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Signature Solar Customer Service

Just found this thread about signature solar's crappy service after the sale. I Purchased about 10K of solar panels, 5 SPF5000 ES inverters, and other misc parts from them just this year alone. A week ago I sent a tech message on their website, and to this day not even one message back. I am having issues with comm on these units and hooking them up to solar assistant. Also in the few months in ordering the inverters (as I increased my solar plans) I now have inverters with 2 different comm boards and 2 different firmwares.

I also had to deal with signature solars damaged shipment of solar panels. You think they could spend $25 in wood to protect these things! I just purchased another $5k of panels from SanTan, they know how to put panels on a pallet and ship acrosss the country!
Would you mind DMing me your email address so I can look for your email? The oldest unanswered message in the tech inbox is from the Friday the 30th. Hoping your email didn't get lost. I will get you the assistance you need today if you send over that email address. If you have your order # available to send in the DM that would be even better.
 
Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.
 
Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.
This thread originated back in April. In the past few months we have changed our process in order to be more respectful of the customers needs as well as their time. Taking care of these issues as quickly and efficiently as possible is a commitment that we have made and intend to stand by going forward.
 
Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.

Cross-country TLC / p*rn:

 
You should show up at their location and engage in physical violence to show the internet not to mess with you.

Congrats on becoming an e-toughguy.
You are the one that went there. Internet has nothing to do with anything ?
I think some of you just like to argue.
I dont have time to please everyone or argue. So you must be right. You win. You missed my whole point.
It's pretty easy to ignore emails and phone calls. But when you have someone at your store demanding a refund or proper service it's more likely to get resolved.
These fly by night companies don't care.
Your probably on of them as well. ?
 
This thread originated back in April. In the past few months we have changed our process in order to be more respectful of the customers needs as well as their time. Taking care of these issues as quickly and efficiently as possible is a commitment that we have made and intend to stand by going forward.
Oh so in the past it didn't matter. Excellent. Well said. Lol ?
 
Oh so in the past it didn't matter. Excellent. Well said. Lol ?
There have been major changes in the way we handle these situations. We have different systems in place and we are much more respectful of the customers time with the new method. I'm not saying that because it's in the past that it doesn't matter. I'm saying that we acknowledge that there were struggles in the past and we have worked hard to get better. Threads like this are beneficial because they inspire change and help us reduce these types of issues.
 
Communication, is very important. Even if, it's only to say "we don't have an answer right now ".
I read through the very long thread about SS. I came to the conclusion that SS is very upfront - their business mission is to sell to DIY'rs cheaper than anyone else. They do that like any company would do - by cutting costs elsewhere. Hiring and training more customer service reps is probably where they cut those corners. I thought that their replies on that long thread were top notch customer service in general, except not to the liking of the OP of that thread (which I can understand why he was miffed, even if it was his own fault).

Now SS could hire very low-level "talking head" CSR's who could do nothing more than read from a script or give you a non-answer. Personally, I hate that kind of customer service. I LOVE Windy Nation for their customer service style - it's always from someone who actually knows their stuff and they're pretty quick to respond, but I highly doubt they sell at the level of volume and low price that SS does.

SS could also setup a bot-based CSR system, but those too are really lame, IMO. I have had one experience of one seller (it wasn't solar related) who used a bot-based help system that actually worked. By "worked", I mean it didn't annoy the crap outta me and degrade my opinion of the company.

I'm not in the market for the kinds of solar products SS sells (Renogy has my number - the RV/van crowd), but if I ever am, I'm going to keep SS at the top of my list, because it's clear they have the best price and their customer service matches that price, you just have to know what you're getting into, such as not buying the exact number of panels you need, but at least 1-2 extra for every 10 panels you buy and if you're impatient and expect Amazon-level customer service, then you shouldn't buy from SS, but buy from Amazon instead or another higher-priced retailer who can afford to offer premium CS, at a premium price in the products you buy.

This is like going to "Discount Mattress Warehouse" and expecting someone to load the mattress into your truck, or expect them to deliver it, set it up and take away the old one. If you want that level of service, then go to "Mattress Country USA" and pay through the nose for that level of service for the same quality of mattress.

That said, I suppose SS could instill better and more clear disclaimers on their online ordering site, such as when you press NEXT on your order, it takes you to a scary-looking page that tells you everything that YOU are taking responsibility for (such as ordering extra panels), that you have to click YES, sign your name and then solve a reCaptcha thingy before it will let you submit the order to make it easier and more clear for the people who don't like to read disclaimers on $15,000 orders.
 
I read through the very long thread about SS. I came to the conclusion that SS is very upfront - their business mission is to sell to DIY'rs cheaper than anyone else. They do that like any company would do - by cutting costs elsewhere. Hiring and training more customer service reps is probably where they cut those corners. I thought that their replies on that long thread were top notch customer service in general, except not to the liking of the OP of that thread (which I can understand why he was miffed, even if it was his own fault).

Now SS could hire very low-level "talking head" CSR's who could do nothing more than read from a script or give you a non-answer. Personally, I hate that kind of customer service. I LOVE Windy Nation for their customer service style - it's always from someone who actually knows their stuff and they're pretty quick to respond, but I highly doubt they sell at the level of volume and low price that SS does.

SS could also setup a bot-based CSR system, but those too are really lame, IMO. I have had one experience of one seller (it wasn't solar related) who used a bot-based help system that actually worked. By "worked", I mean it didn't annoy the crap outta me and degrade my opinion of the company.

I'm not in the market for the kinds of solar products SS sells (Renogy has my number - the RV/van crowd), but if I ever am, I'm going to keep SS at the top of my list, because it's clear they have the best price and their customer service matches that price, you just have to know what you're getting into, such as not buying the exact number of panels you need, but at least 1-2 extra for every 10 panels you buy and if you're impatient and expect Amazon-level customer service, then you shouldn't buy from SS, but buy from Amazon instead or another higher-priced retailer who can afford to offer premium CS, at a premium price in the products you buy.

This is like going to "Discount Mattress Warehouse" and expecting someone to load the mattress into your truck, or expect them to deliver it, set it up and take away the old one. If you want that level of service, then go to "Mattress Country USA" and pay through the nose for that level of service for the same quality of mattress.

That said, I suppose SS could instill better and more clear disclaimers on their online ordering site, such as when you press NEXT on your order, it takes you to a scary-looking page that tells you everything that YOU are taking responsibility for (such as ordering extra panels), that you have to click YES, sign your name and then solve a reCaptcha thingy before it will let you submit the order to make it easier and more clear for the people who don't like to read disclaimers on $15,000 orders.
I think that you replied to the wrong post. lol
 
I think that you replied to the wrong post. lol
I understand this is the official post I'm supposed to respond to, I need to file a formal complaint because signature solar showed up in the middle of the night, broke in my house, and stole my tv... What kind of support and help can you offer timselectric?

I also bought two batteries from them and when I requested that they provide me gift certificates for Massage Envy to reimburse me for all of the exposure I was providing them by using their batteries, they went cheap and got me a $20 gift card instead. I can't even get a single massage with a $20 gift card, this is ridiculous.
 
I understand this is the official post I'm supposed to respond to, I need to file a formal complaint because signature solar showed up in the middle of the night, broke in my house, and stole my tv... What kind of support and help can you offer timselectric?
I'm not associated with Signature Solar in any way.
Other than one previous purchase.

I also bought two batteries from them and when I requested that they provide me gift certificates for Massage Envy to reimburse me for all of the exposure I was providing them by using their batteries, they went cheap and got me a $20 gift card instead. I can't even get a single massage with a $20 gift card, this is ridiculous.
Definitely not my department. lol
 
When something is DOA, Should be replaced with out any bull shit to go through. I'm still pissed off on the way they handled my battery charger, I was probably the first to complain.
Also with my 12k Growatt shutting down for no reason. Needed a firmware update for the fan lock shutting it down. Never got a response yet today after two years. Thanks to this forum it was fixed.
I do understand the there profit margin must be minimal. When a lot of people call in for problems, there self inflected do to there lack of knowledge. They can problem only have a support team so big or the prices will have to go up. I do like the cheaper price, but god dam, If it is dead on arrival. have them send it back and replace it as fast a possible.
 
there self inflected do to there lack of knowledge.
The main reason I'm anti-signature solar is because they sell low quality inverters. I don't even want to buy equipment at the same store as you basically.

I enjoyed the excellent skills that you displayed when you called them out. That'll really show them...
 
When something is DOA, Should be replaced with out any bull shit to go through. I'm still pissed off on the way they handled my battery charger, I was probably the first to complain.
Also with my 12k Growatt shutting down for no reason. Needed a firmware update for the fan lock shutting it down. Never got a response yet today after two years. Thanks to this forum it was fixed.
I do understand the there profit margin must be minimal. When a lot of people call in for problems, there self inflected do to there lack of knowledge. They can problem only have a support team so big or the prices will have to go up. I do like the cheaper price, but god dam, If it is dead on arrival. have them send it back and replace it as fast a possible.
I do understand this opinion. But you have to realize, not everyone that has "DOA" equipment is as knowledgeable and skilled as the well informed users that are on this forum. We deal with people every single day that claim to have a DOA unit then after 10 min of troubleshooting everything is working as advertised. So when someone calls in with the "DOA" claim, there is a process we must go through to make sure that we are not just dealing with an application error. I also understand that the majority of people with these issues are Licensed Electricians or Electrical Engineers and there is no way they could have possibly made a mistake when they commissioned their system. (Again, everyone on the forum is obviously excluded from this) But we have to cover our bases too. It's just not practical to bring a unit back without troubleshooting to an extent. I understand the frustration when the unit actually is DOA, but very rarely is that actually the case. I know it seems like BS, but in order to maintain the lowest prices in the industry, we have to go through this process. I can't tell you how many times we get a call about an inverter tripping someone's system and when we get them on the phone it turns out their only source of power is an extension cord with the female end cut off running from a wall plug to the AC in.
 
The real issue per my experience with both a new EG4 6000EX inverter and four new 48v EG4 Lifepower4 batteries is quality control/ quality assurance. I have had good communication with Ben and Signature Solar thus far - and I can see that they are making a real effort towards good customer service - but of course I'm still waiting to hear back from "Tier 2" support on the faulty BMS on one of the new Lifepower4 batteries and a resolution to the EG4 6000EX issues. Not catching these sort of issues before shipment to customers becomes costly in both reputation and $$. Given that Signature Solar appears to have quite a large operation state side, seems like it might be far less costly for them in the long run to do a final quality check on high ticket items before they are sent out to customers.
 
This thread originated back in April. In the past few months we have changed our process in order to be more respectful of the customers needs as well as their time. Taking care of these issues as quickly and efficiently as possible is a commitment that we have made and intend to stand by going forward.

I found this thread today because I am currently frustrated with SS's customer service.

I'm currently 3+ weeks into trying to replace a clearly defective EG4-LL and I feel like the entire process has been anything but respectful of my needs or time. It has definitely not been quick or efficient. I've had routinely hour+ hold times, an 11 day wait to get passed to Tier 2 service, unanswered emails, hoop after hoop after hoop to jump through before getting a replacement approved despite the fact that the problem was pretty obvious and the Tier 1 tech I spoke with correctly diagnosed the problem in the first 5 minutes on the phone, and now an extended and unnecessarily difficult process trying to get a replacement actually sent out.

I like my batteries in general but this is abysmal warranty support for a battery less than a year old.
 
I found this thread today because I am currently frustrated with SS's customer service.

I'm currently 3+ weeks into trying to replace a clearly defective EG4-LL and I feel like the entire process has been anything but respectful of my needs or time. It has definitely not been quick or efficient. I've had routinely hour+ hold times, an 11 day wait to get passed to Tier 2 service, unanswered emails, hoop after hoop after hoop to jump through before getting a replacement approved despite the fact that the problem was pretty obvious and the Tier 1 tech I spoke with correctly diagnosed the problem in the first 5 minutes on the phone, and now an extended and unnecessarily difficult process trying to get a replacement actually sent out.

I like my batteries in general but this is abysmal warranty support for a battery less than a year old.
Could you DM me your email address so I can see what is going on with the process
 
Could you DM me your email address so I can see what is going on with the process

Ben, I am pleased to report that as of an hour ago, the problem is finally solved and my replacement battery has been moved to "shipped" status. After continuing to wait with the weekend looming and still no sign of the promised link from the resolutions department so that I could place an order for a replacement battery, I decided to just order it outright and ask them to just reimburse shipping as well as the battery itself. At the last minute I used the sales chat because I had a question about the shipping options, and unlike the support communications, that was answered within a minute or two.

Payge answered my question quickly and clearly, but then went above and beyond. When I thanked her and briefly explained the situation I was dealing with, she took the initiative to ask me to wait while she investigated. She personally contacted the resolutions department and got me the link I had been waiting for them to send me so that I could place the order for the replacement the correct way, waited while I placed the order, and then said, "I will chat our shipping department and see if we can get this pushed out." Less than 2 hours later my battery changed to "shipped" status.

She really went out of her way to get things finally moving, even though I know she works in sales rather than support -- contacting the other departments for me was definitely above and beyond her normal job, I'm sure. She took me from "stuck in limbo" to "shipped" in under 2 hours and was 1000% the most helpful person I had spoken to in a month.

Hopefully the battery will get here quickly, the return of the defective battery will also go quickly, and the reimbursement process will not take too long.
 
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Man, I'm seeing a lot of issues here about SS. I'm looking to buy their new 280ah batteries but I'm thinking I should buy fun Sovereign solar instead of SigSolar???

They both seem to get the parts from Greentech in Arlington.
 
Ben, I am pleased to report that as of an hour ago, the problem is finally solved and my replacement battery has been moved to "shipped" status. After continuing to wait with the weekend looming and still no sign of the promised link from the resolutions department so that I could place an order for a replacement battery, I decided to just order it outright and ask them to just reimburse shipping as well as the battery itself. At the last minute I used the sales chat because I had a question about the shipping options, and unlike the support communications, that was answered within a minute or two.

Payge answered my question quickly and clearly, but then went above and beyond. When I thanked her and briefly explained the situation I was dealing with, she took the initiative to ask me to wait while she investigated. She personally contacted the resolutions department and got me the link I had been waiting for them to send me so that I could place the order for the replacement the correct way, waited while I placed the order, and then said, "I will chat our shipping department and see if we can get this pushed out." Less than 2 hours later my battery changed to "shipped" status.

She really went out of her way to get things finally moving, even though I know she works in sales rather than support -- contacting the other departments for me was definitely above and beyond her normal job, I'm sure. She took me from "stuck in limbo" to "shipped" in under 2 hours and was 1000% the most helpful person I had spoken to in a month.

Hopefully the battery will get here quickly, the return of the defective battery will also go quickly, and the reimbursement process will not take too long.
And maybe you'll use her to buy your next item?
 
Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.
100% THIS!!! All these are turning me off a bit. I mean I know that complaints are more often placed over positives. It isn't THAT you have an issue as much as HOW you deal with it. I'm seeing a pattern that if you have an issue ypu have to be a very vocal detractor to get a decent resolution.

Yes, it sounds like you eventually get taken care of but, it seems to bring a lot of pain.
 
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Man, I'm seeing a lot of issues here about SS. I'm looking to buy their new 280ah batteries but I'm thinking I should buy fun Sovereign solar instead of SigSolar???

They both seem to get the parts from Greentech in Arlington.
Neither place gets the products from Greentech, actually. Signature Solar buys direct from EG4 and Sovereign purchases from Signature Solar.

I can tell you for sure that there are a lot more success stories than negatives with signature. The 280Ah batteries will be a game changer. Not just because I'm biased, but these batteries are an incredible product.
 

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