ComplaintsforVinyasun Corporation

• Initial Complaint

  02/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have a solar system and ************wall batteries installed by Vinyasun in two stages in 2018 and 2019. My system stopped working Jan 15, 2023. I discovered this only on Feb 15th when I noticed on my Tesla app that I was not producing Solar while the sun was out. I has assumed that Vinyasun was monitoring my production, since my friend, who had her panels installed by Vinyasun had them call her and tell her that her system was not producing power. They installed a new inverter and she was good to go. That was 2-3 years ago. My contract with Vinyasun includes system monitoring. Now that my system has failed, I cannot get anyone from Vinyasun to return my calls. This system is under warranty by Vinyasun. Vinyasun once was a reputable company and had people to answer the phone and respond to massages. Based on the recent difficulties that I see people having with Vinyasun, I fear that I will have to find another company to repair my system, and pay, and this might impact my warranty. As it is, I now have to pay FPL for electricity because my solar system is down.

  

  Business response

  02/20/2023

  We are sorry and empathetic to the fact that this customer has had a failure with their SolarEdge inverter. Vinyasun does not manufacture this equipment. Vinyasun is an installer of the equipment. The warranty of the equipment is held and maintained by the manufacturer. As the customer states they did experience a failure on or about January 16th 2023 when the system stopped responding. Vinyasun quickly acted on the customers behalf to create a support ticket with the manufacturer. The manufacturer then approved the replacement of the failed device and shipped a replacement to Vinyasun. Within a few days of received the replacement equipment Vinyasun scheduled the dispatch of a technician to perform the work. The work was completed on Saturday 2/18/2023 less than 24 hours from the time this customer realized on their own time that there equipment had failed. The replacement part was covered under warranty by the manufacturer and Vinyasun provided the trip, labor, and administration to replace the equipment at $0 cost to the customer. Though this customer was down for approximately 30 days, Vinyasun acted on the customers behalf within a reasonable amount of time, requested new parts from the manufacturer within an appropriate time frame, and dispatched a technician to repair the equipment with no intervention from the customer. Both Tesla and SolarEdge provide the customer with monitoring for this equipment which each customer has access to. We understand that this customer is upset that the equipment failed and of course when the equipment is not working it would result in a higher than expected energy bill. Vinyasun has done everything within its capability to quickly address with as little downtime as possible to the customer in order to minimize their energy costs. As a homeowner, because solar is typically extremely reliable it becomes very easy to simply not pay much attention to the monitoring however it is import to check out the production every once in a while. Despite this customers fear they would have to seek out an alternative solution, Vinyasun has already repaired the equipment and maintains that it has done so in a reliable way. Vinyasun also recognized a number of years ago that this particular manufacturer had reliability issues that created downtime that exceeded levels that are acceptable to Vinyasun and it no longer offers it to new customers. In this particular situation, the customer still has a system that has outperformed it's reliability standards and now that the new inverter is installed it will likely continue to perform reliably until another failure occurs. Vinyasun will continue to monitor the system and work with the manufacturer to honor the warranty - but to be clear - Vinyasun does not warranty the equipment as it is not the manufacturer. 

  Customer response

  02/22/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  09/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Around Oct-Nov 2020 solar posts were installed on our roof by Vinyasun Corp with the expectation that they would soon be installing solar panels and 2 Tesla PowerWall batteries. I left voicemail and text messages repeatedly for our contact trying to find out when we would get final installation on the system. I didnt receive a response until 1/4/21 informing us by email that due to Tesla shutdowns during the Covid pandemic they were unable to obtain the PowerWall, and that based on the terms of our financing, they could not install the solar panels without the PowerWall. Vinyasun offered no further communications and no status updates regarding installation, continued delays, or any alternative solutions.On 1-18-21 I sent a text to Vinyasun about a bathroom ceiling leak. They fixed the leak, but not the watermark on the ceiling. By 7-21-21 I had to call again as the leak reappeared. I spoke to ******, the president, who tried to blame us for the leak and for not having the panels installed. He also said when he gets calls for leaks its usually for bigger issues, not a small leak like mine. I asked him about removing the mounts and he droned on about how difficult that would be. I immediately sent him photos of the leak on 7/26/21 with follow-up texts to this request and he ignored all communications. On 7/7/22 we received a violation notice from our *** board. We spoke with ****** who has shown no good faith effort to have the posts removed, even after he sent us an email on 7/20/22 to present to the *** board, promising that he would have them removed by mid to late August 2022. He will possibly respond to this complaint and say he is unable to source the replacement tiles. The glare of the metal on our roof is an eyesore & can be seen from the street. He has ghosted us and we will likely have to move to litigious efforts to get the posts removed as he has shown he is unprofessional & unethical and has no intention of complying with our requests.

  

  Business response

  02/10/2023

  The customer cancelled their agreement during the installation and allowed their financing to expire. We have inspected the roof on multiple occasions and repaired leaks that were not related to the solar. The customer had failed flashing around her vent stack for her bath fan as well as multiple areas of decay around the cap tiles and valleys all in areas where there would be no solar present. Our team made reasonable, yet temporary, repairs to those areas for the customer at no cost. The customer has requested that the posts be removed and tiles be added. If Vinyasun can source the tile we will schedule that removal as soon as it is reasonably timely, keeping in mind that Vinyasun has performed 50% of the installation work and received $0 in payment from this customer. A temporary alternative to their HOA issue is to potentially paint the tile to mask the aluminum look.

• Initial Complaint

  05/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased my solar system last year while being informed that the panels would resist any impacts from golf ***** my the sales rep who is no longer there. I have had two panels that were busted because of impacts and have asked the owner on multiple occasions for replacement costs in which I understand I would have to pay but hoping I would get a resolution and some type of assistance. I have asked over the phone over 4 times for pricing in which I was never provided. I also referred a good friend of mine and confirmed I would receive $500 for the referral and since my last conversation confirming this, the owner has never once attempted to answer over 5 emails, numerous voicemails, as well as filing a complaint through SunPower. If I do not receive my referral amount, I do intend to make life difficult with ****** reviews and other negative reviews about the company. The owner would originally answer all my calls and once I asked about my referral, he has deliberately ignored all calls and text messages. I have called the company line, his direct cell, through the referral app, and Sunpower. I will now have to look at other dealers to have two panels replaced because of a small payout the company does not want to honor.

  

  Business response

  02/10/2023

  Following the successful installation and full payment of the customer referral ********************** remitted the payment of the referral fee via a Gift Card. Regarding the ball strikes, we are certainly empathetic to the situation and understand that damage being caused by golfers is frustrating and costly. We unfortunately do not cover ball strikes and neither does the manufacturer as part of our warranty.

• Initial Complaint

  03/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We purchased a solar system from Vinyasun in 2017. This is a roof top system. In September of 2021 I emailed asking for the price to remove and reinstall the system as we were considering a new roof. I emailed multiple times until I got a response "We are currently between 9 and 12 months out on re-roof work at the moment. Also, material costs are at an all time high for roofing materials, labor, etc. If you can hold off any major remodeling of your home until people start going back to work you will likely save thousands of dollars" I responded still asking for a price so we could budget it into the loan. No response. Now we have a leak in the roof and have to replace it. I started trying to contact Vinyasun on February 18th by email, phone and their website. I have tried to contact them almost daily and my roofing company tried as well. No response. I pulled out my contract and it has a set price for $1999 to remove and replace the panels. I do not want to have another company do the work and have any chance of Vinyasun not honoring the warranty. Also other companies are charging more than $1999 for this job. I need my roof replaced and I need Vinyasun to remove and replace the panels before I have major damage to my home from the leaks.

  

  Business response

  04/14/2022

  We are very sorry to hear that this customer is having issues related to her roof and the need for a new roof and removal of the solar panels has been accelerated due to these unplanned events. This is obviously very frustrating and costly. Regrettably, our ability to remove and reinstall the solar energy system within the expected timeline is not possible. Additionally, the customer stated the pricing structure related to her agreement. This could use some clarification. The estimated costs provided are for removal and reinstallation, not both combined. In addition, should we be available to meet the needs and timeline of the customer and roofer additional costs such as permit fees, engineer plan updates, and procurement of addition materials that could not be re-used would also be encompassed into the project. While we recognize that these costs may be lower than other providers who did not originally install the solar array they are usually within reasonable market pricing. With this knowledge it may be easier for the customer to explore alternatives considering we are unable to meet the timeline. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased my solar power in 2019 from Vinyasun. The contract clearly states that the system is guaranteed to produce a certain amount of power. If the system does not produce the guaranteed amount, Vinyasun will pay the customer at a certain rate per kWh of energy below the guaranteed amount. See Page 11 of the contract. The system has this guarantee for 20 years, broken into 2 years increments. Payment is to be paid within 30 days of the end of the calendar year. My system reached its first 2 year mark in October and was significantly short (10%) of the guaranteed production. See uploaded JPEG which is the production amount per Sunpower. The production amount is recorded via WiFi by the Sunpower (not Vinyasun) and is easily accessible. I am owed $443 by Vinyasun for the lack of production. The owner Justin ignored my emails, phone calls, and texts until I posted a negative review on Yelp. I sent him the data from Sunpower and he hasn't responded since. I've emailed 3 subsequent times over the past month with no response. He is now in violation of the contract signed. In addition, he also promised a $500 incentive (apparently via Visa prepaid card) for referrals. I referred a neighbor and never received the $500. The owner is NOT responsive and after reading reviews of the company online, it is apparent that I am just another in a long list of customers that he has done this to. I do not understand how this company receives an A+ rating with non-existent customer service and willfully violating their own contract.

  

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  When we design our solar energy systems we have always sought to do so with the most sophisticated and accurate technology available to us. This includes irradiance mapping (how much sun hits your roof), shade mapping tools, and obstruction mapping. This is in addition to solar panel and inverter specific efficiencies. We do so that we can accurately predict energy production. At one point in time we were also willing to put a guarantee on it, as in the case with this customer. However, what we have found is that with everything there may be a weak link and in this case it is the manufacturers monitoring and data systems. In the case of this customer there was varying data being delivered from what the customer was experiencing visually to what our internally provided fleet data (from the manufacture) was delivering. We provided this information to the customer letting them know that we intended to resolve the claim, however, we wanted to escalate the data mismatch to the manufacturer. Through previous communications the customer stated in a email previously that the Sunpower app was not as good at data delivery as the manufacturer of his batteries and that the customer desired panel level monitoring. That said, this data delivery issue, and lack of feature rich data modeling, is something that we still struggle with today with this particular product. Though our customer energy bills remain low and savings remains high inaccurate data flows continue to add undue stress to the customer experience in some cases - we understand this is frustrating for everyone - and improvements are coming. Unfortunately the timing of these improvements is outside of our control. There is no ill intention on ensuring the customer's claim is processed, though there is an intentional and thoughtful process to determine the eligibility, and we are finding that this can be also frustrating. While we are fortunate to have an active President who dives deep with customers, this overwhelming expectation to be in continuous communication with him is something we cannot deliver upon. Additionally, our referral program is robust and the lifeblood of our organization. We actively pay out tens of thousands of dollars annually and we aspire to make that hundreds of thousands annually to our customers who continually recommend our installation or services business. We have always sought to streamline, automate, and simplify the ease or providing and being compensated for promoting our business. We now have 7 customers in this customers neighborhood, this customer was the third, who have gone solar with us by referral (verified) from other neighbors. None of them built up 2 years of animosity to notify us of those referrals. Nevertheless, in this case, much like all of the other micro-aggressions this customer has taunted our company with from the start it will not stop us from honoring the referral if it is verified in this case, however, at some point the "rebate or promotion" has to come to a close. As for those customers who actively refer us, whatever the level of promotion is that we offer, they are typically overwhelmingly satisfied with their "apparent" pre-paid gift card.

  

  Business response

  04/20/2022

  We fully understand the customers frustration and are empathetic to their desire to be compensated for what they believe they are owed. What our owner attempted to communicate appears to be that; (a) there is a difference in the data to which our fleet management team can see, and (b) the new MySunpower user experience appears to provide a more accurate way of accessing that data than even our internal data access. Currently the customer site is only being monitored by data flowing from the micro-inverters which unfortunately have a known deficiency as they are of the "solarbridge" generation. We are in the process of updating all of our Sunpower sites with a more accurate production meter which does not rely on the data from the inverters (which will still exist) but can result in under reporting. We are confident that once this metering system is installed this site and many others will see increased performance in their data visualization. Hopefully at some point during the life of the installation the customer will feel valued.

  Customer response

  04/20/2022

  
  Complaint: 16797748
  
  I am rejecting this response because: At no point since 2019 (despite apparent "constant monitoring" by Vinyasun) has the company ever stated that the Sunpower system erroneously reports their data and that my system needs to be "updated." I would think a "platinum Sunpower installer" would have noticed the discrepancy and corrected it within weeks to months of installation. Particularly with the "hundreds" of customers they have. Now that they owe money - it must be a system reporting error. Discussions I have had with Sunpower directly dispute this claim and I have been assured that the data I am seeing is correct. If the system was installed improperly then we have a much larger legal issue which I will pursue. The reality is that the system underperforms what is stipulated in the contract and this company and the owner will say whatever they can to "deny and delay." This tactic is well used by Vinyasun as seen by reading any number of reviews online or on the BBB.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Vinyasun installed my solar pa els in October 2021, but did not activate them due to the installation not being the same as in the pland, so a New permit needed to be issued for the penald to be properly activated. It is February 13th and the permit has not even been renewed. I was only supposed to start paying the loan after the panels have been activated, but Vinyasun ingormed the credit union the panels were active so I could paying for the loan of something I’m not using, so they can get paid. Contacting them is close to impossible as they never pick up the phone and ****** only shows up once a month with a million excuses and no solutions. I need to job to be completed asap and for my payments to be reimbursed and I am paying for a service I’m not using at all.

  

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  We recognize that delays in permitting, inspections, and system activation are frustrating. There have been missteps along the way with the final completion of this project. While the challenges with logistics and the transition of the municipality to from paper to electronic left our project in a state of legacy limbo we could have certainly done better. The project is now back to moving forward to its final inspection status and should be completed shortly. To clarify, there were no code violations in our original inspection process. The equipment used for monitoring was mislabeled on our plan set which is the equivalent of installing a google router vs a dlink router for your home wifi. However, in order to facilitate the change of monitoring equipment label on the plans, a new set of plans had to be ordered (over a holiday), delivered to the building department, and resubmitted for review. With the onset of electronic planning and revisioning in this municipality we expect these changes to go much more smoothly for future customers should errors occur. Again, all of this could have been handled better, and we are looking forward to activating the customers project shortly.

• Initial Complaint

  02/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We signed a contract with Vinyasun solar installer in April 2021. Everything was installed by June 2021 however there was a problem with the battery backup (SunPower Vault). As a result the installation and the subsequent inspection and permit approval as well as net metering through FPL have yet to take place. Vinyasun has been unresponsive at best. When we can get a hold of them, the same excuse that Sun Power - the equipment manufacturer, has not provided the necessary assistance in order the address the problem. Sun Power has been no better. We have a case opened with them but they keep referring us back to our installer, Vinyasun. We started paying for the equiment as of November 2021. We have no solar service and are still using FPL for our electric. We really don't know what to do now. It is now February 1, 2022 and there is no resolution in sight.

  

  Business response

  04/14/2022

  We completely understand the frustration of this customer regarding the referenced installation of solar plus battery storage. We recognize that there have been challenges to achieving the completion of the installation which are complex and are no fault to the customer. We refute the claim that our company has been unresponsive as we have spent much time working toward a resolution. We have continued to work through the challenges with both the customer and the manufacturer of the product both by telephone and physically onsite to determine the appropriate path for correcting the flaws in the design and ultimately the installation. Again we understand that this is frustrating and we are working toward a resolution that provides the customer with a working solar and battery system. We all hoped for a much more expedient resolution to this complex problem.

  

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  We spent over 40 minutes on the phone with the complainants husband on the same day that this rejection was written and posted. We are actively working on a resolution to the problem. This is a very complex matter and we understand that there is frustration for everyone involved. 

  Customer response

  04/20/2022

  
  Complaint: 16699479
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The only reason, it seems, that Vinyasun had the 40 minute interaction with my husband was because I rejected his very late response to this complaint. The timing speaks for itself. We waited 2 plus weeks for a phone call and it only came after a complaint. Not a great way to do business. The only reason the phone call took 40 minutes was due to Vinyasun doing most of the the talking. My husband, when he did have the chance to speak, requested more than 3 times "so, what is the next step?" with no clear answer and more talk with no follow up action. We have been doing this since last year. No resolve. More effort on our part to communicate with the manufacturer (Sun Power). No clear plan to move forward to get us up and running. A jot of complaints from Vinyasun that they are not getting paid. Well, we are paying. We have been paying since November 2021 for service yet to be received. Our only request is to give us the service we signed up for and are currently paying for.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *******

• Initial Complaint

  01/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased a home solar system from Vinyasun about 4 years ago and have a service contract in place. In the contract it states a number of things related to product and guarantees about service. From Feb 2019 till about November 2019 my system was not fully operational and I am due about $2000 in loss of service due to faulty equipment. We agreed on an amount of $1500 to be paid by ****** (president of company) for the loss of service. The amount was never paid and he keeps blowing me off about the money. In September 2021 I had a roof leak which was caused by the installation of the system, ****** came out and inspected the damage and agreed to pay ($800) for the repairs and reinstallation of the panels that were removed from the roof. ****** had promised to have the panels reinstalled and make good on the monies owed for both parts. I've sent text, left voice mails without resolution. Please let me know if you can assist me in getting the panels back on the roof and recovering the monies owed that were agreed on. Thanks

  

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  We agreed to reimburse the customer the $800 for the roof related leak that we agree was caused by the negligence of our team member. While it is an unfortunate experience to have a roof leak due to the solar installation, it is a part of the business. We and the customer were fortunate to find a reputable and expedient roofing contractor to make the repair. The additional claims are rejected. This customer site experienced a lightning strike which detrimentally effected the utility transformer feeding their home. The utility transformer supplied the home with a significant overvoltage even (a power surge) which caused damage to many of their home appliances and immediately affected 2 of their 3 inverters (this is a large solar array). At a later date the third inverter also eventually failed in a manor that was almost certainly related to the utility issue. During one of the many diagnostic surveys we performed at this site it was also determined that many, more than a dozen, power optimizers had also failed as a result of this event. This was realized by the unusually high DC voltage (unsafe) being delivered by the solar array when in the off position. We made multiple claims with the manufacturer of the equipment which they were not quick to resolve due to the obvious nature of the cause. To put it bluntly, it took months to resolve and a multiple trips and a field service team from the manufacturer with our team disassembling the site, testing, and replacing all three inverters and dozens of optimizers. Without our diligence this would have been an out of pocket expense for the customer. Additionally, our warranty explicitly does not cover lightning strikes. Our company was provided no compensation from the customer or the manufacturer for this event. We attempted to request reimbursement for the customer the downtime due to the lackadaisical response time by the manufacturer, that was also denied. We feel that while replacing all three inverters, dismantling and replacing one large portion of the array power electronics is not an ideal experience, the fact that we were able to get it covered under warranty was helpful. To our knowledge neither the utility nor none of the other appliance manufacturers or vendors provided any financial or equipment support for items outside of the solar array. We still have an open ticket to replace a monitoring card for the customer which we intend on completing this week or next.

• Initial Complaint

  12/15/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Came and uninstalled solar panels due to roof replacement. Roof finished end of June 2021..they have not returned to reinstall nor will anyone return calls or emails sent. Still have solar which I owe ********* sitting on my ground.

  

  Business response

  01/14/2022

  We are sorry that this customer is experiencing a delay. The system was removed for a roof replacement. Unfortunately, building codes have changed since the original installation making the old installation non-complaint. To re-install the panels a new mounting system must be installed in excess of the original design. This is an unforeseen circumstance and we are working through the steps to provide additional equipment, plans, and the costs associated with the reinstallation.
  
  Complaint Response Date bumped because: Holiday

  Customer response

  01/18/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  The company told me that they were going to be installing a new frame at no charge as an upgrade...I feel they are completely dragging their feet and why have they not been in touch with me personally... I'm currently paying for full FPL charges since July and their lack of communication is infuriating.. I am very reasonable which is why I have not complained until now...They have had a full 6 months to get the job done. If they were a responsible company they should be speaking directly to me. I need a time frame as to when they expect this to be completed.

  

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  We are sorry that this customer feels this way, but they are correct. Please do not use this company if your intention is to not pay for the "removal" and "reinstallation", plus any additional parts or permit costs related to your solar energy system. We are extremely empathetic to the situation. Thousands of homeowners are being dropped by insurance carriers due to the new age requirements for insurability of their roof. Having solar removed and reinstalled only increases the unplanned costs. While we help our customers plan for these costs in our agreements we cannot control the timing at which a new roof will be needed. We always attempt to make it as comfortable and coordinated as possible. Again, we empathize with the situation but without a proper payment a company simply cannot afford to perform services at no cost. We believe that is reasonable and fair.

  Customer response

  04/20/2022

   
  Complaint: 16494220
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I have never refused to pay amount owed per contract...asked for estimate of additional costs..never received an estimate or even a date to reinstall
  after multiple calls texts and emails...company refused to even speak with us after 2 months of calls texts and emails. Never was given an estimate as to when job would be done. Never got an invoice or **** for removing panels. They didn't respond to prior attempt by BBB to respond. Only responded after 2nd attempt by BBB. Then just gave response about delays and added cost. Never mentioned customer refusing to pay.  Has not responded to attorney letter stating ******* is in trust awaiting completion of work. For 10 months my solar has been sitting on the ground in mud ect...had to pick up wires and frame and stored.Still paying for panels monthly and incurring higher electric bills. This is not how companies should treat their customers. How can you not give a customer a estimate of cost? How can you ignore and then refuse to speak to customer?  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  

  Business response

  05/02/2022

  We understand that the costs of prematurely needing to get a new roof are affecting many ********** right now and that on it's own is frustrating. Our company has performed all of the work needed up to the point of moving the installation to the complainants new roof. Throughout the process we were met with contention from the customers appointed representative regarding the costs and additional materials needed to bring the installation to current code. To date we have not been compensated for the removal labor, the engineering costs, or the permit fee. Further, the complaint states that a deposit has been placed in trust with an attorney. We conferred with the attorney and this is not true. We want nothing more for our customers to have a reasonably ********************* experience with new projects and with moves. For customers who chose to install with us originally we have always offered considerably fair prices that are at a discount to the market. We think it is completely understandable to be compensated for the work we perform and if we are not compensated we certainly feel it is reasonable and within our right to stop work.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩