Yeti Cooler Customer Service?

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slider35

slider35

10 Year 15 Year
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Jan 20, 2007
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Location
South Denver
So, deer season is just over the horizon and it got me thinking about a gift I received last Christmas. This gift is still sitting in my garage, unused, in the same condition I brought it home in. Haven't had it repaired because it would cost $87 to ship it to Austin and we just don't get out that way often enough to drive it there and drop it off. Principle has gotten the better of me.

Instead of Yeti Customer service taking this opportunity to step up to the plate and knock one out of the park, they whiffed. Here's my original email to them just after returning to Texas after a long drive home from Kansas:

[customerservice@yeticoolers.com],

Attached are the photos of the cooler we spoke about yesterday. I have also included the invoice from my wife’s purchase and some details of the trip below.

My Christmas travels took me from Kingwood, Texas to Great Bend, Kansas and back again. I included pictures of my Coleman cooler only because it made the first leg of the trip for the same amount of time in the exact same spot as my Yeti did on the return trip and it was not affected in the same manner. In fact, I have made many trips with that Coleman cooler, with Rubbermaid containers full of hunting gear, and with tarps strapped to that same hitch carrier in the same spot without issue over the last 5 years of owning it on the same vehicle, all without seeing any effects like this.

Other things to note: Outside temperatures were between 17 and 20 degrees for the first half of our trip from Great Bend to Kingwood, rising to the mid 50’s for the second half. Immediately after arriving home the first thing I had to do was unstrap and remove my Yeti Coolers (20 qt. and 65 qt.) in order to unpack the vehicle. By this time the damaged area of the cooler had hardened and I had to actually pry the 65 qt. off of the hitch carrier as it was adhered to the carrier.

This was a very expensive gift and I had not even the chance to use it before this happened. Please let me know what you can do for me in this case. My contact details are below.

Cory Kaiser​

I did receive this reply, but it wasn't ideal:

Cory,

Thanks for sending over the pictures of your cooler. Unfortunately, as this is not a defect in material or workmanship, it is not covered under our warranty. If you would like to send the cooler in to us to be repaired, we would be happy to set you up with an RMA. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks, Brian​

This was their offer to repair. They also offered a 50% discount on another cooler, but I would have had to surrender the damaged cooler. So, spend $650 and have ONE 65 qt cooler to show for it? That was adding insult to injury in my opinion.

I've posted the pics I took. Considering what these coolers cost, i would have hoped for a better response from customer service. I'll sell this thing to anyone willing to pay me $300 for it. All that's left to do is take it to Yeti in Austin and have them repair it. I still have the rma # and email correspondence.

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Bummer on the cooler damage, but...

How is it Yeti's fault the hot exhaust melted the plastic? I think their offer to repair the cooler or give a 1/2 price replacement is being generous, and all you have to do is get the cooler to them.

I would suggest that if you decide to take a new cooler for 1/2 price, suggest to Teyi that you will destroy the damaged one by cutting it up and send pictures of the process and end results. I did this on a defective item that the manufacturer was goi9ng to replace and it worked out well.

JMHO
 
Thanks for the reply Doug. I hesitate to say it was Yeti's fault. I would rather have my Coleman melt because it cost $38 not $380. Because I spent 10 times as much, I expect a little more support and I do not expect to have to put even more money into it to get it back to working shape. Fact of the matter is that my Coleman and my Yeti are made of different plastics with different melting temps. Had I known that the Yeti couldn't hold up to the same treatment my Coleman did, I wouldn't have put it anywhere near the exhaust.

The point is, I feel Yeti had a great opportunity to help me out, and they failed. I had the cooler for less than 2 days and hadn't even used it other than to cart it home on the carrier. They wouldn't work with Academy to help me with logistics. They wouldn't mail me a piece of polyethylene so I could perform the repair myself. My only options were to spend more money and I just couldn't justify it.
 
Did the ice inside melt? If not, that could have been a comment that might have changed the perceived tone of your request and turned it into a marketing/advertising opportunity for them.

Beyond that, how is this any different from keeping the cooler too close to the campfire? The inside might stay cold, sure, but the outside isn't gonna be happy. Put it on the DS next time.
 
I'm not real sure what you were expecting them to do??? You melted a cooler and want them to pay for it or fix it for free? Maybe I'm missing something but it seems like this one is just an expensive case of crap happens and is no fault of theirs at all.

I've done the exact same thing with a Coleman, except it was melted way worse. Ruined a 12 pack of Shiner Bock, a few packs of bacon, some jambalaya, and a couple bags of fresh fish.
 
Before I actually had to work with Yeti Customer Service, I heard all these great things about how their CS was just one more thing that justified their premium price. I'm putting this out here because my experience differs from my expectations - it's the same reason I don't buy cut-rate insurance for my home and auto. I paid more, but I dealt with less of a hassle when something came up.

My first post didn't outline the whole story, but the details in my second post are really what motivated me to put this out here on mud. I've patched a few holes in my kayak and am comfortable working with a torch and heatgun to get the job done working with polyethylene. The fact that Yeti wouldn't mail me a piece of plastic so I could perform the repair myself really bothered me; especially when they agreed to fix it for free.

Bottom line is that the exhaust gases melted the plastic because I put the cooler behind the pipe (almost one foot away mind you), not Yeti. I don't expect a free cooler. I expect them to work with me and not make me spend more than 80 bucks to fix a cooler when all it would cost them is a 10 cent sheet of plastic and a stamp or two.
 
I think I will put a piece of plastic next to my fireplace and see if it will burn my house down.
 
tag3 said:
I think I will put a piece of plastic next to my fireplace and see if it will burn my house down.
Click to expand...

I think you're missing the point, but I have no problem mailing you a piece of plastic if that's what you want to do with it...
 
I, too, am with Yeti on this one. It sucks, but it was your fault. I also learned the hard way not to put anything that will melt on the passenger side of a 100. Melted a $300 jogging stroller to the point it wasn't usable. It never occurred to me to call the manufacturer and request their assistance. It was just and expensive lesson. Sorry it happended.
 
slider35 said:
I've patched a few holes in my kayak and am comfortable working with a torch and heatgun to get the job done working with polyethylene.
Click to expand...

Your best option at this point is to find a local sheet plastic supplier and see if they have any "drops" or "cut-offs" that they'd sell for a couple bucks. Then just do the repair yourself.

My .02: Just because Yeti didn't make a "marketing success" story out of your situation doesn't mean they failed. Have you contacted the hitch hauler manufacturer to let them know of their design flaw?
 
Definitely not Yeti's fault, the hitch carrier manufacturer, or toyota's fault. Given the price of a new cooler, I'd expect a little step up in service, but they don't really have to do it.

Why not just patch it up and move it to the driver side of the carrier when you use it?
 
What happened to personal accountability. How is Yeti Customer service inferior if they had nothing to do with it. Should they have put a warning label on it, " Do not place near hot exhaust". I am amazed at the lack of personal accountability in todays world.
 
For what it is worth (and somewhat coincidentally), I just had an issue with a new Yeti. The top of the cooler box, where the seal meets the top when you close the lid, had a small defect in it. I emailed Yeti a picture of it. A nice lady called me. They are shipping me a new cooler and paying return freight on the other. I could not be happier with them.
 
Next time buy a Pelican. Made in USA w/an unconditional lifetime warranty. Everything about them is better than Yeti including the price. There motto is:
You break it, we replace it.
Still don't know if your scenario would count, though.
http://www.pelican-case.com/coolers.html
 
How is Yeti's customer service so bad? What do they need to do in order to provide better customer service, besides mailing you a new cooler for free?

I can understand your point on expecting a $300 cooler to withstand the same amount of abuse as a $30 cooler. You should do a video of both coolers in the same spot and show how the Coleman stands up to the heat while the Yeti melts. Re-create the issue and show Yeti.

Was the Coleman in the exact same spot as the Yeti for the same length of time under the same conditions? Or was the Yeti exposed to the heat of the tailpipe for longer? I feel like any cooler strapped that close to a tailpipe for 10+ hours would melt.
 
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I tend to agree with the Patrick, but perhaps this is something Yeti should take a little more seriously. Any reputable company should take such complaints with the view of continuous product improvement. Perhaps the plastic Yeti uses has a lower melting point than that used by Coleman. I personally wouldn't have put much thought about putting something like a cooler on the carrier that "close" to the exhaust. It would appear that if it was just a few more inches rearward then there likely wouldn't have been an issue. I guess it is just one of those things that happens, but I would try again to speak with someone at Yeti over the phone vs e-mail.
 
Hmmmm.... Hot Exhaust + Plastic = Not Yeti's fault. (And burned plastic)
It does suck, don't get me wrong. But I don't think that Yeti should have to replace it.
 
Just dealt with my Canyon Cooler 125qt. Canyon Cooler is amazing. They backed their product and are sending me a new one. I’ve had lesser coolers in my cargo rack. It had to be a fluke incident. I will never buy a an overpriced yeti with its weak warranty. Canyon Coolers customer for life!

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