Incompetence from Signature Solar & Solar Sovereign

[Plum Crazy Rob]

Debit cards issued by Visa have the same charge back protection as credit cards so no need to use CC, or is this an EU thing only?

US VISA debit card here. No, no pics lol

I am often left scratching my head when asked "VISA/credit or debit??" at checkout. I knew it wasn't common....

 

[NC_hydro]

This forum has been a tremendous help to me over the years so I wanted to take the time to document my recent experiences with Signature Solar and Solar Sovereign for the community members here.

I'm in the process of helping a friend put together a complete solar system so I told him where I saw that Signature Solar had a free shipping offer on their Memorial day sale. He called them on Tues, May 28 and placed the order over the phone for one of their complete packages including an AIO, batteries & panels. He asked them when he placed the order if they had everything in stock and when it would ship out. They said everything was in stock and would ship as soon as they could get it palleted up (Incompetence #1).

On Fri, May 31, my friend still had not received a tracking number so he call Signature Solar to make sure his order had shipped. They told him the batteries were on back order and they expected to receive them mid-July. He told them to go ahead and ship everything else then and he would wait on the batteries. They told him they couldn't split the shipment because that was against company policy. He told them to cancel that order then and place a new order for the AIO & panels and a separate order for the batteries. They told him that would put him at the end of the line which would then give his AIO to another customer ahead of him and the AIO was also out of stock.

He called me that weekend trying to figure out what to do. I told him to cancel the order and we would order separate components from different vendors. He called Mon, June 3 and cancelled the order. They called him back later that day and asked him if he was sure he wanted to cancel. He told them the story and they said they could offer him some upgraded batteries and ship out everything now but he would have to pay the difference for the upgraded batteries. He told them to put the money back into his account and leave him alone.

He then came to my shop and we put together a package with different components from other vendors and I saw where Solar Sovereign had a free shipping offer on all orders over $2K. They also had a really good price advertised on a pallet of REC panels so I told him I would go ahead and order them before they sold out and he could pay me back. I placed the order online Wed, Jun 5. On Fri, Jun 7, I called Solar Sovereign because I hadn't received a tracking number and their website says "Fast Shipping, We know you hate waiting, we do too." They said they were in stock and they would ship out on Mon, Jun 10 or Tues, Jun 11. I called back Mon, Jun 10 and talked with Jared who said he would "go check in the warehouse to make sure they were in stock" and call me back in a few minutes (Incompetence #2). A couple of hours went by and I never heard from him so I called him back. At this point the story changed and he said he sent an email to "the warehouse" but hadn't heard back from them and he would let me know as soon as he heard something.

I never heard anything so I called Solar Sovereign again on Tues, Jun 11 and talked with Stephan. He said "the warehouse" is showing that my order is in process so it should be shipping that day and he would send me a tracking number. When I still hadn't received a tracking number on Wed, Jun 12, I called back again and got Jared on the phone again this time. He said "the warehouse" still hadn't gotten them a tracking number but he could see where my order had been allocated and he would let me know ASAP once he got the tracking number. He also said he tried to call "the warehouse" but they weren't answering the phone. At this point I directly asked him if he was drop shipping these from another company and he told me they were shipping from Solar Sovereign but he couldn't get anyone there to answer his questions. His computer was showing my panels were allocated though and were shipping.

On Thurs, Jun 13 when I still hadn't heard back from Solar Sovereign, I called Signature Solar myself and talked with Amanda. I explained the whole situation and asked her if she could look up my order based on my shipping address under the Solar Sovereign account and tell me what the status was because Jared said Signature Solar wouldn't call him back or send him a tracking number. She looked it up and told me that shipment was on back order and they didn't know when their new stock would be in. I thanked her and called Solar Sovereign to cancel my order. I talked with Jared again and he said he would get my refund processed right away. I asked if he would email me a confirmation showing the refund and he said he would in 15 minutes (Incompetence # ?).

Today is Fri, Jun 14 and I still haven't gotten a refund confirmation and my credit card account isn't showing any refund in process. This has been a 3 week ordeal so I wanted to let everyone know that a deal which seems too good to be true... probably is. Also, Signature Solar was going to be in violation of the Federal Trade Commission law know as the "30 day rule" that states an order must be shipped within 30 days of a credit card transaction. The initial order my friend placed was going to be at least 45 days until it shipped. It would be funny if their credit card processing was shut down one day.

https://www.findlaw.com/smallbusiness/business-operations/laws-governing-shipping-advertising.html

When will people realize Currentconnected.com should be the first stop when ordering solar stuff…

 

[Brucey]

When will people realize Currentconnected.com should be the first stop when ordering solar stuff…

It's because we are sucked in by the free shipping at low thresholds from others. But a price to be potentially paid later with your time, on the support side.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

It's because we are sucked in by the free shipping at low thresholds from others. But a price to be potentially paid later with your time, on the support side.

yeah I got lucky, when they (SS) ignored my order and emails during the black friday sale on the chargverters I contacted Dexter and I am hooked on his version of service. pretty sure I now where to go when I need anything else.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

"HTSA has confirmed that 27 people in the United States have been killed when their defective Takata PSAN air bag inflators exploded. In addition, at least 400 people in the United States have allegedly been injured by exploding Takata air bag inflators."

how many of them were in an accident where the cause of death could not be determined so they blamed in on the airbag? Don't want to die avoid stupid situations while driving.

I grew up without power disc brakes, without power steering, 3spd on the column, no ABS, AIrbags, or stability control. we have created a bunch of Nancies who should not be driving to begin with, they play with their phones, do their makeup and generally drive like one of Jerries kids...and with all of that, the killer airbags only killed 27 out of an average of 115 million cars each day.... talk about lawyers grubbing for money!

How many cars are driven each day in the US?

American commuters still largely depend on cars

Over 76 percent of Americans drive alone to work every day, while another 9 percent carpool with someone else. Considering that ACS counted 150 million workers in 2016, that's at least 115 million cars and trucks hitting American streets every day.Oct 3, 2017

sorry I got a bit of a one track mind, but shit like this pisses me to no end.

 

[noobie]

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'm late to the party, but should this be their company slogan?
"Hey we may screw things up, but we're cheap!"

 

[robbob2112]

I'm not having any issues with deliveries. However, in the areas it is slowed down, especially with the USPS: That is by design. The Postmaster General is intentionally slowing things down (He's a Trump appointee) so he can go "look, the USPS is broken, we need to privatize it." What was originally part of the executive branch, has been intentionally and slowly destroyed from within by Republicans who think privatizing it is better. You are blaming Amazon over what the USPS is doing.

Every thing that has happened to the USPS is because of Republicans trying to destroy a government institution so they can privatize it and line their pockets.

The bill that was passed that required the USPS to fund the retirement for 75 years in advance, in a short 10 years? That was Republicans in congress, at the very tail end of the Clinton admin (likely on a rider). The switching over to having the USPS quasi-private in 1990/91 (when my dad retired) also Republicans.

Leaving politics out of it - (and yes there were politics at play, there always are)

Amazon has the choice to not ship with USPS and they should skip it because it is better for the outlying customers to not use them. But they NEED the post office at Christmas and Prime Day to hump out all the packages they ship. So they have contracts for minimum number of items at a flat price per item. And they spread them around to keep the major players in the shipping industry happy.

One thing I hate that they do is "FedEX smart POST" -- they fedex to the local post office and then the PO delivers the package to the customer. When I have a package shipped "FedEX stupid POST" they tend to sit in the PO two days before they are out for delivery. And being rural it isn't unusual for 6pm to roll around and suddenly all my "out for delivery" changes to either "delivered" or "driveway/mailbox obstructed", then the driver goes home ... They do this so the contract terms are met and I sit unhappy because it shows delivered and I don't have it in hand. I know it will show up the next day, but the deception is frustrating.

I guess if they would actually just mark the package - no driver OT allowed - or driver passed out before delivering - or something honest I would be fine with it.

FedEX and UPS both do "route exception" or "delivery rescheduled" and deliver late, but they are honest about it.

 

[robbob2112]

I grew up without power disc brakes, without power steering, 3spd on the column, no ABS, AIrbags, or stability control. we have created a bunch of Nancies who should not be driving to begin with, they play with their phones, do their makeup and generally drive like one of Jerries kids...and with all of that, the killer airbags only killed 27 out of an average of 115 million cars each day.... talk about lawyers grubbing for money!

HA HA, I had a three speed on the column 1970 model Ford Ranger - you made me think. When I was a kid in high school I was on my way to work driving on the highway - went to downshift so I could turn and the shifter lever came off in my hand..... 1 second of panic, then I jammed it back into the hole and got to work. Called Dad and he brought a couple of hose clamps up. Just put them around the retaining ring for the shifter and drove it like that until we sold it.

I also had to replace the starter on that truck every 3 months - it was missing 3 teeth on the flywheel - so I got a 2 year warranty from Chief Auto and replaced it 8 times. ... Good days

 

[SparkyJJO]

I like my 99 Camaro because while it does have ABS and a pair of airbags, they are the only "nanny" systems it has, and it will gladly let you kill yourself if you want to
And oh my, I have to *gasp* TURN MY HEAD to look behind me when backing up. No reverse cam! The horror!
OK I might add that some day, I do appreciate a reverse cam to double check stuff and I did add one to my old pickup truck years ago.

I drove a 98 Camaro through winters before back in college days and I did fine (mostly, only one minor mishap with it). Good way to learn to drive through various weather conditions that's for sure.

Our family vehicle now is a previous generation Odyssey that doesn't have any auto braking, drive for you, adaptive cruise stuff. It'll beep at me if it thinks I might hit something (and most of the time there's nothing there when it beeps, go figure). But that's it.

I test drove a car with auto braking at my previous job position and drove it straight at a foam "wall" - kind of a weird feeling to do that, and kinda weird to feel the car cut the throttle and hit the brakes, and stop a few inches from it, by itself, while I was simply holding the gas pedal. Part of me wanted it to mess up so I could watch the foam wall bounce away

 

[JRH]

Leaving politics out of it - (and yes there were politics at play, there always are)

Amazon has the choice to not ship with USPS and they should skip it because it is better for the outlying customers to not use them. But they NEED the post office at Christmas and Prime Day to hump out all the packages they ship. So they have contracts for minimum number of items at a flat price per item. And they spread them around to keep the major players in the shipping industry happy.

One thing I hate that they do is "FedEX smart POST" -- they fedex to the local post office and then the PO delivers the package to the customer. When I have a package shipped "FedEX stupid POST" they tend to sit in the PO two days before they are out for delivery. And being rural it isn't unusual for 6pm to roll around and suddenly all my "out for delivery" changes to either "delivered" or "driveway/mailbox obstructed", then the driver goes home ... They do this so the contract terms are met and I sit unhappy because it shows delivered and I don't have it in hand. I know it will show up the next day, but the deception is frustrating.

I guess if they would actually just mark the package - no driver OT allowed - or driver passed out before delivering - or something honest I would be fine with it.

FedEX and UPS both do "route exception" or "delivery rescheduled" and deliver late, but they are honest about it.

I have the same problem being rural…here how I fixed it..go rent the smallest P.O. Box that your post office has ..they are cheap..now their job is quicker , easier, and less prone to delay…

when ups or fed decides to utilize the USPS for the delivery the post office will just stick it in your box…no waiting to go out for delivery ….!
And it will show as delivered on tracking… ..they generally will put a small parcel in the actual P.O. Box…if it’s larger they stick it in a larger keyed box you can access anytime..if it’s large you will have to get it from the counter…

I’m not sayin it perfect or what I wish to have but it works ….

My shipments were a mess not knowing for sure where they were going or with who my boxes were with…their randomness was more of a problem than the actual method they used .


This solved it..
J.

 

[robbob2112]

I have the same problem being rural…here how I fixed it..go rent the smallest P.O. Box that your post office has ..they are cheap..now their job is quicker , easier, and less prone to delay…

when ups or fed decides to utilize the USPS for the delivery the post office will just stick it in your box…no waiting to go out for delivery ….!
And it will show as delivered on tracking… ..they generally will put a small parcel in the actual P.O. Box…if it’s larger they stick it in a larger keyed box you can access anytime..if it’s large you will have to get it from the counter…

I’m not sayin it perfect or what I wish to have but it works ….

My shipments were a mess not knowing for sure where they were going or with who my boxes were with…their randomness was more of a problem than the actual method they used .


This solved it..
J.

yeah, my nearest PO is 35 minutes away and we don't get out much now that I am working from home - a couple of times a week maybe - I'll wait on delivery being late - doesn't help with the theft from boxes we get up here from time to time.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

It's surprising how as modern day westerners we've kind of lost all responsibilities for our actions whether that's buying cheap goods thinking were going to get premium service, driving a car recklessly thinking the safety features will prevent death or what I'm currently thinking about and that's walking without looking where you step.
It maybe different in the US/Australia (you also have dangerous critters)but growing up in Britain there was nothing dangerous. I would walk on roads, scramble through fields and generally go anywhere without a care, but in the last 8 years I've learnt fast that every step I take must be taken with care. Between various different cobras, kraits, vipers, scorpions, giant centipedes and even damn caterpillars everything here you can tread on will either hurt or kill, so hard as it was I've had to train myself to relearn the instincts we loose as westerners living in safety nets.
When driving here you can't just be aware of yourself but you have to actively think the guy in front of you or the person on the junction is going to do something stupid, it makes hazard awareness tests for driving seem like a joke.

I still find myself doing typical western stuff like robs post above, getting angry at delivery drivers saying something is delivered when it's not because they stopped work at 8:30 Pm to go see their family or getting angry at stupid 1st world problems but maybe one day I won't give a toss the same as the locals(never pulling out of a junction without looking that crap is crazy)

 

[740GLE]

Is it time to move this thread to the chit chat folder?

lol

 

[Brucey]

Panels received. Perfect condition so far except one of the mc4 connectors abraded the inner surface of one of the outer panels. I don't think that's really FedEx's fault as it's internal to the palleted item. Good to use or should I request refund? I just don't want it catching on fire or anything like that.

 

[Osmethne]

When will people realize Currentconnected.com should be the first stop when ordering solar stuff…

I like them except for this one thing.

Local Pickup​

Orders from Current Connected may be eligible for pickup at our Southern Nevada location. In order to be eligible, the product will need to be ordered, and an additional $200 dock pickup fee will be added to your order. This dock fee is non-negotiable, no matter the volume of order. All pickups will require an appointment scheduled with our shipping department at least 48 hours in advance of the pickup time and date. For Pickup, we will require a valid photo ID matching your order, and the credit card the order was purchased with. We will make a copy of your photo ID with your pick up invoice which will also need to be signed.

 

[HighTechLab]

I like them except for this one thing.

When we open a storefront and are properly setup, we'll get rid of the fee. Everyone wants to show up unannounced and expect to step in front of everyone calling on the phone or emailing because they are physically present. We have a flow in our operations and local pickups disrupt the flow. Those disruptions have a tangible expense attached to them. We pass that expense on.

The alternative is to follow in our competitors footsteps and start doing something we aren't setup for and deal with a much bigger backlash as a result.

 

[Osmethne]

When we open a storefront and are properly setup, we'll get rid of the fee. Everyone wants to show up unannounced and expect to step in front of everyone calling on the phone or emailing because they are physically present. We have a flow in our operations and local pickups disrupt the flow. Those disruptions have a tangible expense attached to them. We pass that expense on.

The alternative is to follow in our competitors footsteps and start doing something we aren't setup for and deal with a much bigger backlash as a result.

A storefront? Exciting! Are there plans for this?

 

[Brett V]

Panels received. Perfect condition so far except one of the mc4 connectors abraded the inner surface of one of the outer panels. I don't think that's really FedEx's fault as it's internal to the palleted item. Good to use or should I request refund? I just don't want it catching on fire or anything like that.

View attachment 222902

View attachment 222903

It looks ok. Wet it and that will show if the silver trace is exposed to air or not.

 

[supersignman]

I wanted to update everyone on the status of my friend's solar system since so many people have been kind enough to weigh in on this situation. After I realized the situation with both 'SS' companies was a dumpster fire, I decided to do my due diligence and do some research on this forum before I recommended another company to him. Not only has this whole fiasco raised my blood pressure and wasted many hours of my time but it kind of embarrassed me too since I recommended both of those companies to him.

I'm not going to mention the name of the company he ordered from because I don't want to break any forum rules but I will say that if you do a google search on 'wholesale solar panels' this company will be at the top (or near the top) and the first letter of the company starts with an 'A'. They appear to be based out of Miami, FL and supposedly have 48 fulfillment centers in the US. I then searched for them on this forum in several different ways... and I know this might be hard to believe for some members on here... but there wasn't a single negative comment about them.

My friend placed the order online Friday (6/14) and they communicated with him several times regarding the status of his order... and the pallet of panels showed up today (6/18). That was actually a lot quicker than we expected. I've been in the business world for many years and all I ask for is good communication from the companies I order from and a shipping time of about a week (unless specified otherwise.) I don't know why there are so many people on this forum that seem to be willing to accept beatings from their abusive solar spouse?

Of course price is a very important component so I will address that also. If my friend would have been able to drive to one of their fulfillment centers to pay cash, the cost would have been about 6 % under what either SS company was selling them for but that wasn't an option for him so he ended up paying about 12% more and had them shipped. This also included a CC fee so apparently cash is king with them!

Maybe it's worth 12% for some people to play the game of "pay then pray your stuff shows up" but not for me. It looks like this company has several distribution centers in FL, TX, AZ & CA but there are some in WA, MN, IN and up the east coast too.

 

[Bluedog225]

Curious if the thread title was changed by op or admin?

The threat of litigation is laughable.

Sounded like lies to me. Call it what it is.

What did I miss?

 

[42OhmsPA]

I wanted to update everyone on the status of my friend's solar system since so many people have been kind enough to weigh in on this situation. After I realized the situation with both 'SS' companies was a dumpster fire, I decided to do my due diligence and do some research on this forum before I recommended another company to him. Not only has this whole fiasco raised my blood pressure and wasted many hours of my time but it kind of embarrassed me too since I recommended both of those companies to him.

I'm not going to mention the name of the company he ordered from because I don't want to break any forum rules but I will say that if you do a google search on 'wholesale solar panels' this company will be at the top (or near the top) and the first letter of the company starts with an 'A'. They appear to be based out of Miami, FL and supposedly have 48 fulfillment centers in the US. I then searched for them on this forum in several different ways... and I know this might be hard to believe for some members on here... but there wasn't a single negative comment about them.

My friend placed the order online Friday (6/14) and they communicated with him several times regarding the status of his order... and the pallet of panels showed up today (6/18). That was actually a lot quicker than we expected. I've been in the business world for many years and all I ask for is good communication from the companies I order from and a shipping time of about a week (unless specified otherwise.) I don't know why there are so many people on this forum that seem to be willing to accept beatings from their abusive solar spouse?

Of course price is a very important component so I will address that also. If my friend would have been able to drive to one of their fulfillment centers to pay cash, the cost would have been about 6 % under what either SS company was selling them for but that wasn't an option for him so he ended up paying about 12% more and had them shipped. This also included a CC fee so apparently cash is king with them!

Maybe it's worth 12% for some people to play the game of "pay then pray your stuff shows up" but not for me. It looks like this company has several distribution centers in FL, TX, AZ & CA but there are some in WA, MN, IN and up the east coast too.

A1 solar store?
Share the name, post a review in the vendor review section. As long as you aren't affiliated its fine.

 

[Brucey]

It looks ok. Wet it and that will show if the silver trace is exposed to air or not.

All good, just wiped that white powder away with water no real damage at all, just a bit of the film on that surface



Shout out to @SignatureSolarJess for figuring out the tracking for me, despite the confusion I would recommend Solar Sovereign for the Aptos panels.

 

[Brett V]

All good, just wiped that white powder away with water no real damage at all, just a bit of the film on that surface

View attachment 222916

Shout out to @SignatureSolarJess for figuring out the tracking for me, despite the confusion I would recommend Solar Sovereign for the Aptos panels.

Make sure you blow out the Mc4 connecter, any residue of the powder in there could cause a poor connection. Glad the panel is good!

 

[robby]

I am well aware of what the issue supposedly is. That being said, Okinawa is the hottest most humid place on the face of the planet, (one fo the worst case scenarios according to that video).... next to maybe thailand or the phillipines and guess what? a lot of the okinawans drive older beater cars (especially the US military members) and there was not and still has not been some huge rush of exploding airbags killing people. matter of fact in my entire adult life living in japan I have only come across 1, one instance of an older toyotas air bag going off other then in an accident.

I have never ever heard of anyone getting hit by these metal or plastic shards and I know several people who have had their Airbags go off.
The Presses job is to scour the country and find the one or to cases that happen each year and then make it look like an epidemic!

 

[cs1234]

View attachment 222903

Those should have bubble or something on the end of them to prevent that.