Yarbo: Trust, Communication & Compromise I truly believe that this product is on the bleeding edge of autonomous consumer products. Even with the connectivity issues, hardware iterations, and software defects I believe it’s a product worth investing in. I purchased all three attachments and the main unit early on during the kickstarter campagin, and waited (albeit impatiently) like most did. The Main body, and S1 snow blower came just 3 weeks before the first big storm here in the Midwest. My initial experience was above average based on the community feedback, and with Yarbo’s initial performance, it became clear that as long as the company continues to iterate this will become an exceptional product, ecosystem and experience. I’ve already purchased the next generation of hardware through their buy back program and will begin the wait to see the next gen improvements. The product, engineering and CS organizations have earned my trust. I am optimistic that they will continue to impress.

Follow ups and customer oriented We all had some problems when we started using our S1 Snowblower. What I can tell you is that Yarbo staff are available and easy to reach, they offer quick service and replacement parts if needed.

I was a kickstarter backer. I was a kickstarter backer. I have had nothing but success with the Yarbo. Full disclosure: only able to use the S1 unit twice this winter due to lack of snowfall; however, the Yarbo has handled both masterfully. It throws snow and scrapes the driveway as well as any man-piloted snowblower unit. For the Yarbo company, they have been supportive and provides immediate responses (within 24 hours) to inquiries. For example, my original Yarbo unit had difficulties finding GPS. Yarbo kept in constant communication and even provided a new unit free of charge. The new unit works phenomenally. I recommend the unit to all friends and family. Some notes: the first time setup is a bit difficult and tedious taking multiple hours and involves tasks not suitable for everyone like hammering stakes and mounting an antenna on the roof. Also, there's connection issues if you do not have a proper wifi setup (I use a Mesh system to cover my entire lot). Overall, very happy with the purchase and feel supported by the company.

Buyer Beware Buyer Beware: Connectivity Issues and Hidden Costs with Yarbo I backed Yarbo on Kickstarter with high hopes for a revolutionary product, but unfortunately, my experience has been far from satisfactory. The most glaring issue is the Yarbo's consistent inability to connect to WiFi and GPS networks, rendering it essentially inoperable. Despite multiple attempts to troubleshoot these issues with the Yarbo support team, the device remains unreliable and unusable for its intended purposes. As an initial backer, the financial commitment has also become increasingly burdensome. What was initially an exciting investment has doubled in cost due to unexpected additional charges required to make the Yarbo functional. The extra money and countless hours spent interacting with support have not translated into a usable product. For a gadget that costs almost as much as a car, one would expect a seamless and efficient performance, but Yarbo has fallen far short. The lack of transparency and reliability from the company has been disappointing. Prospective buyers should exercise caution and consider waiting until these significant issues are resolved and the company demonstrates honesty and reliability in their product and customer interactions. As it stands, Yarbo is not worth the investment. I would also be leery of the 4 and 5 star reviews. I am part of a community of early supporters and none of those name look familiar to me.

Kickstarter Project on a Promising Path tl;dr: Kickstarter project faced delays, but delivered an impressive first phase. Still waiting to see two more. I backed Yarbo on Kickstarter because of the modular design (snow blowing in the winter, grass mowing in the summer) and the use of GPS + RTK for mapping (as opposed to requiring perimeter wires). So far only the snow blower (S1) module has been delivered. But it exceeded my expectations. It did a surprisingly good job of working within the limited spaces where it is safe to throw snow around my driveway. I was impressed with the path planning and how well it navigated. The less harsh weather and more predictable nature of slow growing grass gives me optimism that the lawn mowing (M1) will run smoothly. But it will still be a few months before the module is delivered. Out of the 3 modules offered during the Kickstarter campaign, I have the lowest expectations for the leaf blower (B1). As of March 2024 (15+ months after the campaign ended), I have seen no updates on development efforts for this module. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I'm not counting on much for this one. Other reviews have mentioned that the software does not feel fully complete and I will generally agree with that. But I have been impressed with the impact of the updates. There have already been significant improvements in the mapping process and the connection reliability. This gives me hope that things will continue to improve. Overall I've been very impressed with the Yarbo team's commitment to delivering a capable product. The delays have been frustrating, but it was clear when the first module was delivered that it had benefited from the additional testing and enhancements. There is still a long way to go with two more modules to deliver from the Kickstarter campaign and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action.