This might be interesting

[whinmoor]

I had an unsolicited phone call at 8:15pm from an 0845 number. It was the “Energy Review Team” and they wanted to know whether I’d heard of the Government’s “new” scheme for solar panels. It sounds a really good deal because the panels will pay for themselves in 3-5 years and after that it’s pure profit all the way!

Needless to say, I was really excited by this amazing opportunity and couldn’t wait to get started. Fortunately, there’s a surveyor in my area next week so I was able to book an immediate appointment. So, next Wednesday I will be all ready to hand over my deposit and get the ball rolling.

Sadly, there’s a minor problem. I’ve already got solar panels but I wasn’t asked about this during the call. I wonder how the surveyor will deal with this tricky assignment. :whatchutalkingabout

Watch this space…

 

[telectrix]

just make sure the guy hasn't got a kirby complete home cleaning system in the van.

 

[SpitfireW'sale]

I almost feel sorry for the guy,

 

[whinmoor]

I almost feel sorry for the guy,

The panels are on the front of my house so he should notice them when he approaches. I don't have any (yet) on the back or wall or garage or shed or car so there may be some potential. I wonder if he'll claim north facing panels will work just fine.

I just had another cold call from a different company offering a free survey. I recognised the outfit as we've quoted against them a few times. One customer showed me their paperwork which had rather ambitious figures. I asked them to phone back in a month.

 

[whinmoor]

Visit Report

I’ve just had my visit from Patrick the sales rep. A well built guy, he turned up a few minutes late in his hi-vis waistcost and seemed a little confused as to whether he had got the right property. He clearly wasn’t expecting to visit a house with panels already installed.

After this shaky start, things took a turn for the worse as I invited him into the lounge and we discussed putting panels on the back. He seemed slightly annoyed that I was home alone as it had been stressed during the phone call that my wife should be present during the meeting. (I wonder why?!?).

He didn’t seem to want to inspect the loft, consumer unit, meter or check the roof at the back. He also managed to miss a whacking big sign on the wall of my house advertising a more local PV installer!

He got straight down to business with his ipad and worked out some highly optimistic generation figures for north-facing panels. 1845kWh per year for a 2kWp system. (True figure should be 1100-1200kWh). He then used 17p as a unit cost of electricity and a 18% saving by fitting a Voltage Optimisation unit to reduce my voltage down to 220. The calculations on the spreadsheet looked very attractive.

I was informed that the current FiT rate was 14.9p and this would be reviewed on 16[SUP]th[/SUP] June so I needed to place my order soon to guarantee the rate. He said there would be no more FiTs in 18 months.

I asked about brands and he told me they used a German brand – Simax. Apparently these panels are really amazing because they work on daylight rather than sunlight. He said they also use Simax inverters. When I was down at Ecobuild in March I spent an hour chatting with Karen from Simax and she was telling me all about their factory near Shanghai. I'm pretty certain they don’t make inverters.

Finally, we got down to discussing prices and I was quoted £9k for an 8 panel 2kWp system but I could get a discount if I signed up quickly. I asked for something in writing to discuss with my wife and he then asked me for a piece of paper. I managed to find a tatty envelope and he scribbled down the attached as my official quotation. He also wrote down the name and phone number of the company and told me to mention him when I phoned to book the installation.

In summary, it was a pretty shocking “survey” and there was an awful lot of inaccurate information. I guess he didn’t go through his usual sales pitch and explanation as he sussed out that I was already reasonably clued up. The whole visit lasted about 30 minutes (no coffee) and I was pleased to end it without getting punched on the nose!

 

[Worcester]

We'll he definitely didn't stay more than 2 hours did he

 

[Marvo]

Poor form for the 'green' lounge if you ask me, wasting envelopes like that isn't very environmentally friendly

 

[The Solar King]

We get calls all the time, most recently from someone called The Green Plan. You get the prerecorded message and then have to press 2 and they call you back. They always ask for someone of a different name to me (last time it was Mr Cook), and tell me I had responded to a survey. I haven't got as far as the home visit yet. I bring the Energy Savings Trust in to the conversation early on saying they have told me to ask for their MCS accreditation number and whether they have ever been reported to RECC.

Funny thing is they always hang up on me at that point. I find this most puzzling.

 

[JD6400]

I had one yesterday on the home phone , and to be honest even though all of our land and mobile lines are on the TPS , I cut the fella some slack for his persistence and quick thinking !
It started with the usual out of this world deal , at which point I pointed out that I already have some and also install them !
At this point he wanted to pass leads on to me , I then explained that we only install +50kw systems and that we do not advertise and only take them on by word of mouth recommendation , he then asked if his boss could phone me personally to discuss possibly working together !!!
I await the call with such anticipation .

 

[Gavin A]

2 of these boiler room telesales teams re located in the same building as the magic thermodynamic box company, owned by some of the same directors. I was taken on a tour while I was there, think they thought I'd be impressed, but frankly it shocked me how shoddy the whole set up was.

One floor had around 25 kids all sat around one big desk in the middle of the room without even any dividers between them to baffle the noise, and just pads of paper to take notes on, with all the kids probably 16-20, mostly probably under 18 to get them on the lowest minimum wage level.

The other floor was a bit more professional set up, but it was just embarrassing really, yet the car park was full of bentleys etc. They're just playing the numbers game and finding people to scam into pying well over the odds and making the same on 1 install as we probably do on 5.

Got another company locally wanting us to do solar water heating installs for them who get leads from cold calling etc. It'd be easy money, but I really just don't want to get involved with cold calling type companies as I hate how they go about things.