SolarCity Corporation

We apologize for the frustrating circumstance that this customer is current experiencing and a customer relations manager is currently in contact with our customer to help come to a resolution for this customers concern. For further questions please call [redacted], thank you.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/11) */
Thank you for forwarding this valuable feedback from our customer. We have reached out via phone and email.
We explained that her contract has a system performance guarantee for times when the system is not producing. We will be addressing...

communication internally with all teams.
[redacted] understands that there is a possibility of mechanical failures and this is why the production guarantee is in place. Please feel free to call XXX-XXX-XXXX with any further questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/05/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I did speak with [redacted], Customer Care and Customer Relations Manager, on 5/8/15. Also, I know that my contract has a system performance guarantee. However, that guarantee doesn't allow me to get reimbursed until after two years of having the product, and in the meantime, they are not honoring their commitment to fix my broken system when it goes down. They are taking my monthly leasing payment, but the system is malfunctioning almost every single month; even WITH the promise to reimburse me two years later for the underproduction, I am losing money with these panels. [redacted] is currently in one of the sunniest, hottest months of the year, and my system hasn't worked for 7/16 days. This means I will be paying almost a full electricity bill AND an extra $81 to lease broken panels.
As for their communication issues, "addressing communication internally with all teams" is not comforting. I have no way of knowing that any changes are actually being made in this department, and I can tell you that in the last week, the communication between me and the company continues to be negligent and inaccurate. I have three examples to support this.
(1) On 5/8/15, [redacted] told me that Solar City was waiting for a Generation 5 inverter to be shipped to their company so that they could install it into my system. She assured me this was the latest product available. However, on 5/13, when I spoke to an employee from the manufacturing company that produces these inverters, he told me that the Generation 5 inverter had already been installed at my house. It seems that I can't even get accurate information about what product I am paying to lease; in other words, they don't know with certainty what parts are installed in my particular system.
(2) On 5/14/15, a technician from that manufacturing company came to my house to investigate the ongoing malfunctions. He told my roommate that he couldn't find anything wrong with the system. He suggested to her that we continue to hit the "reset" button to restart the Arc Sensor, which is the error message that we keep receiving. I find this suggestion to be unreasonable; essentially, I am being told to spend the next 29 years of my contract checking the inverter on the side of my house multiple times a day to make sure it's working. It's not my job to be checking every day to make sure their product works; it's their job to lease me a product that works, and it's their job to actually fix the product when it stops working - not tell me that they can't find anything wrong and just leave it at that. Plus, the system has been down for two days now, and when I went out to check the inverter earlier today, that message wasn't even showing on the screen.
(3) The company is still not informing me when my system malfunctions. On 5/8, the same day I spoke with [redacted] about my Revdex.com complaint, my system stopped working. I did not receive an email until 5/12, four days later. On 5/14, my system stopped working AGAIN, and I *still* haven't been notified by Solar City. The only reason I knew it wasn't working was because I went online and checked the production myself. I just feel that, if Solar City truly cared about my concerns regarding their negligent communication, they would actually be contacting me right away whenever my system malfunctions. They are not doing that.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 14, 2015/08/17) */
We apologize for the frustrating circumstances regarding this customer's experience. This customer purchased a system through Paramount, which was bought by SolarCity in recent years. As such, our monitoring capabilities are different than that...

of SolarCity-built systems. This customer is able to monitor their system, however, it is not through the online portal that most of our customers are able to use. That being said, SolarCity has not breached any portion of the agreement. We are currently looking to enable monitoring via the online portal as soon as compatibility requirements are met. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 16, 2015/08/18) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
My Residential Solar Power Agreement reads: What services will we (SolarCity) provide: We will insure, MONITOR and repair the system at no cost to you ([redacted]). My agreement does not read "[redacted] will monitor the system". Therefore, the above response from SolarCity is invalid. While my system was acquired under Paramount Solar, my Residential Solar Power Agreement reads: Solar Provider may assign, sell or transfer the System and the Agreement...any assignment of Solar Provider's rights and or obligations under this Agreement shall NOT result in any change to your rights and obligations under this Agreement. Clearly anyone can see that SolarCity is in violation of the terms of our contract in that they acknowledge that they cannot monitor my system and it is clear from the terms of my contract that SolarCity does not have the right to dismiss terms of my contract that are inconvenient to them. I have talked with several SolarCity staff (Customer Service, Technical Support, Engineering Support) and all have told me that SolarCity has a "fix" so that they can monitor my system but it is SolarCity "policy" not to implement this fix. So once again I am asking SolarCity to fix my system so that they can accurately monitor my system and meet the terms of our contract. If SolarCity is unable to accurately monitor my system in line with the terms of our contract, I would request that we agree to cancel this contract at no cost or harm to either party and SolarCity remove all of their equipment from my property.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2015/08/24) */
Mr. [redacted] is capable of monitoring this system via Enphase, an interface used for Paramount systems. Thus, our customer is fully capable of seeing the system's production at nearly any time. The Enphase system is still a valid and accurate platform to monitor system production. At this time, the information is not integrated with SolarCity-built system monitoring and we are working to fix this. However, SolarCity has not breached the contract in any way. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 22, 2015/08/31) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
1) My Solar Contract dated 07/17/2013 clearly states "SolarCity will insure, monitor, maintain and repair the System at no cost to me". SolarCity has acknowledged that they currently cannot monitor my system. SolarCity has acknowledged that they have a repair for my system so that they can monitor it, however it is their policy not to implement this repair. I AM REQUESTING THAT SOLARCITY IMPLEMENT ALL NEEDED REPAIRS/MAINTENANCE SO THAT SOLARCITY CAN ACCURATELY MONITOR MY SYSTEM AS REQUIRED BY OUR CONTRACT.
2) SolarCity's inability to monitor my system is resulting in erroneous monthly billing which SolarCity refuses to acknowledge or correct and is resulting in my being over billed. My July 2015 monthly bill from SolarCity is billing me for 1,675.098 Kwh of electricity. SolarCity is not following Billing, Monthly Payment and Estimated Power Production terms as stated in my SolarCity contract. My system is only capable of generating approximately 750 Kwh of electricity per month, thus the July bill is almost two and one half times the amount that my system is capable of producing. I have called SolarCity's Billing Department and was told they could not help me and referred me to SoalrCity Customer Care who told me they needed to research and would call me back. To date they have not called me back in spite of two follow-up calls from me. Therefore, 1) it is imperative that SolarCity accurately monitor my system so that it can generate accurate monthly bills and 2) SolarCity staff need to respond to my telephone calls with concerns about my billing or service. I WANT SOLARCITY TO PRESENT ME WITH AN ACCURATE BILL FOR JULY 2015 AND ALL FUTURE BILLS.

We apologize for the frustrating circumstance surrounding our customer’s experience. In regards to the customer's concerns one of our Customer Relations Mangers had worked with the customer in April. SolarCity found a company who assured that they could match the color and would only need to repair...

a 6 foot x 8 foot section of the fence. The customer refused this wanting the entire fence replaced. SolarCity is still willing to repair this 6 foot x 8 foot section of fence. A Customer Relations Manager will be reaching out to the customer soon in an attempt to speak with the customer and discuss this matter further. Please call 888-765-2489 opt. 2 with further inquiries.

We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding our customer's experience. In response to our customer's experience, we were able to move up the removal date and I am happy to report that roof work has been completed and inspected and is scheduled for reinstallation on 6/15/**. Please...

call 888-765-2489 with further inquiries.

We resolved her concerns on March 6, [redacted]. It appears her Energy consultant was able to resolve with her.

We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding our customer’s experience. A customer relations manager will reach out shortly to address this complaint with our customer. Please call 888-785-2489 with further questions.

Thank you for the update, a Customer Relations is working with our customer to get to a resolution. Please call (888)765-2489 with any other inquiries.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/09/30) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted], Customer Relations
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX x XXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@solarcity.com
Thank you for forwarding the valuable feedback from Mrs. [redacted] regarding Revdex.com Case #XXXXXXXX. It's...

always been our goal to exceed our customer's expectations. Direct feedback, positive and negative, is key to identifying areas where we can improve.
We reviewed all the information in this matter with [redacted] and made prompt contact via phone and email.
Through careful consideration to their needs, we have come to a mutually agreeable resolution for the misunderstanding. We will make all efforts to ensure that this will not occur again.
A technician is scheduled for October 6 and will perform troubleshooting and any necessary repairs on the monitoring equipment.
We value the trusted relationship we maintain with each of our customers. Their continued satisfaction is one of our top priorities. If you have any questions, please call our Customer Care team at 888.765.2489.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2014/10/14) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

A Customer Relations Manager reached out on 10/10/2017 and 10/16/2017 to address the customer's concerns and we are currently reviewing the account for resolution. This manager will reach back out soon to update the customer. Please call[redacted] opt. * with further inquiries.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:There is someone working with me from the business. She seems to know what she is doing. As I stated before I will not accept any response till my issue is RESOLVED. Sincerely,[redacted]

We have reached a resolution for this clients concern for further question please call [redacted]

We apologize for the frustrating circumstance surrounding our customer's experience. Our Management team is currently reviewing this matter to gather information and find a resolution that would be best to resolve this matter.For any further question please contact 888-765-2489.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/06/18) */
Thank you for forwarding this valuable feedback. We apologize for any contact that has been made that was unwanted. We are working hard to identify possible people posing as SolarCity and using our business name erroneously. We have placed his...

name and number on our do not call list. If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to XXX-XXX-XXXX
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/06/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Claiming it wasn't someone from solar city is ridiculous. It came from your office numbers each time. Stop aggressive and predatory sales tactics.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/26) */
We apologize for the frustrating circumstances regarding this customer's experience. A manager will be in touch shortly to assist with this concern and will work it through to resolution. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further...

questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/09/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Thank you very much as using your website was the only way this issue was taken care of and resolved. Solar city had been giving my payments to the previous owner! The transfer of ownership had never went through until all of this was stirred up. Everything is finally back to normal as they received the unintentional credit back from the solar previous owner. I have paid my July, August and September payment over the phone and I can know set up the ACH from this day on. Thank you again as this was finally resolved and the subject is now closed.

In working with our customer prior to the Revdex.com complaint he indicated the he was working to fight the decision from his HOA. He noted that the HOA had 60 days to reply to his application and they failed to do so. He proceeded with contacting us for installation. At that time his HOA visited his property to stop install and our understanding is that he directed the HOA to leave as they did not respond to his application in the said time frame. The install was completed; however the HOA was not on board with allowing the system and is now demanding removal.
 
Since the Revdex.com Complaint was filed, we have continued with the direction that the responsibility of obtaining HOA approval before install falls to the customer directly as per the signed agreement. SolarCity will work to remove and repair the roof to meet the HOA’s demand; however this cost will have to be billed to the customer given the responsibilities agreed to on September 29th, 2015.
 
At this time the [redacted] does not have any solar access laws in place to help defend keeping the system on the home. This is an unfortunate situation. We will have to remove at the customer’s cost.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/10/08) */
Our initial sales consultation informs customers of what we may be able to accomplish using recent utility bills and performing a preliminary analysis of the roof. Before a design is confirmed and installed, a site survey is required to ensure...

that the home is structurally able to handle the equipment as well ensure that the roof has enough solar access to produce what we estimate. Our contract guarantees production and design is subject to change if conditions are found to be better on a different part of the roof. Apart from our customer shutting the system off, which is a breach of contract, the system has been working optimally. Solar power is provided first to the home panel; if the system is producing more power than is currently needed by the home, the excess energy will go back to the grid resulting in a credit from the utility company. This is why SolarCity generation is greater than the utility's generation amount SCE only accounts for credits that arise from an excess in production. Any billing discrepancies with SCE should be directed to that entity as SolarCity has no bearing on SCE's billing practices. Once the system has been on one year, we can complete a savings analysis to determine the true offset of the system during its first year of performance. The Performance Guarantee stipulated in the contract may be voided during the first year as the customer willingly turned off the system, resulting in less over production. Our customer's analogy with gas and a car is pertinent herehowever, to complete the analogy, the customer is paying for gas above and beyond what the car can hold, which means the gas will be bought at a supposedly cheaper price in advance of its use. Any questions on crediting and net energy metering should be addressed to SCE as their meter measures the amount of electricity that we credit back. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/10/12) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
All efforts has been made to communicate these concerns with your sales and customer service department. several emails show you do not respond to these concerns. The response is always it has already been forwarded to management and we will get back to you. Several emails I sent asking for status remain unanswered. Phone calls ended with your CS managers saying wew will get back to you. No one has addressed or responded to these concerns as of this time
Final Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2015/10/19) */
A manager will be in touch within the next 24-72 hours. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.

After reading the contract I would never have my elderly mother sign with this company, the figures they stated are not adding up and it would cost my mother more than she is paying now for her electric, and then I read the reviews from other people it is a shame that this company is allowed to do business with the elderly.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/04) */
We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding this customer's experience. The customer is signed up for a PPA, or power purchase agreement, meaning the customer pays for all energy produced by the system. Because 80% of solar power...

is produced between the months of March and October, production bills are generally higher in summer, generating credits with the local utility company to last through the winter. We are currently completing an analysis of the system's production from utility bills provided by our customer on 10/2. We will respond with the results once the analysis is complete. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 11, 2015/11/19) */
Final Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2015/11/29) */
We are actively working with our customer to find a resolution. We most recently spoke with our customer on 11/12 and will reach out again shortly to discuss progress made thus far. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.

We apologize for the frustrating circumstance surrounding our customer’s experience. A Customer Relations Manager has been working with the customer to address this complaint, and will continue to follow-up with the customer. Please don't hesitate to contact our team at 888-765-2489 with further...

inquiries.