshoot stuff myself. But the extremely slow progress and long delays in implementing/fixing “must haves”, while the robot destroys my yard, is UNACCEPTABLE. I am honestly VERY VERY disappointed with lack of essential features in Yarbo’s software and slow rollout of fixes.

I have now moved to a different robo mower brand and while it has it’s own issues, it is certainly working way better than Yarbo ever did in my yard. I am sure Yarbo will work very well for many customer who have big open yards, but for anyone with a complex yard or smaller suburban yard, this IS NOT the machine to buy. At the end of the day, every machine will require some compromises but the one that needs minimum, will win the race. At this price point, Yarbo is asking for way TOO MANY compromises.

Yarbo’s marketing is too good but it over promises and the product under delivers. I have called out issues, design flaws and oversights on Discord, live webinars and always get the standard response from them. I am sure they are listening to us, but how fast are they implementing the changes is going to drive the future of this product.

[Kevin2]

We too ordered back in June 2024. Our yard is all sloping and the marketing boasts that Yarbo is designed for slopes.

The issues we are seeing cannot be resolved by hobbiest-level fiddling with workarounds. They are inherent design flaws (example the track motors can free wheel and do not automatically brake) (example paths mapped with sweeping gradual radius turns are saved as short straight sections connected with zero turns instead of Bézier curves)) that I fear will not (or cannot) be resolved with current hardware and firmware.

Then there is the issue of firmware and app updates that feels like the dev team is over taxed and the dev management is not focusing on getting the basics working.

[JNS]

I feel exactly the same way you do. I haven’t complained as much as I felt I should because I bought it over the winter and I was past the refund window by the time I figured out that it does not work as advertised, specifically the mowing. I would have returned it if I could have.

Heres my perspective. I didnt buy this as a toy or a hobby. I, like most users in this forum, have been in a tech field for a long time (35 years). I get that new tech has issues, I have done my share of beta testing and developed plenty of software and hardware solutions over the years. I got this because I had cancer and had to have an operation. It is very difficult for me to maintain the yard now. I’m not looking for sympathy I bring this up because some people who bought into the marketing actually need this thing to work. I mentioned in the past where I had to go physically pickup and move the rover because it got stuck. What I didnt mention was that I had a belly full of stitches at the time.

I appreciate all of the assistance and suggestions users in the community have offered, you guys are great, but what I really want is a platform that works. I can deal with an occasional issue here and there but the issues I have had to deal with are enduring.

[bryan.wheeler]

I preordered back in June of 2024. I know and completely understand what you are getting at. There wasn’t a lot of information, YouTube videos, etc. I refused to use Facebook which seemed like the only place information was being disseminated routinely. I still was able to get honest and open answers directly from them about what was known and also what was still being worked on. Marketing is definitely good at their job.

I do see improvements in a lot of areas and also still a lot that needs improvement. I help and advise where I can. I feel like until they address some of the root issues and pause with the new features it’s going to continue to take a lot of time between releases. Hotfixes should be released quickly to address active problems. They should not be bundled in with major releases or make users wait for the next major release. I have faith it will get there eventually.

In the interim, I work around the systems limitations and make it work for me. And even with the pathing, wear, and other problems, my lawn still looks better than when I maintained it. Because I would cut not 2-3 times a week like I should’ve but every 2-3 weeks, sometimes 4. I do enjoy testing and helping to shape it for the future. I can tell you that the testers got a lot of releases in between 3.8.18 and 3.9.16. Yarbo was actively working on the release and fixes.

[GeoffG]

@bryan.wheeler

I can tell you that the testers got a lot of releases in between 3.8.18 and 3.9.16. Yarbo was actively working on the release and fixes.

Did any of those testers’ Yarbo’s get bricked as has been reported on FB. This is rather unexceptable and costly to the company. Mine came close, but support cleared my Yarbo error.

[bryan.wheeler]

Not that I can recall

[kinglerch]

You have a robo vac with “zero intervention”?! Really? It never needs cleaning or changing pads? It never has a single tangle? It never gets stuck on a bath mat? The dirty water is emptied with no residue? Nothing ever needs replacing or upgrading? The dustbag replaces itself? It gets into every corner and under every object? You never need to do any manual cleaning? That’s quite a utopia! I wonder what miracle brand made that!

For me Yarbo is as good as my robo vac. It does about 85% of the work, and I do the rest. That’s a win in my book. And in fact, Yarbo’s software is far more flexible than my robo vac’s.

[JNS]

Really? I have a Roborock 10R and it has never got stuck and has never had a tangle. I can hear your head shaking from here. I’ll repeat that. It has never got stuck nor has it ever had a tangle. Do I have to empty the water and rinse the mop bin, sure. Thats expected maintenance just like changing the blades and cleaning the core and mower. Has my Roborock ever fell down the stairs or drove up the side of a wall and flipped over, no! Has the Yarbo? Absolutely! The Roborock has never run into me or any of my pets. Can’t say the same for Yarbo.

[Ex-Yarbo-owner]

I am glad you are happy with 85%, however, everyone’s needs and standards are different.

To answer your question about the vac - There are four parts that need to be replaced every 3-4 months - bag, roller, corner brush and pads. Zero hair tangles (have ladies in the house that drop long hair) and I don’t have bath mats in the house. The vac station is plumbed into water line and drain, so it empties itself, cleans the pads, drains the dirty water and refills fresh water. That’s 99% floor cleaning autonomy for me. I have never had to rescue it, it doesn’t fall down the stair case or runs into objects or causes any damage. If you are interested, PM me and I’ll provide you the brand/model so that you can also enjoy the same level of autonomy.

The autonomy promised by Yarbo is simply absent in my yard due to the many unresolved issues I mentioned. My current (different brand) robo mower is giving me more than 90%, it has its issues, but its compromises are far less painful. Would that be the case for everyone…not necessarily, but it is for me…just like Yarbo is doing an acceptable job for you.

[kinglerch]

My mowing required 4-5 hours every mow, it now takes me 20-30 min to do the things Yarbo doesn’t do well. Yarbo also saves me about 1 hour per plow. My robovac saves me about 30min, but again I have to spend 5 min or so getting into corners and places it can’t fit. I also spend some time removing mats and toys so it can do its job, just as I remove obstacles for Yarbo, tree limbs, etc.

But both have saved a tremendous amount of time over the span of a year. And of course it does depend on your budget and time. For me it has been well worth it.

[kinglerch]

The Roborock 10R? You are comparing the first ever modular yard robot with Roborock’s 227th model? How was the first Roborock model? Or the first Roomba? In those days you had to lay down a magnetic strip or it would fall down the steps, and there was no mapping.

My Roborock QRevo lasted for 1 year before the turret belt came off, making the robot inoperative. Do you think Roborock sent me a new one, made the part easily replaceable, or even cared that it failed?

Yarbo is far from perfect but they are trying to do something that has never been done before.

[jeremyj114]

I’m fine that Yarbo doesn’t have the polish my Roborock does. 227th iteration and all. What I do mind is being lied to about features that aren’t actually available, or so poorly underdeveloped they are unusable. That I mind.