Signature Solar Sales/Discounts ... do they do this often or is this Really a Sale?

Thanks! I'm new to this rodeo.

exmarkretired said:

Thanks for the idea. Was a waste of time attempting to chat with "Weston" There chat window is annoyingly difficult and I was unable to move it to get it to the item, as he inquired as to the item in question. I was trying to figure out why it kept adding shipping on a free shipping item....which was the only reason to consider the purchase....

Click to expand...

Will check into this, the chat has really helped up connect with people faster in general, some questions dont need a phone call

SignatureSolarJames said:

Will check into this, the chat has really helped up connect with people faster in general, some questions dont need a phone call

Click to expand...

All I wanted was to know how to make the "advertised" free shipping/freight work. The bot was more interested in my name than helping. As was "weston" and creating an account for me. I was in a hurry(late for dinner) and needed to know how I could return later after you closed.... to complete the sale. Neither happened so No sale, but I guess harvesting my data was paramount.

Sometimes they are good, but there are a lot of these out there...

BenFromSignatureSolar said:

Would love to help you out here. Could you DM me your email address? I think we could get you some help here. And I want to find out why we dropped the ball with your process.

Click to expand...

Seems like a common statement now a days..

exmarkretired said:

All I wanted was to know how to make the "advertised" free shipping/freight work. The bot was more interested in my name than helping. As was "weston" and creating an account for me. I was in a hurry(late for dinner) and needed to know how I could return later after you closed.... to complete the sale. Neither happened so No sale, but I guess harvesting my data was paramount.

Sometimes they are good, but there are a lot of these out there...




Seems like a common statement now a days..

Click to expand...

While I've had some minor service issues with Signature Solar, and others have had varying degrees of challenges. I would encourage you not to get too hung up on the little details. They're a business trying to satisfy customers, they don't always get it right and they never will, however, they don't stop trying to make things great for their customers.

Signature Solar takes a lot of bruises in this forum, not because they're the worst, but because they're popular, they have good deals, and for the most part, they have the items and prices that solar consumers want.

To be clear I'm not defending Signature Solar, I'm simply saying at the end of the day, companies are made up of people, and it's a good idea to take a step back at times and remember kind and friendly behavior will always serve everyone better.

MaikaiLifeDIY said:

While I've had some minor service issues with Signature Solar, and others have had varying degrees of challenges. I would encourage you not to get too hung up on the little details. They're a business trying to satisfy customers, they don't always get it right and they never will, however, they don't stop trying to make things great for their customers.

Signature Solar takes a lot of bruises in this forum, not because they're the worst, but because they're popular, they have good deals, and for the most part, they have the items and prices that solar consumers want.

To be clear I'm not defending Signature Solar, I'm simply saying at the end of the day, companies are made up of people, and it's a good idea to take a step back at times and remember kind and friendly behavior will always serve everyone better.

Click to expand...

Yep,

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is true for SS as well as any other company. The thing everyone needs to remember is that very few people write "rave reviews" when things just work as expected. However, when there is a problem.. that gets posted immediately. It's just human nature. But, the downside is, it gives kind of a skewed perception of the reality.

If all you see is complaints, you begin to believe the complaining is normal and justified. But you may not see the 2 dozen "satisfied" people, for the 1 vocally annoyed user. Again, not a defense of SS.. just something to keep in mind in general about any "topic specific" place on the internet.

n2aws said:

Yep,

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is true for SS as well as any other company. The thing everyone needs to remember is that very few people write "rave reviews" when things just work as expected. However, when there is a problem.. that gets posted immediately. It's just human nature. But, the downside is, it gives kind of a skewed perception of the reality.

If all you see is complaints, you begin to believe the complaining is normal and justified. But you may not see the 2 dozen "satisfied" people, for the 1 vocally annoyed user. Again, not a defense of SS.. just something to keep in mind in general about any "topic specific" place on the internet.

Click to expand...

True. It is fresh. Also people in general tend to complain more than compliment. I do inform local business managers when their staff are pleasant etc...

I have had several positive interactions with Current Connected. Also had a positive experience with San Tan solar....

Signature Solar ?? One online experience that went "well" with SS. Starting to believe the item has a flaw/defect, but withholding comment until I diagnose it further. Now, total = one poor call ( representative had no knowledge of the product etc.got what I needded from this forum) and one with their Bot and Weston... So 1 out if 3 experiences went well.... For full disclosure and to be fair.

Moving forward, Like several other post have stated, it has become an addiction. More panel, more battery, bigger inverters, especially with the features growing and improving. I have been "building" , reinvesting the funds from peak shaving, etc. to fund new purchases and eventually hope to buy "Tier 1" next time. and as they often have to same price no matter which vendor one chooses.... This time I was attempting to take advantage of the sale... Would have saved me about 250 in freight...

Sometimes you get what you pay for...

Edit. I also have good things to say about Ian at Watts247. He is knowledgeable, polite, a real pleasure to deal with.

n2aws said:

Yep,

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is true for SS as well as any other company. The thing everyone needs to remember is that very few people write "rave reviews" when things just work as expected. However, when there is a problem.. that gets posted immediately. It's just human nature. But, the downside is, it gives kind of a skewed perception of the reality.

If all you see is complaints, you begin to believe the complaining is normal and justified. But you may not see the 2 dozen "satisfied" people, for the 1 vocally annoyed user. Again, not a defense of SS.. just something to keep in mind in general about any "topic specific" place on the internet.

Click to expand...

Sometimes that is True for the equipment itself but this has mostly been about customer service.
If you are on a Forum about Farming equipment and one person says that John Deere customer service sucks and then another says the same thing and then another, there comes a point in time when you can be pretty sure that the companies customer service really does suck!

As I said, the biggest issue with SS is not the equipment issues, it's how they respond to these issues.
There are times when it seems like they are getting better and then a few weeks later you see a post that just reminds you of all the other posts made over the years.
They all have a common theme about the way CS at SS approached the issue.

To also counter your argument, I would ask how many people that Buy SS equipment are Forum members?
I would bet it's a very small percentage.
Are the rest of the people having Zero issues with CS or are many of them just suffering in silence until they take the Inverter or battery out and buy something else?
It is also fair to say in terms of bolstering your claim, that some of the people who joined this forum joined to express their problems with SS, so does that make the percentage of complaints higher than it would be if it was only long time members complaining?
I don't know.

I do know that my own dealer bought a lot of Growatt Inverters from them years ago and told me he has changed out every single one of them to either Fronius or Sol-Ark. He also bought fifty EG4 batteries and then stopped buying them because of the Pre Charge issue. He says he has never posted here but does lurk from time to time. So he is definitely one of the Silent Suffers.

It has become very obvious over the last two years that the best and sometimes only way to get them to do something about an issue is to come here and complain.
That IMO is no way to run a business!

robby said:

Are the rest of the people having Zero issues with CS or are many of them just suffering in silence until they take the Inverter or battery out and buy something else?

Click to expand...

And here lies the crux of the problem.

We don't know. Forum users are a "vocal minority" of the total, right?

We don't even know how many SS customers are forum users.
So, we have no clue if we're hearing 10-20 complaints on the forums out of 5,000 users. or out of 50. or out of 50,000. Thus, my entire point. We're essentially only seeing the negative reviews, with no basis to determine how large an issue it actually is.

Now extrapolate that unknown by however many users have bought from SS. And another question pops up.

How many of the complaints are from DIYers who are either trying to use equipment that.. isn't exactly how it was intended to be used or, don't understand all the settings/features because they've never done it before so needing to call support, vs.. the number of people that installed it correctly, in the manner expected, and never even needed to contact support. ie, is this a "self created" problem, that people are making it so they *need* to contact support.

Another data point: How many of their customers (who are not on these forums) just "set it and forget it"? I suspect that by having enough interest to join these forums and participate.. Solare is more of a passion/hobby than it is for the typical SS customer. They are reading about it, trying new things.. tweaking old things.. expanding the system, etc.. where I would guess the average customer.. just.. doesnt.

Again, I'm not saying this is the case. I have no clue. I'm just saying.. much like everything else you read on the internet.. don't believe everything at face value.

I personally have helped multiple people with issues on these forums, where they just didn't understand the capability or feature that they were trying to enable/use. (Hence the "self induced need for support). And I can only assume that if I.. a single volunteer helping in my free time on the forums.. have run into this multiple times.. I can only imagine someone who is doing it as a fulltime job for 8 hours a day is seeing even more of it than I am.

The Known Knowns, The Know UnKnowns, and the Unknown Unknowns.....
and aliens...

n2aws said:

And here lies the crux of the problem.

We don't know. Forum users are a "vocal minority" of the total, right?

We don't even know how many SS customers are forum users.
So, we have no clue if we're hearing 10-20 complaints on the forums out of 5,000 users. or out of 50. or out of 50,000. Thus, my entire point. We're essentially only seeing the negative reviews, with no basis to determine how large an issue it actually is.

Click to expand...

You can get a pretty good idea by looking at the ratio of posts that are asking about general install questions and other routine stuff like how many batteries, what size wire etc. These members state the kind of Inverter they are using and it's a pretty even spread between EG4, Victron, Sol-Ark, Growatt and Sungold. On the Battery Side I would say a lot more people consistently use EG4 and Second would be SOK.
Bottom line is that their is a hugely disproportional amount of Signature Solar Complaints versus any of the other Sellers.

n2aws said:

Now extrapolate that unknown by however many users have bought from SS. And another question pops up.

How many of the complaints are from DIYers who are either trying to use equipment that.. isn't exactly how it was intended to be used or, don't understand all the settings/features because they've never done it before so needing to call support, vs.. the number of people that installed it correctly, in the manner expected, and never even needed to contact support. ie, is this a "self created" problem, that people are making it so they *need* to contact support.

Click to expand...

Does not matter at the end of the day because people are DIYing and making the same mistakes across all of the various Brands of Inverter. The difference is that is you screw up with Sol-Ark you can get someone on the phone within 15 minutes and they will competently guide you through the issue. If it cannot be fixed they will tell you why and what is needed. If it's a problem with the Inverter they will do a warranty RMA number the same day or by the next day.

With Signature Solar it's a game of "Catch me if you can" on the phone line or email, lasting hours or days. Then it's changed to a game of "Hot Potato" between the CS people as each one hands you over to another.
Warranty exchanges seem to be the Nuclear Option for SS. You literally have to embarrass them publicly and then they give in.

n2aws said:

Another data point: How many of their customers (who are not on these forums) just "set it and forget it"? I suspect that by having enough interest to join these forums and participate.. Solare is more of a passion/hobby than it is for the typical SS customer. They are reading about it, trying new things.. tweaking old things.. expanding the system, etc.. where I would guess the average customer.. just.. doesnt.

Click to expand...

I think most people want to set and forget it. I suspect most just want to start geeking out on gathering data on the output and how much of their electricity bill they are offsetting.
You almost never see Will Prowse fooling with the Menus if everything is working after he powers it up. Yeah there are some guys like you and me that may spend hours just learning the settings but most forum members are not all that comfortable changing settings on something if it is working fine already. Now if it is giving problems then you have no choice but to start learning the Menu.

BTW DIY does not even come close to representing the Average Customer!
About 99% of people will not even try to mess around with anything that carries high voltage.
We are the 1% of people that feel comfortable playing around with electricity. The rest find an Installer and pay for the complete package. Those same Installers make up the meaningful bulk of any Manufacturers sales.

n2aws said:

Again, I'm not saying this is the case. I have no clue. I'm just saying.. much like everything else you read on the internet.. don't believe everything at face value.

I personally have helped multiple people with issues on these forums, where they just didn't understand the capability or feature that they were trying to enable/use. (Hence the "self induced need for support). And I can only assume that if I.. a single volunteer helping in my free time on the forums.. have run into this multiple times.. I can only imagine someone who is doing it as a fulltime job for 8 hours a day is seeing even more of it than I am.

Click to expand...

And that is good, but we can only help so much and then it's the sellers obligation to take care of the customer.

robby said:

Warranty exchanges seem to be the Nuclear Option for SS. You literally have to embarrass them publicly and then they give in.

Click to expand...

Are you *sure* you have to embarrass them publicly before they give in, or do you think more people post here about it because SS and EG4 actively monitor this forum heavily, unlike some of the other vendors you mention. (which would actually mean (at least here) their support is better?


At the end of the day, we can agree to disagree. But if you think you can get a realistic view of how good or bad a specific company is handling support issues from reading a public forum, is simply a misguided notion.

robby said:

You can get a pretty good idea by looking at the ratio of posts that are asking about general install questions and other routine stuff like how many batteries, what size wire etc. These members state the kind of Inverter they are using and it's a pretty even spread between EG4, Victron, Sol-Ark, Growatt and Sungold. On the Battery Side I would say a lot more people consistently use EG4 and Second would be SOK.
Bottom line is that their is a hugely disproportional amount of Signature Solar Complaints versus any of the other Sellers.

Click to expand...

People like you literally have a career hundreds of comments deep on smearing us sir, so no surprise that you are very aware of whatever campaign to create a disproportionate impact you are on.

robby said:

Does not matter at the end of the day because people are DIYing and making the same mistakes across all of the various Brands of Inverter. The difference is that is you screw up with Sol-Ark you can get someone on the phone within 15 minutes and they will competently guide you through the issue. If it cannot be fixed they will tell you why and what is needed. If it's a problem with the Inverter they will do a warranty RMA number the same day or by the next day.

Click to expand...

15 minutes are not a reliable time amount in Solark reviews, We averaged 3.5 minutes in tech support during business hours, some 8-9% are under 30 seconds. i can post data, you are just taking extreme cases and stretching them to be the normal reality, again, see point #1

robby said:

With Signature Solar it's a game of "Catch me if you can" on the phone line or email, lasting hours or days. Then it's changed to a game of "Hot Potato" between the CS people as each one hands you over to another.
Warranty exchanges seem to be the Nuclear Option for SS. You literally have to embarrass them publicly and then they give in.

Click to expand...

we get a lot of public engagement here because we are a company that is actually openly and actively engaged with our customers, funny how you turn that on its head. Less than 1% of warranty support decisions have ever seen the light of this forum

robby said:

I think most people want to set and forget it. I suspect most just want to start geeking out on gathering data on the output and how much of their electricity bill they are offsetting.
You almost never see Will Prowse fooling with the Menus if everything is working after he powers it up. Yeah there are some guys like you and me that may spend hours just learning the settings but most forum members are not all that comfortable changing settings on something if it is working fine already. Now if it is giving problems then you have no choice but to start learning the Menu.

Click to expand...

we have driven huge value in the base equipment area improving in this direction without massive cost increase and being snobby about it (i.e the 6000xp) as well as released higher-end products like the 18kpv

robby said:

BTW DIY does not even come close to representing the Average Customer!
About 99% of people will not even try to mess around with anything that carries high voltage.
We are the 1% of people that feel comfortable playing around with electricity. The rest find an Installer and pay for the complete package. Those same Installers make up the meaningful bulk of any Manufacturers sales.

Click to expand...

this is literally a Solark line... we are 100% committed to the DIY future of solar because when end users get their hands on actual costs the tech is not restricted to only the more fortunate. without people expanding this area and doing what they do we will never get a transparent solar market in the USA

robby said:

And that is good, but we can only help so much and then it's the sellers obligation to take care of the customer.

Click to expand...

all day long over 200 Texans are doing their job serving literally thousands of customers

SignatureSolarJames said:

People like you literally have a career hundreds of comments deep on smearing us sir, so no surprise that you are very aware of whatever campaign to create a disproportionate impact you are on.

Click to expand...

Well James I have to give you props, if it's one thing that gets you Hard fast, it is a post from me.
I would bet that someones could post that their 18K just burned down their house and you would not make a response post this quickly.

So let me get this straight, I am Smearing you by responding to posts that others are making about your poor customer service?
Something that BTW that I have experienced first hand on two occasions!

SignatureSolarJames said:

15 minutes are not a reliable time amount in Solark reviews, We averaged 3.5 minutes in tech support during business hours, some 8-9% are under 30 seconds. i can post data, you are just taking extreme cases and stretching them to be the normal reality, again, see point #1

Click to expand...

I Do Not even know what you are talking about. That reply is pure Gibberish!
I said Sol-Ark CS answers the phone in about 15 Minutes. Your Phone support can take hours if ever, to pick up the call. Lots of times it just disconnects people after they have been holding. Thirty Seconds, are you deluding yourself?
I have called at least a dozen times and the fastest was about 10 Minutes and the other 11 times was pretty much waiting for 35 minutes or giving up after a super long hold, including 2 hours.

SignatureSolarJames said:

we get a lot of public engagement here because we are a company that is actually openly and actively engaged with our customers, funny how you turn that on its head. Less than 1% of warranty support decisions have ever seen the light of this forum

Click to expand...

Actively engaging with customers to find solutions for problems is a good thing, but in most cases you do not have a solution and it is the forum members that actually find a solution. Example the whole never ending Grounding Fiasco with your Inverters. It pretty much ended up being @FilterGuy who came up with something. It was not the most satisfying fix but it was better than what SS was providing, which was nothing!

SignatureSolarJames said:

we have driven huge value in the base equipment area improving in this direction without massive cost increase and being snobby about it (i.e the 6000xp) as well as released higher-end products like the 18kpv

Click to expand...

You really are just into sales, aren't you

SignatureSolarJames said:

this is literally a Solark line... we are 100% committed to the DIY future of solar because when end users get their hands on actual costs the tech is not restricted to only the more fortunate. without people expanding this area and doing what they do we will never get a transparent solar market in the USA

Click to expand...

So your saying your Forum presence is all about helping the DIY guy, it has nothing with promoting your products and making more sales?
Stating that 99% of people will not Install a Solar System is just based on fact! No position or promotion a company can take on the matter will change that. The 1% is still a massive amount of people for short term sales, until this market is eventually regulated to death.
The 99% of people who will not mess with High Voltage items is only growing. People in this younger generations are actually more adverse to doing anything DIY.

SignatureSolarJames said:

all day long over 200 Texans are doing their job serving literally thousands of customers

Click to expand...

You forgot the part about putting Millions of Dollars into your Pocket. Those 200 Texans Deserve to be acknowledged fully.

And then comes the Patriotic line that every Politician and Salesmen uses to help boost their weak arguments

Episode #304 of one man on a mission to smear everywhere he can on this forum.

This is the problem with public conversation. You don’t notice other companies hanging out here because they know what gets done to them.

So let me get this straight, I am Smearing you by responding to posts that others are making about your poor customer service?
Something that BTW that I have experienced first hand on two occasions!

Click to expand...

I have called at least a dozen times and the fastest was about 10 Minutes and the other 11 times was pretty much waiting for 35 minutes or giving up after a super long hold, including 2 hours.

Click to expand...

So you claim you've had bad service twice, then later go on to say you've called at least a dozen times. I can't speak on the hold times (but find it hard to believe *anyone* is waiting on hold for 2 hours. Even if they were that backed up, you would have likely hung up before then. But lets assume the hold times are true and accurate for a second.

Based on your own statements, you've had 2 bad experiences out of "at least 12" calls.

So, by your own personal metrics, you only got bad service 16% of the time.
Just out of curiousity.. why are you not talking about the other 84%? Or.. did you just prove the point I was making that people don't normally post when things go right?

With that bro, it's become obvious that you have a personal bias against SS (or maybe just James specifically, not sure) but, I don't have a dog in the fight, so I'll exit the conversation.

Since most people don't, I'll give my own experience.

The few times I've called SS, the phone was answered quickly. The person I spoke to was knowledgable, or transferred to someone who was. The couple of issues I've had, were my caused by myself, and both SS and EG4 worked with me to resolve the problem over the forums.

Unlike some, I've actually posted about my good experience, and should I have a bad one, I'll gladly post that too. But *MY* metrics are 100% satisfactory support times and efforts.

Anyways, to the point of this actual title, the sales this year are the best in a long time, core costs have gone down and people across the board should be passing that on to customers

n2aws said:

So you claim you've had bad service twice, then later go on to say you've called at least a dozen times. I can't speak on the hold times (but find it hard to believe *anyone* is waiting on hold for 2 hours. Even if they were that backed up, you would have likely hung up before then. But lets assume the hold times are true and accurate for a second.

Click to expand...

There are others that posted about Similar 2 hour Hold times and they posted their phones screen shots.

n2aws said:

Based on your own statements, you've had 2 bad experiences out of "at least 12" calls.

So, by your own personal metrics, you only got bad service 16% of the time.
Just out of curiousity.. why are you not talking about the other 84%? Or.. did you just prove the point I was making that people don't normally post when things go right?

Click to expand...

Your Interpreting what I said incorrectly.
I have purchased two items from them and have had bad experiences with both of them. So it's 100% bad for me.
12 calls is a separate issue.

n2aws said:

With that bro, it's become obvious that you have a personal bias against SS (or maybe just James specifically, not sure) but, I don't have a dog in the fight, so I'll exit the conversation.

Click to expand...

Yes I guess when you get screwed you should still be in love with the company?

n2aws said:

Since most people don't, I'll give my own experience.

The few times I've called SS, the phone was answered quickly. The person I spoke to was knowledgable, or transferred to someone who was. The couple of issues I've had, were my caused by myself, and both SS and EG4 worked with me to resolve the problem over the forums.

Click to expand...

Lucky You!
You do realize that this forum is full of posts from people who had horrible experiences.

n2aws said:

Unlike some, I've actually posted about my good experience, and should I have a bad one, I'll gladly post that too. But *MY* metrics are 100% satisfactory support times and efforts.

Click to expand...

I always try to Post about my Good and Bad experiences with Various Solar companies. But I am not going to sugar coat it when a company is Bad and I am certainly not going to change my opinion even if they are offering me a $6000 Inverter for free.

robby said:

I always try to Post about my good and Bad experiences with Various Solar companies. But I am not going to sugar coat it when a company is Bad and I am certainly not going to change my opinion even if they are offering me a $6000 Inverter for free

Click to expand...

That doesn't sound like to bad a deal. I've never had any company offer anything like that.

• My positive interaction with SS, Did not get any feedback from forum members.
• Sep 7, 2023

Yesterday Markus did an update on my 18kpv. Something went wrong with the update a I was getting no power. He worked on my system to get me back running with me and the engineers on the phone. This process went on almost 4hrs but he did not give up on me. He realized I was off grid and had no power without the inverter working. To me that was real customer service! SS will be keeping me as a customer. This is a huge ??? for @Markus_SignatureSolar and SS as a whole. I they are trying to help everyone the best they can. They are a busy company and growing fast so bare with them on any issues. I believe they will make all issue's right given the time.

Edit - nevermind, it's not worth it...
If anyone wants the original post I captured it. I hope / suspect many happy users on here aren't paying full retail...

Frankly Robbie you just need to shut up, you're coming across as sore.
How's that for a customer service experience LOL

Quattrohead said:

Frankly Robbie you just need to shut up, you're coming across as sore.
How's that for a customer service experience LOL

Click to expand...

Very mature statement LOL ?
Although it was similar to the customer Service advice I got from James when my battery had three dud cells.

Partimewages said:

That doesn't sound like to bad a deal. I've never had any company offer anything like that.

Click to expand...

I have on a few occasions.
I got a ton of Reef Aquarium gear for free costing several thousand dollars and a several pieces of electronic test gear for free. The only reason I took them was because I knew based on existing feedback that the stuff was good and their customer service was good. The only reason I was offered them was because forum members in those hobbies respected my opinion and Integrity.

In this case the Product may be good but as I said at the start of this, the problem is not the products, it is the customer service which seems to vary month to month.
So there is no way I am going to come on here and say the customer service is great just because I got a free Inverter and possibly a direct phone number that can get me personal customer service.

robby said:

.BTW DIY does not even come close to representing the Average Customer!
About 99% of people will not even try to mess around with anything that carries high voltage.
We are the 1% of people that feel comfortable playing around with electricity.

Click to expand...

Or... are too dumb to know better. ?