ComplaintsforPenguin Home Solutions, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  11/17/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Nature of Dispute: Solar Installer not amicable with unsatisfactory solar install, ignoring all my complaints. Solar installation done by Penguin Home Solutions mid October of this year. The field workers/installers are very incompetent. Left a switch from my main panel off three times on three different occasions, inconvenienced me for days leading up to weeks. Worker smoked around my house which is very unprofessional and unacceptable and communication was extremely poor between field workers/installers and project management. I've been told contradicting information more than once. But the real problem was when the first city inspection didn't pass. they had to come a 2nd time to comply with the city, workers were sent to my home last minute which again inconvenienced me as I had to cancel my doctor's appointment. When they got there they never said a word about what needs to be done and why it needs to be done. I had to initiate and ask but by the time I came out to check what was being done, they were already almost done installing the ground copper wires without asking for my permission if it was okay to do so in the first place. I felt I didn't have a say but in reality I have a say, that's my house to begin with! To add insult to the injury, the job was very sloppy and looked like a 10year old did it. It was extremely unprofessional to say the least! The office is insisting that for older homes this grounding copper wire needs to be placed as a safety precaution but they are not willing to have it rerouted and I don't understand why! she kept insisting for older homes they had to do that but all my neighbors who have solar panels do not have it even my siblings do not have it and their house are same age as mine if not older! There has to be another way but Penguin Home Solutions isn't helping and insisting that it cannot be undone. Please help me! I do not plan on moving forward with this company unless they resolve my complaints. Thank you in advance!

  Business response

  12/12/2022

  The complaint has been resolved and the customer is happy. We removed the copper wire from any visible sight and she is happy with the results. She said she would close the complaint. 
  
  Please let me know what else we can do.
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  08/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They installed a solar system on my house about one year ago. I think it is not functioning properly, I have emailed them at least four times with my concerns with no reply. When I contact them by phone, they tell me to e-mail the problem to them which gets me no where

  Business response

  08/15/2022

  We are very concerned when a customer is having a poor experience with our customer service team.  We will do everything possible to correct this. We have been working on the concern.  We have ran a diagnostic report and the Solar Energy System is producing energy.  The reports show that it has been producing to its expected capacity.  It looks like the energy consumption of the home is greater than what the system can produce so there are utility bill overages.  If it is possible for the home to have more solar as is, we would be happy to install more solar panels at the lowest cost possible to help out our customer.

  Customer response

  08/16/2022

   I am rejecting this response because: Why have they not answered my e-mails or tried to contact me about this problem. A little communication goes a long ways.
  
  
  

  Business response

  08/19/2022

  We will have a call to you today.  I would like to make sure you have our correct contact info: 

  ************ is our office number

  cust***************n1.com 

  The customer service rep that was handling your account is no longer with us and this could be where the lag in service is.  We will be in touch.

• Initial Complaint

  07/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  After nearly 10 months of lies, broken promises, shoddy paperwork, delays, excuses, and ignoring my complaints, other than to verbally assure me and make more promises that they turn around and break, here we are with 22 of our 36 solar panels are not producing electricity. I asked them on the phone in late April about this and they said they were installing an upgrade that would take care of it. They also cautioned that we would not get full production when it's not sunny. But when I FINALLY got access to the monitoring system and figured out how to use it, I notified them in mid-June about it. No response. Then I emailed again on 6/23. No response. Finally I emailed everybody whose email address I had and was promised they would be out to fix it on June 27 between 8 and 9am. At 8:50am, they canceled and told me it was rescheduled for 7/5. But again they were a no show, no call or reschedule. If I had $100 for each lie, broken promises, excuse, reschedule, ignored complaint, wasted hours of our time, resubmitted paperwork to the City and then to Edison, the system would be half paid for!! After I threatened legal action, they offered to refund the payments we have made to the financing company so far but no mention of the lost electricity we haven't produced during the almost 8 months between promised installation and now. According to Edison, our $94k system has produced enough energy to power a 100w light bulb for 1,274 hours....$73 per hour at this point!! I have struggled with Penguin since I discovered they lied about knowing how to install on our custom roof and in fact, they ignored ALL my input and their own site survey input when they showed up the 1st time to install. It has been increasingly clear since then that they are incompetent, dishonest and not particularly interested in anything but contract signatures and check cashing. There isn't enough space to list all the problems we have had and we definitely need outside help to resolve this!

  Business response

  07/21/2022

  We are currently working with the customer to close out her project.  The project is complete and Our customer is happy with the solutions we provided. The equipment manufacturer finally stepped up to help our customer and us.  We are providing some reimbursement for her solar payments. 

  Customer response

  07/25/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 17***236, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. You may close the matter at this point.

  
  

  ***** ********** 

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  solar system with main panel upgrade and full reroof reroof started in mat of 2021, once solar and roof installed we have had the company out 5 times to correct roof leaks and cracked interior ceiling from rain leaks. both bedroom's where leaks have been have to have carpet, mattresses and flooring replaced. penguin has not don anything to get the problem corrected, they just mask the issue until we call again. Will be filing a cslb complaint. gathering quotes from homeowners insurance as well to provide.

  Business response

  03/07/2022

  We are currently working to remedy the situation. The roof will be fixed ASAP! 

• Initial Complaint

  10/15/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of transaction: 3/6/20 Purchase price: 35,000 for solar panels Penguin home solutions promised that I would get a rebate on my taxes for 26% of the sale price after one year. The way is was explained to me, I would be able to receive a tax refund that included this amount to my bank account. They failed to tell me that I did not meet the requirements to get this rebate. I needed to have taxable income, the seller knew that I was retired and not working and that I was only receiving social security. This issue was a major talking point for sale price/affordability. The lender (at time known as **** ***, now known as Good Leap) also knew of these facts and they failed to tell me as well. I did not realize that I wasn’t getting a rebate until I filed my taxes in June. When I did not receive it, I called to ask why, and Penguin employees claimed to not know. Through my own research I found out that it was because I did not meet the taxable

  Business response

  11/03/2021

  It is unfortunate that Mr. ******* has the impression that Penguin told him he would get the (ITC) incentive tax credit for solar.  We are very cautious when discussing the ITC opportunity that the customer may be able to use.  First, we make it clear that it IS NOT a rebate.  We make sure they under stand it is a Tax Credit.  Second, we inform the customer that we are not CPA's or tax consultants and that they need to speak to their tax preparer to see if they qualify for the ITC.  We also mention that the tax credit may be taken over time and that they should get this information from their tax person and that any plans to get the ITC should be through them.  Please see that we note on our contract that they should look up responsible purchasing through the ****.org website listed on page 3 of the Contract. You will also see that we noted that there is $0 in rebates and incentives. Page 5 we discuss Taxes and on page 9 we discuss rebates and incentives.  We inform the customer many times that their situation is unknown to us and that we cannot make any promises on receiving incentives provided by the government or other agencies.  The customer has 3 days to cancel after signing, but we grant cancellation all the way up to receiving permits to build.  We have spoken to the customer about this many times since the installation. We are not responsible for his tax issues and he was not misrepresented in any way.

   

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