We question every negative thing they say about us and try to find justification to deny it. Admittedly, we waste more time on this than we should. Some people are just that way and pleasing everyone is impossible. But, as we are universally loved in our personal interactions and rarely have to deal with negativity, we think dealing with the general public for work stuff, when we get a grumpy one, it takes us by surprise. (Don’t they know who we are?)
So, a prospective customer called us to come diagnose her solar electric system. She didn’t buy it from us originally, so we’ve never seen it. Her power bills are creeping up and she is certain there is something wrong with it. The company she bought it from is no longer in business. She has had her solar for three years. Can we come check it out?
We sure can. It’s what we do. Up to now the conversation has been pleasant. A lot of solar companies have gone out of business over the last few years, and we have adopted a lot of their orphaned customers. Most of them are very understanding of the situation and are pleasant to work with. Those are the customers we take for granted. This lady is one of the customers we obsess over.
The situation is that we have never seen her system. We didn’t do the original installation, so we have no idea what we are walking into. What we do know is that once we touch it, that customer will want to hold us responsible for anything wrong with it now, and in the future. We charge accordingly for both the expertise to properly diagnose the current issue as well as the variable of future problems. We have been taught by the general solar-owning public that we need to do this.
Not surprisingly, this lady changes her tone when we mention price. It is astronomical. It is outrageous. The system is only three years old; everything should be under warranty. It’s hard to argue considering only that fact. A three-year-old solar system should have absolutely no issues. Properly installed, these systems are designed to last for decades without so much as a hiccup. They require some maintenance once or twice a year, but that is mostly panel cleaning. If a system produced fine for three years it implies a few things. (Implies, not guarantees.)
1. It was installed competently. Bad installations are usually evident within the first few months.
2. A component failed, a panel(s) maybe or inverter(s).
3. Something damaged the system. Hail or a golf ball cracked a panel. Squirrels ate some delicious wiring. Someone who was overconfident in their solar and/or electrical knowledge tweaked it for some reason. Someone with no solar and/or electrical knowledge fiddled with it. Lightning struck too close. Etcetera.
The only listed circumstance covered by the only warranty she has left since her original installer closed, the manufacturer’s, is number two. That means she will not have to pay for the broken component, but she has to pay the labor to get the work done. Even her original installer would have charged her for labor, but less than we do when we are inheriting some other company’s work and subsequent myriads of possible problems.
With many customers we are given the opportunity to explain why we charge what we charge. Not this time. She unloaded on us about how solar was a scam. The industry was infested with liars. She told her husband not to do it. This was exactly what she said was going to happen. She did everything but insult us directly, which would be preposterous, because as everyone knows … we are delightful. (Being mean to us is pretty much the equivalent of kicking a puppy.)
We were about to wax poetic about how AllSolar Energy was a shining beacon of pure, ethical, customer centricity in a treacherous sea of dubious solar contractors – an oasis of honesty and fair trade, in an effort to win her over to our side, gain her as a customer, and get her system squared away. It was just as we sat up, cleared our throat, and prepared our flowery verbal retort when we heard the line go dead. All our pretty words failed to launch. (Puppy kicked!)
So, torturing ourselves about it, we eventually got around to googling the question at the top of this article. We won’t spoil the surprise for you. Go ahead, you google it too. If you have a solar system, be it for electricity, pool heat, or domestic hot water – call us if you need service. Even if we are not the original installer, we’d love to help. Our prices are pretty close to what Google results say they should be. (So there, hanger-upper-puppy-kicker-lady)
If you don’t have solar for electricity, pool, or hot water yet, you should definitely call. We do that and would love to help.
(BTW – Her husband called back and hired us anyway.)
