Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I started working with Artisan Electric on 10/14/2022 for designing a solar panel system for my home. I have a flat roof and I let the sales consultant know I didnt want to risk having leaks by penetrating the roof membrane to mount the panels. The rep discussed using ballast to mount the panels and he said they installed systems using ballast to mount the panels regularly. They said it's a significant weight that just sets on top of the membrane and there's no penetration. Then the panels just mount to the weighted rack and it can withstand 105mph winds. It sounded like a great option and I signed the contract on 11/9/2022 to have the system installed. The total cost of the system was going to be $51,683.20 and I paid a deposit of $15,504.96. The next step was to submit the docs for permits. The permits were rejected stating the roof structure would not support the load. Artisan then hired an engineering firm to see what the could do to work around it and get the permits to go through. They continued to look for options to make the system work.Artisan never told me that I would be on the hook to pay for the engineering work. I contacted the original engineer of my home and they told me the roof was not designed for that kind of load and recommended against doing it. I told Artisan I did not want to move forward due to risk of structural integrity with additional load. Artisan then told me that I can cancel the project, but I have to pay for the work to that point. Artisan knew of the potential issues of the load and the never let me know the roof may not support it. If I had known there was potential issues with the load, I would not have signed a contract. I would never take that risk. Artisan made the mistake of not informing me, but I'm the one bearing the brunt of the cost. Artisan did not give back all of my deposit, they sent back $11,662.96. I paid $3842 and received nothing but a headache and there was no impact to Artisan for their mistakes.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/30/2023

  ***** was informed of our design and engineering process during the sales process.  A structural evaluation isn't required unless the *** triggers one which is why we don't build that cost into the initial proposal.  If the *** requires one Artisan can, per the terms of contract, order the structural calculations and bill them back to the customer.  We don't do that without approval from the customer and in this case we waived the costs as an act of good faith.  We have written and verbal requests from ***** to pursue this information.  Artisan provided two options that met the structural requirements and we could have move forward with the installation.  The customer decided, after being provided and offered all of the information from the structural engineer, to not move forward with the project.  Artisan incurred about $7,500 in sales, design, engineering, and project management costs that are included in the pre-construction phase of every project we sell.  Our resolution for this unfortunate situation was to ******************* half of those costs as an act of good faith.  ***** and I discussed the process, I provided the information to him, he told me he understood why.  A week later I was contacted by an attorney, hired by *****, in an attempt to convince us that our business process, that we've been successfully following for **************************************************************** full.  

  I have attached a pdf of the communication prior to the involvement of the attorney.  We have already made concessions in good faith to equitably resolve this issue.  Artisan was right to charge for the work and will not be refunding the customer any more money as it is in alignment with the executed contract and covers some of the necessary costs we incurred.  

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/05/2023

   
  Complaint: 20536394
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  Artisan states it has successfully completed projects over the last 16 years. I have no doubt they
  have completed projects in the past. However, I am only concerned about my project and the
  mistakes made during my project.
  My claim has two components. First, there was a very simple threshold issue which should have
  been answered before Artisan did any work. The issue was whether my roof could support the
  weight of the solar panels? A professional engineer ultimately concluded that the roof did not
  have the structural capacity to hold the solar panels. The cost of this engineering report was $650
  and I am happy to pay this amount.
  Any reasonable and rationale person would determine if the roof had the structural capacity to
  hold the solar panels before doing any other work. Artisan clearly knows the weight of its solar
  panels and could have easily given this information to an engineer before doing any other work.
  However, Artisan is trying to get me to pay $4,143 to them for their overhead and other amounts
  they allegedly spent on the project. Actually, Artisan states it spent $7,500 in sales, design,
  engineering and project management on my project before the engineer concluded the roof
  could not hold the solar panel system. Whether Artisan claims it is owed $4,143 or $7,500, it is
  highway robbery, they only had to spend $650 to determine the roof was structurally inadequate
  to hold the solar panels.
  My second claim against Artisan is they tried to withhold my money in an attempt to extort a
  settlement from me. When I signed the contract, my bank wired $15,500 to Artisan, this was a
  loan from my bank to me. When I attempted to terminate the contract, Artisan said I owed them
  $4,143. For weeks and weeks, I asked Artisan to return the portion of the deposit which was not
  in dispute or $11,357 ($15,500- $4,143). Artisan said they would not return the $11,357 until I
  agreed to pay them the $4,143. I paid interest on this money during the time it was not repaid to
  my bank. Ultimately, my bank had to call Artisan and demand they return the $11,357.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/06/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had a solar panel system installed in late 2019 that went online in Feb 2020. It has worked fine until I switched to a new wifi provider in June 2022. There is no support for updating this information (per the email that they sent letting me know that my system wasn't connected to wifi and how important it was that it was connected so that it can be monitored). I have been trying for 6 months. According to them, I need to find an IT specialist to update the information (that their technician set up when it was installed). I've been told that they don't have any IT specialists that they can recommend in the area. People change wifi carriers and wifi passwords regularly - I was shocked to learn that there are no directions provided (other than a convoluted set of pictures that reference removing the panel and clicking levers up and down to change information. I am willing to pay for a technician to come out and update it (as long as they will show me how), but I can't even get that! The panels seem to be working fine since my electric bills are still low and I have emergency power in an outage, but I have NO ability to monitor. *************************************************************** <- this is the link to their "support for internet communications".

  Business Response

  Date: 03/01/2023

  We troubleshot the communications and talked to inverter tech support.

  The customer changed their routier to a cellular router, and LAN monitoring is not supported by cellular routers.

  The solution is a cell kit for her inverter. We are getting the customer pricing for labor and materials to install a cellular kit.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/13/2023

  Artisan sent a technician on Feb 27 who determined that I will need a cell converter to make the inverter capable of communicating through a ******** network. He said he would get back to me about the cell converter. That was about 2 weeks ago and the only response has been to send a bill last week for the visit. I responded that I was still waiting to hear about the converter. 
  It seems ridiculous to me that a $40k solar system that was installed about 3 years ago cant communicate through one of the largest wifi providers in the area without hunting down special equipment. 
  ******
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/03/2023

  The company finally got the part needed and installed it this morning-resolving the issue. Thanks for your help

   

  Sent from my iPhone

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/23/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Artisan Electric installed solar panels on my house. There were many issues and slow downs during the process, but there are two outstanding issues. 1) They have not been responsive regarding an issue with the system that is their responsibility to fix; 2) They owe a $500 referral bonus to the person who referred me and they have not paid that.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/30/2022

  The two outstanding issues were resolved. Referral check was processed and sent as scheduled. There is no issue with the system, just a standard "error" message on utility meter due to backfeeding of solar on the grid. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/30/2022

   
  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,
  
  *************************