Run from Signature Solar!!!

[Tomthumb62]

You should try email next time. Answering phone calls is human resource expensive.

@chadwick20021 -

Having read about Signature Solar for years now, but never having had placed an order with them, here is what I would say to someone considering buying from them:

SS has great selection and prices. They might drop the ball on you though, so if need top level customer service or if you expect technical support, buy elsewhere. Sometimes they come through in customer service, after having dropped the ball. They don’t seem malicious, perhaps poorly organized or managed. They’re in a very competitive market and it’s stressful on them to remain competitive. Most people end up buying from them because the inventory is there and the price is right. SS is one of the biggest names in solar that’s willing to sell to the DIY crowd and being the biggest isn’t easy to stay that way.

Being that big, you don’t hear about the happy customers just the disgruntled ones. If they weren’t doing something right, they wouldn’t still be in business.

Having owned a small business for over 20 years, and being really small, I have learned and watched other businesses grow. Growth can be good or bad. If a business grows faster than they can HEALTHFULLY service their customers and employees, they will struggle and get some bad reviews for when they drop the ball. How they respond is what really matters. I have seen them come into this forum and try to do the right thing, that’s impressed me. This forum can be really harsh on vendors but SS seems to do well here overall (I’ll likely get some flame for that comment.)

So I think SS is a great company to buy from, as long as the ability to buy it NOW and pay a lower price (or same price but hey they’re a bigger company so it must be safer right?!) is worth the risk of having the sale or customer support not go to your liking.

Which includes the company choosing to not pay for employees to work on the phone, because they can make 1-4 calls per hour or reply to 25 emails per hour. Cheaper that way and it reflects the price you paid.

 

[rodrick]

Looks like everyone can retreat to their corners and wait for the next Signature Solar dogpile thread.

Nope looks like we can keep going as it stands looks like ss scr..d the pooch in the pile

I just feel sorry for poor Jess being a new cast member in this soap opera she probley thinking what did I get myself into

 

[millsan1]

Are you saying that when a vendor ships after credit card approval, and later card is found to have been stolen, the credit card company sticks it to the vendor?

Is there some process you're supposed to do that protects you? Make those CC (the other ones) companies earn their 2% ~ 3%

Yes this is the case. Even if they approve the transaction. If the charge is fraudulent, the vendor eats it.

I had a guy try that on me when I owned a paintball field. Luckily, we got his license when he rented from us the previous week. I went to his house and got the $1500 in merchandise he tried to stick me for.

 

[millsan1]

Fwiw, I've spent well north of $40k with SS this year, over multiple orders, and haven't had a problem yet. Customer service and support has been very good

 

[exmarkretired]

In their defense the one order did go smoothly and shipped smoothly. Just have had problems with their sales promos...and now a possible warranty issue... My schedule is erratic and if someone has a number or way to actually talk to a person.

Looks like everyone can retreat to their corners and wait for the next Signature Solar dogpile thread.

I am having difficulty right now trying to resolve an issue with SS. Yes I can defend myself. If they attack me instead of helping me.

Nope looks like we can keep going as it stands looks like ss scr..d the pooch in the pile

I just feel sorry for poor Jess being a new cast member in this soap opera she probley think what did I get myself into

Jess is probably ecstatic or should be.... Think of the job security.....

.How does one reach Jess?? Is she real, someone asked if she was an AI bot. She is unavailable according to the polite gentleman who answered the phone. He then became awkward as to where she was... He did not know her extension either. However Jess is posting on this forum...She (the bot ?) replies to emails generically. Then "Jess" replied to an email she wrote me saying she has no extension...

@chadwick20021 -

Having read about Signature Solar for years now, but never having had placed an order with them, here is what I would say to someone considering buying from them:

SS has great selection and prices. They might drop the ball on you though, so if need top level customer service or if you expect technical support, buy elsewhere. Sometimes they come through in customer service, after having dropped the ball. They don’t seem malicious, perhaps poorly organized or managed. They’re in a very competitive market and it’s stressful on them to remain competitive. Most people end up buying from them because the inventory is there and the price is right. SS is one of the biggest names in solar that’s willing to sell to the DIY crowd and being the biggest isn’t easy to stay that way.

Being that big, you don’t hear about the happy customers just the disgruntled ones. If they weren’t doing something right, they wouldn’t still be in business.

Having owned a small business for over 20 years, and being really small, I have learned and watched other businesses grow. Growth can be good or bad. If a business grows faster than they can HEALTHFULLY service their customers and employees, they will struggle and get some bad reviews for when they drop the ball. How they respond is what really matters. I have seen them come into this forum and try to do the right thing, that’s impressed me. This forum can be really harsh on vendors but SS seems to do well here overall (I’ll likely get some flame for that comment.)

So I think SS is a great company to buy from, as long as the ability to buy it NOW and pay a lower price (or same price but hey they’re a bigger company so it must be safer right?!) is worth the risk of having the sale or customer support not go to your liking.

Which includes the company choosing to not pay for employees to work on the phone, because they can make 1-4 calls per hour or reply to 25 emails per hour. Cheaper that way and it reflects the price you paid.

Appreciate the read. Well written/said. I just want to talk to someone, besides sales. Yes that's the only way I have actually talked to a person. Each and every time. Sales will answer after being disconnected from customer service etc. They remind me of a used car dealer and this forum is like calling the BBB or your states Dept of Consumer Protection....

I feel for the OP, but maybe he got lucky. The low price means nothing if the product does not perform as advertised.....

This is a DIY forum, causes me to pause, when I hear a vendor bashing a customer.

I value this forum and its members. If Will doesn't charge the vendors I would hope he would vet them better. I do remember watching a review he did and he mentions the negative feedback, but it seemed like a gloss over. I know people complain louder than they praise. It was said here before SS will take care of you but only after you publicly shame them. Why does it have to be that way ???

 

[robby]

Yes this is the case. Even if they approve the transaction. If the charge is fraudulent, the vendor eats it.

Not always, it really depends on several factors.
Online stores are probably a lot more problematic than retail outlets.

 

[Tomthumb62]

In their defense the one order did go smoothly and shipped smoothly. Just have had problems with their sales promos...and now a possible warranty issue... My schedule is erratic and if someone has a number or way to actually talk to a person.

I am having difficulty right now trying to resolve an issue with SS. Yes I can defend myself. If they attack me instead of helping me.


Jess is probably ecstatic or should be.... Think of the job security.....

.How does one reach Jess?? Is she real, someone asked if she was an AI bot. She is unavailable according to the polite gentleman who answered the phone. He then became awkward as to where she was... He did not know her extension either. However Jess is posting on this forum...She (the bot ?) replies to emails generically. Then "Jess" replied to an email she wrote me saying she has no extension...


Appreciate the read. Well written/said. I just want to talk to someone, besides sales. Yes that's the only way I have actually talked to a person. Each and every time. Sales will answer after being disconnected from customer service etc. They remind me of a used car dealer and this forum is like calling the BBB or your states Dept of Consumer Protection....

I feel for the OP, but maybe he got lucky. The low price means nothing if the product does not perform as advertised.....

This is a DIY forum, causes me to pause, when I hear a vendor bashing a customer.

I value this forum and its members. If Will doesn't charge the vendors I would hope he would vet them better. I do remember watching a review he did and he mentions the negative feedback, but it seemed like a gloss over. I know people complain louder than they praise. It was said here before SS will take care of you but only after you publicly shame them. Why does it have to be that way ???

My take is SS isn’t managed by serious professional customer service people. It appears to be managed by sales people. Because any business that has no sales or not enough sales will have no money to pay their customer service staff.

But sales is the easy part. There’s a reason why many solar companies do not want to sell to the DIY crowd. We’re so fucking needy and expect to be treated nicely and all that shit. I mean if you sell wholesale, you deal with 5-20 customers and each sale is $500,000 to $50,000,000. None of this piddly $1500-$75,000 shit.

If you have a problem with a $12.5m order, then you fix the damn thing ASAP. But when you’re trying to service 10,000 customers, fuuuuck that can suck your soul out if you’re not setup to handle it.

From what I can tell, SS is handling it so so, but they could do way better. My guess is they’d need to raise their prices to support not dropping the ball so much.

Maybe if someone were to start a competitor who is priced to support their customers very well. Hmmm, someone like Current Connected? @HighTechLab

 

[Tulex]

My take is SS isn’t managed by serious professional customer service people. It appears to be managed by sales people. Because any business that has no sales or not enough sales will have no money to pay their customer service staff.

But sales is the easy part. There’s a reason why many solar companies do not want to sell to the DIY crowd. We’re so fucking needy and expect to be treated nicely and all that shit. I mean if you sell wholesale, you deal with 5-20 customers and each sale is $500,000 to $50,000,000. None of this piddly $1500-$75,000 shit.

If you have a problem with a $12.5m order, then you fix the damn thing ASAP. But when you’re trying to service 10,000 customers, fuuuuck that can suck your soul out if you’re not setup to handle it.

From what I can tell, SS is handling it so so, but they could do way better. My guess is they’d need to raise their prices to support not dropping the ball so much.

Maybe if someone were to start a competitor who is priced to support their customers very well. Hmmm, someone like Current Connected? @HighTechLab

I think when you grow at too quick a pace, you use anyone available to try to solve issues. It's not always the best option, but often can have positive results. This should always be a short term fix though. At some point, you have to believe your growth and hire the proper personnel.

 

[exmarkretired]

@SignatureSolarJess

"She" knows I have replied asking for a real person....

I think her ENTIRE job is damage control.....or traffic control ?

Think about that, why create a position just to fix online complaints that are not being handled by their customer service department ???

Hopefully she can forward me a number to call that will yield a person to correct this.

At this point I am past disputing with my credit card. Would someone recommend the best to way warranty an EG4 outside of SS ?

 

[Tomthumb62]

I think when you grow at too quick a pace, you use anyone available to try to solve issues. It's not always the best option, but often can have positive results. This should always be a short term fix though. At some point, you have to believe your growth and hire the proper personnel.

Like I said, I’ve owned a small business for over 20 years. In general:

Customers over the age of 50 tend to prefer phone calls.

Those under the age of 35 tend to prefer anything BUT phone calls. Email is preferable or text. If you call these people, they will either think it’s so cool you called or they will act like you’ve seriously invaded their privacy, acting like “how’d you get this number?” Because they don’t even call their own family much anymore but text instead.

The over 50 crowd while they prefer phone calls, they will do texts but usually begrudgingly so. Email can go either way but usually will go really well if you call them first, “hey I’m going to send you an email so keep an eye out for it.”

If I call the under 35 crowd and tell them I’m going to email them, “uhhhh, ok.” Like just send me the email and don’t be calling me about it cuz I’m busy. Busy doing what? Nuttin, just busy doing…stuff.

lol

Over 40 years in customer service have taught me this stuff.

Sales is about how to get a customer to buy.

Service is about how to keep them happy.

A sale is a one and done.

Service can go on for years, without any further money exchanged.

We had a sales guy in the 70s who could do both. He treated our family like his own. We always went straight to him when we needed home appliances. If he tried to pawn us off to one of his underlings, we would wait until he was available. He treated us like such good family that we never wanted to go elsewhere, even when the price was cheaper somewhere else. Usually the cheaper price was only 15-25% cheaper. No way we’d trade that for losing a guy who treated us as family.

No one really does that any more. I mean there ARE still small businesses that compete with online and big box stores, but they take special staff who know what good family is like and sadly those people are harder to find.

 

[exmarkretired]

Like I said, I’ve owned a small business for over 20 years. In general:

Customers over the age of 50 tend to prefer phone calls.

Those under the age of 35 tend to prefer anything BUT phone calls. Email is preferable or text. If you call these people, they will either think it’s so cool you called or they will act like you’ve seriously invaded their privacy, acting like “how’d you get this number?” Because they don’t even call their own family much anymore but text instead.

The over 50 crowd while they prefer phone calls, they will do texts but usually begrudgingly so. Email can go either way but usually will go really well if you call them first, “hey I’m going to send you an email so keep an eye out for it.”

If I call the under 35 crowd and tell them I’m going to email me, “uhhhh, ok.” Like just send me the email and don’t be calling me about it cuz I’m busy. Busy doing what? Nuttin, just busy doing…stuff.

lol

Over 40 years in customer service have taught me this stuff.

Sales is about how to get a customer to buy.

Service is about how to keep them happy.

A sale is a one and done.

Service can go on for years, without any further money exchanged.

We had a sales guy in the 70s who could do both. He treated our family like his own. We always went straight to him when we needed home appliances. If he tried to pawn us off to one of his underlings, we would wait until he was available. He treated us like such good family that we never wanted to go elsewhere, even when the price was cheaper somewhere else. Usually the cheaper price was only 15-25% cheaper. No way we’d trade that for losing a guy who treated us as family.

No one really does that any more. I mean there ARE still small businesses that compete with online and big box stores, but they take special staff who know what good family is like and sadly those people are harder to find.

Agreed.

My guess is Jess is a real person. Her avatar image shows a beautiful young lady. Some of the posts here, from men, have ogled and basically cat called her.

Haven’t these guys seen the Barbie movie yet??

So this forum is hostile to her as a woman. Maybe not all of us are hostile, but for many women who feel threatened every single day, it just takes one rotten apple to ruin it.

I think Jess has handled things very well in this forum, from what I have seen. I have witnessed her directly deal with an unhappy customer and he was happy after she helped him solve the issue. It seems his ticket (do they even have a trouble ticket system??) got lost in the shuffle. Posting here brought it to their attention more effectively like is common with social media. Should it have to be that way? Nope, but it works.

That said, if I were Jess I would not want to be an easy person to contact. She’s a target for creeps. No one wants dick pics sent to their email or creeps calling, “Hey it’s me again Margaret (Jess)” ala Ray Stevens.

My wife has spent years helping me realize the stress, danger and disrespect many women face from men daily. From not only strangers or customers, but friends, family and spouses.

Seriously, I had not originally intended to watch the movie “Barbie” but glad I did. It’s not what I thought.

So why put “Jess” into such a vulnerable position? Well, men are shallow, at least until you break the crust. Most DIY solar customers are men and a pretty woman is good for damage control. Some women have the tough skin for that role but even those ones still struggle with being treated like a sex object when they don’t want that kind of attention.

So what to do as a man who swoons at the sight of a pretty lady? Some tips that have helped me: don’t go off topic, keep it to business; look at their eyes and face but don’t stare; if they wear revealing clothes, the first look is your dick talking, the second look is on purpose (look away or at their face)

Agreed, I wanted to correct that wording. As I feared it could be misread. I have spent years (professionally) sticking up for those who can not defend themselves. I am sorry your wife had to experience that. I have had women grope me at work. Another SHallow co worker used to wear low cut scrubs and lean over my desk so I could see her pierced naval. SO, I can say I know how it feels. Not all men or women are shallow though. I actually have been complimented and had women request to work with me as I worked with them and only worked with them, and at times had female supervisors. Some men have a serious problem with a female supervisor.... There also are the ones who take advantage of the looks.(aka the "Barbie" who gets every "shallow man" around her to do her job for her) or need backup because their mouth got them into trouble...So it can go either way. I guess it's the Ol one bad apple story..

Perhaps I will watch the actual movie if the opportunity presents....

By awkward. My bovine excrement parameter went full tilt, by the way the gentleman reacted. She was actively in the forums posting and didn't reply to my email. Then I would like to believe she left for the day. Instead of she is an AI bot. Versus my gut which screamed. " oh crud she isn't here what do I tell the customer ?" Then the response of I don't have an extension....

With that said. She emailed me and I was just replying. I could care less what she looks like or sounds like. So I would rather not comment or think it is even a factor for this discussion. If she could have resolved my problems... Which by the sounds of it, she will not. She is just information gathering ? Placating ? Hopefully she directs me to the appropriate person (gender neutral LOL)

Yes I am over 50 so maybe I am of the "phone call" era. I was recently insulted and called a Boomer, so there is that ???

At the end of the day I do not care what pronoun Jess or what ever number I am provided with that yields some response from customer service .

At this point I have a 700 $ boat anchor that is boxed up ready to go.....

Edit Thank you for replying. I do appreciate this forum, the knowledge shared, and the sentiments. Nice to see there are nice people here...The advice and knowledge are welcomed.

 

[Brucey]

My take is SS isn’t managed by serious professional customer service people. It appears to be managed by sales people. Because any business that has no sales or not enough sales will have no money to pay their customer service staff.

But sales is the easy part. There’s a reason why many solar companies do not want to sell to the DIY crowd. We’re so fucking needy and expect to be treated nicely and all that shit. I mean if you sell wholesale, you deal with 5-20 customers and each sale is $500,000 to $50,000,000. None of this piddly $1500-$75,000 shit.

If you have a problem with a $12.5m order, then you fix the damn thing ASAP. But when you’re trying to service 10,000 customers, fuuuuck that can suck your soul out if you’re not setup to handle it.

From what I can tell, SS is handling it so so, but they could do way better. My guess is they’d need to raise their prices to support not dropping the ball so much.

Maybe if someone were to start a competitor who is priced to support their customers very well. Hmmm, someone like Current Connected? @HighTechLab

Now that you can buy EG4 stuff via Current Connected, there's other options out there with a reputation for excellent post sales customer service. Might cost a few bucks more because they aren't as aggressive with free/discounted shipping but then they are there if you need them for support.

 

[42OhmsPA]

I guess I need to revise my 9s's.
Reposting from another thread, still relevant.

Sorry you're having issues. This unfortunately is the same thing over and over. Hope you get your items quickly to make optimal use of the sunshine.

The 9S's of SS... super slow shipping solar stuff, sadly sales surpass service.

 

[Texas-Mark]

If i was sent an email requesting information... unless i was on the computer when it came in... it would go unanswered...

Phone call or text is the only way customer service should be communicated...

Seriously? As a business you you would ignore emails?

While a phone call may have it's place, I prefer email as it has a "paper trail" of exactly what was communicated, rather than a "he said, she said".

 

[Texas-Mark]

Being that big, you don’t hear about the happy customers just the disgruntled ones. If they weren’t doing something right, they wouldn’t still be in business.

This ^^^^^^

I see the same thing on other forums where certain companies are bashed because of some sort of issues (often caused by the customer) that probably a very small percentage overall have. But as you said, people rarely talk about when things go right.

I have not ordered from SS as of yet, but despite some of the things I have read here, I would probably not let it stop me, because I know the odds are in my favor that I won't have a problem.

As for this issue, I don't think the OPer is without blame. IMO any credit limit issues should have been taken care of before even attempting to place the order (not while on the phone while trying to place it). And it appears that SS did try to communicate before canceling the order.

 

[Mattb4]

...

As for this issue, I don't think the OPer is without blame. IMO any credit limit issues should have been taken care of before even attempting to place the order (not while on the phone while trying to place it). And it appears that SS did try to communicate before canceling the order.

I agree. Not only did he get his nose bent out of shape over rather standard miscommunication over ordering he had to escalate it to whining about it. Suck it up Buttercup and move on.

Through the last year or so I have read of some real issues between SS and customers. I don't see this as one of them.

Happy Holidays everyone. May the sun ever shine upon you.

 

[Q-Dog]

My guess is Jess is a real person. Her avatar image shows a beautiful young lady. Some of the posts here, from men, have ogled and basically cat called her.

Haven’t these guys seen the Barbie movie yet??

So this forum is hostile to her as a woman. Maybe not all of us are hostile, but for many women who feel threatened every single day, it just takes one rotten apple to ruin it.

I think Jess has handled things very well in this forum, from what I have seen. I have witnessed her directly deal with an unhappy customer and he was happy after she helped him solve the issue. It seems his ticket (do they even have a trouble ticket system??) got lost in the shuffle. Posting here brought it to their attention more effectively like is common with social media. Should it have to be that way? Nope, but it works.

That said, if I were Jess I would not want to be an easy person to contact. She’s a target for creeps. No one wants dick pics sent to their email or creeps calling, “Hey it’s me again Margaret (Jess)” ala Ray Stevens.

My wife has spent years helping me realize the stress, danger and disrespect many women face from men daily. From not only strangers or customers, but friends, family and spouses.

Seriously, I had not originally intended to watch the movie “Barbie” but glad I did. It’s not what I thought.

So why put “Jess” into such a vulnerable position? Well, men are shallow, at least until you break the crust. Most DIY solar customers are men and a pretty woman is good for damage control. Some women have the tough skin for that role but even those ones still struggle with being treated like a sex object when they don’t want that kind of attention.

So what to do as a man who swoons at the sight of a pretty lady? Some tips that have helped me: don’t go off topic, keep it to business; look at their eyes and face but don’t stare; if they wear revealing clothes, the first look is your dick talking, the second look is on purpose (look away or at their face).

Of course one of these women could be your soul mate but 99.9% of the time they’re not, it’s just your dick talking, lol.

I hope you are seeing a therapist for all that guilt.

 

[Supervstech]

Seriously? As a business you you would ignore emails?

While a phone call may have it's place, I prefer email as it has a "paper trail" of exactly what was communicated, rather than a "he said, she said".

Yup.
I certanly use email, and need it for documents and such.
But, if it is the only method of communication, i will miss it.
I get thousands of emails daily... unless i am looking out for it, see it as it arrives, or actively search for it... i dont get it.

 

[Texas-Mark]

I get thousands of emails daily... unless i am looking out for it, see it as it arrives, or actively search for it... i dont get it.

So (as a business) you would rather get thousands of phone calls or texts daily?
An email may take a minute to compose or respond to. A phone call can easily drag out much longer. And as I said, their is no proof of what was said on a phone call (unless it's recorded). The OPer posted some call logs, but how do we know what was actually said during those calls?

 

[millsan1]

Not always, it really depends on several factors.
Online stores are probably a lot more problematic than retail outlets.

If there was no physical card present, and chip or stripe read, vendor is SOL.