Signature Solar refuses to honor a warranty for a defective product! (And Solar Assistant Discussion)

[theoriginalgiga]

Ok, he just posted about being offered an RMA in post #18. Post #10 from travis at ss was not proof of an RMA at that point. Now we just need to see what actually happens with the RMA. It's not as though they can't deny the claim once they have it back there.

@theoriginalgiga Is the RMA they offered you a refund, or a service ticket with shipping so they can look at it? Is it resolved to your satisfaction yet? If they are going to be getting it back, but servicing it, they still have time to possibly screw something up with his warranty claim.

Keep us posted @theoriginalgiga .

I'm sorry @1201. I would not have made my post at all if post #18 had already been posted. Travis' statement in red, below, didn't seem like 100% guarantee that he would be covered for this situation, only that they would re-open the ticket, so to speak. After post #18, giga seems to have some progress being made.. clearly from coming on here and posting.

No worries bud, I was skeptical when it was first posted. They've offered me a return label for troubleshooting and shipping me either it repaired or another unit (I assume a refurbished unit which so long as it works and the warranty continues I'm cool with). The rma team haven't reached out yet but I'll keep everyone up to date. I unfortunately won't be able to take the system down until the end of the month but I'll work that out with them. Maybe I can put a cc on file and they could ship me the replacement before I ship back the unit? I dunno, but I'll ask. They could still mess it up, but we'll see where the process takes us and if nessesary a little helpful nudge from Travis to keep things on track.

I think the issue is the commination with SS. They seem slammed and that sucks and they're just trying to get through it so when processes or stances change it might take a little while longer. Unfortunately I had the entire resolution team and multiple techs and no one spoke up to correct the misconception.

I'm curious where the whole solar assistant confusion has come from as well. If anyone at signature would like to chime in, I'd really like that!

 

[wildbillpdx]

All I know is that my orange pi is plugged into my Sol-Ark 15K, and nothing is fried.

Not surprised...I think the Pi is just a red herring. Wondering what SS position would be if you could run Solar Assistant on a full size linux PC? Would that be unapproved as well?

 

[wildbillpdx]

I'm curious where the whole solar assistant confusion has come from as well. If anyone at signature would like to chime in, I'd really like that!

The tech I was working with insisted it happened every time one particular customer hooked up SA to the inverter...fried the communication board on three of them with 30+ volts from a 5 volt system. Not very believable.

 

[theoriginalgiga]

I'm using cables provided by SS to connect the Pi. Same cables needed for firmware updates.

Right, when the problem first arose I checked out some rs232 to rj45 pinouts, did some probing and checked against the industry standard pin out a standard cable won't work, which seems silly to me. I mean standards are there for a reason. If memory serves pin 4 and 6 are data high and low and I think 8/9 are ground on the serial side, on the rj side they're supposed to be like pins 4 and 6 but they're 8 and 9 on the adapter provided with the unit.

Those exact pin numbers might be wrong but it's definitely not a standard pinout.

 

[theoriginalgiga]

The tech I was working with insisted it happened every time one particular customer hooked up SA to the inverter...fried the communication board on three of them with 30+ volts from a 5 volt system. Not very believable.

I think that highly leads to my postulation of ac voltage leakage on the rs232 rj45 port and using a standard cable causing it arc out. Basically allowing the eg4 to fry itself because they use a non standard pinout and seems to be failing to isolate the data board.

 

[cs1234]

I think the issue is the commination with SS. They seem slammed and that sucks and they're just trying to get through it so when processes or stances change it might take a little while longer. Unfortunately I had the entire resolution team and multiple techs and no one spoke up to correct the misconception.

I think the problem is, they get slammed, but because of their company culture (from the top down), their default stance is "Protect the Queen!", the Queen being SignatureSolars pocketbook. They seem to err on the side of themselves, not the side of the customer. Every single one of their policies we have seen around here is about protecting themselves at the expense of the customer.

If they can't take the time to do what's right the first time, and make sure they are denying the customer for a truly valid reason, they should err on the side of friendliness and losing money. Don't err on the side of "Boil the customer in hot oil!"

 

[RV10flyer]

I think the problem is, they get slammed, but because of their company culture (from the top down), their default stance is "Protect the Queen!", the Queen being SignatureSolars pocketbook. They seem to err on the side of themselves, not the side of the customer. Every single one of their policies we have seen around here is about protecting themselves at the expense of the customer.

If they can't take the time to do what's right the first time, and make sure they are denying the customer for a truly valid reason, they should err on the side of friendliness and losing money. Don't err on the side of "Boil the customer in hot oil!"

They remind me of the jackleg HVAC guys around here that throw tons of systems in and never go back again for warranty or out of warranty service. Guess what they have in common? Cheap. Everybody likes that good deal…until it breaks.

9/26/23. Edit: Signature Solar provided great customer service, tech support and we arrived at a fair resolution. I highly recommend them now and what a stress relief! Thank you!

 

[wildbillpdx]

I think that highly leads to my postulation of ac voltage leakage on the rs232 rj45 port and using a standard cable causing it arc out. Basically allowing the eg4 to fry itself because they use a non standard pinout and seems to be failing to isolate the data board.

So continuing this discussion...SS provides a cd/dvd with SolarPower software to use as a monitoring platform for the inverters. It needs a physical connection to the inverter, via RS232 and the adapter cable. Does this void the warranty? Similar hardware involved: computer and adapter cables. Or is SS claiming that the SA software can send a charge into the inverter?

 

[theoriginalgiga]

I think the problem is, they get slammed, but because of their company culture (from the top down), their default stance is "Protect the Queen!", the Queen being SignatureSolars pocketbook. They seem to err on the side of themselves, not the side of the customer. Every single one of their policies we have seen around here is about protecting themselves at the expense of the customer.

If they can't take the time to do what's right the first time, and make sure they are denying the customer for a truly valid reason, they should err on the side of friendliness and losing money. Don't err on the side of "Boil the customer in hot oil!"

Personally I hope they use peanut oil to boil me, betcha I come out like a deep fried turkey! But I agree it's a culture thing that comes from the top down. I don't fault the techs at all for it. They're just doing their job and I bet they're doing what they can to ensure they keep it.

 

[cs1234]

They remind me of the jackleg HVAC guys around here that throw tons of systems in and never go back again for warranty or out of warranty service. Guess what they have in common? Cheap. Everybody likes that good deal…until it breaks.

Sounds like the guys that put in my AC. Right after I bought my house, both AC units died (even though the home inspector said they tested out fine). Of course it was summer, because that's when people move. So, I got taken to the cleaners bad.. I wasn't given time to shop around by the rest of the family to get a good deal, or find the most reputable company (as if one would have been available). Now, that company seems to have vanished.

 

[wildbillpdx]

I have to admit, I'm really, really new to solar. I watched Will's videos and found his opinion on the EG4 6000ex split-phase inverter useful and it convinced me that the 6000 was the right product. I wanted simplicity so I got EG4 LifePower4 batteries as well. It's working for my needs but I'm starting to question my decision. Support seems iffy...and there seem to be hints that SS/EG4 may be discontinuing some of the inverters, including the 6000.

Eg4 inverter future

Scrolling signature solars website I noticed they no longer offer the 6000ex as a retail item, only refurbished They recently came out with the load center PDP for the 6500ex which implies they are still investing in its future Just read another post of a member recently buying the megarevo...

diysolarforum.com

 

[cs1234]

Will's enthusiasm for products is contagious. It's hard for him to really determine the quality of after sales support for the products though. It's not like it comes out and physically zaps him, or shoots out smoke, like some of the cruddy products he might get to review.

 

[wildbillpdx]

Will's enthusiasm for products is contagious. It's hard for him to really determine the quality of after sales support for the products though. It's not like it comes out and physically zaps him, or shoots out smoke, like some of the cruddy products he might get to review.

Wasn't targeting him at all. I realize he reviews a lot of products and seems to have much better support from the vendors than you or I might expect. Wonder why that might be?

 

[theoriginalgiga]

I have to admit, I'm really, really new to solar. I watched Will's videos and found his opinion on the EG4 6000ex split-phase inverter useful and it convinced me that the 6000 was the right product. I wanted simplicity so I got EG4 LifePower4 batteries as well. It's working for my needs but I'm starting to question my decision. Support seems iffy...and there seem to be hints that SS/EG4 may be discontinuing some of the inverters, including the 6000.

Eg4 inverter future

Scrolling signature solars website I noticed they no longer offer the 6000ex as a retail item, only refurbished They recently came out with the load center PDP for the 6500ex which implies they are still investing in its future Just read another post of a member recently buying the megarevo...

diysolarforum.com

For the price, the eg4 product line is really hard to beat. For my needs it was impossible to justify the additional cost of other systems in the market at the time. I think so long as you don't mention solar assistant you should be smooth sailing. Their tech staff is smart and can troubleshoot with you over the phone and can help you pinpoint issues. I do wish there were more resellers in the US for eg4 though. Competition is important to the market.

 

[wildbillpdx]

Their tech staff is smart and can troubleshoot with you over the phone and can help you pinpoint issues.

If you can get them on the phone. I had to wait over 30 minutes on most of my calls just to reach a human being.

 

[cs1234]

Wasn't targeting him at all. I realize he reviews a lot of products and seems to have much better support from the vendors than you or I might expect. Wonder why that might be?

I didn't get the impression that you were.

Yeah, it's a real puzzle, that one, why he might see their happier side when he deals with them.

We do hear from happy SignatureSolar customers sometimes. It's not as though they don't do nice things on occasion. It's just their reactions on here to product questions and concerns are often confrontational, which doesn't make for a good impression.

 

[theoriginalgiga]

Wasn't targeting him at all. I realize he reviews a lot of products and seems to have much better support from the vendors than you or I might expect. Wonder why that might be?

I can think of 854k reasons lol

 

[cs1234]

I do wish there were more resellers in the US for eg4 though. Competition is important to the market.

SignatureSolar and EG4 are owned by the same guy, if I'm not mistaken, @SignatureSolarJames .

 

[theoriginalgiga]

If you can get them on the phone. I had to wait over 30 minutes on most of my calls just to reach a human being.

That's fair, I think it goes back to the company putting profit first, staff and customers second

 

[theoriginalgiga]

SignatureSolar and EG4 are owned by the same guy, if I'm not mistaken, @SignatureSolarJames .

No shit? I guess missed that when researching it!

 

[wildbillpdx]

SignatureSolar and EG4 are owned by the same guy, if I'm not mistaken, @SignatureSolarJames .

Yes, but they are selling products through other outlets...Solar Sovereign for one and ShopSolar.com.

 

[cs1234]

Yes, but they are selling products through other outlets...Solar Sovereign for one.

I don't see how that would really create much in the way of improvement on EG4 warranty issues / product concerns. Ultimately it would still be the EG4 team deciding what happens with the product. You might get slightly nicer upfront sales / support though.. and a more sympathetic ear before EG4 denies the warranty claim made by the 3rd party reseller.

 

[400bird]

It just boggles my mind. A huge part of a product is how the company deals with the customer.

From everything I read on this forum, they've earned their less than stellar reputation via years of this same exact service level.

Is there any evidence so far that voicing it publicly makes them honor it?

I know you got a hard time for this question, but evidence here says the answer is "yes"

 

[Crowz]

How damn hard is it to send out an company email to all employees that says "Solar Assistant doesn't void warranty. You can state we don't support it but quit telling customers it voids the warranty! Failure to follow this new policy will result in you being fired."

I think that might solve the problem pretty easy if they want to.

 

[cs1234]

How damn hard is it to send out an company email to all employees that says "Solar Assistant doesn't void warranty. You can state we don't support it but quit telling customers it voids the warranty! Failure to follow this new policy will result in you being fired."

I think that might solve the problem pretty easy if they want to.

If they are already short staffed or having trouble finding people, that might be hard to do. I know I'm putting up with some employees I would rather not have around.