a Renvu rant :(

[billy1]

Renvu solar parts supplier was recommended to me, they were the cheapest as they had a special promo, and there customer service were good at helping me find the right equipment.

I deposited a check to there account at Chase Bank 9/30/16 at 3pm, the check cleared 10/3/16.

It is now Sunday 10/9/16 and I have only received: Enphase trunk cable 1 each, grounding wire 1 each, Enphase communicator 1 each, and Quickmount conduit penetration kit 1 each. I took time off work for this project which is now wasted as I can't start my project without the bulk of my order obviously.

I was initially told I would receive everything by 10/6/16, then I was told by 10/7/16, then I was told IF I receive a tracking number it will come on 10/10/16 but I did not receive that infamous tracking number. I was told the reason was there really busy right now. Renvu uses UPS to send items from IN and OUT of CA and XPO truck delivery service from CA as I'm in CA, so items don't come all at once. I received a UPS tracking #1Z871E360378932755 for roof hooks, but when I check with UPS it shows 7 packages were sent to Aptos CA (I don't live in that fancy city).

Since I had time doing nothing on my time off work, I found out Renvu and pretty much all these consumer solar suppliers (except Platt) are just middle men that don't have any product and drop ship everything.

[foo1bar]

Since I had time doing nothing on my time off work, I found out Renvu and pretty much all these consumer solar suppliers (except Platt) are just middle men that don't have any product and drop ship everything.

I can tell you that Renvu definitely has some product on hand.
I paid by check at their office in mountain view and walked out with a couple boxes of quickmount e-mounts, and a few other items.
I also went back there and got some labels that I didn't have enough of.
Their office didn't have modules and inverters right there. But when I was looking at them before buying I found they have a warehouse address as well. (But I don't know how much they have in stock there nor whether it's still in use by them.

When I ordered I was expecting a ~2 week lead time. When they were delivering sooner than that it was more of a PITA for me as I needed to quick clear out space for the modules.

It sounds like it'll be about a week from when you paid (and less than a week from when the check cleared) until the parts are delivered.
That seems pretty good to me without paying for express shipment.

[sdold]

Did you get your plans approved already?

[billy1]

Yep everything is approved from the city, and I did the first step for interconnect with pge.

I feel if delivery was going to take about 2 week from payment they should have stated that and I could have gone with another purveyor so I won't be stuck on NEMS2 that takes effect in November!

[J.P.M.]

Billy: Did you ask about lead times through any of all this, or did they give an est. delivery ? 1 week/10 days doesn't seem way out of line to me. Just sayin.

[billy1]

I just asked when will I get everything. Initially the earliest they said was Wednesday, and kept back peddling from there. Buying stuff from a business that keeps changing ship/delivery date multiple times is a red flag in my book. I can't help but feel mislead. They didn't say I will get it anywhere between 3-10 business days from funds being cleared.

[Eleceng1979]

There is 3 kinds of business in this world... good, fast, and cheap...pick 2... so you got a good deal on quality parts but have to wait a couple weeks..bummer. I bet the higher price guys had it in stock...

I do agree that they should have told you. Nobody stocks anything these days, it is always drop shipped. 3 weeks sounds about typical for a big purchase. 1 week to clear payment, 1 week to process and 1 week to ship. It's been 5 business days since payment cleared and goods are trickling in, chill...I'm sure they will follow through.