Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On September 7, 2023, I signed a contract with Enertech LLC, to purchase a solar panel system for my home, and wrote them a check for $17,250.75 corresponding to the initial 30% of the cost of the project. Thirteen days later, I was made aware that the proposed installation had significant errors. I also learned that the company had not started any permits or scheduled a survey of the roof. On Friday, September 20, I sent an email and a certified letter to Enertech/*** Crum to cancel the contract. On Monday, September 23, I received a call from the installer (***** ******* **** ******* ******), who had been contacted by *** to call and schedule the survey. I informed ***** of the cancellation. ***** was very professional; he understood and confirmed my concerns. He told me he had received a check from Enertech in the amount of $10,800.60, but that he still had not cashed the check. He said they had not started any permits or any paperwork or purchased any materials because they first needed to do the survey. I told him that I might be interested in getting a new proposal, but not this year, since I was having a very busy season at work. He totally understood and told me he will void the check and that I should expect a full refund. On October the 18th, I contacted *** to ask when I would get be getting my refund. He told me he had contacted "the higher-ups" at his office regarding the refund. On October the 23th, *** **** told me that I should be expecting my check in the mail. On November the 10th, I received a check for the amount of $12,250.75. I contacted *** to ask about the $5,000 difference. On November the 16th, I finally reached him on the phone. He said there were “engineering costs” to deduct. I told him his explanation didn’t make sense, since after talking to the installer, t** **** ** **** ******* *** *** *** ******, I confirmed that there were no permits, materials or any other costs because not even the roof survey had been done.

  Business response

  12/11/2023

  Good morning, I received this complaint late last week I will have a full response today I just need time to fact check the dates and get my response over to you today 

  Business response

  12/14/2023

  See attached document.

  Response to Better Business Bureau complaint #20882610
  
  The following is a timeline of dates:
  
  • 9 July 2023- Contacted by **** ******** via text message, that he would like to send his utility bills for himself and his girlfriend, ******** ********* to get solar proposals done for them both, that same day he sent his and said ********** was to follow.
  • 10 July 2023- Received ********* Evergy bill, at that time I loaded both of their information into ****** ***** ******* site to determine rebate money and max system size authorized by Evergy. After that, all information from Evergy was sent to engineering for proposals to be built.
  • 12 July 2023- Emailed **** that both parties’ proposals were done and asked a good time to sit down with them and go over the proposals. 
  • 13 July 2023- **** wanted both emailed to him for review .
  • 11 August 2023- **** emailed me back to let me know they were both interested, and I asked what would be good times to set up interviews. 
  • 13 August 2023- **** emailed and set up appointment for himself, 15 August 2023 at 8 pm at his residence, and Sunday afternoon, the 20th for *********
  • 14 August 2023- I emailed to confirm his appointment. 
  • 15 August 2023- After meeting, emailed **** about having his and ********** roof inspected. **** replied okay for himself and would let me know on *********. 
  • 16 August 2023- **** emailed that it was okay to inspect ********** roof.
  • 19 August 2023- Nailed down times to inspect ********** roof; was told it would have to be after 3:30 due to a baby shower. 
  • 21 August 2023- Emailed **** there was damage on his roof and no damage to *********.
  • 25 August 2023- Inquired about putting a “Going Solar” sign in ****** yard and was okayed to do that- he would let me know about ********** yard.
  • 1 September 2023- Follow up email, asking about ********** project. 
  • 4 September 2023- **** texted to send ********** plans over again for them to review together. 
  • 7 September 2023- Went to ********** residence to sign and give her copies, collected a 30% deposit of $17,250.75 and put a “Going Solar” sign in her yard. 
  • 14 September 2023- Notified ******** her check had cleared and ordered equipment.
  • 20 September 2023- ******** called me saying she wanted to cancel due to concerns someone had told her about regarding the panels not being hail rated and a few other things I don’t recall. I explained to her I was walking into a meeting I had planned for 30 days and would get back to her as soon as I had a break. At lunch break, I called *****, the installer, and forwarded ********** contact info so he could call and ease her mind on any concerns she had.
  • 21 September 2023- After speaking with *****, he explained everything to her about her warranty on the panels and her concern was we could probably eliminate 10 panels and have less of an offset but would be more cost effective due to shading. ***** suggested to do a revised proposal, eliminating 10 panels, and sending that over to her. ***** also advised we could go from a 410 watt panel to a 440 watt panel with 10 less panels and get very close to the original offset. 
  • 23 September 2023- Sent revised proposal to ***** to have ******** review. At the time, other excuses were coming up such as her business as to why she didn’t want to move forward this year. 
  
  
  As you can see, a lot of people’s time and effort have been put into this.
  Typically on a cancellation anywhere from 15% to 10% are charged that would be from $8625.37 to $5750.25, she was only charged 5000 due to the fact that this was a two-part deal with her boyfriend. These fees our two cover engineered plans, permits, licenses, restocking fees, property slash roof inspection fees and labor. Contract was cancelled way beyond the state provided time
  
  

  Customer response

  12/15/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Please see responses in attached word document. (My comments are marked in red)

  Please see comments in red below:

   

  Response to Better Business Bureau complaint #20882610

   

  The following is a timeline of dates:

   

  • 9 July 2023- Contacted by **** ******** via text message, that he would like to send his utility bills for himself and his girlfriend, ******** ********* to get solar proposals done for them both, that same day he sent his and said ********** was to follow.
  • 10 July 2023- Received ********* ****** bill, at that time I loaded both of their information into ****** ***** ******* site to determine rebate money and max system size authorized by Evergy. After that, all information from Evergy was sent to engineering for proposals to be built.

     

    Please explain what engineering costs were incurred at this point since no survey or permits had yet been requested. I had proposals from other solar companies and this doesn’t mean I’d be responsible for the cost of evaluating my energy bill to give me a quote.

     

  • 12 July 2023- Emailed **** that both parties’ proposals were done and asked a good time to sit down with them and go over the proposals.
  • 13 July 2023- **** wanted both emailed to him for review .
  • 11 August 2023- **** emailed me back to let me know they were both interested, and I asked what would be good times to set up interviews.
  • 13 August 2023- **** emailed and set up appointment for himself, 15 August 2023 at 8 pm at his residence, and Sunday afternoon, the 20^th for ********.
  • 14 August 2023- I emailed to confirm his appointment.
  • 15 August 2023- After meeting, emailed **** about having his and ********** roof inspected. **** replied okay for himself and would let me know on *********.
  • 16 August 2023- **** emailed that it was okay to inspect ********** roof.
  • 19 August 2023- Nailed down times to inspect ********** roof; was told it would have to be after 3:30 due to a baby shower.
  • 21 August 2023- Emailed **** there was damage on his roof and no damage to Marcellas.

    The inspection they did on our roofs was to see if there was hail damage. What I recall you saying is if that were the case, you had a team who could do the repair and we would be able to get an extra tax credit for that amount.`  It is my understanding that **** also had issues with that process.

  • 25 August 2023- Inquired about putting a “Going Solar” sign in ****’s yard and was okayed to do that- he would let me know about ********** yard.
  • 1 September 2023- Follow up email, asking about ********** project.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩