Full Disclosure

[jberger]

Should @Will Prowse post a disclaimer on his videos of any affiliations, donations or at the very least post comments from his very own forum members regarding their experiences with the manufacturer/retailer of the equipment he is reviewing? Asking for a friend.

Will is probably the most honest and forthright guy I've found on YouTube, how can you watch the videos, and not see it?

He always goes out of his way to explain how he makes money, he setup his agreement and commission programs so he can be unbiased and freely offer his opinions. When he makes a mistake or get's it wrong, he admits it up front and without delay.
And he tells all of us what he's doing and why?

That kind of transparency is just unheard of in most circles and is WELL above the typical paid YouTube reviewer. I hope he continues to make a fortune doing it because we need that kind of leadership and honesty to keep the vendors in line.

@Will Prowse, keep doing what you're doing, and don't let this kind of crap drag you down.

 

[solarenvy]

I feel this deserves a cross post…

Post in thread 'EG4 18kPV - Information'
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/eg4-18kpv-information.61959/post-773512

 

[Tulex]

Oh man if you saw the forum donations and how much I pay out of pocket, you guys would be amazed. Might need to find time to do that. they are mixed in with my ebook royalties unfortunately but they are a joke compared to how much I pay for this forum.

The amount of time I spend managing this forum, and so do the other mods, and we don't get paid, and I am getting complaints like this? Are you kidding me? This is seriously starting to piss me off. I show you guys EVERYTHING I DO. and it's still not enough!!! How much more transparent can I be? It's ridiculous. Ask anyone who knows me personally. Accusations like this make my blood boil.

Will, I appreciate this forum, I appreciate the videos you do. But the concept that this forum is a cost burden for you is misleading. On the face, sure, but the fact is that it's a supporting tool for the income you make with all your other ventures. I can't imagine there is a way to put a financial amount on it, and I don't care, but it's there. Personally, I hope you make more money than you can spend. That way, I'm more likely to have access to all the great info that is available because of the people here and what you do.

It's understandable that people will question your objectivity when you get paid to review products, especially if a brand tends to get better reviews or more reviews than others. Doesn't mean the brand isn't worthy, just how people think. You posted in another thread that you are surprised that people get taken by scams. So why shouldn't people question your objectivity? I don't get the hostility, but I do get the thinking out loud.

 

[629658]

The funny thing is that this whole forum is almost half built by people who are doing solar on a budget, and what Signature Solar doesn't provide in customer service they more than make up for in lower costs.

Will made it plenty clear in the video - at several points - that if you want exceptional customer service you will likely want to pay more and avoid signature solar, and he made it just as clear that is you want to save 25% on your high end inverter and still get a lot of bang for your buck then you're going to have to accept reportedly poor customer service.

He is not a gatekeeper, and he's done a very good job of telling us what he's learned, the results of his tests, the feedback he's gotten from others, and then letting us make our own decisions based on what we value.

If you don't value signature solar, don't buy from them. Easy and simple as that. Done.

If you demand that your solar forums ban people or companies you believe should be banned, then this probably isn't the best forum for you. I'm sure you can find or found a forum that better meets your needs.

For my part, I want to hear the good, bad, and ugly, and you won't see that in a walled garden.

Are you implying that lower income buyers do not deserve the same level of support as the rest? Surely not!!

 

[629658]

Will here is my only issue with you and your forum. You have the podium and the megaphone. You cannot deny that SS has a history of not supporting its products. Despite that knowledge, your silence on this issue speaks volumes. Is it every man for himself after the sale?? You post review after review showcasing SS products knowing that many will buy these products because of your recommendation and are going to be left swinging in the wind. These people deserve better. As long as you tolerate it nothing at SS will change.

 

[ChillnGrill]

I for 1 have no problem with my pair of eg4 6500ex or my lifepower 4 batteries. I have had a few questions that required me to call SS. Every call has been answered or have received a call back within a half of an hour. I for 1 am excited about the new 18k. I just wish it came out 6 months sooner. Now I have to wait till I have more money to order one. I do think SS should make good on bad products. There is a lot of satisfied customer that you don't here from. I just think if you sell a lot of a product you will have some defects just like cars, trucks, stoves, refrigerators ect. I for one have not given up on SS. Keep being innovative.

 

[Crowz]

Will here is my only issue with you and your forum. You have the podium and the megaphone. You cannot deny that SS has a history of not supporting its products. Despite that knowledge, your silence on this issue speaks volumes. Is it every man for himself after the sale?? You post review after review showcasing SS products knowing that many will buy these products because of your recommendation and are going to be left swinging in the wind. These people deserve better. As long as you tolerate it nothing at SS will change.

Ive watched a good bit of his videos, not all of them but a good bit.

I like sungold. I bought sungold. His review of the ones I watched of sungold products wasn't favorable but that model had issues and they were legitimate issues. I didn't get mad or anything as it was informative.

As for SS stuff. He gave his honest opinion on the SS products. Good or bad.

The SS stuff your referring to is a problem a customer had or even other customers have had.

SS has openly handle those in the forum here with mixed results. But those results are real life playing out in front of us. Good or bad.

Will hasn't had problems with ordering from them. Why should he comment or deal with that? Same with myself on this. I have an opinion on how they handled their customer in this but I don't actually have a dog in this hunt

I voiced my concerns and opinions as others have too. The only thing I came away from it with was I think they should of paid for the guys gas since they were offering to cover travel expenses and lodging for 5 members with certain forum rep to visit their biz. If that was something they were willing to do then obviously it would of been ok to cover that customers cost in what is now being called the "van life" situation.

But why should Will get on his "podium" or get out his "megaphone" as you put it on a situation involving two parties he has no involvement with?

Will getting directly involved with this would no end well for anyone. There is no plus side. He already is providing a platform for them to hash it out as it is.

Also anytime two parties are involved in something you will NEVER know the FULL story since you were not really involved in it and if you take sides and find out later you picked the wrong side you might be able to rectify that in local real life stuff but on the internet....

Never....

 

[SolarShimmy]

Will here is my only issue with you and your forum. You have the podium and the megaphone. You cannot deny that SS has a history of not supporting its products. Despite that knowledge, your silence on this issue speaks volumes. Is it every man for himself after the sale?? You post review after review showcasing SS products knowing that many will buy these products because of your recommendation and are going to be left swinging in the wind. These people deserve better. As long as you tolerate it nothing at SS will change.

Will here is my only issue with you and your forum. You have the podium and the megaphone. You cannot deny that SS has a history of not supporting its products. Despite that knowledge, your silence on this issue speaks volumes. Is it every man for himself after the sale?? You post review after review showcasing SS products knowing that many will buy these products because of your recommendation and are going to be left swinging in the wind. These people deserve better. As long as you tolerate it nothing at SS will change.

You obviously haven't watched enough of Will's videos to make a valid case. Your mouthiness along with some untrue statements speaks volumes about you as a hater.

 

[JJJJ]

I purchased a batch of Solar Panels from SS a while back. The delivery went flawlessly. So far they perform better than expected.

I for one am one of the satisfied buyers.

Will allows buyers the freedom to choose their own vendor. I respect that. One can also utilize one of his links if they so choose.

There are a wide variety of vendors and products discussed on this forum. Again we have the right to choose.

 

[Will Prowse]

Will here is my only issue with you and your forum. You have the podium and the megaphone. You cannot deny that SS has a history of not supporting its products. Despite that knowledge, your silence on this issue speaks volumes. Is it every man for himself after the sale?? You post review after review showcasing SS products knowing that many will buy these products because of your recommendation and are going to be left swinging in the wind. These people deserve better. As long as you tolerate it nothing at SS will change.

Many of my recent videos were bashing their customer service and I gave multiple other options. I even said it in the 18K video like three times. How many times do I need to repeat myself in a video? And for all the bad reviews for signature solar, I get slammed with happy stories and system builds that worked great. I get slammed with complaints about every distributor every single day. And I mention them in every single one of my videos. At this point it is countless how many times I have done this in the videos. Sometimes the whole video is just me complaining about these companies. Did you see what I just posted about anker? Did you see what I posted about EcoFlow? Did you see all the videos I posted about the crowd funded projects or big battery products? Endless complaining from me. That is my job. And then I have affiliate links by every single distributor and I let people decide on their own. A big reason for this forum is so that people can disagree with me and other viewers and post evidence of further issues. That is the entire point of this platform. Seriously go over to the other solar forums and look around. And guess what, if the 18K does badly, I will sell more sol arks. The more competition, the better my business grows.

I think perhaps you should start your own solar equipment distribution business. Show them how it's done. I will make videos about all your products and I will test them, And show people the results. I will not sign any contract just like everyone else. I will treat you just like all the other distributors.

 

[Will Prowse]

I purchased a batch of Solar Panels from SS a while back. The delivery went flawlessly. So far they perform better than expected.

I for one am one of the satisfied buyers.

Will allows buyers the freedom to choose their own vendor. I respect that. One can also utilize one of his links if they so choose.

There are a wide variety of vendors and products discussed on this forum. Again we have the right to choose.

Thank you. That is my goal. I want to have the information available, and people can decide what and who to buy from.

 

[629658]

Ive watched a good bit of his videos, not all of them but a good bit.

I like sungold. I bought sungold. His review of the ones I watched of sungold products wasn't favorable but that model had issues and they were legitimate issues. I didn't get mad or anything as it was informative.

As for SS stuff. He gave his honest opinion on the SS products. Good or bad.

The SS stuff your referring to is a problem a customer had or even other customers have had.

SS has openly handle those in the forum here with mixed results. But those results are real life playing out in front of us. Good or bad.

Will hasn't had problems with ordering from them. Why should he comment or deal with that? Same with myself on this. I have an opinion on how they handled their customer in this but I don't actually have a dog in this hunt

I voiced my concerns and opinions as others have too. The only thing I came away from it with was I think they should of paid for the guys gas since they were offering to cover travel expenses and lodging for 5 members with certain forum rep to visit their biz. If that was something they were willing to do then obviously it would of been ok to cover that customers cost in what is now being called the "van life" situation.

But why should Will get on his "podium" or get out his "megaphone" as you put it on a situation involving two parties he has no involvement with?

Will getting directly involved with this would no end well for anyone. There is no plus side. He already is providing a platform for them to hash it out as it is.

Also anytime two parties are involved in something you will NEVER know the FULL story since you were not really involved in it and if you take sides and find out later you picked the wrong side you might be able to rectify that in local real life stuff but on the internet....

Never....

Man just do a forum search for SS support problems. It’s WAY more than a couple

 

[SamDeleted]

The amount of time I spend managing this forum, and so do the other mods, and we don't get paid, and I am getting complaints like this? Are you kidding me? This is seriously starting to piss me off. I show you guys EVERYTHING I DO. and it's still not enough!!! How much more transparent can I be? It's ridiculous. Ask anyone who knows me personally. Accusations like this make my blood boil.

You've got to balance the good against the bad

It's amazing the amount of praise you get here, you are very well thought after in the community.

A lot of people appreciate your efforts - me included!

Honestly I think you might be taking this a little too seriously !

 

[ChillnGrill]

Many of my recent videos were bashing their customer service and I gave multiple other options. I even said it in the 18K video like three times. How many times do I need to repeat myself in a video? And for all the bad reviews for signature solar, I get slammed with happy stories and system builds that worked great. I get slammed with complaints about every distributor every single day. And I mention them in every single one of my videos. At this point it is countless how many times I have done this in the videos. Sometimes the whole video is just me complaining about these companies. Did you see what I just posted about anker? Did you see what I posted about EcoFlow? Did you see all the videos I posted about the crowd funded projects or big battery products? Endless complaining from me. That is my job. And then I have affiliate links by every single distributor and I let people decide on their own. A big reason for this forum is so that people can disagree with me and other viewers and post evidence of further issues. That is the entire point of this platform. Seriously go over to the other solar forums and look around. And guess what, if the 18K does badly, I will sell more sol arks. The more competition, the better my business grows.

I think perhaps you should start your own solar equipment distribution business. Show them how it's done. I will make videos about all your products and I will test them, And show people the results. I will not sign any contract just like everyone else. I will treat you just like all the other distributors.

I don’t think you should have to explain yourself. Those of us here are because of you and what you do. Haters will hate

 

[Johno1066]

Not everuone is unhappy with the service from SS, I have purchased 6 batteries and 2 inverters and installed them without a problem. Months later I was not happy with one of the batteries and emailed SS with my complaints, an email was returned the next day informing me on a method of solving this problem. Did what they said and problem solved. I would also comment that Willvideos deals with the products of certain retailers maybe someone else does videos on retailers business practices.

 

[DIYrich]

This video shows how I make money.

I have about 30 affiliate programs I am part of. They all make money every single day. I bash on every single product I possibly can, and I make that very obvious. I make more money finding problems. Because then I can recommend other products.

Do you have a page where I can find them all?

Any affiliation with 18650battery?

 

[Will Prowse]

I’ve watched many and I still am unclear of if you’re being paid for reviews or not. What I really want to know is how do you justify the actions or lack thereof of Signature Solar toward your very own members of this forum but still recommend their products? I mean it’s your forum you see much more than I do. You see story after story day after day of SS dropping the ball on support after the sale. They say “they just fell through the cracks” like it is some rare occurrence but it’s not a rare occurrence. Aren’t you concerned about how these people, the ones that made you “famous” are being treated by a company you “may” represent but at least review their products? It’s it worth a mention In you videos that many of your members report problem with support after the sale? Isn’t that as important as specs and performance? Shouldn’t that also be a consideration before purchase?

From my side of the fence it appears you do a glowing review and then do your best to make sure any criticism ends up on the back page in fine print.

Tell it all and let the cards fall where they may. Perhaps a little conversation about service after the sale might make the difference and SS would do a better job.

They are selling 10x the volume of my other distributors, I am expecting 10x the complaints. Trophy has the best rated customer service around, but it's just one guy really. Compare that to 200 people at signature solar.

And I am mentioning it from my podium every single day. How many more videos do I need to share of me complaining about it. And obviously it has to affect sales for signature Solar. But guess what, people are still buying with them because most people are absolutely satisfied by them. That is up to the consumer to decide. I even explained this in greater length in my recent video. I said, if you don't want to risk the customer service and support why not get a sol ark. And guess what, I'll make more money if they do! Do you not understand how affiliate links work? The larger the sale price the larger the commission. Currently I'm trying to find a competitor for signature Solar. Someone that can offer the same prices but with better customer support.

 

[JJJJ]

Healthy competition is a win win for both provider and customer

 

[Will Prowse]

Do you have a page where I can find them all?

Any affiliation with 18650battery?

If I made a video about them, I work with their affiliate program. If I can't work with them direct, I find a distributor that sells the same equipment that has an affiliate program. I have about three pages of affiliate programs on goaffpro. I have like another seven on shareasale.

No I have not worked with that company before. I need to. That's on the list actually. People are not into raw cell systems anymore unfortunately.

I also try to figure out what people want in the future. I'm always trying to figure out which product I can make videos on for affiliate commission revenue. Especially new products that have software issues but everyone's excited about. I get just as excited as everybody else and then it turns out to be garbage, then I make my video and then I don't make any money.

Understand that I've wasted many many weeks trying to make products work they were complete trash. I made the video and the company was mad but guess what, They should have done a better job. Everything I do is on camera so you can see the evidence for yourself. It is up to you to decide who to purchase from. Not me.

 

[Will Prowse]

Healthy competition is a win win for both provider and customer

Absolutely. Everyone wins from more competition.