Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that arbitration is necessary Regards, [redacted] ***
Hello, We have been trying to work something out with this customer since the problem was first brought to our attention earlier this year This is a very difficult situation and it is understandable that the customer is upsetAfter purchasing a solar energy system, they were denied the benefit of this system for nearly a full year and as a result, incurred a full year’s worth of bills from SDGE These facts are not in dispute; what is in dispute, however, is who is at fault for this situation, namely: 1) who turned the system off; and 2) who is responsible for ensuring that the system is working properly Before addressing these two items, we would like to add some important facts about the repair work that was done in Spring When contacted by the customer at that time and notified by him that his system was not working properly, we dispatched a technician who inspected the solar array and found that (2) 230W Sunpower solar panels were broken by a rock thrown at them, presumably by some vandalsThe rock was still lying on the panels Normally, the warranty on the solar modules is provided by the manufacturer, in this case, [redacted] ***However, the warranty covers problems resulting in operation of the system, not physical damage resulting from fires, storms or vandalism (or any negligence by the owner for that matter)Normally such problems are covered by the customer’s homeowner insuranceThe customer was given a copy of this warranty at the time of sale However, as a favor to the customer, Stellar Solar requested a special exemption from the manufacturer, who agreed to replace the (2) broken modules at no cost to the customerThe replacement cost would have been at least $2,(@ $1,each +$labor) but this was done at no cost to the customer Returning to the issue of who turned his system off, we can see why the customer believes our repairman is at fault as the timing of the problem appears to be coincidentalHowever, there is really no proof that technician failed to turn the system back on; this theory is mainly circumstantial We believe it’s highly unlikely that our technician would fail to turn the system on for the following reasons: the whole purpose of his service call was to return the system to operation; after removing and replacing the broken panels, the next logical step is to turn the system back on to ensure it is working properlyThere is no reason to turn the system back off after this step; any suggestion that he did so is simply illogical In fact, we suggest that it’s far more likely that the same vandals that disabled the system with a broken rock also were responsible for turning the system off after watching our repairman work on the systemBoth the solar array and the system switches are fully accessible to anyone on premises, including other contractors or workers servicing his estate, such as landscapers, pool people, maids, etc.; these switches are not secured with a lock Therefore, we dispute the customer’s assertion that Stellar Solar is responsible for the non-operation of his system due to a repairman’s negligence As to the second point, about whose responsibility it is to ensure the system is working properly, we believe even the customer would agree this is not Stellar Solar’s responsibility, but rather, the system owner himself Stellar Solar has held its license since and in that time, numerous customers have noticed that their system is not operating properly and have contacted Stellar Solar for service – which we have provided in a timely fashionIn fact, this customer himself noticed that situation in Spring and contacted Stellar Solar for repairs Most customers notice a problem when they receive their monthly electric bill statement from SDG&E; when customers see the bill is much higher than normal, they realize there is a problem and they call us When we asked the customer why he did not notify us about the problem until an entire year had passed, he told us that he never received a monthly statement from SDG&EWhen we asked SDG&E’s Net Metering Department if they had for some reason stopped sending monthly statements to this or other customers, we were told this was not the case Therefore, we suggest it was the customer’s responsibility to notify Stellar Solar sooner that his system was not operating correctly so we could perform any needed repairs – just as we did for him previously in Spring Clearly, if the customer had done so, the damages resulting from non-operation of his system would be 1/10th the amount he is claiming – or less In addition, we offered to include wireless monitoring equipment at the time of the installation – which would also help the customer keep track of his system more easily -- but he declined due to the added cost We continue to look for ways to help mitigate this customer’s problemWe have once again offered to install wireless monitoring equipment and we have asked for a more reasonable sum of damages, such as one or two month’s worth of SDGE bills, which any other customer might have incurredHowever, to date, these efforts have not been productive --Stellar Solar
Hello, We are very surprised to read this information [redacted] of our staff has been trying from our side to reach this customer for over a week now and can document our repeated attemptsThe customer is very difficult to reach by phoneWe do not dispute that the conduit as installed is unsightly.We are ready to schedule a remedial visit with this customer as soon as we can reach him and are looking forward to connecting with him by phone or email or text I will be happy to update this response as soon as the work has been completedThank you-- [redacted]
During some of the rework (for city inspections), my installation conduits began to look like a plate of spaghetti, meaning not very orderly I spoke with [redacted] over the phone about this and he assured me numerous times that he would have a crew here to fix/make it look more aesthetic Three weeks have gone by and he does not return calls
Beware This is an updated reviewThe coordination and installation of my solar panels by Stellar was great However, upon completion of the installation I was notified by SunPower and their finance division, Mosaic, that my loan had closed with a rate and term higher than Stellar represented to me I was promised by Stellar that I would receive financing for years at 2.99% This was in writing and I have numerous correspondences with Stellar confirming the rate All proposals and projections were done using this term and rate Notwithstanding, once the installation was complete I received a statement from Mosaic that my financing was closed and that the rate was at years I immediately contacted both SunPower and Mosaic and they presented an agreement from Docusign which they claimed I signed showing the higher rate I showed them all of the documentation and emails about financing and while Stellar agreed that we had agreed to the lower term they could not figur
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ** ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
There was no offer in the responseHence, it appears we need to arbitrate this dispute
Regards,
*** ***
They said that they'd install SunPower panels within a month at my house and it's been more than months now and still no delivery dateThey replaced my Electrical Panel around a month ago and left the wall openstuccoThey originally blamed SDG&E saying that they needed to come over for a second time to give the OK and now they are blaming SunPower for the whole delayBy the way, I had and still am asking them for a delivery day to accomplish this job without any luckThey didn't even have the courtesy to answer my requests on providing for weeksI wonder, what kind of relation ship I can expect from this company for the next years that this relationship comes with it?
I paid for a new (NEW) hofor the NEW inverter and NEW panels I purchased
Their guys did not validate the wiring, did not replace the wiring, did not ensure all connections were good, did not verify the wiring would be good for new inverter
i.etheir guys did not do a GOOD install job
Then when their repair guy came out, he messed with the inverter l
and it has not reported right since; ask him DIRECTLYIf he says anything different he is lying I do not care what his notes say but yes, he said THAT box is now a wiring box only
FIX IT ..................I want it reporting as it was before he came and before it was found to have bad wires that were not originally replaced
They e-mailed me: "We can have our tech out there, to connect your inverter to your internet router at some point next weekHowever, this will consist of a service fee since an active internet connection to the inverter is the system own
During some of the rework (for city inspections), my installation conduits began to look like a plate of spaghetti, meaning not very orderly
I spoke with *** *** over the phone about this and he assured me numerous times that he would have a crew here to fix/make it look more aesthetic Three weeks have gone by and he does not return calls
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that arbitration is necessary.
Regards,
[redacted]
Hello,
We
have been trying to work something out with this customer since the problem was
first brought to our attention earlier this...
year. This is a very difficult situation and it is
understandable that the customer is upset. After purchasing a solar energy
system, they were denied the benefit of this system for nearly a full year and
as a result, incurred a full year’s worth of bills from SDGE.
These
facts are not in dispute; what is in dispute, however, is who is at fault for
this situation, namely: 1) who turned the system off; and 2) who is responsible
for ensuring that the system is working properly.
Before
addressing these two items, we would like to add some important facts about the
repair work that was done in Spring 2013. When contacted by the customer at
that time and notified by him that his system was not working properly, we
dispatched a technician who inspected the solar array and found that (2) 230W
Sunpower solar panels were broken by a rock thrown at them, presumably by some
vandals. The rock was still lying on the panels.
Normally,
the warranty on the solar modules is provided by the manufacturer, in this
case, [redacted]. However, the warranty covers problems resulting in normal
operation of the system, not physical damage resulting from fires, storms or
vandalism (or any negligence by the owner for that matter). Normally such
problems are covered by the customer’s homeowner insurance. The customer was
given a copy of this warranty at the time of sale.
However,
as a favor to the customer, Stellar Solar requested a special exemption from
the manufacturer, who agreed to replace the (2) broken modules at no cost to
the customer. The normal replacement cost would have been at least $2,600 (2 @
$1,150 each +$300 labor) but this was done at no cost to the customer.
Returning
to the issue of who turned his system off, we can see why the customer believes
our repairman is at fault as the timing of the problem appears to be
coincidental. However, there is really no proof that technician failed to turn
the system back on; this theory is mainly circumstantial.
We
believe it’s highly unlikely that our technician would fail to turn the system
on for the following reasons: the whole purpose of his service call was to
return the system to normal operation; after removing and replacing the broken
panels, the next logical step is to turn the system back on to ensure it is
working properly. There is no reason to turn the system back off after this
step; any suggestion that he did so is simply illogical.
In
fact, we suggest that it’s far more likely that the same vandals that disabled
the system with a broken rock also were responsible for turning the system off
after watching our repairman work on the system. Both the solar array and the
system switches are fully accessible to anyone on premises, including other
contractors or workers servicing his estate, such as landscapers, pool people,
maids, etc.; these switches are not secured with a lock.
Therefore,
we dispute the customer’s assertion that Stellar Solar is responsible for the
non-operation of his system due to a repairman’s negligence.
As
to the second point, about whose responsibility it is to ensure the system is
working properly, we believe even the customer would agree this is not Stellar
Solar’s responsibility, but rather, the system owner himself.
Stellar
Solar has held its license since 1998 and in that time, numerous customers have
noticed that their system is not operating properly and have contacted Stellar
Solar for service – which we have provided in a timely fashion. In fact, this
customer himself noticed that situation in Spring 2013 and contacted Stellar
Solar for repairs.
Most
customers notice a problem when they receive their monthly electric bill
statement from SDG&E; when customers see the bill is much higher than
normal, they realize there is a problem and they call us.
When
we asked the customer why he did not notify us about the problem until an
entire year had passed, he told us that he never received a monthly statement
from SDG&E. When we asked SDG&E’s Net Metering Department if they had
for some reason stopped sending monthly statements to this or other customers,
we were told this was not the case.
Therefore,
we suggest it was the customer’s responsibility to notify Stellar Solar sooner
that his system was not operating correctly so we could perform any needed
repairs – just as we did for him previously in Spring 2013.
Clearly,
if the customer had done so, the damages resulting from non-operation of his
system would be 1/10th the amount he is claiming – or less.
In
addition, we offered to include wireless monitoring equipment at the time of
the installation – which would also help the customer keep track of his system
more easily -- but he declined due to the added cost.
We
continue to look for ways to help mitigate this customer’s problem. We have
once again offered to install wireless monitoring equipment and we have asked
for a more reasonable sum of damages, such as one or two month’s worth of SDGE
bills, which any other customer might have incurred. However, to date, these efforts
have not been productive.
--Stellar Solar
Hello,
Our apologies for the delay in responding to this complaint; we did not see the initial notification until today.
Our understanding is that since this complaint was made, the customer's installation was successfully completed (Feb. 2), passed inspection...
from city of Chula Vista (Feb. 5) and received Permission to Operate (PTO) on Feb. 10. Please see SDG&E letter attached.
It is also my understanding that all adjustments/discounts, etc. have been made in closing out the final payment, which was not made until after the installation was completed.
As such, it is my understanding that all of the customer's requests have been completed at this time.
Thank you very much for reminding us of this outstanding complaint which we hope has now been resolved.
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Hello,
We are very surprised to read this information. [redacted] of our staff has been trying from our side to reach this customer for over a week now and can document our repeated attempts.
The customer is very difficult to reach by phone.
We...
do not dispute that the conduit as installed is unsightly.We are ready to schedule a remedial visit with this customer as soon as we can reach him and are looking forward to connecting with him by phone or email or text.
I will be happy to update this response as soon as the work has been completed.
Thank you.
--[redacted]
RevDex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference
to complaint [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would
not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed
appear below.
Stellar's
response claims that it is neither responsible for turning off the system nor
responsible for ensuring that the system was turned back on. Neither of these
assumptions are correct.
First, we
were explicitly instructed by Stellar when the system was installed to never
touch the system. We were told that the system would operate on its own and for
us to alter, touch or otherwise interact with the system was something we
should never do. Hence, we never touched the system.
Second,
Stellar's argument is that vandals somehow decided to break into our yard, not
steal or cause any other damage to our property, but only turn off our solar
system -- coincidently at the same time that Stellar's representative was
working on the system. That is more than unlikely, it is incredibly unlikely.
Most people would not even know how to turn the system off. It is simply
illogical to think that a vandal would randomly turn off the system and not do
something else more beneficial to the vandal (such as steal something). It is
also worth noting that the initial warranty work was not caused by some random
kids, but by Stellar's own admission, the damage was caused either by crows or
a faulty product. Either way, the solar panel company never thought it was
caused by kids, else they would not have provided replacement panels. Moreover,
that it has been seven months and no one has turned the solar system off again
shows that vandals had not turned the system off -- else they would have likely
done it again. Very few people know how to operate the system. The logical
conclusion is the representative from Stellar failed to turn it on after the
repair was concluded.
It is also
worthwhile to address the burden of proof here. One need only prove its civil
case with a preponderance of the evidence -- a party seeking civil justice is
not required to prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt." Given the
system was turned off at the same time that Stellar's representative made the
repair, that no "vandals" have turned off the system again, that no
other collateral damage was caused by these alleged "vandals," and
how few people would even know how to turn off the system, there is strong circumstantial
evidence the Stellar representative simply failed to turn the system back on
after making his repair.
Third, as
I noted, we only receive an electric bill once a year. Hence, it is not
surprising I did not notice the panels were off until December. A good analogy
is if someone were to start a fire in your barn in the middle of the night. The
law would not punish the homeowner for not noticing the fire and putting it out
as soon as it started -- the law would punish the party that caused the fire to
start, holding them responsible for all the damage they caused. Once Stellar's representative
failed to turn the system back on, Stellar is responsible for the foreseeable
damages caused by that action. It is certainly reasonable and foreseeable to
assume that given the electric bill is paid once a year, we would not notice
the error until the end of the year.
I
wholeheartedly agree that this is an unfortunate circumstance and nothing was
done intentionally by Stellar. In fact, I have been happy with the system in
general up until this point. But the fact is the only logical conclusion is
Stellar's representative made a mistake. It happens. But when it does, the
party making the mistake is responsible for the damages the mistake caused.
This is no different than failing to put your parking brake on in your car when
parked on a hill, and the car rolls down the hill causing damage. That it would
have been relatively simple to pull the parking brake does not diminish that
party's liability -- the same applies here.
I feel we
have been fair in our request, only seeking reimbursement of the extra electric
bills we incurred because the solar system was not turned back on. While I am
happy to keep an open dialogue with Stellar and discuss any reasonable offer
they present, in the meantime, we continue to seek the award requested in the
complaint.
Regards,
[redacted]
*
Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that arbitration is necessary Regards, [redacted] ***
Hello, We have been trying to work something out with this customer since the problem was first brought to our attention earlier this year This is a very difficult situation and it is understandable that the customer is upsetAfter purchasing a solar energy system, they were denied the benefit of this system for nearly a full year and as a result, incurred a full year’s worth of bills from SDGE These facts are not in dispute; what is in dispute, however, is who is at fault for this situation, namely: 1) who turned the system off; and 2) who is responsible for ensuring that the system is working properly Before addressing these two items, we would like to add some important facts about the repair work that was done in Spring When contacted by the customer at that time and notified by him that his system was not working properly, we dispatched a technician who inspected the solar array and found that (2) 230W Sunpower solar panels were broken by a rock thrown at them, presumably by some vandalsThe rock was still lying on the panels Normally, the warranty on the solar modules is provided by the manufacturer, in this case, [redacted] ***However, the warranty covers problems resulting in operation of the system, not physical damage resulting from fires, storms or vandalism (or any negligence by the owner for that matter)Normally such problems are covered by the customer’s homeowner insuranceThe customer was given a copy of this warranty at the time of sale However, as a favor to the customer, Stellar Solar requested a special exemption from the manufacturer, who agreed to replace the (2) broken modules at no cost to the customerThe replacement cost would have been at least $2,(@ $1,each +$labor) but this was done at no cost to the customer Returning to the issue of who turned his system off, we can see why the customer believes our repairman is at fault as the timing of the problem appears to be coincidentalHowever, there is really no proof that technician failed to turn the system back on; this theory is mainly circumstantial We believe it’s highly unlikely that our technician would fail to turn the system on for the following reasons: the whole purpose of his service call was to return the system to operation; after removing and replacing the broken panels, the next logical step is to turn the system back on to ensure it is working properlyThere is no reason to turn the system back off after this step; any suggestion that he did so is simply illogical In fact, we suggest that it’s far more likely that the same vandals that disabled the system with a broken rock also were responsible for turning the system off after watching our repairman work on the systemBoth the solar array and the system switches are fully accessible to anyone on premises, including other contractors or workers servicing his estate, such as landscapers, pool people, maids, etc.; these switches are not secured with a lock Therefore, we dispute the customer’s assertion that Stellar Solar is responsible for the non-operation of his system due to a repairman’s negligence As to the second point, about whose responsibility it is to ensure the system is working properly, we believe even the customer would agree this is not Stellar Solar’s responsibility, but rather, the system owner himself Stellar Solar has held its license since and in that time, numerous customers have noticed that their system is not operating properly and have contacted Stellar Solar for service – which we have provided in a timely fashionIn fact, this customer himself noticed that situation in Spring and contacted Stellar Solar for repairs Most customers notice a problem when they receive their monthly electric bill statement from SDG&E; when customers see the bill is much higher than normal, they realize there is a problem and they call us When we asked the customer why he did not notify us about the problem until an entire year had passed, he told us that he never received a monthly statement from SDG&EWhen we asked SDG&E’s Net Metering Department if they had for some reason stopped sending monthly statements to this or other customers, we were told this was not the case Therefore, we suggest it was the customer’s responsibility to notify Stellar Solar sooner that his system was not operating correctly so we could perform any needed repairs – just as we did for him previously in Spring Clearly, if the customer had done so, the damages resulting from non-operation of his system would be 1/10th the amount he is claiming – or less In addition, we offered to include wireless monitoring equipment at the time of the installation – which would also help the customer keep track of his system more easily -- but he declined due to the added cost We continue to look for ways to help mitigate this customer’s problemWe have once again offered to install wireless monitoring equipment and we have asked for a more reasonable sum of damages, such as one or two month’s worth of SDGE bills, which any other customer might have incurredHowever, to date, these efforts have not been productive --Stellar Solar
Hello, We are very surprised to read this information [redacted] of our staff has been trying from our side to reach this customer for over a week now and can document our repeated attemptsThe customer is very difficult to reach by phoneWe do not dispute that the conduit as installed is unsightly.We are ready to schedule a remedial visit with this customer as soon as we can reach him and are looking forward to connecting with him by phone or email or text I will be happy to update this response as soon as the work has been completedThank you-- [redacted]
During some of the rework (for city inspections), my installation conduits began to look like a plate of spaghetti, meaning not very orderly I spoke with [redacted] over the phone about this and he assured me numerous times that he would have a crew here to fix/make it look more aesthetic Three weeks have gone by and he does not return calls
Beware This is an updated reviewThe coordination and installation of my solar panels by Stellar was great However, upon completion of the installation I was notified by SunPower and their finance division, Mosaic, that my loan had closed with a rate and term higher than Stellar represented to me I was promised by Stellar that I would receive financing for years at 2.99% This was in writing and I have numerous correspondences with Stellar confirming the rate All proposals and projections were done using this term and rate Notwithstanding, once the installation was complete I received a statement from Mosaic that my financing was closed and that the rate was at years I immediately contacted both SunPower and Mosaic and they presented an agreement from Docusign which they claimed I signed showing the higher rate I showed them all of the documentation and emails about financing and while Stellar agreed that we had agreed to the lower term they could not figur
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ** ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
There was no offer in the responseHence, it appears we need to arbitrate this dispute
Regards,
*** ***
They said that they'd install SunPower panels within a month at my house and it's been more than months now and still no delivery dateThey replaced my Electrical Panel around a month ago and left the wall openstuccoThey originally blamed SDG&E saying that they needed to come over for a second time to give the OK and now they are blaming SunPower for the whole delayBy the way, I had and still am asking them for a delivery day to accomplish this job without any luckThey didn't even have the courtesy to answer my requests on providing for weeksI wonder, what kind of relation ship I can expect from this company for the next years that this relationship comes with it?
I paid for a new (NEW) hofor the NEW inverter and NEW panels I purchased
Their guys did not validate the wiring, did not replace the wiring, did not ensure all connections were good, did not verify the wiring would be good for new inverter
i.etheir guys did not do a GOOD install job
Then when their repair guy came out, he messed with the inverter l
and it has not reported right since; ask him DIRECTLYIf he says anything different he is lying I do not care what his notes say but yes, he said THAT box is now a wiring box only
FIX IT ..................I want it reporting as it was before he came and before it was found to have bad wires that were not originally replaced
They e-mailed me: "We can have our tech out there, to connect your inverter to your internet router at some point next weekHowever, this will consist of a service fee since an active internet connection to the inverter is the system own
During some of the rework (for city inspections), my installation conduits began to look like a plate of spaghetti, meaning not very orderly
I spoke with *** *** over the phone about this and he assured me numerous times that he would have a crew here to fix/make it look more aesthetic Three weeks have gone by and he does not return calls
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that arbitration is necessary.
Regards,
[redacted]
Hello,
We
have been trying to work something out with this customer since the problem was
first brought to our attention earlier this...
year. This is a very difficult situation and it is
understandable that the customer is upset. After purchasing a solar energy
system, they were denied the benefit of this system for nearly a full year and
as a result, incurred a full year’s worth of bills from SDGE.
These
facts are not in dispute; what is in dispute, however, is who is at fault for
this situation, namely: 1) who turned the system off; and 2) who is responsible
for ensuring that the system is working properly.
Before
addressing these two items, we would like to add some important facts about the
repair work that was done in Spring 2013. When contacted by the customer at
that time and notified by him that his system was not working properly, we
dispatched a technician who inspected the solar array and found that (2) 230W
Sunpower solar panels were broken by a rock thrown at them, presumably by some
vandals. The rock was still lying on the panels.
Normally,
the warranty on the solar modules is provided by the manufacturer, in this
case, [redacted]. However, the warranty covers problems resulting in normal
operation of the system, not physical damage resulting from fires, storms or
vandalism (or any negligence by the owner for that matter). Normally such
problems are covered by the customer’s homeowner insurance. The customer was
given a copy of this warranty at the time of sale.
However,
as a favor to the customer, Stellar Solar requested a special exemption from
the manufacturer, who agreed to replace the (2) broken modules at no cost to
the customer. The normal replacement cost would have been at least $2,600 (2 @
$1,150 each +$300 labor) but this was done at no cost to the customer.
Returning
to the issue of who turned his system off, we can see why the customer believes
our repairman is at fault as the timing of the problem appears to be
coincidental. However, there is really no proof that technician failed to turn
the system back on; this theory is mainly circumstantial.
We
believe it’s highly unlikely that our technician would fail to turn the system
on for the following reasons: the whole purpose of his service call was to
return the system to normal operation; after removing and replacing the broken
panels, the next logical step is to turn the system back on to ensure it is
working properly. There is no reason to turn the system back off after this
step; any suggestion that he did so is simply illogical.
In
fact, we suggest that it’s far more likely that the same vandals that disabled
the system with a broken rock also were responsible for turning the system off
after watching our repairman work on the system. Both the solar array and the
system switches are fully accessible to anyone on premises, including other
contractors or workers servicing his estate, such as landscapers, pool people,
maids, etc.; these switches are not secured with a lock.
Therefore,
we dispute the customer’s assertion that Stellar Solar is responsible for the
non-operation of his system due to a repairman’s negligence.
As
to the second point, about whose responsibility it is to ensure the system is
working properly, we believe even the customer would agree this is not Stellar
Solar’s responsibility, but rather, the system owner himself.
Stellar
Solar has held its license since 1998 and in that time, numerous customers have
noticed that their system is not operating properly and have contacted Stellar
Solar for service – which we have provided in a timely fashion. In fact, this
customer himself noticed that situation in Spring 2013 and contacted Stellar
Solar for repairs.
Most
customers notice a problem when they receive their monthly electric bill
statement from SDG&E; when customers see the bill is much higher than
normal, they realize there is a problem and they call us.
When
we asked the customer why he did not notify us about the problem until an
entire year had passed, he told us that he never received a monthly statement
from SDG&E. When we asked SDG&E’s Net Metering Department if they had
for some reason stopped sending monthly statements to this or other customers,
we were told this was not the case.
Therefore,
we suggest it was the customer’s responsibility to notify Stellar Solar sooner
that his system was not operating correctly so we could perform any needed
repairs – just as we did for him previously in Spring 2013.
Clearly,
if the customer had done so, the damages resulting from non-operation of his
system would be 1/10th the amount he is claiming – or less.
In
addition, we offered to include wireless monitoring equipment at the time of
the installation – which would also help the customer keep track of his system
more easily -- but he declined due to the added cost.
We
continue to look for ways to help mitigate this customer’s problem. We have
once again offered to install wireless monitoring equipment and we have asked
for a more reasonable sum of damages, such as one or two month’s worth of SDGE
bills, which any other customer might have incurred. However, to date, these efforts
have not been productive.
--Stellar Solar
Hello,
Our apologies for the delay in responding to this complaint; we did not see the initial notification until today.
Our understanding is that since this complaint was made, the customer's installation was successfully completed (Feb. 2), passed inspection...
from city of Chula Vista (Feb. 5) and received Permission to Operate (PTO) on Feb. 10. Please see SDG&E letter attached.
It is also my understanding that all adjustments/discounts, etc. have been made in closing out the final payment, which was not made until after the installation was completed.
As such, it is my understanding that all of the customer's requests have been completed at this time.
Thank you very much for reminding us of this outstanding complaint which we hope has now been resolved.
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
Hello,
We are very surprised to read this information. [redacted] of our staff has been trying from our side to reach this customer for over a week now and can document our repeated attempts.
The customer is very difficult to reach by phone.
We...
do not dispute that the conduit as installed is unsightly.We are ready to schedule a remedial visit with this customer as soon as we can reach him and are looking forward to connecting with him by phone or email or text.
I will be happy to update this response as soon as the work has been completed.
Thank you.
--[redacted]
RevDex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference
to complaint [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would
not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed
appear below.
Stellar's
response claims that it is neither responsible for turning off the system nor
responsible for ensuring that the system was turned back on. Neither of these
assumptions are correct.
First, we
were explicitly instructed by Stellar when the system was installed to never
touch the system. We were told that the system would operate on its own and for
us to alter, touch or otherwise interact with the system was something we
should never do. Hence, we never touched the system.
Second,
Stellar's argument is that vandals somehow decided to break into our yard, not
steal or cause any other damage to our property, but only turn off our solar
system -- coincidently at the same time that Stellar's representative was
working on the system. That is more than unlikely, it is incredibly unlikely.
Most people would not even know how to turn the system off. It is simply
illogical to think that a vandal would randomly turn off the system and not do
something else more beneficial to the vandal (such as steal something). It is
also worth noting that the initial warranty work was not caused by some random
kids, but by Stellar's own admission, the damage was caused either by crows or
a faulty product. Either way, the solar panel company never thought it was
caused by kids, else they would not have provided replacement panels. Moreover,
that it has been seven months and no one has turned the solar system off again
shows that vandals had not turned the system off -- else they would have likely
done it again. Very few people know how to operate the system. The logical
conclusion is the representative from Stellar failed to turn it on after the
repair was concluded.
It is also
worthwhile to address the burden of proof here. One need only prove its civil
case with a preponderance of the evidence -- a party seeking civil justice is
not required to prove its case "beyond a reasonable doubt." Given the
system was turned off at the same time that Stellar's representative made the
repair, that no "vandals" have turned off the system again, that no
other collateral damage was caused by these alleged "vandals," and
how few people would even know how to turn off the system, there is strong circumstantial
evidence the Stellar representative simply failed to turn the system back on
after making his repair.
Third, as
I noted, we only receive an electric bill once a year. Hence, it is not
surprising I did not notice the panels were off until December. A good analogy
is if someone were to start a fire in your barn in the middle of the night. The
law would not punish the homeowner for not noticing the fire and putting it out
as soon as it started -- the law would punish the party that caused the fire to
start, holding them responsible for all the damage they caused. Once Stellar's representative
failed to turn the system back on, Stellar is responsible for the foreseeable
damages caused by that action. It is certainly reasonable and foreseeable to
assume that given the electric bill is paid once a year, we would not notice
the error until the end of the year.
I
wholeheartedly agree that this is an unfortunate circumstance and nothing was
done intentionally by Stellar. In fact, I have been happy with the system in
general up until this point. But the fact is the only logical conclusion is
Stellar's representative made a mistake. It happens. But when it does, the
party making the mistake is responsible for the damages the mistake caused.
This is no different than failing to put your parking brake on in your car when
parked on a hill, and the car rolls down the hill causing damage. That it would
have been relatively simple to pull the parking brake does not diminish that
party's liability -- the same applies here.
I feel we
have been fair in our request, only seeking reimbursement of the extra electric
bills we incurred because the solar system was not turned back on. While I am
happy to keep an open dialogue with Stellar and discuss any reasonable offer
they present, in the meantime, we continue to seek the award requested in the
complaint.
Regards,
[redacted]
*