Benjamin Cosgro
Where to start? We have just finished the debacle that was dealing with these people. Shortly before Labor Day last year, we signed a contract to complete a solar installation on our house. Our salesman said it would be no more than 2 months but they may be able to get it done in less than a month. We were told we would get 18 panels that would be a 6.66kW system. We actually got the survey done reasonable quickly (within a few weeks) but then all progress updates (which were promised every 10 days) ground to a halt and suddenly 18 panels wasn't possible.
The survey guys and their boss said that they couldn't fit 18 and that the software the sales guy used was wrong. They could fit 12, maybe 14 on but there were setback restrictions that wouldn't allow it. We own a house with a flat roof. Unfortunately, no one at the company had read the actual building code to find out that the setback restrictions did not apply to flat roofs. I had to argue this with them to actually get the work done multiple times as we worked our way through various elements of the company who also never read the building code which is odd because you would think a solar company would know where they could put solar panels.
I then was told nothing and not called back multiple times over the next month until I was told that our project was in permitting. So, I called the city building department. No permit had been submitted. After numerous calls, we finally got someone on the phone who would respond and he informed me that the ball had been dropped and nothing had been done to move my project forward. By the time the engineer was working on the project, it was Thanksgiving. We were informed that we would be kept up to date on the process, but I was given no updates unless I was contacting them. Luckily, my new contact was actually fairly responsive. However, they did not inform us that they were submitting a building permit once they finally got around to it. One of the permits did not pass, but I noticed that the permits lied about the cost of the build and once again, they had downsized our project without notifying us.
I was able to get in contact with the engineer who explained that they changed our project due to setbacks again but also stated that our flat roof would not be able to support the ballast system promised by the salesman. (A ballast system keeps you from having to penetrate a single sheet flat roof, thus not voiding the warranty). At this point I reached out to my contact and informed him that this was not acceptable. He said he would reach out to his boss who called me. She informed me that they could get all this sorted out but I had been lied to, ignored, and generally treated poorly enough that I did not trust them doing any element of this project. I informed her that this project would not move forward and I expected a refund. She stated that we were stuck with them and that we were contractually obligated to move forward with the project. I followed this by sending an email declaring formally our intent to cease all work and demand our money back or we would reach out to a lawyer.
What followed was silence. A month later, we reached out to our lawyer who also reached and was given the silent treatment. After over another month, our lawyer began arbitration proceedings. Finally, we heard back from the owner who claimed he was surprised that we had been treated so poorly and that we deserved our money back. He dragged his feet, but likely knowing he would lose arbitration, finally sent us our money. We were our all the lawyer fees but we at least got some money and they no longer held onto our money after this 9 month ordeal.
If you take the risk of working with these people, document everything. Read the contract. My recommendation is to learn from my experience and avoid them if you can.