Complete Solar

Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/08/27) */ Dear Sir: I wanted to take a moment to sincerely apologize for the misrepresentation of our sales associate todayWe do not condone this behaviorThank you for bringing this complaint to our attentionWe have launched the necessary investigation to remedy this situation immediately and prevent future complaintsOur reputation and Revdex.com rating are of the upmost importanceOur company core values of integrity and transparency are defended vehementlyThank you again Sincerely, [redacted] Complete Solar VP of Sales Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2014/08/29) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) It appears the business sales director is stating that they do not partner with SCE, nor do they use lists with homeowner's names, purportedly from SCEThis is what SCE said as well when I contacted themIt would appear then from this statement the sales director is saying it was the employee who was lying about this practice and it is not supported by the company, or part of their sales trainingAt this point I see no reason not to take them at their word and hope that this does not happen again, and that this employee is disciplined or let go as their approach was dishonest, disreputable and defamed SCE as wellI'm sure SCE would not want this to continue

Had solar installed and has been months and still nothing is finished or hooked upMy neighbor got solar installed in one month and im still waiting Have not saved a dime on my bill and still paying for high [redacted] billCalled back in September and was told second week of October work should be done and nothingNow in December and still nothingNever got a clear answer as to when my solar would be finished and still paying high [redacted] billFeel scammed into solar and called again and still no answerVery disappointed

Had solar installed and has been months and still nothing is finished or hooked upMy neighbor got solar installed in one month and im still waiting Have not saved a dime on my bill and still paying for high *** billCalled back in September and was told second week of October work should be done and nothingNow in December and still nothingNever got a clear answer as to when my solar would be finished and still paying high *** billFeel scammed into solar and called again and still no answerVery disappointed

Complete Solar made the transition to solar energy very smoothEveryone was courteous and professionalI would recommend this company to anyone considering transitioning to solar power

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2015/04/14) */
Contact Name and Title: *** *** VP of Ops
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: ***@completesolar.com
We re-engaged with our partner who completed this installation initially and he worked closely with the customer to resolve
the issueWe believe the issue has been resolved completely and that the customer is satisfied with the resolutionThere has been a subsequent rain storm and the report was "no leaks."
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 8, 2015/04/15) */
4-15-
Sent via email:
Yes, partially...after months of waiting, the company has fixed our roofNow they are stalling to bring someone in to fix the interior sheet rock and water damage, thank you so much for getting back to me*** Dedes (XXX)XXX-XXXX
Sent from my iPhone

This has been the most terrible experience from start to finish, and it's still not overTo be honest, it started off wellThe sales person was very knowledgeable and nice so I decided to go with this company and bought almost $50,worth of solar panelsI have a large house and a pool and I use a lot of electricityI signed a contract in January and my finance was quickly approvedI was actually surprised the panels went up so quickly within weeks of signing the contractI was told that everything would be completed within 2-months and I would be able to use my brand new solar panels by the time summer comesI waited months and heard nothing from Complete SolarI got nervous so I called my salesman who was as shocked as I was that my solar was still not turned on and said he'd have my project manager call meI had a project manager? I didn't even knowno one told meI received a call from my project manager who said that they were still waiting on ***Summer passed by and still got the same response that they were waiting on ***Fall passed by, same responseFinally in December I got a call that they needed to trench a section of my driveway to update my main service panelAt this point, I was just happy to finally hear something was progressingThey began trenching behind one of my cars so that I couldn't use that car for weeksI think you can imagine my frustrationWhen the trenching was done and the service panels were upgraded I was told that *** would come and shut off our power for hours in the morning while they hooked something upMy father-in-law was home waiting for them to comeThey came in the morning at 10am and shut off our power as expectedThey did something on the roof and told my father-in-law that someone would be back later in the day to turn on our powerI came home at 5:30pm after work to find my father-in-law in the dark with a flash light still without powerThe power had been off for almost hours! I called *** and they told me that their solar department went home for the day and they couldn't help me until the morningI had to go out to the side of the building in the dark and figure out how to turn on the power myself! I was furiousmy father-in-law could have seriously hurt himself in the darkHe has diabetes and very bad eyesightI finally got the power turned on around 6:30pm after fiddling with the new power system they installedTo this date, I am still unable to use my solar panelsAnd the best part of all is I had to do my financing all over again because the original financing expiredSince originally the contract and financing was in my father-in-law's name, I asked for the contract and financing to be redone solely in my name, which was doneI called Complete Solar last week and they had no knowledge of the new contract being done in my name!
Last week I was told that I needed to cancel our discount program with *** so that my solar application could finally go throughI did this the very next dayI've been trying for several days to get a hold of my project manager to let her know, but both times I've been put on hold by another representative with no obvious customer service trainingAlso, there's always complete silence while on holdNo music or anything to let you know you weren't hung up onI was on hold for minutes today before I decided to hang upI am so frustratedThe communication and customer service is so bad with this companyWhen you try to contact someone you go through an automated system that usually leads to a person who hardly speaks English or it goes to a generic voice mailboxI've left several voice mails and did not get one call backWhen you do get a hold of someone, they seem to have no knowledge of your account and in my experience are quick to get you off the phoneThere is no direct line or email to your project manager, which is very frustratingI am not happyWe are going into a year and months now and still not hooked up with our solarYou get star

Complaint: ***I am rejecting this response because: It is 100% false
On February 28, when *** *** the Complete Solar Representative that was AT MY HOUSE with my wife and myself, went on line in front of us in our dinning room using our land line, to the *** ( *** *** *** ) and spoke to a *** representative at the same time looking at *** website looking at my usage of electricity for a year period, which I showed him all of my *** bills for years to confirm accuracy, and it was at that time he promised me I would NEVER HAVE ANOTHER *** BILL AGAIN
He also told me that by over sizing the system which he promised he would do, to provide 110% of my average annual usage
The System did not even preform to 50% of the CONTRACT PRODUCTION, ENERGY AND MONEY SAVINGS stated in Complete Solar's own contract!
THIS WOULD BE A BREACH OF CONTRACT BY COMPLETE SOLAR, NOT TO MENTION CONSUMER FRAUD WHICH I AM IN THE PROCESS IN CONSULTING WITH A CONSUMER FRAUD ATTORNEY TO SUE COMPLETE SOLAR FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT AND CONSUMER FRAUD!
Sincerely,*** ***

In June of 2016, I contacted Complete Solar to investigate the possibility of utilizing solar power in my 40~ year old homeThe electric panel was the original and I was concerned about its ability to function as I attempted to modernize my homeComplete Solar came out and had someone review the systemThey confirmed an electric panel upgrade would be needed, and if I signed up with them, they'd include it with the installation of the solar panels at ZERO cost to meConsidering that was my primary concern, I agreed and immediately signed up
I was then quoted an installation date in late August of In preparation for the installation, I requested the day off work so I could be onsite in case anything aroseThe day came, and went, with no installationI contacted Complete Solar and discovered that the previous rep I had been working with was no longer with the company and that my project had "fallen through the cracks." I would now be working with a new repHe then set up a new installation date for late September of I again took time off work to ensure I'd be available for any eventualityThe crew did show up on the scheduled dayThey installed the solar panels, but did not upgrade the electric panel to my houseWhen I asked why, I was told that Complete Solar needed to work something out with Southern California Edison to have the panel upgraded, and until that took place, they could not hook up the panelsAs of this writing, months since the installation, I still have solar panels on my roof that are not hooked up to anything, and they were installed a month later than I was originally quoted
Then, from September until now (January 2017) I was told they were working on a "GMA" and once that was approved I'd have solarI kept requesting information on when my electric panel would be upgraded and I kept being told that they had to wait on the city/county to approve the GMA before they could do that because they'd need to do trenching to replace the panelFinally, this month (Jan 2017) I spoke with a NEW rep who explained to me that the GMA was to bypass my existing electric panel and that they would not be performing the agreed upon upgrade that I initially signed up with them for months priorShe confirmed looking through the notes on my account that this information was not shared with me previously and she apologized for me just being made aware of it now
I am still without any solar powerI have been told that essentially the cost would be too great to do the upgrade because my home was "connected directly to the SCE transformer and to do the upgrade we (Complete Solar) have to have SCE upgrade the transformer and we (Complete Solar) won't pay for that cost unless you (myself, the customer quoted a zero cost install) agreed to share the cost of itSince the panels have been installed and a contract signed, I cannot have them remove the panels without paying for their total costAccording to this rep, my options now were to either proceed with the GMA program or contact a lawyer
Currently I am now in the process of contacting SCE to confirm the information given to me by Complete Solar as my trust in the company is obsolete

This is in response to *** *** complaint against Complete Solar. The following is a list of the dates and
conversations with Mr*** regarding his complaint:
July 26, 2016: following a conversation with our service manager, Mr*** sent in an email in which he indicates that he received an electric bill from *** *** *** *** utility company. He also indicates that he believes he was told that he would never have another electric bill again from the utility company. After reviewing the email is was discovered the customer did not attach the correct document for us to be able to complete an energy analysis and determine how much electricity he used in the previous year. At the time of sale all customers are informed that project utility bills, and their amounts, are dependent on the customer using the same amount of electricity as used in the previous year. Using the same amount of electricity, however, does not guarantee that the projection will be accurate due to a number of variables out of Complete Solar's control, such as increases in public utility costs and the size of their solar modular system. In this case, the customer's solar module system was not designed to offset 100% of his electrical usageThis means that the system was not designed to provide 100% of the customer's electrical needs. This is very common for a host of reasons that can be explained if you believe this is relevant information (they can be somewhat complex, but I am happy to provide the explanation if it is helpful)This information is outlined in his contract that he signed
July 29, 2016: our service manager responded to Mr*** requesting a full utility bill that was received in the previous email. We do not have an email from Mr*** responding to that request. The purpose of requesting his utility bill is to determine if he is using more electricity than what he was previously using prior to having a solar modular system, which is a factor that can help explain why he is accruing a balance with *** (there are other possible reasons as well, but this is the most common and the troubleshooting that we start with). No response from Mr*** with correct utility bill
Aug25, 2016: Mr*** reached out to the sales repthat he originally worked with who passed the message along to our Director of sales. He expressed the same message that he didn't expect an end-of-year bill from *** and believes that he shouldn't have received one because his system is underperforming. On the same day our customer relations supervisor reached out to him and spoke with him. We were also able to tell him that his agreement states that his solar modular system was designed to offset 86% of his projected electric usage, not 100% offset. We explained to him that he did not have enough roof space to provide for more solar modules which is why the agreement was written to include the sized system that was installed. He was not happy with that explanation and we offered to provide him his agreement to review
Sept.2, 2016: customer contacted our service manager again with the same questions as before and she offered to help him understand his bill, electric production (from his solar modular system), and our production guarantee. Customer's system actually overproduced for the time period in question (Aug3, to Aug.2, 2016) so there are no system production concerns
Oct3, 2016: Customer Relations supervisor called to follow up with Mr***, he did not answer
Oct4, 2016: Mr*** called back twice while Customer relations supervisor was in a meeting and left a message. Customer Relations supervisor then called him back and he didn't answer so she left a messageThat's the timeline of our recent communications. Please feel free to follow up with questions or any clarification you might need. I believe that there are quite a few other relevant details that are more complex and require additional understanding of how residential solar technology works to appreciate their significance. I am happy to have additional phone conversations to provide that information, if it is needed. Not incidentally, we have also attempted to have these same conversation with Mr*** to no successful avail
Thanks ***
*** ***

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/06/12) */
We are terribly sorry for the inconvenience caused by our mistake of filing a permit with the incorrect number of roof layersWe accept full responsibility for the situation and will cover all costs related to the installation and
removal of the solar system, including returning the roof to its original state and providing a warranty for repairsThe roof will not be left in worse shape than when we arrivedWe will also waive any financial responsibility to pay for the power already produced by the installed panels ($at the time of this writing)
We regret that we cannot pay in part or in full for a new roof as requested by Mr*** and must deny that requestIf Mr*** chooses to bring his house up to code in the next months we will gladly reinstall the power system free of charge
Signed, *** ***
Director, Complete Solar
With regards to the timeline of events, everything appears correctAlthough not documented via email or written in the contract, Mr*** believes he expressly stated on a few occasions that the roof had multiple layersEven with this knowledge being communicated appropriately, our assumption is that home owners are working within the bounds of building code and local lawsBoth Complete Solar Solution and Mr*** were operating under this assumption as the work proceeded
As mentioned above, without effective communication regarding the 3-layer roofing situation, Complete Solar Solution obtained initial permit and proceeded lawfully with permit in hand
After we completed our installation the City of Whittier sent out an inspector to sign off on the systemAt this point the inspector let us know that the roof was out of code because it had multiple roof layersThis specific code was put into place because Whittier is a earthquake prone areaAccording to them the extra weight on the roof can lead to collapse in the event of an earthquake
When we discovered this we tried every possible avenue to get the inspection passed but ultimately could notThe next step was approaching Mr*** about re-roofing his houseWe offered to pay for the system removal and re-install while he would pay to bring the roof up to city codesWhen Mr*** refused to re-roof the house the next step was to remove the system free of charge and repair any penetrations that we made
I'm completely confident that we can remove the solar and repair the roof to equal or better then the previous stateI did tell Mr*** that even after we do that it won't change the fact that his roof is unsafe according to building codes in the city of WhittierAnd that he should replace his roof regardless of what happens with the solar
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2014/06/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Although we appreciate that Complete Solar Solutions provided us with options as to rectifying the condition of my roof (offer financing through a roofer recommended by CSS), my wife and I at this time choose to sever our relationship with themIt was a very unfortunate set of circumstances that has led us to this pointI am by no means looking to get a free roof out of this, but I clearly verbally expressed my concern as to the condition of my roof from the very initial encounter, and would have never committed to the project at this time if I knew that the roof needed to be replacedI am in no financial position at this point to invest on a new roof
*** has offered to pay for the removal and re-installation of the panels, and he shouldI certainly should not have toIn question, is the roofI stand firm that Complete Solar Solutions should assume liability for beginning work on what they state and they should have noticed was an unfit and unsafe roof
I STILL FEEL THAT A NEW ROOF SHOULD BE PROVIDED TO US AND THAT ALL COSTS BE ABSORBED BY COMPLETE SOLAR SOLUTIONS
This house was purchased by us in And with regard to Mr*** comment that Complete Solar Solutions "is working under the assumption that the homeowners are working within the bounds of building code and local laws", I take this to mean that I had the roof worked on without acquiring the proper permitsThat would be incorrect
He also mentioned my timelines and failure of documentation on my part for my concern as to the condition of my roof, Mr*** came into the fold only at the very end, when he called to inform me that the project would not get a final approval from the inspectorAt this point he gave me the option to either
A.) pay for a new roof
B.) have complete solar solutions remove their equipment and walk away from the deal
I never mislead anyone, nor do I believe that Complete Solar Solutions intended to deceive us, their customerI just feel that proper due diligence was not performedSolar energy, and the city requirements for such a project is not in the field of my expertiseThat burden should fall on the contractor
It is the full intention of my family to move forward with the conversion to solar energy, regardless of the outcome of the relationship that we set out to begin with Complete Solar Solutions
Again, it is unfortunate that the relationship has come to thisMr*** can reach out to me to schedule the removal of equipment from my roofI also want to make sure the upgraded electrical panel should be left as is
In addition to the panels on the roof, several large holes have been made to the exterior walls (meter, pipes, boxes) that will no doubt leave an eyesore when they are removedThose holes can easily be patched, BUT are also very visible, and devalue our homeHow does fixing those plan to be handled?

Complete Solar has failed to perform per the terms of the controlling contract, misrepresenting costs, savings, features, capacities, production, and yields, and have failed to disclose additional costs for additional equipment and services on the subject systemComplete Solar's actions may constitute fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, violation of Business and Professions Code 17200, and advertising

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/08/27) */
Dear Sir:
I wanted to take a moment to sincerely apologize for the misrepresentation of our sales associate today. We do not condone this behavior. Thank you for bringing this complaint to our attention. We have launched the...

necessary investigation to remedy this situation immediately and prevent future complaints. Our reputation and Revdex.com rating are of the upmost importance. Our company core values of integrity and transparency are defended vehemently. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Complete Solar
VP of Sales
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2014/08/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
It appears the business sales director is stating that they do not partner with SCE, nor do they use lists with homeowner's names, purportedly from SCE. This is what SCE said as well when I contacted them. It would appear then from this statement the sales director is saying it was the employee who was lying about this practice and it is not supported by the company, or part of their sales training. At this point I see no reason not to take them at their word and hope that this does not happen again, and that this employee is disciplined or let go as their approach was dishonest, disreputable and defamed SCE as well. I'm sure SCE would not want this to continue.

This is in response to [redacted] complaint against Complete Solar.  The following is a list of the dates and conversations with Mr. [redacted] regarding his complaint:
July 26, 2016: following a conversation with our service manager, Mr. [redacted] sent in an email in which he indicates that...

he received an electric bill from [redacted] utility company.  He also indicates that he believes he was told that he would never have another electric bill again from the utility company.  After reviewing the email is was discovered the customer did not attach the correct document for us to be able to complete an energy analysis and determine how much electricity he used in the previous year.  At the time of sale all customers are informed that project utility bills, and their amounts, are dependent on the customer using the same amount of electricity as used in the previous year.  Using the same amount of electricity, however, does not guarantee that the projection will be accurate due to a number of variables out of Complete Solar's control, such as increases in public utility costs and the size of their solar modular system.  In this case, the customer's solar module system was not designed to offset 100% of his electrical usage. This means that the system was not designed to provide 100% of the customer's electrical needs.  This is very common for a host of reasons that can be explained if you believe this is relevant information (they can be somewhat complex, but I am happy to provide the explanation if it is helpful). This information is outlined in his contract that he signed.  
July 29, 2016: our service manager responded to Mr. [redacted] requesting a full utility bill that was received in the previous email.  We do not have an email from Mr. [redacted] responding to that request.  The purpose of requesting his utility bill is to determine if he is using more electricity than what he was previously using prior to having a solar modular system, which is a factor that can help explain why he is accruing a balance with [redacted] (there are other possible reasons as well, but this is the most common and the troubleshooting that we start with).  No response from Mr. [redacted] with correct utility bill.  
Aug. 25, 2016: Mr. [redacted] reached out to the sales rep. that he originally worked with who passed the message along to our Director of sales.  He expressed the same message that he didn't expect an end-of-year bill from [redacted] and believes that he shouldn't have received one because his system is underperforming.  On the same day our customer relations supervisor reached out to him and spoke with him.  We were also able to tell him that his agreement states that his solar modular system was designed to offset 86% of his projected electric usage, not 100% offset.  We explained to him that he did not have enough roof space to provide for more solar modules which is why the agreement was written to include the sized system that was installed.  He was not happy with that explanation and we offered to provide him his agreement to review.
Sept.2, 2016: customer contacted our service manager again with the same questions as before and she offered to help him understand his bill, electric production (from his solar modular system), and our production guarantee.  Customer's system actually overproduced for the time period in question (Aug. 3, 2015 to Aug.2, 2016) so there are no system production concerns.
Oct. 3, 2016: Customer Relations supervisor called to follow up with Mr. [redacted], he did not answer.
Oct. 4, 2016: Mr. [redacted] called back twice while Customer relations supervisor was in a meeting and left a message.  Customer Relations supervisor then called him back and he didn't answer so she left a message.
That's the timeline of our recent communications.  Please feel free to follow up with questions or any clarification you might need.  I believe that there are quite a few other relevant details that are more complex and require additional understanding of how residential solar technology works to appreciate their significance.  I am happy to have additional phone conversations to provide that information, if it is needed.  Not incidentally, we have also attempted to have these same conversation with Mr. [redacted] to no successful avail.
 
Thanks [redacted].
 
 
[redacted]