September 14, 2010
Did you know there was an ugly side to solar? HelioPower’s Vice President, Scott Gordon, has been exploring the dark side with his Ugly Solar Series. The first three parts cover aesthetics (ugly installs), improper installs, and shaded installs, but part four covers what Scott calls “insidious” and “the ugliest side of all” — shady sales tactics.
Scott goes on to tell a story he calls “The Curious Case of the Chocolate Cake Close.” In the story, a slick salesman sells a couple an overly expensive solar system using less-than-professional tactics, such as lying, faking phone calls, and illegal payment requests (Scott is much more descriptive and in-depth in his blogpost). When the couple tries to cancel their agreement after getting a much more reasonable quote from a second salesman, the slick salesman threatens to sue them and continues to intimidate them over the next few days.
What’s the moral of the parable? Do you research and don’t believe everything you hear. Scott offers some common sense tips to get you by Mr. Slick:
- Get a second bid.
- Do a background check on the solar company (try the CSI public database or the Better Business Bureau).
- In California, you have three business days to cancel a contract.
- If a contractor threatens to sue you and you’ve done nothing but cancel your contract before work actually started, call a lawyer!
- If a salesman offers you chocolate cake, tell him to get out!
Read more on the Ugly Side of Solar on Helio’s blog.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey There was just surfing through the social bookmark sites looking for some new interesting material when i found this post on bing. I had to write you a message to let you know that I certainly liked this post. I can not find very much quality anymore on the online world nowadays with all the junk around so whenever I do locate a excellent posting I cherish it. Keep up the great work and I am certain this blog is going to go a long ways and turn out to be quite widely used
Thanks for reading, Mac! We’re very happy to offer you some interesting information, and would be happy to have you back at any time!