The RTIC warranty explained: the chart, the exclusions, the zipper, and how the term has moved

The chart

Source: RTIC, “Warranty Service Periods,” rticoutdoors.com/warranty, read 2026-09-21.

The pattern is unusual and worth naming: RTIC ties the term to the molding process and the material, not the price. A rotomolded Ultra-Tough gets 5; an injection-molded Ultra-Light gets 3; anything with a zipper gets 1; anything small or steel gets 90 days. That is the honest version of a chart most brands blur, and it is also why RTIC ranks at the top of this site's hard-cooler pages and near the bottom of its drinkware pages.

Who is covered

The exclusions

“Normal wear and tear (including chips and scratches, abrasions, discolorations or fading due to usage or exposure to sunlight or washing) is not covered by our warranty. Damage caused by abuse, misuse, neglect, unauthorized alterations or repairs, water damage or failure to follow recommended care and use instructions will not be covered.” Also excluded: commercial use, structural alteration, “undue stress beyond the physical limits of the materials,” and, notably, the contents: “RTIC will not be held liable for the contents of any cooler should it fail to operate as advertised.” Liability is capped at the retail price.

The soft-cooler zipper

The question people search is “RTIC warranty zipper.” The chart answers it without saying the word: a soft-sided cooler is a 1-year product, and a zipper that separates in month fourteen is out of term. Inside the year, a zipper that fails under normal use is a defect claim; a zipper forced over grit, or a liner cracked by dry ice, is “failure to follow recommended care and use instructions.” RTIC's Ultra-Tough Soft Pro and Backpack use an “EZ Waterproof Zipper” on welded seams, which is a better zipper than the Soft Pack's and carries the same year. For a soft cooler you want covered longer, YETI gives Hopper 3 years and Arctic Zone gives its soft goods a limited lifetime term. Hopper vs RTIC Soft Pack is that trade; how to clean a soft cooler keeps a zipper inside the care instructions.

How the term has moved

The Cooler Zone's RTIC-vs-Yeti guide (last updated 2021) documents RTIC's hard-cooler warranty moving from 7 years to 5 to 1 across the years, and references the RTIC/YETI lawsuit settlement of that era. Today's chart says 5 for Ultra-Tough. This site quotes the chart as it reads on the date shown and does not predict it; it is the one argument for YETI over RTIC on the warranty axis that is not about the current number, and Yeti vs RTIC gives it its due. If you see the chart change, tell us.

Making a claim

“To submit a warranty service request please contact customer service at 1-855-527-6993.” RTIC also links a warranty-registration page and asks that products not be returned until instructed. There is no published response time and no mention of a prepaid label, which YETI's document does specify. For the parts that wear rather than fail, RTIC's accessories page sells T-latches, gaskets by size, drain plugs, handles and feet for the Ultra-Tough line, each on a 90-day term of its own. Latch, gasket and drain plug replacement uses RTIC's kits as the worked example.

One product per term