SolarCity Corporation

Beware of SolarCity: They did not take responsibility for snow damage. What was supposed to save us money is now costing us money.

Facts:
1) Solar panels caused $5,790 in damage April, 2016 due to snow sliding off of them.
2) SolarCity took no responsibility (based solely on telephone conversations; they never came to inspect the damage).
3) Formal Warranty Claim submitted May, 2016 with no response.
4) SolarCity installed snow mitigation measures ("SnowGuard") June, 2016.

This experience was so different than when we were sold the system. Instead of being helpful and responsive, communication back to us was almost non-existent. If the snow mitigation measures had been installed in the first place this probably never would have happened. Even though they installed it because of this damage, they still claim no responsibility for it occurring.

SolarCity has...

reached out to the customer with the most recent being 06/01/** where there was a voicemail left  and an email sent, 05/24/** there was another voicemail along with an email sent to the customer, and on 05/20/** where we were unable to leave the customer a voice mail and sent an email. The customer has not responded to any of the messages left or responded to any emails. As of today's date the customer has been non-responsive in order to address their questions and concerns.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/14) */
We apologize for the frustrating circumstances regarding this customer's experience. A manager will be reaching out to coordinate this repair. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/15)...

*/
Things have gone from bad to worse. I was to be housed prior to starting of repairs. I was not. Solar sent workers to work on roof that are, clearly, not trained in this type of work. They started work pull roof off and failed to put plastic on ceiling to protect my belongings. They did not. I stopped the workers told them to put the plastic up. It took them 2 1/2 hours to do so. It all came down through out the night knocking things from shelves & breaking them. I could not sleep in the house because of dust & dirt due to astham. I spent the night in my vehicle. It been over 1 1/2 months since the damage. This should have been a priority & resolved immediately. This is unexceptable & has caused me a trip to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. High anxiety & stress.
Thank you for your response,
[redacted] L [redacted]
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/22) */
We have a local manager that has been in contact with the customer and is taking care of lodging until 7/24. We look forward to continuing work to resolve these concerns as quickly as possible and appreciate the customer's flexibility. Please reach out to XXX-XXX-XXXX with any questions.
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/07/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
On 7/21/15 my representative & I located many locations in the ceiling where the tung & cruve boards had the tung parts cut off to install the boards. This is not resolving the damage it is continuing the damage. They were not seated proper nor securely. I contacted Solar City and advised that the work could not be completed by the 24th. And that I would not have housing after the night of 7/23. Solar City has not responded after 24hrs, which is the norm for them. This has caused a great deal of stress and anxiety for me. For my own peace of mind I am forced to find my own housing. This is going on far too long. Since May 27th. 2015.

We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding our customer's experience. A manager will be reaching out to address these concerns shortly. For immediate assistance, please contact [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/26) */
We apologize for the frustrating circumstances regarding this customer's experience. SolarCity works diligently with LADWP to ensure interconnection of the system to the grid. Each region of the United States has a different way of processing...

solar-generated energy credits, and each utility company processes these differently. Because of this, we defer to our customers to request a change of billing as LADWP will not accept requests from SolarCity on behalf of our customer to change it. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
While it is reasonable for me to have to call LADWP to make the request, SolarCity never suggested doing so until after I discovered the option on my own more than a month after the system was turned on. You cannot reasonably expect customers to know about different kinds of metering. Thus, I believe you need to change your policy to inform customers of options and to reimburse me as you promised a 97% reduction in my bill.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/09/01) */
Our primary goal is to ensure proper expectations with our customers, and it is a part of our sales experience to inform the customer of all details of the project in a timely manner. A solar installation project does have many components and if the customer was not made aware of the billing practices of LADWP during the sales experience, we do sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with any further questions
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2015/09/02) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
The apology is accepted. Nonetheless, I did have some financial loss due to their not following what they state is part of their sales experience. They should also note that one of their solar experts to whom I spoke was quite rude about it not being their responsibility to inform customers of the benefit of switching billing to time of use. Thus, while I will not pursue this further, instead of telling people to go to SolarCity, which I would have gone out of my way to do, I will tell people to avoid them because of poor attitudes toward customer service.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I am happy that they are willing to not charge me for the removal, storage, and reinstallation of the panels but I still feel that they should be somewhat responsible for the actual roofing replacement as well... Everyone I speak to and how I feel as well is that Solar City was in such a rush to get as many solar panels installed on roofs in ** so they could get qualify for the Government grants to do so that they overlooked conditions of a lot of roofs and gave the green light to certain roofs that should have not Sincerely,[redacted]

We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding our customers' experience. A customer relations manager is already working with our customer. Please call 888-765-2489 with further questions.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/10/04) */
We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding this customer's experience. Ms. [redacted] has been speaking with our agent [redacted] who is actively assisting her with her queries. Our lease contracts are billed one month in advance as per...

the contract agreement. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/10/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They keep staying they Bill in advance, but a Bill printed on 9/11 received on 9/24 due 9/1 is not in advance.
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 19, 2015/11/20) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They have provided no resolution. I have not received any correspondence in reply to my email dated Oct 1st 2015. I still am not satisfied.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 21, 2015/11/25) */
A manager will reach out to discuss these concerns today. Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/05/14) */
Thank you for forwarding this valuable feedback. We apologize if our customer was not fully informed on what he was signing. We have followed up with our sales management team to ensure we are completely transparent with our potential...

customers. We are sending Mr. [redacted] a notice of cancellation. Please feel free to reach out to XXX-XXX-XXXX with further questions or concerns.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/05/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/03/15) */
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 XXX-XXX-XXXX.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/03/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
This response resolves nothing. It is only a delay. It does nothing to correct the issue.

A Customer Relations Manager is currently working on getting this customer concerns addressed. If you have any other questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to our Customer Care Team at [redacted].

We apologize for the frustrating circumstances surrounding our customer's experience.  A customer relations manager has reached out to speak with custom to address concerns.   Please call 888-765-2489 with further questions. Thank You.

A Customer Relations Manager will reach out shortly to address this concern with the customer. Please contact us with any questions at 888-765-2489.  Thank you.

A Customer Relations Manager is now holding a case for this customer. We spoke to the customer by phone today to try and address the customer’s concerns.

A customer relations manager replied to the customer today via email in regards to both the performance guarantee and the referral in questions. we are attempting to work with them in order to resolve their concerns. Unfortunately the party which the referral is for has yet to confirm the referral in order to provide the payment. After the customer brought to our attention the delay on the performance review we completed it and we are finalizing the results. If there are any further questions, please call 888-765-2489 thank you.

Complaint:...

[redacted]
 I am rejecting this response because: I have been trying to deal with their "customer relations" in the past with no resolution which is why I turned to the Revdex.com. None of these "customer relations" have done anything except to try and justify their fraudulant practices and cover up the lies we were told as an effort to get us to purchase solar panel from them. Everything I was told SolarCity has not stood behide. If I had been told the truth I NEVER WOULD HAVE PURCHASED SOLAR PANEL FROM SOLARCITY. I am not alone, I have talked with others that were mislead with lies as well and hopefully they too will be filing complaints with the Revdex.com and other agancies I have referred them to.Sincerely,[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
No one has contacted me just as before! Lack of communication. If they wanted to make this right they would reach out and that is what I expect with a proposal of what they will do to make things right.Sincerely,[redacted]

I have been with Solarcity customer for couple years now. Couple months into the PPA I realized that I was paying more for solar energy produced by the solar panels on my roof than what my electric company was charging me. I have talked to several people via phone and emails but they are not working with me to charge me a fair price. Also my system produces about 10% less electricity that was quoted to me on the PPA and yes they do refund me the money but they take a whole quarter in the the following year. I am prepaying for the electricity and I am paying higher price for solar. this is unfair. I would like to warn people about this.

We apologize for the frustrating circumstance surrounding our customer’s experience. A Customer Relations Manager will be reaching out again to the customer soon in an attempt to speak with them and discuss this matter further. Please call 888-765-2489 opt. 2 with further inquiries.

We apologize for the frustrations our customer is experiencing. SolarCity has reviewed all information and made an offer to the customer to compensate for estimated savings lost. This amount was $250 which would be equivalent to 4 months of lost savings that his solar system is estimated to give....

The customer has declined this offer , however we have offered it again and not taken the offer off the table. The customer made a counter offer of $450 which we advised him we were unable to compensate , In this situation there is no justification for this amount. Again SolarCity appreciates the feedback from the customer and is more than willing to compensate the customer for lost savings.