Common Pitfalls and advice on buying a Solar Photovoltaic system

[babba]

In the case of Yingli, in excess of 20years.

Moggy they should be bigging that up..

About Us | Yingli Solar

 

[Earthstore]

I have some advice for customers
Buy from me and I can assure you will have a quality install, most on here are pretty good too...

 

[Glen Powell]

Panel manufacture is not what it seems, what? you did not know Canadian solar is a chinese company with its head office in Canada? Is that the only company?

LDK getting very big but also chinese, Sharp really poor quality issues? It is the responsibility of the sales person / surveyor (qualified person should do both) to make the customer aware of all factors along with giving them the opportunity to research it themselves.

- The customer should never be asked to sign or pay anything on the day of salesmen / survey
- Their is no promotional offer be it; being shown in a magazine, discount for allowing potential customers view your install,end of line stock, etc.
- If the company drops their price by 10% or more they are fleecing you (I am being polite with those figures) plus under REA it is not allowed.
- The sales person / surveyor should spend no more than 2 hours at the property (I am sure that this does not include complex jobs)
- Never take the option of a finance deal that the sales person offers (your pv system will need 50 years to clear the loan)
- Never waiver the cooling off period to get a faster install, never sign at the companies premises, always sign in your home (sounds wierd but do not sign in the sales reps car [it can be classed as their place of work])
- Do not sign any disclaimers that put your property in danger (I have heard of this one a lot with slate roof installs)
- Never trust a salesperson that says he/she has it on his/her house but cannot recollect what his / her first cheque was

Just a few of which may be agreeable or otherwise

 

[babba]

Never give a deposit or part with any money until you have had the install and are totally happy...

 

[Glen Powell]

Never give a deposit or part with any money until you have had the install and are totally happy...

Disagree with that, no deposit, no commitment, next you will say no contract, they shook my hand and that is good enough. The deposit is protected anyway so what is the big fuss.

 

[Gavin A]

Never give a deposit or part with any money until you have had the install and are totally happy...

lol - we had someone try this on last autumn. I wonder if they ever did get anyone to install for them with that sort of attitude.

Why on earth would we consider putting £5k worth of kit on the house of someone we don't know and have never done business with before without taking a penny off them first?

We ask for an initial £250 deposit to book the date, then 50% equipment payment invoiced for 21 days before the installation, and usually paid 1-2 weeks in advance of it. We'd generally leave the equipment in the depot if we'd not received the 50% payment before the installation date as agreed in our contract, as I'd prefer that to having to chase someone for 100% of the money after the work is complete. At least this way the worst that can happen is that we end up not getting paid for our time, with all or virtually all of the equipment paid for at least.

Anyone not willing to agree split the risk of the transaction in this manner is welcome to find some other mug to install for them.

This also means that when we do have a rush on, we actually have the funds available to secure all the equipment we need before the stock runs out at the suppliers. No way could we have fronted the £200k of equipment we needed to order at the end of October / start of November without it, and I reckon anyone not working in this way must either have had some serious issues or work for a firm with serious financial clout behind them (which probably means their customers will be paying extra for the privilege of not paying a deposit).

 

[babba]

lol - we had someone try this on last autumn. I wonder if they ever did get anyone to install for them with that sort of attitude.

Why on earth would we consider putting £5k worth of kit on the house of someone we don't know and have never done business with before without taking a penny off them first?

We ask for an initial £250 deposit to book the date, then 50% equipment payment invoiced for 21 days before the installation, and usually paid 1-2 weeks in advance of it. We'd generally leave the equipment in the depot if we'd not received the 50% payment before the installation date as agreed in our contract, as I'd prefer that to having to chase someone for 100% of the money after the work is complete. At least this way the worst that can happen is that we end up not getting paid for our time, with all or virtually all of the equipment paid for at least.

Anyone not willing to agree split the risk of the transaction in this manner is welcome to find some other mug to install for them.

This also means that when we do have a rush on, we actually have the funds available to secure all the equipment we need before the stock runs out at the suppliers. No way could we have fronted the £200k of equipment we needed to order at the end of October / start of November without it, and I reckon anyone not working in this way must either have had some serious issues or work for a firm with serious financial clout behind them (which probably means their customers will be paying extra for the privilege of not paying a deposit).

You are even LOL..ER than me ..why do you need a deposit...???.. clout..never been ripped off...

 

[Glen Powell]

You are even LOL..ER than me ..why do you need a deposit...???.. clout..never been ripped off...

I am glad you have a couple of hundred thousand in your pocket to fund it all Babba, its called risk, its called exposure, if you want to expose yourself to that much debt then so be it.

I would not let the exposure run greater than 20% our cashflow, but each to their own.

 

[Gavin A]

You are even LOL..ER than me ..why do you need a deposit...???.. clout..never been ripped off...

the explanation is contained in the post.

if you've never been ripped off, then I'll just put your attitude down to naivety - wait until you have been, then ask the question again.

I've not been in this industry, but have had several companies go bust or bump me for thousands in the past, and once* bitten twice shy.

FWIW though, the only cancellation we've ever had after taking someones deposit, we've refunded their full deposit in full within 2-3 days of the cancellation despite us having already bought their equipment and it being well outside the cooling off period.

It's also a useful way of weeding out the timewasters and customers who're most likely to be a complete pain in the backside to deal with.



*4 times actually.

 

[babba]

I am only saying what I do and believe... no deposit...???...not everybodys cup of tea..I'm ok with that...

 

[moggy1968]

likewise, no deposit no commitment.
Had one guy wanted ownership of title on all goods after paying his deposit. I'd taken him on trust and already ordered the stuff on a verbal agreement when he sprung that on us, amongst other things. He obviously thought he had us over a barel as we had the kit. deposit didn't even cover the cost of the kit. I walked away from it. It was my first job and nearly put us under. If it had gone bad it would have done for us.
lesson learned, always take a deposit, goods are delivered to my premises and only taken to customers premises on day of installation. Never order anything until contracts are signed and cooling off period has elapsed. We're a small company, one bad job could do for us so I have no intention of leaving myself exposed.

 

[jupestar]

we normally have everything in stock. but regardless no way i'm lifting a finger till deposit is paid. they gotta be sure.

 

[provr6]

From a customers point of view, I missed out on the orig Dec deadline because the few companies that could accommodate the install wanted between 70 and 80% of the total cost before they install.

Like you guys I don't want to get ripped off either and don't trust someone I 've never traded with so decided not to accept their terms. They wouldn't either accept credit card payments so I would at least have some protection.

2nd time round I dealt with firm who worked on 25% deposit and payment on completion. Credit card no problem. Which I think is more realistic.

 

[moggy1968]

70-80% is a breach of the REAL code
you are allowed to ask for 25% initially. You can then ask for upto 65% of the total depending on certain conditions.
during the rush I did warn people I may have to ask for additional deposits upto the 65% but in fact we managed to get through on 25% deposits (actually also against the REAL code as the money was used to pay for systems not ringfenced as it should be, but it was either that or people didn't get their installs!)

 

[provr6]

70-80% is a breach of the REAL code
you are allowed to ask for 25% initially. You can then ask for upto 65% of the total depending on certain conditions.
during the rush I did warn people I may have to ask for additional deposits upto the 65% but in fact we managed to get through on 25% deposits (actually also against the REAL code as the money was used to pay for systems not ringfenced as it should be, but it was either that or people didn't get their installs!)

TBH it was more like this, a 2 stage payment. The fact is the customer still pays about 80% of the total before having any work started or even having possesion of the panels. I know there is a deposit protection scheme, but that is only good if the installer puts it in it. I asked one installer what proof do i get that its been deposited, he said none, just my word.

I know there are a lot of reputable firms out there, but there are also some unscrupulos ones (not saying he was or wasn't - just didn't want to take such a big risk with someone unknown to me).