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Incompetence from Signature Solar & Solar Sovereign

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robbob2112 said:
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If you had a bad experience with a vendor, you can post your experience in this forum. But be sure to follow the guidelines below to avoid problems: You need to provide evidence of your claims (email threads with the company, videos of the faulty equipment, return shipping experience and...
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In the past there have been accounts that were posted from with complaints that only had one post but had been members for years.


NOTE - I am not out to start a war of any sort - just pointing out that we all need to be calm and let Jess respond
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Thanks. Under the standards of evidence below, it sounds like “evidence” is loosely interpreted to include relating your experience with the company.

It does not appear to require posting of documents in every instance.

I think the OP describing in great detail their experience meets this standard and should be encourages here.

From Will:

“If you had a bad experience with a vendor, you can post your experience in this forum. But be sure to follow the guidelines below to avoid problems:

  • You need to provide evidence of your claims (email threads with the company, videos of the faulty equipment, return shipping experience and processing, phone and email response time, etc.).”
 
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Brucey said:
We aren't expecting white linen service from these guys. But if it's actually a preorder and the panels are on a ship from China or vietnam etc and not in stock for relatively rapid shipment it should be listed as such. That's just bare minimum business operations.
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Hope no one is waiting on parcels to ship from Vietnam, pretty much every factory has shut there since the news of the US tariffs.
 
ThaiTaffy said:
Hope no one is waiting on parcels to ship from Vietnam, pretty much every factory has shut there since the news of the US tariffs.
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Damn might be time to grab enough for winter now, when I have an abundance already as we get into peak summer.
 
Many have shut down for "maintenance" but depending on the market and demand IE tariffs they may not return to production
 
Brucey said:
I hear EU may be cracking down as well? Could be the final twist of the blade.
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Good luck to the EU and US the rest of the world will continue to use Chinese PV goods just they won't have to run factories in other countries though not sure how tariffs will affect the Chinese companies making panels in Mexico.
 
supersignman said:
Thanks for the reply. There are actually no problems to clear up from Signature Solar. My friend received his refund and Amanda actually went out of her way to look up my shipping address in the pending orders from Solar Sovereign. She told me the pallet of REC panels were on back order and she didn't know when your new stock would be in. That's all I needed to know. There are a lot of places that sell solar panels.

My irritation stems from the fact that this ordeal has drug out over three weeks now from two different companies who seem joined at the hip. I had no idea that was the case when I placed the order with Solar Sovereign.

Also, you can thank me later for alerting you to the "30 day rule". If it's company policy for Signature Solar to immediately charge a credit / debit card for an order without knowing for sure all the items are in stock then you're setting yourself up for some serious legal trouble down the road. Signature Solar took over $8K out my friend's bank account without having the products in stock and then he had to call after three days to even find that information out. Granted, Signature Solar put the money back in, but there are timelines on any project like this with local contractors, etc. and that could have caused some serious problems on our end.
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Nobody is going to thank you for anything, people like you who cant deal with a little adversity and immediately go nuclear is why there are so many Karens in our society. Take a poll from all customers of SS and it will overwhelming positive for the prices and products they offer. Everyone knows the situation going in with them and if you want the immediate responses from the big corporate retailers then go buy from them and pay 2 to 3 more the cost.
 
SO,

@SignatureSolarJess - Several questions -

Inquiring minds want to know.

  1. What is signature solar's policy on charging the card verse shipping the order? Do you charge immediatly or do you wait until the order is shipped with a tracking number before charging the card?
  2. If there a policy against splitting a shipment when part of the order is not present in the warehouse?
  3. Does your website show real status with in-stock or not?


Seems like the former from other from this thread and a few others I've read..... if so I would love to know the reason behind the policy verse being like most places and only charging when shipped? I can see putting a 10% charge or something if it is to hold the ordered equipment until backorder arrives

On splitting the shipment -
I can see a no-split if you are paying the shipping.​
But I can see giving the customer the option to split and pay the difference or cancel a part order that isn't available.​
Or if cancelling a part order drops the total to less than the free-ship margin I can see the company eating that because it was listed in-stock when ordered and not when packed to ship.​

If the status is not accurate that is a back end systems issue to work one
 
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Rocknemo said:
Nobody is going to thank you for anything, people like you who cant deal with a little adversity and immediately go nuclear is why there are so many Karens in our society. Take a poll from all customers of SS and it will overwhelming positive for the prices and products they offer. Everyone knows the situation going in with them and if you want the immediate responses from the big corporate retailers then go buy from them and pay 2 to 3 more the cost.
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"Everyone knows the situation going in with them".....actually I would say those would be in the vast minority. Unless they've done research, maybe spent some time on these forums.
 
Rocknemo said:
Nobody is going to thank you for anything, people like you who cant deal with a little adversity and immediately go nuclear is why there are so many Karens in our society. Take a poll from all customers of SS and it will overwhelming positive for the prices and products they offer. Everyone knows the situation going in with them and if you want the immediate responses from the big corporate retailers then go buy from them and pay 2 to 3 more the cost.
Click to expand...
So let me make sure I understand what you're saying... My friend calls a company in person and places an $8000 + order with a debit card which is then immediately drawn from his bank account. The person he speaks with on the phone says everything is in stock and will ship out as soon as they get it on a pallet. We were both familiar with the statement on the Signature Solar website that said it may take 7 - 10 days to ship an order. That wasn't going to be a problem. The problem came from the fact that one of the components in the order was on back order for at least 45 days and nobody seemed to think that was important enough to let him know. He then tried to work with them and get them to ship the in-stock items right away but they said it was against company policy to do that. He had contractors lined up to build the structure the solar panels were going on and couldn't wait 45 days for the order to "hopefully" be shipped complete.

You say I'm a "Karen" and I've gone "nuclear" because a company lied to my friend that an $8000 order was in stock when it wasn't. I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt and entertain the thought that maybe their computer system wasn't up to date and another rep had taken an order a few minutes prior which wiped out the last of the stock on the batteries. If that's the case though, why didn't they try to contact him and let him know? Also, seeing as how they had charged his account for the entire order, why couldn't they make an exception to their "company policy" against split shipments and send out the items in the order they had in stock?

Apparently you haven't ever worked on a construction project with several different moving parts. The problem really isn't that the items weren't in stock because there are a lot of companies that sell these components. The problem is a lack of communication and lack of respect for their customer's time.

I just wanted to let people know in this community in case they had a project with deadlines that depended on work from other contractors. Call me Karen. I just want companies to be honest about the status of an order. Is that too much to ask?
 
Brucey said:
I hear EU may be cracking down as well? Could be the final twist of the blade.
Click to expand...
Just for EV's under pressure from the German and French classic car manufactorers..
They are hypocrites as the eu car makers are getting at least as much subsidies...

Batteries, panels and inverters are not affected
 
supersignman said:
So let me make sure I understand what you're saying... My friend calls a company in person and places an $8000 + order with a debit card which is then immediately drawn from his bank account. The person he speaks with on the phone says everything is in stock and will ship out as soon as they get it on a pallet. We were both familiar with the statement on the Signature Solar website that said it may take 7 - 10 days to ship an order. That wasn't going to be a problem. The problem came from the fact that one of the components in the order was on back order for at least 45 days and nobody seemed to think that was important enough to let him know. He then tried to work with them and get them to ship the in-stock items right away but they said it was against company policy to do that. He had contractors lined up to build the structure the solar panels were going on and couldn't wait 45 days for the order to "hopefully" be shipped complete.

You say I'm a "Karen" and I've gone "nuclear" because a company lied to my friend that an $8000 order was in stock when it wasn't. I'll even give them the benefit of the doubt and entertain the thought that maybe their computer system wasn't up to date and another rep had taken an order a few minutes prior which wiped out the last of the stock on the batteries. If that's the case though, why didn't they try to contact him and let him know? Also, seeing as how they had charged his account for the entire order, why couldn't they make an exception to their "company policy" against split shipments and send out the items in the order they had in stock?

Apparently you haven't ever worked on a construction project with several different moving parts. The problem really isn't that the items weren't in stock because there are a lot of companies that sell these components. The problem is a lack of communication and lack of respect for their customer's time.

I just wanted to let people know in this community in case they had a project with deadlines that depended on work from other contractors. Call me Karen. I just want companies to be honest about the status of an order. Is that too much to ask?
Click to expand...


Another few questions for @SignatureSolarJess - (not trying to put you on the spot, add anyone else if you need, just asking polite questions in case I decide to order for a house sized install from your company)

Are debit card orders treated differently than credit card orders?

Do your salesmen work on commision?
That's good for the company because they only get paid for selling. But, unless it is tied to a customer satisfaction survey that is automatically emailed after the order is placed and again after the order is recieved and inspected it can be abused by placing orders knowing some stuff is out of stock and say it is in to get the order.
 
Rocknemo said:
Nobody is going to thank you for anything, people like you who cant deal with a little adversity and immediately go nuclear is why there are so many Karens in our society. Take a poll from all customers of SS and it will overwhelming positive for the prices and products they offer. Everyone knows the situation going in with them and if you want the immediate responses from the big corporate retailers then go buy from them and pay 2 to 3 more the cost.
Click to expand...
And one more thing since you called me a "nuclear Karen" (I guess I need to live up to that reputation now).

What if you were in a situation like my friend - who doesn't have any solar right now - and is getting pretty concerned about the fact that China is threatening to invade Taiwan on a daily basis and Russia is threatening to nuke somebody on a daily basis? Would you be a little concerned about the possibility that something might happen in the next 45 days to this shipment of batteries - which are almost certainly coming from Asia?

There are a lot of companies that sell this stuff. If I had no solar whatsoever, I'd be doing whatever it took to get things squared away ASAP... and that does not include waiting 45 days to hopefully get my entire solar system shipped in from a company that doesn't have the courtesy to contact me when there's a problem with shipping out my order.
 
supersignman said:
And one more thing since you called me a "nuclear Karen" (I guess I need to live up to that reputation now).

What if you were in a situation like my friend - who doesn't have any solar right now - and is getting pretty concerned about the fact that China is threatening to invade Taiwan on a daily basis and Russia is threatening to nuke somebody on a daily basis? Would you be a little concerned about the possibility that something might happen in the next 45 days to this shipment of batteries - which are almost certainly coming from Asia?

There are a lot of companies that sell this stuff. If I had no solar whatsoever, I'd be doing whatever it took to get things squared away ASAP... and that does not include waiting 45 days to hopefully get my entire solar system shipped in from a company that doesn't have the courtesy to contact me when there's a problem with shipping out my order.
Click to expand...
Worrying about things that haven't happened yet makes you what you are.
 
supersignman said:
And one more thing since you called me a "nuclear Karen" (I guess I need to live up to that reputation now).

What if you were in a situation like my friend - who doesn't have any solar right now - and is getting pretty concerned about the fact that China is threatening to invade Taiwan on a daily basis and Russia is threatening to nuke somebody on a daily basis? Would you be a little concerned about the possibility that something might happen in the next 45 days to this shipment of batteries - which are almost certainly coming from Asia?

There are a lot of companies that sell this stuff. If I had no solar whatsoever, I'd be doing whatever it took to get things squared away ASAP... and that does not include waiting 45 days to hopefully get my entire solar system shipped in from a company that doesn't have the courtesy to contact me when there's a problem with shipping out my order.
Click to expand...


I do see all your points and agree with a good part of them , but ya did come on a bit strong to start with. I'd be pissed and angry, but I would want resolution and a good outcome. You and your friend already have an outcome that isn't ideal but better than a company going bankrupt and you get nothing.

Thanks for your story and warning, could have been done better.

No, I do nor have any affiliation with signature solar other than being a potential customer.
 
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supersignman said:
What if you were in a situation like my friend - who doesn't have any solar right now - and is getting pretty concerned about the fact that China is threatening to invade Taiwan on a daily basis and Russia is threatening to nuke somebody on a daily basis? Would you be a little concerned about the possibility that something might happen in the next 45 days to this shipment of batteries - which are almost certainly coming from Asia?
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I'm not gonna call you a nuclear karen but did you consider Current Connected at all in the process? If there's a sense of urgency then paying more for shipping seems worth it.

For most customers an unexpected delay from Signature just isn't that big a deal. It's still worth it to them to wait for the free shipping.
 
You get what you pay for.
If you pay $75 for a hotel room, expect Motel 6, not Hilton.
There are trade-offs in most things in life.
There are usually other places to do business, if you are unhappy with a particular business.
If you find the absolute lowest prices along with the absolute best customer service, please let everyone else know.
I'm sure we would all want to reward them with our money.
With a choice between low price, and excellent customer service, most people choose low price.
That's why Wal-Mart is the largest company in the world. Crappy service and all.
 
I wonder what percentage of the orders had a SNAFU error? I assume 99.99% are all good with happy customers or they would go out of business
 
TM48 said:
Worrying about things that haven't happened yet makes you what you are.
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And what is that?
I give you this, ironically written by Karen.

@supersignman your posts seem well written and professional to me, thank you for sharing your experience.

I've been lurking here for a while before I joined. I must say, Signature Solar has improved drastically.

As others have already stated, your friend should contact Current Connected if they haven't already.
 
hwy17 said:
I'm not gonna call you a nuclear karen but did you consider Current Connected at all in the process? If there's a sense of urgency then paying more for shipping seems worth it.

For most customers an unexpected delay from Signature just isn't that big a deal. It's still worth it to them to wait for the free shipping.
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I didn't consider Current Connected but I will in the future. The problem wasn't an unexpected delay of a few days. That would not have been a problem. The problem with Signature Solar was an un-communicated delay of 45 days and the problem with Solar Sovereign was that I kept getting excuse after excuse when in fact, they were drop shipping the panels from Signature Solar - who didn't even have them in stock and didn't have an anticipated re-stock date. If my friend and I would have just kept silent and not hounded them for some answers, it would have been at least 45 days. What kind of customer service is that? I didn't expect Amazon level service from and industrial-type supplier but I certainly expected something better than what I got.
 
42OhmsPA said:
And what is that?
I give you this, ironically written by Karen.

@supersignman your posts seem well written and professional to me, thank you for sharing your experience.

I've been lurking here for a while before I joined. I must say, Signature Solar has improved drastically.

As others have already stated, your friend should contact Current Connected if they haven't already.
Click to expand...
I leave that to one's imagination.
 
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