Real Goods Solar

This complaint needs to be redirected to *** *** is a different entity and is not responsible for the customer's issue This response has been copied to the RGS Energy customer service manager, as well Thanks

Customer bought and paid for a special order and was clearly informed that no refund was possible as this was not regularly stocked item.
Customer cancelled order more than six months after ordering the product. We could not return it. We informed customer, who repeatedly refrained from replying to...

us.
Customer tried to do chargeback with Visa - and was denied twice due to circumstances with Visa siding with us and not the customer.
I have attached the letter we sent to Visa and will copy it below if there is enough room to do so.
Last week, in order to please customer, we, against our policies, refunded the customer's purchase less the declared 30% restocking charge of which customer was notified verbally and in writing at time of purchase.
We have bent over backwards for this customer and I assume she is not happy and will withdraw this Revdex.com complaint.
Sincerely Yours, [redacted] Owner
 
The order was made on September 2, 2016. It was a special order. Our refund policy, printed on the invoice, is within 30 days
 
At the time of purchase I graciously offered, on my own time (not as a Real Goods employee) that I would give up a weekend to help install the system. This was mostly verbal, however I fortunately have an email validating my insistence and separation from Real Goods in this matter.
 
 
[redacted]
Wed 9/21/2016 12:01 PM
Sent Items
To:
[redacted]
I'll take a look at my schedule and get back to you. We don't have an install team so it'll be me doing a friend a favor ;) Just a friendly reminder. Also, It was my hope to do a Grid install prior to hitting up your roof... just to shake off the mental cobwebs (i've been cooped up for a while). I'm a little back-logged now and alone at the desk so I'll get back to you a little later or tomorrow on this.The initial argument used by [redacted] in his request for a refund was that we, Real Goods, did not fulfill our install commitment. This a twisting of reality as can be gleamed from the email above as well as the email below.
-------- Original message --------
From: [redacted]
Date: 2/10/17 7:28 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: [redacted]
Cc: [redacted]
Subject: Re: Real Goods- Return
 
Hi [redacted]
 
We never physically even received the product and my husband was under the impression that your company was going to help install it, which never took place, however that is what he was told at the time of sale and what ultimately drove him to make the purchase. What other options do you have in mind? At this point, we don't have anything to show for this purchase other than funds coming out of our account. 
 
Thank you,
 
[redacted]
 
 
Onto the point that the products were not received,  Both [redacted] and myself informed [redacted] multiple times between last September and February (on his way to and from on-site dispensary[redacted] that his order was ready for pickup. The excuse routinely given for not accepting the merchandise was that the scheduled roofing job had been postponed and was not underway. Again, courteous behavior on our end dictated our generous willingness to hold the merchandise for an extended period of time. This behavior closely parallels the incongruent claim that my generous offer to volunteer a weekend of my time translates to ‘Real Goods did not fulfill installation agreement’ jargon.
[redacted]
Wed 2/1/2017 12:28 PM
Inbox
To:
[redacted]
Cc:
[redacted]
You replied on 2/1/2017 1:46 PM.
 
 
Hi [redacted]
 
Thank you for the update. We have decided to go a different route with regards to the solar installation, and would like to request a refund on this item. I see two charges posting to my account one for $959.09 on 8/30/16 and the second one for $632.84 on 9/6/16 for a total of $1,591.93. Will you please refund the full amount? We are aware of the restocking fee, however the product was never received by us, so this fee should not be charged. 
 
Thank you,
[redacted]
 
When prompted with the above email we graciously offered a refund plus a 15% restocking fee.[redacted] rejected the offer.
On February 13th, Real Good owner [redacted] became involved in the conversation and graciously offered to sell the material on consignment on behalf of [redacted]
From: John [redacted] Sent: Monday, February 13, 2017 2:32 PMTo: 'Angus [redacted]Cc: [email protected]; [redacted]Subject: RE: Real Goods- Return
 
Hi [redacted],
 
I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you. I researched your order this morning to learn the history. What I learned is that the order was made on September 2, 2016; over five months ago. It was a ‘special order’ which means we do NOT stock these very rare (to us) Unirac installation parts. I had our purchasing department check with the company from whom we purchased the parts for your order and she tried to return the products to them. Their policy is a 20% restocking charge if returned within 30 days of purchase but unfortunately they will not take them back at all after 30 days and it’s been 5 months since we ordered them, so we have no way of returning them to the company.
 
Our policy which is clearly posted in the store and printed on every invoice is that we will refund any order of regularly stocked product when returned in original condition within 30 days; that we will charge a 15% - 30% restocking charge when beyond 30 days, and that we CANNOT refund any special order of non-regularly stocked product beyond 30 days. If this was just a few days over we might re-evaluate but this is very clearly a special order.
 
I talked to our two technicians, [redacted], our manager and [redacted] our solar technician. [redacted] informed me that at the time of purchase, he offered to your husband that he, on his own time, (not as a Real Goods employee) would give up a weekend to help install the system with your husband.  Both[redacted] informed me that they talked to your husband many times between last September and now to ask him when he wanted to pick up his order, and never got a firm response.
 
At this point, I’m very sorry, but there is little that we can do. If you like we can make a list of the parts, bring some of them to the sales floor and try to sell them to another customer. As soon as we do sell them, we’ll be happy to refund that amount to you of whatever we can sell. Alternatively, all I can think of is for you to take the material with you and put it up on Craigslist, eBay, or try and sell by some other means.
 
We pride ourselves on pleasing our customers, but in this instance our hands are tied. We can’t send the product back and we can’t just get stuck with it as we never would have ordered it if not for your special order in the first place.
 
If you have another solution to offer, we’re happy to listen.
 
Let me know what you’d like to do.
 
Best Regards,
[redacted]
Owner and Founder
[redacted]
skype:  [redacted]
 
 
 
This email was ignored by [redacted] kindly followed up with below email:
 
From: John [redacted]Sent: Wednesday, March 8, 2017 10:22 AMTo: Angus [redacted]Cc: Garrett [redacted]Subject: FW: Real Goods- Return
 
[redacted]
 
I wrote you this email below nearly 4 weeks ago and I have not heard back. We have your equipment here is the warehouse waiting for you. If you would like us to try and sell some or all of it, just let us know and we’ll try to sell it. Some of it is esoteric so it might take a while, but it’s not doing anyone any good sitting in the warehouse. If you’d like to pick it up and use it, that, of course is fine too.
 
Please let me know your intentions with the merchandise.
 
Best Regards,
[redacted]
 
The response given follows:
[redacted]
Wed 3/22/2017 12:47 PM
Inbox
[redacted]
Cc:
[redacted]
 
Thanks for following up. We are currently discussing these charges with out bank. We don't feel that we should be stuck with this merchandise, for reasons discussed previously and we are looking into our consumer rights regarding this matter. We will keep you posted. 
 
[redacted]
 
To which [redacted] responded:
 
[redacted]
Wed 3/22/2017 1:37 PM
Inbox
To:
[redacted]
Cc:
[redacted]
 
Thanks for getting back to us. If there was any way we could sell the merchandise you special ordered in the store OR return it to the manufacturer, we would be more than happy to and then refund your money. It’s not doing anyone any good sitting in the warehouse. If you do decide to give this a try, let us know and we will try and sell it for you.
 
Best,
 
[redacted]