Alternative Power Enterprises, Inc

Response:I am so sorry that Mr*** feels this wayLet me clarify how this project went.Our salesman sold Mr*** this PV system and collected a deposit of 75% on January 14, 2015, shortly after our salesman moved on to another job, which is unfortunate because Mr. ***
was caught in the middle of a transition within our companyOur contract states that equipment may take up to 4-weeks in some casesWe placed the order for the equipment and it arrived in a timely enough manner, I contacted him telling him it would be mid-month before we could get there We had other customers we were working with at that time but Mr. *** thought he was our only customer and made such a stink that we pulled off a job to go to his project which is located at over 10,ftThis was Feb.17, We explained, at that time, that our former salesman should not have sold this project to be installed in the middle of winter at this elevationThis is how we “complained” according to Mr***I have no idea how he determined that $was for hardware and $was sitting in our bank accountAt the time I also explained to Mr*** that when we are in full season it could be two months or more before we get to an installation, we are a busy company and do our best to communicate these things and accommodate our customers.As Mr*** stated, it was at this time that winter decided to return to his high mountain townAs a physician I would have thought that Mr*** would have recognized the high risk of climbing onto a roof to install solar panels, but he wanted our crew to show up regardless and we spent many hours shoveling snow to uncover the solar panels and the roof, as most people know it is events such as this that push the cost of installation upWe again explained that winter installations are not always a good idea but his mind was set on getting this project completed and this we did but it took much longer than it should haveThe system is small, seven solar panels in all, it should have taken three days to install but with weather it went on for some timeHe called us every day to make sure we were coming, this project is over an hour away and we felt like he was wasting our time, it would have been much more efficient had we waited and then just installed the entire system when the snow had melted. When the project was completed and inspected I sent Mr*** a bill for the balance of the system, we do our best to stay in our estimated amount and I did this even though we did lose money on this project but I could tell there would be no reasoning with him so I kept it the sameI did not hear from him for a couple of weeks and he did come by when our office was closed and left a note saying he would catch us the next weekHe did call, this is over one month after the bill was sent, and told me he had no money and went on to tell me about all the bills he had due and that we left him brokeAt the time I thought here is a doctor telling me how broke he is, why is he telling me this, it most definitely was not appropriateI will say that I do often work with clients on a payment plan, I am happy to do this if I have the cash flow and it is set up with me prior to the installationMr*** went on to say that he had contacted the utility company to see the status of his rebate, I have absolutely no problem with anyone contacting the power company, where Mr*** gets that is unknown, my problem was/is that he TOLD me that I was going to finance his system and that the representative from the power company told him that we do this for our clients and I would do that for him tooI explained that I do help out our customers but there are other factors involved, mainly that it is discussed with me prior to this moment, and if I have sufficient cash flow, under no uncertain circumstances is it up to the power company whether or not I finance a systemI also need to point out that the requirements of the power company state that the final paperwork submitted must include a system invoice showing customer proof of paymentSince I had not been paid in full I could not submit that paperwork, the check goes directly to the customer and not the installerThe longer the customer waits to pay the longer it is until they receive their checkI did not make this rule; Mr*** calls this “shoddy” business, I have attached the rebate requirements with this letter for you to seeHe states that I subjected him to “heated meanness”, I have never been called mean in my life, I have been in business for over years and have learned that you have to stand up for yourself, but mean, noIn the end he withheld $and I went ahead and filed the paperworkHe called several weeks later saying he got his rebate and he would have the money transferred to our account, he told me to call a representative at the bank with my account number and I immediately did, I did not receive the money for two weeks when at that time I called him to let him know I had not received it, he was very angry, directed at me, and shortly after I received the moneyThat was on May 11th, the same day he wrote us a hate letter and filed this complaint. I do realize that one bad review can do much harm and I am truly sorry that he felt the need to “spread the word” as he puts it “to anyone who will listen”, but I do not think that we/or I, did anything wrong or treated him any differently than any other customer I realize that you can’t get along with everybody, we work with many different types of people from all walks of life and seem to have done just fine, unfortunately Mr*** is just a difficult personHaving said that, I wish him well and hope for the best for him.Regards,*** ***Alternative Power Enterprises, Inc