VanLife + Signature Solar = Resolved

[Tulex]

The spec sheets each contain a statement that reads as follows, "www.eg4electronics.com Version 1.0.2 | Specifications subject to change without notice. © 2023 EG4 Electronics, LLC. All rights reserved."

LMAO!
So, you are saying you are selling stuff that you don't even know about. But the customer should. Wow. Sorry, but that's a cop out for people who don't stay on top of the products they sell.
The sad thing is, I had a decent experience with SS, yet after watching you guys refuse to eat crow, I would never shop with you again.
I say I had a good experience, fact is, I haven't installed the 42 panels I just bought yet. I can only hope that they all work, because after reading this thread and how the replies went with the BBB, I can only imagine how things will go.

 

[GuyG]

Just …. amazing. The word “obtuse” comes to mind.

 

[Crowz]

The spec sheets each contain a statement that reads as follows, "www.eg4electronics.com Version 1.0.2 | Specifications subject to change without notice. © 2023 EG4 Electronics, LLC. All rights reserved."

The issue was that Signature Solar provided a solution, and the customer refused it. I might understand the frustration if no one had tried to help him. Or, if in our responses we attempted to place the blame on him, but we did not.

For example, let's take a customer who purchases a battery, opens it, and for whatever reason is simply not happy with it. In this example, there is nothing wrong with his battery, and everything was documented and shipped correctly, he simply does not want it. We would accept the return shipment, but we would charge shipping for the return and there can also be additional fees such as restocking, but the team handling the return would determine all of that.

In this customer's case, we offered to return his product at no charge because we listened to his story and truly wanted to try and assist him. He then refused that solution simply because it was too much of a burden on him to palletize the shipment, which is a requirement for any customer going through that process.

Really guys, we are a company that cares. We have a group of people doing everything they can every day to try and assist as many people as possible. I get it, I read a lot of the complaints, but I have also heard stories about how our products and services have helped out families and businesses alike. It is hard to find a company that truly cares in the way Signature Solar does about everyone that it impacts, from customers to employees.

All any of us want is to get along and solve problems. That's why we are on these forums. Speak to us, message us, and join us in discussion but let's not turn it into a brawl.

Did your company tell this man it would work with his equipment.

Specifications subject to change don't cut it when the product is in the mail if you tell someone something while they are ordering it.

Also are you the company who's ceo was telling us he would pay for people to come see how overloaded you all are?

If so I would think this customer might of been owed gas money for his "visit" to your business.

All of this is based on if he was told it would work with his equipment before he ordered it.

 

[Crowz]

I thought it was this company....

Anyone in this thread is invited to come to visit in person, schedule with me and I will reimburse you travel and hotel costs. I have 5 slots for power users this year (people with full systems from us or over 200 support comments on the forum)

We are 4 months in on a brand name CRM system, I think in another 1-2 months we will be where everyone wants us to be in every case.

I never felt the right to point this out but we really do very well with most tickets and most of our customers, the single digit % system gaps are just too embarrassing to tout all the success we have had so far.

This was posted by

SignatureSolarJames​

 

[shopman]

The spec sheets each contain a statement that reads as follows, "www.eg4electronics.com Version 1.0.2 | Specifications subject to change without notice. © 2023 EG4 Electronics, LLC. All rights reserved."

The issue was that Signature Solar provided a solution, and the customer refused it. I might understand the frustration if no one had tried to help him. Or, if in our responses we attempted to place the blame on him, but we did not.

For example, let's take a customer who purchases a battery, opens it, and for whatever reason is simply not happy with it. In this example, there is nothing wrong with his battery, and everything was documented and shipped correctly, he simply does not want it. We would accept the return shipment, but we would charge shipping for the return and there can also be additional fees such as restocking, but the team handling the return would determine all of that.

In this customer's case, we offered to return his product at no charge because we listened to his story and truly wanted to try and assist him. He then refused that solution simply because it was too much of a burden on him to palletize the shipment, which is a requirement for any customer going through that process.

Really guys, we are a company that cares. We have a group of people doing everything they can every day to try and assist as many people as possible. I get it, I read a lot of the complaints, but I have also heard stories about how our products and services have helped out families and businesses alike. It is hard to find a company that truly cares in the way Signature Solar does about everyone that it impacts, from customers to employees.

All any of us want is to get along and solve problems. That's why we are on these forums. Speak to us, message us, and join us in discussion but let's not turn it into a brawl.

I'll make this simple. Your battery return policy of asking people to pack a HAZARDOUS item by themselves, in just any old box and then strap it to a palette that they must treasure hunt for is absurd. Packing hazardous items for shipping via any carrier requires specific training and expertise. Properly strapping that item to a palette requires knowledge on how to carry that out correctly as well. If any one of these requirements is messed up, you'll immediately blame the consumer and refuse their warranty claim. In my opinion, this ridiculous policy is in place just for this reason as well as to act as a deterrent for pursuing a warranty claim. Either change your terms and conditions to reflect that the consumer must retain the original boxes and palette in case of a need for warranty replacement or send, at your expense, the necessary and approved shipping materials so the consumer can return the defective battery.

I agree with others here in that this was a missed opportunity to change your eroding opinion here on this and other forums. Your posted data sheet indeed said the batteries would communicate with Victron when in reality they wouldn't. Don't try and use the "specifications may change" BS as an excuse because legally it holds no water. Consumers base their decisions on the data retailers provide and if that data is wrong then the retailer is at fault. Period. In my opinion your company is ripe for a class action lawsuit for violations of Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 which will make your problem with the Bielstein's seem trivial by comparison.

Would it have killed you to simply give this man the batteries he thought he was getting at no extra cost to him along with paying for his fuel costs incurred to fix YOUR mistake? We're talking about what would amount to a few hundred dollars here to make something right and change your public opinion.

This was a customer service blunder that was completely the fault of Signature Solar due to misrepresenting a product for sale.

 

[SignatureSolarJames]

Hello.
the 12v base unit has evolved quickly and the sheet was off. this mistake was on us
Policies that would have been normally reasonable were followed; The actual problems of a customer in a van were not. this was a missed opportunity on our end to either refund the difference of what @SpeedFusion found the feature to be worth or go out of our way to fix the problem we caused.

 

[SignatureSolarJames]

@SignatureSolarPeyton I do like the fact that you hand picked emails between me and the RMA team, while saying i'm posting things out of context.

I've been trying for over a month to find a way to return these batteries, which no viable option was provided to me by signature solar. When i said the one and only option didn't work, my RMA ticket was cancel due to "lack of customer response".

We can ignore when i asked that two of the correct batteries be sent, plus an empty box, and you can pick up the lifepower4 same day.
Lets forget that your sales team built the order for me, with the wrong batteries then told me its because i didn't have the special cable.
Disregard that the spec sheet published Jan 2023 said the BMS talked to Victrion. (i see you finally updated that)

@SignatureSolarJames
I felt i had no option other than to drive them back. Plus the fact that your Resolution Specialist, expected me to leave with out a receipt of the refund blew me away. That some BS form that i signed saying i dropped them off would be enough. That i should have the money end of the day.

At the end of the day, your sales team made a mistake, and the entire RMA process put the burden to fix it on me.

Yes we did make several mistakes. And the resolution options did not fit your specific needs. Definitely a good teaching experience on our end for people in vans if something goes wrong on our end.

Will DM to see if anything can be done to make this situation any better

 

[windsurfer]

Hello.
the 12v base unit has evolved quickly and the sheet was off. this mistake was on us
Policies that would have been normally reasonable were followed; The actual problems of a customer in a van were not. this was a missed opportunity on our end to either refund the difference of what @SpeedFusion found the feature to be worth or go out of our way to fix the problem we caused.

This is good, To bad we had to wade thru 3 pages of blamestorming to get to what should have been the first response

 

[JaVid]

Signature solar James has the right idea but it's too late. The other two company reps pretty much made it so i would NEVER consider ordering anything from signature solar. Such lame customer service!

I have read a lot of signature solar threads and never felt this way before reading what Peyton and Robert had to say. Those two should have no interactions with customers much less represent signature solar on this forum.

 

[Texas-Mark]

I am probably in the minority here because so many people here seem to dislike SS, but in this case I do blame the OPer for a lot of this. Yes, he may have received the "wrong" items, but as SS said, they have a process in place for rectifying those issues. The OPer did not want to follow those procedures and thus caused a lot of the problems. Note: it really is not that hard to find a pallet and boxes. He said he did not want to be without batteries for a week or whatever, but what has he been using for the last couple of months that this has been dragging out? Has he been using the batteries they sent him, and now will return used batteries expecting a full credit?

While I agree SS "could" have done more, how often is a company (any company) expected to make exceptions to their return process?

 

[SignatureSolarJames]

This is good, To bad we had to wade thru 3 pages of blamestorming to get to what should have been the first response

Apologies, we do put our actual ticket system first.

 

[Tulex]

I am probably in the minority here because so many people here seem to dislike SS, but in this case I do blame the OPer for a lot of this. Yes, he may have received the "wrong" items, but as SS said, they have a process in place for rectifying those issues. The OPer did not want to follow those procedures and thus caused a lot of the problems. Note: it really is not that hard to find a pallet and boxes. He said he did not want to be without batteries for a week or whatever, but what has he been using for the last couple of months that this has been dragging out? Has he been using the batteries they sent him, and now will return used batteries expecting a full credit?

While I agree SS "could" have done more, how often is a company (any company) expected to make exceptions to their return process?

Why is the return process the same for company error? When I had my business, I couldn't even begin to imagine a customer having to do anything for me to fix the problem that was caused by me. Mistakes happen, and when they do, the customer shouldn't carry any of the burden.

 

[Tulex]

Apologies, we do put our actual ticket system first.

Ticket system is fine, but it doesn't allow for unique situations. I get that this is becoming the norm, but that's what also makes companies that use them normal.

 

[SignatureSolarJames]

Why is the return process the same for company error? When I had my business, I couldn't even begin to imagine a customer having to do anything for me to fix the problem that was caused by me. Mistakes happen, and when they do, the customer shouldn't carry any of the burden.

my question exactly

 

[JaVid]

I am checking out this thread again today and I still can't get over a representative for the company hiding behind the "Specifications subject to change without notice." disclaimer!

This company sells tech products! If we can't trust their info and specifications (and trust them to make it right when those are incorrect), why would anyone order a product from them?

I have two friends who own solar install companies in Wisconsin and have forwarded along this thread as I have recommended they check out signature solar in the past. One actually purchased 10K in batteries this past December for a residential job and was just telling me he was thinking of using their batteries in a big future install (100K in batteries). They can decide for themselves who to purchase products from, but want to make them aware of what they are up against if something goes sideways.

 

[SignatureSolarJames]

I am checking out this thread again today and I still can't get over a representative for the company hiding behind the "Specifications subject to change without notice." disclaimer!

This company sells tech products! If we can't trust their info and specifications (and trust them to make it right when those are incorrect), why would anyone order a product from them?

I have two friends who own solar install companies in Wisconsin and have forwarded along this thread as I have recommended they check out signature solar in the past. One actually purchased 10K in batteries this past December for a residential job and was just telling me he was thinking of using their batteries in a big future install (100K in batteries). They can decide for themselves who to purchase products from, but want to make them aware of what they are up against if something goes sideways.

We did state that the posted response was not the policy of the company and the user has been removed from the forum

 

[JaVid]

We did state that the posted response was not the policy of the company and the user has been removed from the forum

Maybe I am missing it, but I didn't see any posted response that this was not the policy of signature solar.

I see you saying

<<<"Yes we did make several mistakes. And the resolution options did not fit your specific needs. Definitely a good teaching experience on our end for people in vans if something goes wrong on our end.">>>

and

<<<"Hello.
the 12v base unit has evolved quickly and the sheet was off. this mistake was on us
Policies that would have been normally reasonable were followed; The actual problems of a customer in a van were not. this was a missed opportunity on our end to either refund the difference of what @SpeedFusion found the feature to be worth or go out of our way to fix the problem we caused.">>>

Maybe I missed something else, but I don't see anywhere that you say it isn't the policy of signature solar to rely on the disclaimer that "Specifications subject to change without notice." If I missed something, my apologies.

 

[SignatureSolarJames]

Sorry, of course, our specs are 100% our responsibility, the disclaimer is always in tech docs because we are not mailing a new spec sheet after printing the first we will keep the site up to date and be responsible for whatever is stated at the time of sale.

the other user was removed and did not speak for the company

 

[SpeedFusion]

Yes we did make several mistakes. And the resolution options did not fit your specific needs. Definitely a good teaching experience on our end for people in vans if something goes wrong on our end.

Will DM to see if anything can be done to make this situation any better

James, i’m wondering when should i expect that DM?

I know I have a unique situation, which is why I tired to find a solution for over a month, before i made the drive. I was disappointed and still hoping for a resolution yesterday as i returned them to your office.

Before i dropped them off, I even recommended your 24v EG4-LL batteries to someone on the FordTransit forum looking for better solutions.

What has made me mad:

The expectation to return the batteries without a refund receipt.
Seeing my emails posted while i was at your front desk.
Then the post from your team, plus seeing 4 post from you after your post above.

 

[SpeedFusion]

After i reached out to James, we were able to come to a fair arrangement.

I picked up the replacement batteries today, and installed them. I did have to reach out to tech support during testing. The BMS software doesn't show all the connected batteries, like the other batteries did, but they are talking to each other. Tech support said its a known issue, and won't affect operation.

They show up as EG4-LL and give Victron all the needed information but its still a little clunky.
For those wondering why i required all the info in the Victron, in addition preventing over charging, the environment in the van is more chaotic. Most solar storage is in a much more consistent environment. So if i'm skiing and the heater fails, or if i'm on the MTB and the AC shuts off. i don't have to worry.