HQST Avoid this company

[warp103]

purchased 8 Panels from them. 4DOA sent emails told via email a replacement are going to be sent out,
2 Week later no panels. Emailed again this time got Confirmation tracking numbers. Waited 2 more week.
No panels emailed again told there was a issue with the panels will get another set out.
Now I had to go out of the Country for a month, had wife at home still zero panels sent
Then ask for a refund and Ops we can not sent it back to your CC But we can send it to Paypal. Annoying but still that would work
It now 8 month later and they will not answer emails or if you email sales they say they will sent it to the right person
At this point all on the panels have Failed. So if you have a Warranty issue you have NO warranty.
You can not call them or get them to talk. Run away from this company

 

[Crowz]

Ouch.

Sorry to hear about that and not cool on their part at all.

 

[Texas-Mark]

I purchased a HQST CC (which works fine), but I had a minor app issue that I asked them a question about. At first they were responsive, but then all I heard was crickets. So while their product appears to be solid, I can't say the same for their support.

 

[Minimoose]

purchased 8 Panels from them. 4DOA sent emails told via email a replacement are going to be sent out,
2 Week later no panels. Emailed again this time got Confirmation tracking numbers. Waited 2 more week.
No panels emailed again told there was a issue with the panels will get another set out.
Now I had to go out of the Country for a month, had wife at home still zero panels sent
Then ask for a refund and Ops we can not sent it back to your CC But we can send it to Paypal. Annoying but still that would work
It now 8 month later and they will not answer emails or if you email sales they say they will sent it to the right person
At this point all on the panels have Failed. So if you have a Warranty issue you have NO warranty.
You can not call them or get them to talk. Run away from this company

I've purchased 8 panels and 2 mppt controllers and they work great. I also purchased a 400 watt pwm kit for a relative and it works great. They jumped through hoops to send me what I needed. I have no problems with them so far, but I have never had to get anything replaced. I was actually impressed with their service. On occasion I have gotten a little over 100 watts from their 100 watt panels. I did buy most of the things through ebay and used paypal in case I did have a problem. The panels I bought were the compact design that are basically the same as Renogy 100 watt panels. The controllers were 40 amp mppt.

 

[Tomthumb62]

Sorry to hear for your troubles. Why did you buy this brand over others? Just curious.

Companies of solar equipment I have dealt with their customer service:

Renogy: Fairly responsive, but inept at solving problems. A few years ago they were somewhat better, but still a headache to deal with. Now they keep me in an endless loop of questioning (ask a question, I answer, they ask the same question again, I answer again, loop this). I wasted so much time with them. At my age, time is a very precious thing that I cannot get back. I'm willing to pay more to get a GOOD product that is designed well, built well and won't give me problems so I'll never have to deal with their customer service (even if they do have excellent service, it still takes time out of my life). And their products look sexy, but are super quirky to use (especially their Rover charge controllers) and I'm so relieved to be done with their service and products.

Powerurus: They make higher-end budget lifepo4. Better cells, bluetooth BMS, better build quality than the $300-325 100Ah brands. I have exchanged I think about 2 dozen emails with them and they have always been quick to reply and they ACTUALLY READ MY EMAILS and respond with RELEVANT ANSWERS! They have done this both pre-sale and after my purchase. 100% recommend them and I will probably buy from them again. The only way they could improve is to make the 200Ah model more compact and/or have a removable top so the BMS could be replaced if needed. But at my low amperage use, I don't expect the BMS to fail, which is of their own design and/or made by them. Roypow is the manufacturer, which has a very good reputation going back a long ways. Will Prowse lists the Powerurus models as some of his recommended picks on his 12v lithium battery section on his website.

 

[warp103]

Sorry to hear for your troubles. Why did you buy this brand over others? Just curious.

Companies of solar equipment I have dealt with their customer service:

Renogy: Fairly responsive, but inept at solving problems. A few years ago they were somewhat better, but still a headache to deal with. Now they keep me in an endless loop of questioning (ask a question, I answer, they ask the same question again, I answer again, loop this). I wasted so much time with them. At my age, time is a very precious thing that I cannot get back. I'm willing to pay more to get a GOOD product that is designed well, built well and won't give me problems so I'll never have to deal with their customer service (even if they do have excellent service, it still takes time out of my life). And their products look sexy, but are super quirky to use (especially their Rover charge controllers) and I'm so relieved to be done with their service and products.

Powerurus: They make higher-end budget lifepo4. Better cells, bluetooth BMS, better build quality than the $300-325 100Ah brands. I have exchanged I think about 2 dozen emails with them and they have always been quick to reply and they ACTUALLY READ MY EMAILS and respond with RELEVANT ANSWERS! They have done this both pre-sale and after my purchase. 100% recommend them and I will probably buy from them again. The only way they could improve is to make the 200Ah model more compact and/or have a removable top so the BMS could be replaced if needed. But at my low amperage use, I don't expect the BMS to fail, which is of their own design and/or made by them. Roypow is the manufacturer, which has a very good reputation going back a long ways. Will Prowse lists the Powerurus models as some of his recommended picks on his 12v lithium battery section on his website.

hmm they look the same as my renogy panels and had the same specs and size was the same. But once I got them you could tell they were cheaper. The frame was not as thick and of course the DOA poop show. Price of course was a factor but you get what you pay for. Sad thing the review were rosey. Till I had a issue and found the After care was bad and all over heard the same. If you get working panel you are good if not you are hosed.

 

[warp103]

I've purchased 8 panels and 2 mppt controllers and they work great. I also purchased a 400 watt pwm kit for a relative and it works great. They jumped through hoops to send me what I needed. I have no problems with them so far, but I have never had to get anything replaced. I was actually impressed with their service. On occasion I have gotten a little over 100 watts from their 100 watt panels. I did buy most of the things through ebay and used paypal in case I did have a problem. The panels I bought were the compact design that are basically the same as Renogy 100 watt panels. The controllers were 40 amp mppt.

glad you are good but the min you need to warranty support Good luck. you will find them unresponsive . Note they no longer have phone contact that should have been my red flag. NO good company is not going have a way to contact them via Calls.

 

[warp103]

I purchased a HQST CC (which works fine), but I had a minor app issue that I asked them a question about. At first they were responsive, but then all I heard was crickets. So while their product appears to be solid, I can't say the same for their support.

yup crickets

 

[Tomthumb62]

Sad thing the review were rosey.

Try a website called “fake spot”. They use an algorithm to spot fake reviews on Amazon. I’ve found it quite useful and it’s helped me avoid some bad buys. The fake reviews thing is real. Amazon tries to keep on top of it but they either aren’t trying hard enough or don’t care.

I can spot fake or meaningless reviews (“awesome product!” Without genuine explanations to back up that statement.) with my own eyes but it takes me 2-15 minutes, whereas Fakespot does it in seconds, or at least a pretty good job of it.

Fakespot - Love Everything You Buy

Fakespot spots, analyzes and identifies fake reviews and counterfeits - helping you out when buying stuff online.

www.fakespot.com

 

[Tomthumb62]

Price of course was a factor but you get what you pay for.

Well with Renogy, the products look really nice on paper and their physical looks are pretty, imo. But they are overpriced for what they actually are. I would say overpriced by 30-50%. I have owned several Renogy products. Ask me about the lead acid battery they sent that was leaking when it arrived…

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

I can mirror some of this sentiment. I bought a charge controller + 4x100W panel pack from them through their website. Almost immediately after, I decided to cancel as I found a better option elsewhere. I emailed them promptly, then heard nothing for days, until getting a shipping notification followed by an "oops, because we process and ship orders so quickly, we've already shipped yours!" email.

After going back and forth over the course of two weeks, they eventually agreed to let me return just the charge controller (since I don't need it), and I agreed to keep the panels. I had to pay the ~$30 shipping to send it back though. Frankly, I am not even sure what % of my order will be refunded. I'm over it though.

Overall, it's not the worst customer support experience in the world, but when I compared it to the minor issue I had that prompted me to contact LiTime's support, they were actually great. They respond literally every night (for me, since they're obviously out of China) and were super helpful. They didn't give me and crap at any point. I'd honestly buy direct from LiTime again.

The one good thing I can say is that in my case, the 4x pack of panels I bought were packaged well enough in a thick cardboard box with individual corner bumpers for each panel. They have performed great (my little series string actually pushes a little over 400W sometimes, though I guess that could be my charge controller being inaccurate, who knows). They also seem to handle being partially shaded really well. The videos I'd seen on YouTube had people covering the issue of partial shading showed them covering a small portion of one panel and just gutting their output. These, I could go cover a large portion of one panel and only see a minimal dip in output. I don't know how common that is among cheap panels, but I was surprised.

Basically: panels good, customer support not so good. And as others have said, my product came with Renogy tape on the box since they're presumably just a rebrand.

 

[Hogheavenfarm]

Never had any issues with their panels, I have several, they outperform my Eco-worthy and Renogy panels. Never bought anything but panels from them though so I cannot speak for other hardware.

 

[BobT]

I have had 16 HQST HSP100D-L panels in service at my offgrid cabin for over a year. No technical or order/delivery problems encountered. As stated above, the packaging on the panels was excellent.

 

[Daveinmi]

I originally bought a two pack of 100 watt panels from HQST through Amazon - panels arrived fine but went on sale about a week later - contacted them and they were pretty responsive and did give me a price adjustment.

Panels have worked great.

Also found a "returned" set of four 100 watt ( slightly different size/specs) at a discount store near me - one was shattered but the owner made me a deal on the other 3 - bought a single replacement through Amazon and all of those have been work fine as well.