Review for Tesla Energy

01/05/2017
Anonymous

Be very careful!

Be very careful before getting involved with SolarCity. We liked the sales rep, but interactions with every other person at SolarCity was an exercise in frustration. <br /><br />We had a system installed on our home in the summer of 2016, even though we were considering selling our home. We figured that the solar system would be a strong selling feature if we decided to sell. We made sure the sales rep knew that we were considering selling. He informed us there would be no problem transferring ownership of the system when we sold our home. <br /><br />Shortly after the system was installed in June, we decided to go ahead and sell. When we informed SolarCity that we had decided to sell, they made the decision to NOT turn on the system. We didn't realize it then, but this would turn into a huge problem for us later. <br /><br />We listed our home for sale a few months later and the first hints of trouble started. A realtor had a buyer that wanted our home, but they did not want the SolarCity system. The buyer's realtor had apparently worked with several homeowners that had negative experiences with SolarCity, and she was advising her client to request that the system be removed. We still felt like the system was a positive selling feature, and just figured that this realtor was unrealistic in her pessimistic view of SolarCity. <br /><br />We continued to experience a lot of interest from buyers. We had a nice home in a good community. We began to see a trend, however. NOBODY wanted the system. Every offer we received was contingent upon removal of the SolarCity system, and SolarCity was going to charge us over $7000 to remove the system. <br /><br />Over time it became clear to us that 3 main factors were causing buyers to not want the SolarCity system. <br /><br />- Because of the decision by SolarCity to not turn on the system, we had no way to show any actual benefits from the system. Buyers got suspicious about a system that had been in place for several months, but never turned on. <br /><br />- An announcement from SolarCity that they are moving away from the technology used in the system installed on our home caused buyers to be unwilling to acquire a system they felt would soon be obsolete. We didn't feel this was a valid point, but that's how the buyers felt.<br /><br />(Before proceeding to the 3rd factor, a note: SolarCity has a 'Reassignment Team' whose job it is to help in the process of transferring ownership of the system when a house is sold. Their purpose is to help prospective buyers to understand the benefits of the system, and make it a smooth transition of ownership. We directed our interested buyers to this team with no success. This team was unable to make a compelling case, and all buyers continued to want the system to be removed.)<br /> <br />-The last major factor, which we unfortunately did not see up front, is the poor reputation SolarCity has in north Texas. Too many potential buyers had heard horror stories of SolarCity. We heard these experiences from buyers, real estate agents. title company employees. <br /><br />We experienced it for ourselves. In the middle of critical negotiations with buyers, it would take up to a week to get a response from the Reassignment Team. In late November we informed SolarCity that we planned to close on the sale of our home on Dec 30, and we needed to know what steps would be required to get the system removed for our buyers. <br /><br />We got no response until Dec 15th, when they informed us they were ready to help. We received no actual instructions as late as Dec 29th, the DAY BEFORE we were supposed to close! Finally, in an act of desperation, I looked up the names of the SolarCity executives from the SolarCity web site and copied them all on an email asking SOMEONE at SolarCity to PLEASE follow-up with us and let us know what needed to happen to have the system removed. Surprise, surprise, but within a few hours I got a response from the Director of the Reassigment Team. She provided the necessary details and informed us that SolarCity would not give us a discount on the $7000 cost to remove the system.<br /><br />Be VERY careful about getting in bed with SolarCity.

Sales process
Price charged as quoted
On schedule
Installation quality
After sales support