Most Popular Topics

**solar pete** · 11-25-2015, 11:45 PM

Originally posted by Tanya

I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions. Our situation is such: We've been victims of the edited sales practices of Petersen Dean Roofing and Solar. The salesman who sold us our solar system completely lied to us and told us that it would cover 80% of our energy needs. We spent $13,000 on that system only to find out it only covers 43% of our energy needs. So we went back to the company -- their response was that we are welcome to spend another 12K to upgrade the system. We're contemplating taking them to court. Has anyone else had a similar experience? What happened? Thanks!

Hi Tanya and welcome to solar panel talk. Well this a bit tricky, You need to look at the paperwork you signed off on, it should tell you the size of the system and how many kilowatt hours it will produce on average over 12 months. How long have you had the system installed? I have modified your language as I think its not appropriate. For all I know you could be an opposition solar installer looking to flame these guys, I just dont know. That being said, I think you need to look into it if you feel that way as I understand there are some very dodgy sales people around who do and will tell lies to customers. May be some locals can chime in?

**sensij** · 11-25-2015, 11:53 PM

More information would help. Are you in CA with SCE, SDG&E, or PG&E? If so you can easily download your usage history from their website. You should try to get information on how much energy you used while you have had the solar, and how much energy you had used in the year prior. If you can't download it, your bill history might have it. Another report that would be helpful would come from your inverter and show how much energy the system had generated. Can you provide any of this?

**Tanya** · 11-26-2015, 12:02 AM

Thanks for the replies. We are in Los Angeles. The system was installed in the fall of 2014, shortly after the salesman was at our house. We just talked to a lawyer, who told us it should have raised a red flag that the salesman didn't ask for a year's worth of utility bills, instead he only wanted to see our most recent utility bill. Anyway, after we had the system installed, we were waiting for our bill to go down... and it didn't. We went back to the company and they said we need to get in touch with the city, because often they simply don't calculate it correctly. We did that. Someone even came out and checked everything. We were told it was working fine. Then we were waiting for our bill to go down... it didn't. We went back to the city a couple of times. Finally, we got the city to contrast our usage from this year with our usage from last year (prior to the installation) and they told us that the system is only covering 43% of our energy needs (as opposed to the 80% the salesman told us it would). So we went back to Petersen Dean and then they asked us to see 12-months worth of energy bills and told us that they can upgrade us to the system that would actually cover 80% for 12K. Yes, we got hosed. And I wish we would have come to a forum like this before so we would have known what questions to ask.

**solardreamer** · 11-26-2015, 12:09 AM

Originally posted by Tanya

I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions. Our situation is such: We've been victims of the fraudulent sales practices of Petersen Dean Roofing and Solar. The salesman who sold us our solar system completely lied to us and told us that it would cover 80% of our energy needs. We spent $13,000 on that system only to find out it only covers 43% of our energy needs. So we went back to the company -- their response was that we are welcome to spend another 12K to upgrade the system. We're contemplating taking them to court. Has anyone else had a similar experience? What happened? Thanks!

I assume that's the Petersen Dean company in the East Bay area. They are relatively big company but seem to have significant number of bad reviews and I avoided them when I was looking for solar installers. Do you have guarantee or estimate of 80% energy usage coverage in writing? A good company should have given you a report with solar system size and production estimate after they analyze your roof orientation and shading. You may also want to consider taking your case to a local TV station that has a consumer advocacy program.

**Tanya** · 11-26-2015, 12:14 AM

Thanks, solar dreamer. Yes, that's the company. No, we were stupid enough to believe the salesman when he said it would cover 80%. Great idea about the local TV station. Thanks!

**Sunking** · 11-26-2015, 12:26 AM

Tony is this system was installed in the last couple of months, you will not get your monthly average because the days are getting shorter every day. I am not saying something is wrong or not. Nor am I saying you are or are not a victim of fraud or not. All I am saying is you may not understand fully how the system works. Summer months you should generate excess energy to be credited and used during winter months. Grid connected systems are designed based on a calendar year average.

**Tanya** · 11-26-2015, 12:32 AM

Sunking, the system was installed over a year ago. Fall of 2014.

**NorCalX** · 11-26-2015, 12:44 AM

You probably already know this but there is no simple solution.

You have a contract dispute between what you expected and what you received.

You are in law suit territory (hopefully the lawyer explained it to you)

Hunt down every written document related to the contract you signed.

Hunt down all communications with sales person (via email i hope).

It will not be cheap or easy. One of the realities of the legal area is a financial entry barrier.

**Tanya** · 11-26-2015, 01:37 AM

Originally posted by NorCalX

You probably already know this but there is no simple solution.

You have a contract dispute between what you expected and what you received.

You are in law suit territory (hopefully the lawyer explained it to you)

Hunt down every written document related to the contract you signed.

Hunt down all communications with sales person (via email i hope).

It will not be cheap or easy. One of the realities of the legal area is a financial entry barrier.

Thanks, NorCalX. Yes, that's the exact same advise the lawyer gave us and what we are currently in the process of doing. And, yes, the problem with lawsuits is that they're not cheap. That's why we're also in touch with consumer advocacy groups. We're lucky that both my husband and I are making decent money. I do feel sorry for the people these guys are undoubtedly ripping off every single day and who can't afford to fight back.

**nmikmik** · 11-26-2015, 02:24 AM

Originally posted by Tanya

Thanks, NorCalX. Yes, that's the exact same advise the lawyer gave us and what we are currently in the process of doing. And, yes, the problem with lawsuits is that they're not cheap. That's why we're also in touch with consumer advocacy groups. We're lucky that both my husband and I are making decent money. I do feel sorry for the people these guys are undoubtedly ripping off every single day and who can't afford to fight back.

It may not sound like something you want to here Tanya, but
I'd try to figure out how much will it cost you in real $$$ and the cost of your health to start the law suit and fight a fairly big company. You already know that current system covers 43% of your consumption. See if you can get a bid from a reputable company to cover the 80% that you originally wanted and compare that to potential law suit avenue, see if it's worth it. Maybe see if you can bring your consumption a little bit down so you are closer to your desired figures. Yes, bad behavior should be punished, but you will definitely lose more time and possibly miss the Net metering deadline and possible the Fed rebate...

**sensij** · 11-26-2015, 02:41 AM

I'm not sure I see the rip-off here. The first 40% of the bill that is offset is probably the most cost-effective portion. If the price paid was something less than $5/W, the system is going to pay for it self eventually, probably in under 10 years based on a rough idea of what system size the price paid would buy, and what it sounds like the OP's consumption was. For the installer to mis-represent the performance of the system is bad, but that alone that doesn't mean what was sold was a bad buy.

FWIW, in SDG&E land, all that is required to have full access to consumption back to when the smart meters were installed is a single bill. I'm not sure if SCE offers the same access, but here, once you give away one copy of your bill, your energy consumption in perpetuity could be watched. That laywer sounds clueless.

**Yaryman** · 11-26-2015, 10:18 AM

How big is your system?
What direction does it face?
What components were used ( panels, inverter )
Where are you located?
How much energy do you use in a year?
How much energy has the system produced?

**Living Large** · 11-26-2015, 10:45 AM

The only comment I have is I would be careful saying publicly that "Company X defrauded us". A lawyer would probably advise you to reserve argument for legal filings. Perhaps a tweak to "possibly defrauded us" or "we believe we were defrauded by". Good luck.

edit - Is there something in writing that states 80% of your usage will be replaced by the solar system?

**nmikmik** · 11-26-2015, 12:28 PM

Originally posted by Living Large

The only comment I have is I would be careful saying publicly that "Company X defrauded us". A lawyer would probably advise you to reserve argument for legal filings. Perhaps a tweak to "possibly defrauded us" or "we believe we were defrauded by". Good luck.

edit - Is there something in writing that states 80% of your usage will be replaced by the solar system?

Common sense is not so common, it is from the poster above

Most Popular Topics

Issues with Solar Company

Issues with Solar Company

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment