Signature Solar Customer Service

[realpinochet]

This is the 2nd issue SS has had with people on this forum alone, maybe they need to relook at how the run things. If they are messing up here how many more are out there?

Was the first one the broken solar panel? I understand SS and where they are coming from, the carrier doesn't want to pay out the claims. I also understand the end user...I bought a product from you and I expect it to arrive in good shape. I also don't agree you should be required to buy more than you need to counter this or to buy 4 at a time if one is broke. There should be a class action law suit against the shipping companies, there job is to ship the product safely.

 

[flashmandv]

Just to refresh my case - everything worked finally.
I had to try 4 different laptops with different USB drivers until I match the laptop hardware to the proper driver.
One driver and laptop could work with inverter 1, but will not work with inverter 2.
For inverter 2 I had to use different laptop or different ISP tool version. Some inverters update only with the latest ISP 4.30 version.
Good luck

 

[73powerstroke]

So I got a shipment in today from Signature Solar with what looks to be a refurbished unit. While I am happy to finally get it back I still am not too impressed with the communication. Last update I had from them was on 4/21 stating they received the new comms board in for my unit and would be confirming if this fixed the issue. Once again I did not get any sort of update from them before the unit arrived at my door. The good news is I am now able to communicate with the new inverter, but I am a bit concerned that I didn't really receive an "Open Box" unit, as it looks to have already been opened up and smells like burnt electronics. I am a little worried that I sent a perfectly good unit to them just to receive a reman unit that very likely already had issues or is older. I assume they likely still uphold the warranty, but the concern is still there nonetheless.
View attachment 92855View attachment 92856View attachment 92857

I would be livid. Bugger screws piss me off. I fix and repair amateur radio gear and when I see boogered screws I know some booger has been in there. If I send my unit in I expect my unit to come back Not somebody else bought a booger screw repaired and it's somebody else bought earlier... and when I do I mark my stuff so I know when they're pulling some crap on me. I don't even care what's posted in the rest of this thread the writing is on the wall in black-and-white.
I'm sorry that you get screwed over by this company. I heard someone say you should never buy something from someplace where you can't go put a boot up their butt.

 

[B-Mod]

Just found this thread about signature solar's crappy service after the sale. I Purchased about 10K of solar panels, 5 SPF5000 ES inverters, and other misc parts from them just this year alone. A week ago I sent a tech message on their website, and to this day not even one message back. I am having issues with comm on these units and hooking them up to solar assistant. Also in the few months in ordering the inverters (as I increased my solar plans) I now have inverters with 2 different comm boards and 2 different firmwares.

I also had to deal with signature solars damaged shipment of solar panels. You think they could spend $25 in wood to protect these things! I just purchased another $5k of panels from SanTan, they know how to put panels on a pallet and ship acrosss the country!

 

[Lilikoi_Heavy_Industries]

you should never buy something from someplace where you can't go put a boot up their butt.

You should show up at their location and engage in physical violence to show the internet not to mess with you.

Congrats on becoming an e-toughguy.

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Just found this thread about signature solar's crappy service after the sale. I Purchased about 10K of solar panels, 5 SPF5000 ES inverters, and other misc parts from them just this year alone. A week ago I sent a tech message on their website, and to this day not even one message back. I am having issues with comm on these units and hooking them up to solar assistant. Also in the few months in ordering the inverters (as I increased my solar plans) I now have inverters with 2 different comm boards and 2 different firmwares.

I also had to deal with signature solars damaged shipment of solar panels. You think they could spend $25 in wood to protect these things! I just purchased another $5k of panels from SanTan, they know how to put panels on a pallet and ship acrosss the country!

Would you mind DMing me your email address so I can look for your email? The oldest unanswered message in the tech inbox is from the Friday the 30th. Hoping your email didn't get lost. I will get you the assistance you need today if you send over that email address. If you have your order # available to send in the DM that would be even better.

 

[Cyanlite]

Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.

This thread originated back in April. In the past few months we have changed our process in order to be more respectful of the customers needs as well as their time. Taking care of these issues as quickly and efficiently as possible is a commitment that we have made and intend to stand by going forward.

 

[chess-equality]

Ugh.

This is such a simple fix. Guy has a problem with his inverter. Send it back and cross-ship him a new inverter unit when they come in stock or send him a working unit in your labs. Then they can repair that broken inverter and sell later as a refurb unit. Why is this so hard?

Instead of having a happy customer, they now have a guy complaining on the DIY Forums that hundreds of other potential customers are now seeing.

Cross-country TLC / p*rn:

The 45,000 Baht (about $1,200) brick :(

Not actually any smoke but a bit of a tale of woe. Our 5kW Sofar HYD5000 hybrid inverter is just over a year old and has generally performed as expected. Over the past few months we've been getting the occasional "unrecoverBusOVP" error (bus over-voltage), it would go weeks with none and then...

diysolarforum.com

 

[nc73]

Gentleman these are not Sol-Arks where you pay top dollar...you buy cheap, well you get the idea. These things are disposable.

 

[73powerstroke]

You should show up at their location and engage in physical violence to show the internet not to mess with you.

Congrats on becoming an e-toughguy.

You are the one that went there. Internet has nothing to do with anything ?
I think some of you just like to argue.
I dont have time to please everyone or argue. So you must be right. You win. You missed my whole point.
It's pretty easy to ignore emails and phone calls. But when you have someone at your store demanding a refund or proper service it's more likely to get resolved.
These fly by night companies don't care.
Your probably on of them as well. ?

 

[73powerstroke]

This thread originated back in April. In the past few months we have changed our process in order to be more respectful of the customers needs as well as their time. Taking care of these issues as quickly and efficiently as possible is a commitment that we have made and intend to stand by going forward.

Oh so in the past it didn't matter. Excellent. Well said. Lol ?

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Oh so in the past it didn't matter. Excellent. Well said. Lol ?

There have been major changes in the way we handle these situations. We have different systems in place and we are much more respectful of the customers time with the new method. I'm not saying that because it's in the past that it doesn't matter. I'm saying that we acknowledge that there were struggles in the past and we have worked hard to get better. Threads like this are beneficial because they inspire change and help us reduce these types of issues.

 

[hyberlut]

Communication, is very important. Even if, it's only to say "we don't have an answer right now ".

I read through the very long thread about SS. I came to the conclusion that SS is very upfront - their business mission is to sell to DIY'rs cheaper than anyone else. They do that like any company would do - by cutting costs elsewhere. Hiring and training more customer service reps is probably where they cut those corners. I thought that their replies on that long thread were top notch customer service in general, except not to the liking of the OP of that thread (which I can understand why he was miffed, even if it was his own fault).

Now SS could hire very low-level "talking head" CSR's who could do nothing more than read from a script or give you a non-answer. Personally, I hate that kind of customer service. I LOVE Windy Nation for their customer service style - it's always from someone who actually knows their stuff and they're pretty quick to respond, but I highly doubt they sell at the level of volume and low price that SS does.

SS could also setup a bot-based CSR system, but those too are really lame, IMO. I have had one experience of one seller (it wasn't solar related) who used a bot-based help system that actually worked. By "worked", I mean it didn't annoy the crap outta me and degrade my opinion of the company.

I'm not in the market for the kinds of solar products SS sells (Renogy has my number - the RV/van crowd), but if I ever am, I'm going to keep SS at the top of my list, because it's clear they have the best price and their customer service matches that price, you just have to know what you're getting into, such as not buying the exact number of panels you need, but at least 1-2 extra for every 10 panels you buy and if you're impatient and expect Amazon-level customer service, then you shouldn't buy from SS, but buy from Amazon instead or another higher-priced retailer who can afford to offer premium CS, at a premium price in the products you buy.

This is like going to "Discount Mattress Warehouse" and expecting someone to load the mattress into your truck, or expect them to deliver it, set it up and take away the old one. If you want that level of service, then go to "Mattress Country USA" and pay through the nose for that level of service for the same quality of mattress.

That said, I suppose SS could instill better and more clear disclaimers on their online ordering site, such as when you press NEXT on your order, it takes you to a scary-looking page that tells you everything that YOU are taking responsibility for (such as ordering extra panels), that you have to click YES, sign your name and then solve a reCaptcha thingy before it will let you submit the order to make it easier and more clear for the people who don't like to read disclaimers on $15,000 orders.

 

[timselectric]

I read through the very long thread about SS. I came to the conclusion that SS is very upfront - their business mission is to sell to DIY'rs cheaper than anyone else. They do that like any company would do - by cutting costs elsewhere. Hiring and training more customer service reps is probably where they cut those corners. I thought that their replies on that long thread were top notch customer service in general, except not to the liking of the OP of that thread (which I can understand why he was miffed, even if it was his own fault).

Now SS could hire very low-level "talking head" CSR's who could do nothing more than read from a script or give you a non-answer. Personally, I hate that kind of customer service. I LOVE Windy Nation for their customer service style - it's always from someone who actually knows their stuff and they're pretty quick to respond, but I highly doubt they sell at the level of volume and low price that SS does.

SS could also setup a bot-based CSR system, but those too are really lame, IMO. I have had one experience of one seller (it wasn't solar related) who used a bot-based help system that actually worked. By "worked", I mean it didn't annoy the crap outta me and degrade my opinion of the company.

I'm not in the market for the kinds of solar products SS sells (Renogy has my number - the RV/van crowd), but if I ever am, I'm going to keep SS at the top of my list, because it's clear they have the best price and their customer service matches that price, you just have to know what you're getting into, such as not buying the exact number of panels you need, but at least 1-2 extra for every 10 panels you buy and if you're impatient and expect Amazon-level customer service, then you shouldn't buy from SS, but buy from Amazon instead or another higher-priced retailer who can afford to offer premium CS, at a premium price in the products you buy.

This is like going to "Discount Mattress Warehouse" and expecting someone to load the mattress into your truck, or expect them to deliver it, set it up and take away the old one. If you want that level of service, then go to "Mattress Country USA" and pay through the nose for that level of service for the same quality of mattress.

That said, I suppose SS could instill better and more clear disclaimers on their online ordering site, such as when you press NEXT on your order, it takes you to a scary-looking page that tells you everything that YOU are taking responsibility for (such as ordering extra panels), that you have to click YES, sign your name and then solve a reCaptcha thingy before it will let you submit the order to make it easier and more clear for the people who don't like to read disclaimers on $15,000 orders.

I think that you replied to the wrong post. lol

 

[Lilikoi_Heavy_Industries]

I think that you replied to the wrong post. lol

I understand this is the official post I'm supposed to respond to, I need to file a formal complaint because signature solar showed up in the middle of the night, broke in my house, and stole my tv... What kind of support and help can you offer timselectric?

I also bought two batteries from them and when I requested that they provide me gift certificates for Massage Envy to reimburse me for all of the exposure I was providing them by using their batteries, they went cheap and got me a $20 gift card instead. I can't even get a single massage with a $20 gift card, this is ridiculous.

 

[timselectric]

I understand this is the official post I'm supposed to respond to, I need to file a formal complaint because signature solar showed up in the middle of the night, broke in my house, and stole my tv... What kind of support and help can you offer timselectric?

I'm not associated with Signature Solar in any way.
Other than one previous purchase.

I also bought two batteries from them and when I requested that they provide me gift certificates for Massage Envy to reimburse me for all of the exposure I was providing them by using their batteries, they went cheap and got me a $20 gift card instead. I can't even get a single massage with a $20 gift card, this is ridiculous.

Definitely not my department. lol

 

[Lilikoi_Heavy_Industries]

Definitely not my department. lol

I mean... Then who do I ask about the massage?

Very disappointed about this response from signature solar.

 

[timselectric]

Then who do I ask about the massage?

No idea. I don't think that it was an option for my purchase. Which is a shame, because I could always use a free massage.

 

[Bigblockcutlass123]

When something is DOA, Should be replaced with out any bull shit to go through. I'm still pissed off on the way they handled my battery charger, I was probably the first to complain.
Also with my 12k Growatt shutting down for no reason. Needed a firmware update for the fan lock shutting it down. Never got a response yet today after two years. Thanks to this forum it was fixed.
I do understand the there profit margin must be minimal. When a lot of people call in for problems, there self inflected do to there lack of knowledge. They can problem only have a support team so big or the prices will have to go up. I do like the cheaper price, but god dam, If it is dead on arrival. have them send it back and replace it as fast a possible.