Poll: How was your experience with signature solar?

[MrM1]

I had an issue. They resolved it.

I was planning to post a long form review once the issue was resolved. Now that it is, I started my own thread of the experience, and I link it here.

I have since gone on to order 3 EG4 mini splits. That process of my most recent order was perfect.

 

[JJJJ]

Excellent idea. Very timely.

 

[Tulex]

I don't think great experiences mean anything. That should be the norm, and regardless of how good or bad a company is, there should be great experiences from any company. It's the likelihood of a bad experience that matters.

 

[MrM1]

I don't think great experiences mean anything. That should be the norm, and regardless of how good or bad a company is, there should be great experiences from any company. It's the likelihood of a bad experience that matters.

I do not completely agree with this ... Let me read both good and bad and then decide. But also do not gloss over the bad or hide them all together. (not saying SS or anyone else does this). But in the end, I just like to make an informed decision.

Sometimes I read the stuff people complain about and realize, that would not be a problem for me, so I order the product or from that company anyway. But I use both good and bad experiences to make my final decision

 

[timselectric]

But, it's good to see a good experience.
All that we ever see here is the bad experiences.

 

[Will Prowse]

I have probably heard more complaints about bluetti than signature solar, and not a single bluetti thread discusses their bad customer support. And I mean bad. I have had a lot of people email me direct with those complaints, but not many people seem to complain about them here.

 

[Tulex]

I have probably heard more complaints about bluetti than signature solar, and not a single bluetti thread discusses their bad customer support. And I mean bad. I have had a lot of people email me direct with those complaints, but not many people seem to complain about them here.

Kind of apples and oranges though. SS covers pretty much everything on this board, so more likely that people on here will have an interaction with SS. Bluetti is a niche market, can't imagine there is nearly the likelihood of people being on here for that.

 

[Will Prowse]

Kind of apples and oranges though. SS covers pretty much everything on this board, so more likely that people on here will have an interaction with SS. Bluetti is a niche market, can't imagine there is nearly the likelihood of people being on here for that.

Bluetti and ecoflow sell way more units than any of these diy vendors. For proof, look at the millions they raised just from the kickstarter projects alone, and this was years ago. No comparison, and not niche. People buy them like crazy.

 

[Will Prowse]

Kind of apples and oranges though. SS covers pretty much everything on this board, so more likely that people on here will have an interaction with SS. Bluetti is a niche market, can't imagine there is nearly the likelihood of people being on here for that.

Why do you think ecoflow is in costco and this 18K is not. Those small consumer power banks sell like hot cakes.

 

[Will Prowse]

I will try to get some numbers from those companies. I really wonder what their international revenue is these days. I assume it is massive.

I personally hate the jackery and they have sold 2 million units:


Imagine how many bluetti and ecoflow have sold!

 

[Will Prowse]

Found it on their site. I am assuming that majority of jackery units were the tiny ones. Ecoflow is states 2 million as well:


No comparison to these offgrid vendors. and absolutely no comparison to victron users. That is much lower than lv6548's etc

 

[Tulex]

I will try to get some numbers from those companies. I really wonder what their international revenue is these days. I assume it is massive.

I personally hate the jackery and they have sold 2 million units:
View attachment 147681

Imagine how many bluetti and ecoflow have sold!

I don't think the numbers matter, I'm talking about why those people would even be on here, it's not the same DIY. You are going to find a lot more threads with SS in them because they cover more area. That's opportunity for more noise. And it works like the dB scale.

 

[Johno1066]

This is really a DIY forum so you should be able to handle any issues that occur especially with the help of others in this forum. I would say if you do not or cannot put up with issues arising then perhaps it would of been better to have a proffesional instalation. I would also add that these small systems are not as stable as the grid so I am prepared to have my lights flicker when a heavy load kicks in. So as far as SS and their service is concerned where else would I be able to purchase a 3 kw charger controller inverter able to take up to 500 volts PV OCV for around $650.

 

[Pi Curio]

Found it on their site. I am assuming that majority of jackery units were the tiny ones. Ecoflow is states 2 million as well:
View attachment 147682

No comparison to these offgrid vendors. and absolutely no comparison to victron users. That is much lower than lv6548's etc

Oh, that's just 2Million users. There are a lot of folks that own multiple of their Delta units and or River series. Then there are their solar panels, got a few of those myself, very nice! Plus, their customer support is very responsive and helpful. Considering getting one of their portable units.

Anyhow, Ecoflow is in its own league. Future DJI if you ask me.

 

[Koldsimer]

I have probably heard more complaints about bluetti than signature solar, and not a single bluetti thread discusses their bad customer support. And I mean bad. I have had a lot of people email me direct with those complaints, but not many people seem to complain about them here.

Could it be that SS has about a dozen reps participating in this forum constantly touting their great customer service? In this thread alone, one of them saw a missed opportunity to make an 18k sale and they were real quick to jump in and offer "assistance".

Their exposure here is beyond ridiculous imo. How many forum users do they need to take care of customers issues? In a recent thread, one of them gave some bs info about specs being subject to change and the owner of SS was quick to delete his response and say that he didn't represent the company at all.

So yeah, i'm sure we see a lot more complaints about their company in this forum because of their abundant exposure here.

It amazes me that they STILL have a bad reputation for customer service. If they would just learn to say, "we are very sorry for your experience. What can we do to make it right for you?" things may get better for them. But it's been years of the same problems with the same responses so i don't see things changing for them anytime soon. It's a shame because they make some really good products (and some mehh ones) for a good price.

 

[Zwy]

15 bad experiences out of 120 orders so far - 8% dissatisfaction.

I bet it'll look very different in 24 hours.

Looking at the poll numbers today. Of those 100 that voted, 50% had purchased from SS.

What is interesting is adding the votes under :

I had an issue but they fixed it​

I had issues and will not purchase from them again​

Comes to 29% compared to the 24% that did not have issues.

This means that over 50% had issues and that is a 20% higher rate than those that did not have issues. That is amazing, more than 1 out of 2 customers had a problem.

 

[Mattb4]

...

It amazes me that they STILL have a bad reputation for customer service....

Does not amaze me. Their model of customer service is to blame. There is a time worn statement. Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is a sign of insanity.

 

[rhino]

A large part is also going to be because they are not always selling top quality equipment which means you will inherently have more issues when stuff doesn't work as expected.

 

[stienman]

This means that over 50% had issues and that is a 20% higher rate than those that did not have issues. That is amazing, more than 1 out of 2 customers had a problem.

Keep in mind that this is a DIY forum, and SS is a DIY supporting company. Solar is nowhere near trivial, even for experienced DIYers in general (ie, those that do their own home repair including plumbing, HVAC, and electrical, and much of their car repair). Most DIYers are not at that level.

Those of us who've been soaking in the solar arena for awhile no longer understand just how high the bar is for a beginner. We already have an understanding of not just the basics, but much of the esoteric - compression, temperature related to charging and Voc, rapid shutdown, UL solar requirements, generator issues, MPPT vs PWM, etc - while even a DIYer well versed in household electrical is trying to understand why a 48V system would be better than a 12V or 24V system, and the difference between Vmpp and Voc.

A "problem" therefore, is anything which causes the user to ask a question. With even the simple inverters having three dozen settings the only reason less than 50% indicate "no problems" is because this not their first inverter or experience with solar, and/or they've spent more time here before buying than those who jump in the deep end and learn to swim under water.

 

[stienman]

A large part is also going to be because they are not always selling top quality equipment which means you will inherently have more issues when stuff doesn't work as expected.

Yes, thankfully they are willing to sell and support budget minded equipment that does require more effort to support. It's a double edged sword, but one I'm glad someone is tackling.

 

[SolarScott]

Could it be that SS has about a dozen reps participating in this forum constantly touting their great customer service? In this thread alone, one of them saw a missed opportunity to make an 18k sale and they were real quick to jump in and offer "assistance".

Their exposure here is beyond ridiculous imo. How many forum users do they need to take care of customers issues? In a recent thread, one of them gave some bs info about specs being subject to change and the owner of SS was quick to delete his response and say that he didn't represent the company at all.

So yeah, i'm sure we see a lot more complaints about their company in this forum because of their abundant exposure here.

It amazes me that they STILL have a bad reputation for customer service. If they would just learn to say, "we are very sorry for your experience. What can we do to make it right for you?" things may get better for them. But it's been years of the same problems with the same responses so i don't see things changing for them anytime soon. It's a shame because they make some really good products (and some mehh ones) for a good price.

I'm not trying to put you down, but if they don't respond to people they are bad, if they do respond to people they are bad? I love it when they respond here, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. My attitude with them is that the Ox is slow....but the Earth is patient.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

Looking at the poll numbers today. Of those 100 that voted, 50% had purchased from SS.

What is interesting is adding the votes under :

I had an issue but they fixed it​

I had issues and will not purchase from them again​

Comes to 29% compared to the 24% that did not have issues.

This means that over 50% had issues and that is a 20% higher rate than those that did not have issues. That is amazing, more than 1 out of 2 customers had a problem.

Yeah, I saw that right away, but I wouldn't put any stock in those numbers. I worked with satisfaction surveys for a several years, creating them, massaging them, analysis, interpretation. There's definitely a science behind it but in most cases it's rat's nest that at best gives you some anecdotal information. What really stands out with a survey like this is that the sampling is way too small to be meaningful. Not the fault of anyone and I'm happy to see it and would like to see more. But you gotta take it with a grain of salt.

 

[stienman]

The youtube results are interesting. https://www.youtube.com/@WillProwse/community

Of 2.6k votes, 22% ordered from SS, and 14% of those that ordered from SS will not order from SS again.

The secondary Solark poll is new, but of 972 votes, 8% have a solark, and 25% of those who have a solark will not buy a solark again.

Granted, solark is less DIY than SS offerings, and the video channel targets DIY, and SS sells panels and a wide variety of equipment, while solark targets only inverters - something which people will naturally have more "trouble" with than solar panels and mounting equipment.

It's still interesting that owners of the respective equipment are unhappy with solark at almost twice the rate they are unhappy with SS.

Hopefully the polls will be available for a week or two and the sample size will rise to a significant portion of Will's subscriber base.

Now I'm curious - do we have any known solark representative presence in this forum?

 

[SparkyJJO]

Looking at the poll numbers today. Of those 100 that voted, 50% had purchased from SS.

What is interesting is adding the votes under :

I had an issue but they fixed it​

I had issues and will not purchase from them again​

Comes to 29% compared to the 24% that did not have issues.

This means that over 50% had issues and that is a 20% higher rate than those that did not have issues. That is amazing, more than 1 out of 2 customers had a problem.

But "I had an issue but they fixed it" doesn't mean there was something bad that happened. It could simply have been there was something that they didn't quite understand and needed a little help. They asked, got the question answered, everyone was happy. Don't assume the issue was a serious problem. If I had simply had a question or an issue setting things up because I didn't understand it, and I called and got help to resolve my question, I would have selected that option.

 

[wiseacre]

I have probably heard more complaints about bluetti than signature solar, and not a single bluetti thread discusses their bad customer support. And I mean bad. I have had a lot of people email me direct with those complaints, but not many people seem to complain about them here.

Why do you think ecoflow is in costco and this 18K is not. Those small consumer power banks sell like hot cakes.

I think part of that is the DIY nature of the forum.
Those buying the hot cakes aren't really into DIY, they're looking for a simple plug and play (I'm guessing for minimum backup usage)

I don't want to make pancakes so I go to IHOP.
If I find their pancakes and syrups are inedible I don't go to a recipe site and complain