GOAL ZERO - A Love/Hate Relationship
Scroll to the bottom for updates on our experience and final resolution.
We purchased a GOAL ZERO Yeti3000 and Yeti1400 to handle our electric needs in the van. While there are many features of the plug and play design that we liked, they have proven to be buggy and unreliable. At this time, we can’t recommend them as a solid solution for Vanlifers.
image courtesy of Goal Zero
Our first issue came when we purchased a Yeti1400 after enjoying the performance of our Yeti3000 that we’d been using for a few months. When the 1400 arrived, it was discovered that the firmware was outdated and needed a quick update. This generally isn’t an issue with their handy app. Sadly, when we updated the software, the Yeti froze. The unit was in limbo and was unusable. We reached out to GOAL ZERO and they had us try a few things, including a hard reset that requires users to open the unit. When the hard reset didn’t work, the customer service agent I was working with (Becky) went awol (heard from her on 9/20 then didn’t hear from her again until 9/27 with a “working on it” email. She NEVER contacted us again. We finally got her manager to do something on 10/7!) The plan was to have one of their engineers send us the firmware update via email for us to install via USB. After repeated attempts over the span of a couple of weeks through email and phone calls to get some answers, we reached out to the agent’s manager (Hunter). The customer service manager was helpful and sent us a replacement unit.
Replacing a GOAL ZERO unit is a pain in the ass when you live in your van. They don’t have certified centers where you can go to replace/repair your unit, even though places like REI sell their product. You have to give them a physical address for them to send you a return box and a new unit. You’ll also have to schedule a pickup for the damaged unit, as it’s a hazmat item due to the size of the lithium batteries. So be mindful of this if you’re considering their products.
Our second issue came when our original Yeti3000 started dying while indicating that it was still 40% full. We’d had the battery about 6 months at this point. The Yeti3000 was powering our fridge, Maxxair fan, a Natures Head fan, and some LED’s. We were occasionally using it for charging our electronic devices as well. This isn’t a huge draw for a battery of this size. This return was pretty straight forward and the customer service agent that helped us (Charly) was attentive and pleasant. This did require us to have to leave the place we were staying and drive to my sister’s place hundreds of miles away to receive the return box and new unit, as we needed to supply a physical address.
So we’re now 6 months in and we’ve had 2 1400’s and 2 3000’s.
Our third experience just happened on the replacement Yeti3000. We were noticing weird spikes on the app and unit that were drawing energy out of the battery as quickly as the solar panels were charging it. This is the last thing you want to see when you’re home depends on the power stored in your battery. We spoke with customer service agent Nickolaus, who suggested a soft reset to see if the spikes would go away. So we tried the soft reset and it did stop the spiking. It also screwed up the Yeti so that it no longer displays how much power the Yeti3000 is collecting. So the reset fixed one issue and started another. We wrote Nickolaus back and he stated that the issue we’re now experiencing is A KNOWN ISSUE. So they asked us to perform a function that may create other issues. Perfect!!! So what’s the solution now? Send us another unit! Now we understand why they are so expensive. When you buy one Yeti, you’re actually buying 2 or 3.
Buying a GOAL ZERO product is like buying the Mercedes of Power Supplies without the white glove treatment or top-notch engineering. We have spent HOURS working with customer service trying to troubleshoot and fix their products. We’ve spent HOURS in customer service chat messages. We’ve spent time on the phone with them. We’ve had to drive to distant locations in order to receive the replacement products. We paid top dollar for products that are buggy and unreliable for Vanlifers.
***UPDATE 2/15/2020*** Becky has offered to send us a replacement Yeti 3000 and will then send us a Yeti 3000X when they ship. Since we don’t have a home address, we plan to wait until the 3000X ships.
***UPDATE 3/19/2020*** Our Yeti 1400 no longer displays when it is being charged via the charging port. So even though it’s charging, we can’t actually tell as the display shows nothing. We have not bothered to contact Goalzero about this, as we plan to deal with it and the 3000 when the 3000X is released.
***UPDATE 4/29/2020*** Our Yeti 3000 now shuts off the 12v and 120v outputs when the battery reaches 100%. So what this means is that our 12v fridge can stop working at anytime without warning. We now have to monitor the App constantly to ensure the 3000 doesn’t reach 100% charge. WTF
***UPDATE 8/24/2020*** GZ X series is out, so we reached out to them about getting a replacement. Since our 1400 & 3000 aren’t working properly, they are going to exchange them for a new 6000X. We’re pretty impressed that they are upgrading us to satisfy their customers. We’ll write a new review on our experience with the 6000X when we get it in October
***UPDATE 11/17/2020*** The GZ 6000x has been delayed in it’s release again. We were asked to get back to them at the end of September to coordinate the replacement. We emailed them on 9/28, 9/30, and 10/5 to update GZ on a shipping address. Miraculously, after emailing Becky’s boss on 10/7, she wrote us back. She stated that the 6000x is being released in November. She gave us an additional contact to improve our customer experience (Brogen - have not received as much as a “Hello” from them in the last month as our customer rep savior, even though they are cc’d on every single email), because she has been “out of the office”. We emailed her and Brogen on 11/1 and heard nothing from either of them until 11/13 - after WE emailed THEM again on the 13th asking for an update. Becky stated that she was initiating the send-off of return boxes for our broken units and that the 6000x “should” ship out when they receive the units. We wrote back to her that replacements weren’t handled this way in the past, as that would leave us with no power in our home (van) for an unspecified amount of time. It’s now the 17th and we have not heard back. The quest continues - all the while we are pausing our travels so that we have a mailing address at a friend’s home. It’s important to state that we are fully understanding that delays are going to be a natural part of releasing a new product, especially as supply chains suffer during a pandemic. What is unacceptable is how buggy the software is for the price of the units and the extremely horrifying customer service that their Solutions Center Supervisor is providing. Either they are ill equipped for their job title or upper management is unwilling to provide the people power they need to do their job. This being said - online chat is generally fantastic. We just used it to see if our Carlink will work with the 6000x, which it currently won’t - of course. It is suppose to become compatible in a near-future update - but we’re not going to hold our breath.
***UPDATE 12/15/2020*** So… After speaking with GZ on 11/13 to get a shipment rolling, we were told that the 6000x WAS SOLD OUT and that we wouldn’t be receiving our unit until they had them back in stock. This means that GZ didn’t “reserve” our unit back in August when it was promised to us. This was the final straw. We emailed the General Manager of Goal Zero and the Customs Operation Manager to share our extreme displeasure with our experience. The Customs Operation Manager was able to redirect a 6000x from one of their resellers to us and we received the unit 4 days later… This leg of the journey is finally over. We will write a full review of our experience with the 6000x after a few months of use - but we are hoping that this terrible experience is finally put to bed. Here is our video on our initial impressions of the 6000x.
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