ION Solar

Ion rips off Veteran

My wife is a realtor and has talked to people who have purchased Solar from Ion. I paid $20k more for the same amount of panels. (RIPP OFF #1). The panels were shaded by some trees, that I was told, that If removed, would provide enough sun to work. They installed the panels before the tree work. After the tree work, the trees on the adjacent property shade the panels, at no time during the day are the panels not shaded. The array in the Summertime produces no more than $50.00 an in the Winter no more than $10. The payment is $495. At best that is a huge savings of -$445 a month. But I am racking up the carbon credits I don't get paid for. Even if it worked as promised by ,the crook who sold it to me, I can never "print money" like the morally bankrupt salesman said. Because, PGE pays you out at the end of the year, but in the fine print is says- "We are going to donate all your excess credits to charity". In no scenario, could this incompetently installed malfunction equipment, ever produce any value what so ever, to the consumer, and they knew that right from the start. These people won't service my equipment "Because I'm a Veteran with a bad attitude. After the salesman thanked me for my service. "I hope there is a war and you all get drafted" Yes I'm Pissed and I let them know it. The solar panels are too close to the edge of the roof and water spills over gutter into the subfloor and has rotted out the gas pipe, The install is ugly and crude. (What level?) But hey the New Attorney General Pam Bondi, when she was in Florida, she went after Solar companies who were ripping off Seniors and Veterans (Just like ION) for putting panels in the shade (Just like ION did to me) In conclusion if ION shows up at your door, You have my express permition to tell them to "get the F off my lawn".

Cheated by Benjamin Gorocpe (Energy Advisior)

I was cheated by the Benjamin Gorocpe so called Energy Advisor. My energy consumption was calculated very wrongly by him. In winters I paid $189 for Solar and $205 to NV Energy which is way higher in winters when there are no fans or air conditioner in use. When I spoke with the said cheater he tried to accuse me. It’s my advise to everyone whoever reads my review please never trust the cheater named BENJAMIN GOROCPE.

Bad bad sales experience!!

Just like another complaint was issued about sales tactics. We received the same experience. We were promised a sales tax credit that we could use to pay back half of the solar panels. My fiancé is a combat related veteran and only gets paid a certain amount by the VA and we told the sales person that. The sales person assured us that we would receive that tax credit even though there was no taxable income, and that was not the case so now we are on the hook for a higher payment because there is no tax credit we found out that the tax rebate was nonrefundable And is not like the child tax credit which is refund refundable. please educate yourselves people to not take advantage of others especially veterans. This is the worst sales experience I’ve ever had and I do not recommend to my own to my worst enemy. Also educate yourselves people on the difference between refundable and nonrefundable tax credit, especially when people say that they have no taxable income more than once

Unreliable and horrible customer service

I would look elsewhere if you are interested in solar. We have had our system for 5 years. It has stopped producing 3 separate times. Never notified by the ION. If I didn’t look at the apps on a regular basis I would never know, except I guess when I have to pay for both the panels and now my electric bill. My system was out for about 2 weeks - 2/23 was last day of production. I called on 3/6 to ask about it and get service. At that time, customer service said they would call back to schedule. I never received a call back from them. I had to recall customer service on 3/12. They then said they will schedule once a prepay the $250 service invoice and would not schedule until the invoice was fully cleared. I made the payment and the invoice cleared by 3/14. On 3/19 I still hadn’t heard from anyone at ION. I called again and they said they would get with the scheduling department and that my account would be marked as “high priority” and should receive a call in a day or two on getting something scheduled. I just received a text, not a call, that I’m scheduled for 3/31. I am flabbergasted with the horrendous customer service from this company. I haven’t been producing since 2/24 and they aren’t coming out to “look” at it for well past a month. They can’t keep my system up and running, don’t notify you when it is down, make you pay for service before it is performed, then if you are lucky schedule you 2 weeks out if you are a priority client… would hate to be a non-priority that is probably a few months out. Its great that you have to pay for the panels as well as electricity during this time. Stay away from ION, go with someone else.

Ion solar is a rip off

They tell you a good story oh your bill will go down some say they pay $0 dollars that’s bull my bill went up and you got to pay for the solar panel so it twice as much than you regular bill I’ve had my solar panels for over a year I have not had any kick backs on power bill at all they are quick to install it then you got to turn it on your self then you sent emails 100 time with pictures tell them that the solar panels look like trash they say everything working ok it looks like they got them out of a dumpster then you get the loan for a outrageous price you own them so you can’t return and they will not replace it your problem now I talk to other solar company’s they said they do not install less than 13 solar panel well I got 7 within a year I can charge 13 cell phone so don’t pay top dollar for trash

BEWARE

We signed up for roof replacement and solar panel in September 2024. they came out yesterday (6 months later) and replaced our shingled roof, but did not do anything to the flat roof. I was assured this was a complete roof replacement. Now, the job coordination said they have to check the pictures to see what was in the contract. The sales agent sat here and assured us the entire roof was being replaced. They left old flashing and only replaced the shingles and caps. the flat roof was not touched. I have left messages, sent emails , spoke to a job coordinator, and left messages for the sales agent. We are being ghosted. What was promised is not being delivered. This job is stopped immediately until we get answers and clarifications and what was promised is being delivered. If the sales agent did not include the flat roof, he sat here and lied to our faces. We have been scammed. We were rushed through the sales process and what was promised is not what is being delivered. The job coordinator said he quoted the job from the pictures. No pictures were taken on day one when we were quoted a price., or the sales agent was unclear on what areas were included. He assured us they had experts that were very knowledgeable in all aspects of roof replacement and could also do flat roofs.The fact that no one can post on your Facebook page or do a Google review is very telling. BEWARE of this company.

7 months still not operational

At the beginning of September 2024 we began this process. It is now February of 2025 and I now have set up a new appointment for an inspection that Ion Solar failed upon initial installation. It will be 7+ months before I can even use my solar panels (new inspection date at the end of next month). At this point not only am I still paying the electric company for electricity. Now I’m paying for a solar panel loan for useless panels. Additionally because they had the solar panel installed at a different time from the electrician and the inspection. I have taken 3 days off of work with nothing to show for it.

Do not work with this company.

We unfortunately got caught up in the solar panels, they were at our house talking with my husband while our two 1 year olds ran around. He did NOT make it clear there would be a cancellation fee if we decided not to move forward. They say they have my husband on video confirming about the cancellation fee, I’m sure they do. But do they also have all of the noise background from the children screaming? I could barely hear the computer I know he could barely hear it too. The sales man brushed it off, I’m sure because they want people to get stuck with the solar panels. We spoke with the manager, Jacob in the Resolution department for cancellation. He was very unhelpful and rude. I was also rude because no one wants to get stuck with something they don’t want and have to pay to get out of it. Make sure if you let this company come into your home, you pay attention to every detail. Don’t deal with this company. I regret letting them into our home.

should change their customer service

today my system is not working all lights are flashing red I call and their answer is oh just wait it may clear up really so I have to go a day not producing and hope it clears up other words oh crap this one is still under warranty we can't make money it may be a delay really it reported 6 hrs ago and nothing since obviously something is not right but lets not look into it right it might cost us money. this solar company seems like in my opinion does not stand up to their commitments or warranties lets hope it fixes itself instead of hey let us go look at it and see if there is a problem no lets go get the next unfortunate soul have them sign a contract and then we will ghost them. nice way to do business

Absolute nightmare

The panels were constantly going offline with no help from the service department. Two years into having them installed we discovered the installation damaged our roof causing a massive leak and they took weeks to respond. Filing a lawsuit shortly.

10 months and nothing to show

We spoke with Chad the Salesman for ION Solar in April of 2024. We told him our house faces the wrong direction for Solar (the roof slopes face East and West), so every solar company we talk with wants to double the number of panels. This makes no sense so we plan on installing kickers on the South face that panels could be installed on. Chad also knew we wanted batteries and recommended we wait until after installation to put them in. Chad talked with the design team and we worked with them to install the panels sideways to put 10 panels on the south facing kickers and 5 panels on the East facing roof. Many months pass and then the Design team submits for permit with all the panels on the roof! We get the issue resolved but now there are only 7 panels on the kickers and 8 on the roof and the Design team says "nothing can be done" (despite the kickers being designed for 10 panels by a structural engineer) and being installed. It took four months to get the permit at which point we asked if we should start getting the process rolling on the batteries since this was taking so long. Doug with the design team says we should have mentioned the batteries earlier as now they have to go back in for permit (we told him we did and were told by Chad to wait!). Finally after 10 months Doug informs us that ION solar will no longer install on the kickers and they canceled the project. What a complete waste of our time. The only positive aspect was that ION Solar refunded all our money.

CANCELLATION AFTER 2 DAYS OF THIS CONTRACT

On or around 12/19/24 as that is the date on this contract. A salesman named Justin Sivill came to my home representing ION Solar who happens to be my cousin Cynthia Sivill's son. AFTER he gave me his SALES PITCH, Justin told me to contact him, PERSONALLY, if I should have any problems. NOW...I KNOW WHY HE DIDN'T WANT ME TO CALL ION SOLAR MYSELF TO CANCEL THIS MESS!!! AFTER 2 DAYS I texted Justin letting him KNOW that I'd have to CANCEL THIS CONTRACT!!! He didn't respond to my text or call ON THAT DAY, so I texted him, AGAIN, saying, "Why aren't you returning my messaged Mr. Justin, with NO RESPONSE ONCE AGAIN? AFTER I saw that Justin wasn't responding to any of my messages, I TEXTED his mother with my concerns, Cynthia Sivill, as I was feeling that SOMETHING IN THIS BUTTERMILK ISN'T RIGHT!!! He was telling and selling me ALL OF THESE LIES...IN OVERDRIVE!!! When he, FINALLY, texted me back he claimed that he was in the mountains and would call me back as he couldn't receive ANY MESSAGES out there. He text me saying that MY CONTRACT IS CANCELLED as he was UPSET with me because I texted his mother asking her to intercede in this situation as I WAS GETTING, VERY, ANGRY! NOW, I find out that ION Solar is trying to charge me $1500 for cancelling this contract as the cancellation date had expired by the time he responded to ALL of my my messages!!! If Justin Sivill's had've cancelled this contract when I let him know that I couldn't go through with this and I'm on SSDI, which he was aware of as well. IF I WAS ABLE TO GIVE NO STARS ON THIS REVIEW AT ALL I WOULDN'T HAVE meaning that they have some FILTHY SALES PEOPLE WORKING FOR THEM, WHO GAVE ME A DISCOUNT THAT HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE GIVEN ME DUE TO ME LIVING IN A TOWNHOUSE, I WOULDN'T!!! Justin Sivill and ION Solar are CROOKS who have CROOKS selling their products and making sure that FAMILY/CUSTOMERS contracts ARE NOT CANCELLED so that it goes OVER the 3 day cancellation period, INTENTIONALLY, as they're telling and selling LIES!!! I realize that some of these stars is given BEFORE so called installation, but this is soo, VERY, CROOKED AND SNEAKY!!! I would, REALLY, appreciate it if this message would get to the corporate office as I'd like to speak with the president...if I can!!! THIS IS WRONG!!!

Don't Care about Customer

After waiting 3 months, it is now apparent that the system will not generate anything between Oct 15, and about Feb 15, because it faces North. I guess their "engineers" cannot look at an almanac and do vector algebra. They also cannot play well with city authorities, otherwise they would have asked for a variance to fix this situation. But that would have required them to actually "engineer" and find the problem ahead of time. All they do is slap pictures onto a picture of a roof. ION is not interested in what the customer has to say, they will not allow any input, and do not ask-they tell the customer what he can do for them. There are no pre-install meetings, no progress meetings, and I never met the project manager. The salesman showed up once, and was not interested enough in my text comments to come back and meet me. There was not one single point of contact-anyone and everyone uses a common e-mail address about anything they'rre working on. They don't provide any help getting on line, or using the tool. They don't do after install follow up. This is a slam bam thank you ma'am outfit, and you are on the hook for at least 10% the minute the contract is signed. Run them off if they show up. Otherwise you are stuck with a system that will never pay for itself.

Not worth it

Do not choose ION solar. They will boast about their BBB rating but if you take a close look their rating has been steadily decline and their are numerous complaints on the BBB website. Don't make the mistake we did and believe the positive ratings, they are all false. We bought a solar system from ION not fully realizing what we got ourselves into. They locked us into a contract (sections of the contract attached) then installed an inferior system that barely produces the energy our home needs. Contacting ION is next to impossible as they rarely respond to emails and when you call and finally get someone they will promise to call you back but never do. Then we were told we had to purchase additional panels and batteries at almost double the cost of what we were originally charged in order to meet our energy consumption needs. So now we're $40k in the hole with a useless solar system. There are much better solar companies out there who will not try to rip you off. We had solar in NY with Momentum Solar which was a much better and more transparent experience.

Avoid them!

Stay Away From This Company! We decided to use Ion Solar to have solar panels installed. We did so even though past reviews were not good, but with new administration we thought we'd give them a shot. Things started off well, we were approved quickly by their preferred lender, about 5 months ago. Regular progress updates were provided and customer service was good. Things changed quickly however. Updates became more sporadic, as did project progress. Customer service was nearly non-existent even we repeatedly contacted them and asked about the project. Two days ago, their preferred lender notified us that our financing had been canceled. Apparently the project had taken too long and not shown enough progress so that they could begin billing us. When I notified Ion Solar of this and said since the project funding had been canceled the project was over, they charged us a $3500 cancelation fee. I don't know whether the project failed due to their total ineptitude or there were some darker reasons. Maybe its part of their business model?

Complete Scam!!!

DO NOT CHOOSE ION. THEY WILL SCAM YOU!!! In their contract it states they will make a "Good Faith Estimate" which the contract also states as no guarantee. They will low ball your estimate, work quickly to get you to PTO (permission to operate) from your utility company, then ghost you like a one night stand. After a month or so after PTO you will then realize the system production is no way near what you need for your home and at this point it's too late to turn back. If you do eventually get in touch with someone from ION they will try convincing you to purchase more equipment at double the cost to meet your energy consumption needs. A COMPLETE SCAM. BUYER BEWARE!!!

Beware

I made the mistake of installing solar panels with ION Solar in 2018. The interface app used to track issues with the solar panels and energy created and used has changed at least twice since my panels were installed. I have had to have them out at least once to get the panels back online and producing energy. Most recently I am having issues with the app connecting to my WiFi. I called Enphase first and they confirmed I was following the correct steps to connect the app to my WiFi and suggested I cannot my ISP to confirm I had a strong enough WiFi signal. My ISP confirmed my signal was strong enough, but the panel still would not connect to my WiFi. The error kept saying my WiFi password was incorrect, which I confirmed multiple times the password is correct. I called ION Solar to have a tech come assess why the panel will not connect to WiFi; however, they will not send a tech without me paying $250 up front. It is asinine to pay that much money for a problem that is clearly an issue with ION’s equipment without knowing what the actual issue is. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, she discounted the fee to $200, which is still too much money to pay to have them diagnose their issue. The supervisor refused to escalate my call and complaint further, leaving my only option as writing negative reviews and finding the office of the president at ION’s contact info to escalate myself. These solar panels are far too expensive to not receive adequate customer support when their equipment fails. Beware, as it turns out solar panels have an approximate life span of twenty years, which is how long ION “generously” offers their financing for. If you are considering solar panels find a reputable company that stands behind their equipment without charging you ridiculous service fees to diagnose the issue with their equipment.

No problem wasting my time.

The installation process for my system was straight forward and easy. The crew reached out that morning and showed up on time. They were professional and kept me informed through the process. The only issue was how much time was planned for the install. My system was on the complex side and the crew had to return to finish the job. All things considered, it was a positive experience. 10OCT24: I am compelled to change this review from 5 stars to one star. I have reached the conclusion Ion Solar's operations team clearly doesn't value customer time. I am a repeat customer who just added indirect light panels to be added to an existing system. My initial installation was seamless and professional. Since the initial install, my experience has been the exact opposite! Four of the five installation/service calls have been no shows or extremely late with no call. The first few weren't a big deal because I had already taken time off from work, but that was clearly an early indicator of incompetence. Now the installation wasn't done correctly, and someone needs to come back out. I scheduled it for last week and my wife took the day off. At the end of that day, I finally got a call from a technician saying he could perform the repair remotely and wouldn't be coming to my home. This really infuriated me since my wife took time off to be home, which cost us money. Well, the technician was incorrect and now someone needs to come back. At this point, I don't trust Ion Solar's operations department at all! I reached out to try and speak to the Operations Manager, but I never received a call back. At this point I don't have a choice but to gut through this incompetence to get my system working properly. Based on my experience to date, I can't in good conscience recommend doing business with Ion Solar because all the evidence suggests they do not value their customer's time. 17OCT24: I was contacted by a customer service representative named Emily. The short version of the conversation is that from her perspective, what I am experienced wasn't unreasonable and I am owed nothing. Either I or my wife took time off from work and sat waiting for techs that didn't show on three different occasions. However, because they reached out at the end of the scheduled arrival window to tell us they weren't going to make it they don't count that as a "no call no show." It never ceases to amaze me how people come up with ways to lie to themselves to make them feel better. I STRONGLY ADVISE ANYONE CONSIDERING A SOLAR INSTALLATION WITH ION SOLAR TO LOOK ELSEWHERE. It is clear they only care about the bottom line.

The Absolute Worst

Had a salesman come to the door and convinced me regarding solar. Just a few of the things the salesman quoted - would get a 12500 rebate (not true you only get a tax credit against your liabilities). Payment would stay the same on solar - again not true but still getting letters from loan company saying pay the loan down with the 12500 credit that doesn't exist so payment went up. Electric bill the first few months was higher than I ever paid before. Salesman quit before system was installed so no option there to go back on what he told me. Stated it would be easy to sell my house with solar - well no one wants to take on a 42K loan so basically if I want to sell I have to pay off the loan and new owner gets basically a 50 dollar electric bill while I get stuck with the loan. I have reported to Attorney General and Better Business bureau but all they said was you signed the contract.

Harassing

Words to describe "ION"= harassing, deceptive, con artists. This all innocently started with a door to door salesman. I immediately said I was NOT interested. The next day they send two guys. I made the grave error of listening to their canned sales pitch, but again told them I was NOT interested. That did not stop this company. In the days and weeks that followed, someone would drop by my house fairly regularly. Then the calls started. I receive one to two calls from this company DAILY. Today's call was the most deceptive- the caller BEN TOALA stated that he worked WITH PGE and was calling about the smart meter that "they" had installed. I asked SPECIFICALLY if this was ION SOLAR and he stated that he was a "solar specialist" and would not say the company name. It was in fact ION solar. I don't know how to get rid of these people. I wouldn't buy a damn thing from them.

Bullies

I had a very disappointing experience with Ion Solar. They assured me that HOA approval was in place for my solar project, but this turned out to be untrue. My HOA denied the project, and Ion Solar has the denial letter. Despite this, they are demanding over $3000 in cancellation fees, threatening collections if I don't pay. This decision is beyond my control, yet they persist in bullying tactics, including pressuring me to sign a new agreement with the HOA. I cannot recommend Ion Solar due to their deceptive practices and aggressive behavior.

Electrical issue after solar insulation

I only give it a one-star rating because that's the only choice. Customer service was excellent for this company before installation. After the installation, I encountered electrical issues and no one came out until I spotted smoke coming from the solar panel. After contacting their customer service for months, I was contacted by Chris Hayes, one of their managers, who assured me that he would be taking over my case. Unfortunately, he disappeared completely. Chris promised that an electrician would be dispatched to investigate the issue, but it has not been done yet. My lawyer is currently in the process of escalating my case to the equipment advocate team. Avoid using this company at all costs!!

Nightmare experience!!!!!!

So update 2 years later. This has been a nightmare experience. My bill is almost $300 and next month it will be $300+. I get a $30 credit and that’s it. Plus the bill to pay for the system that puts my billl at $500+. Never in my life. My highest bill for the summer before this never ever got to $200. The sales rep scammed us from the beginning gave us one price and then when the contract came back it was a whole nother price. The Tax break was fake news so then out bill went up because nothing was paid when taxes were filed. Spoke to the vice president and he tried to give us a check that would pay the difference of what we were quoted for one year. That never happen. I posted a bad review on ion site and of course someone call. Thought I was not being truthful but I have all the emails. And the came back and said the guy that promised that was no long with the company. Since then another agent called told me he would go over my bill and data and get back with me. Never happened. Hours of my life lost talk to reps that promise and never deliver. One was going to send someone out to check and see if the system was work again no show. This is one big scam. Worse decision I ever made in my life.

Use any other solar company

When we started setting up our process they were on top of everything. Our sales agent Justin showed us the reviews and ION supports the customer every step of the way. After the solar panels were installed we started having issues. We called multiple times, to customer support, our sales agent, every time they would get back to us and so far to this date 6 months later no one has bothered calling back or checking in. I called again, same thing someone will call me back. Solar panels are turned on and suppose to be working but our electric bill is still out of control. They paint a pretty picture but when it comes to it at the end of they day the don't care about their customers just their commission. Use any other company.

Damage and criminal activity

I recently added more solar panels to my home. During the inspection the employee left the ladder blocking my walk way. I called ION and advised of the ladder and they said that the ticket is still open and the inspector will return for the ladder. After the end of the 2nd day that it was there, I took the ladder down and placed it on the side of my home behind a locked gate. The following day an employee rang my doorbell and in an accusatory manner said he was there for the ladder on the side of my home. As I was opening the side gate for him, I noticed that my gate had been tampered with. I asked him if he was trying to open my gate and he admitted it. I let know that he does not have permission to enter my property, he got the ladder and I asked him to leave my property. I then reviewed my cameras and saw that the employee, John, arrived at my home, went around my home and saw the ladder behind my 8 foot metal custom made gate. John then went to his vehicle, got a tool and began to pry open my gate. John was not successful and decided to then come to my door. All this time I was home and my vehicle was parked outside. I submitted the video to ION and they said that he got the tool to stick through the window in my gate to open a latch. I forwarded a photo of what they referred to as a window, which is in fact metal screen welded on to my gate. There is no way tools or anything else can get through there. Jazz Beltran, the company resolution manager received the proof and stated “received and noted”, basically they know their employee is lying but are compliant in protecting the employee and the company, rather than their customers. A police report has been made and although I have video of John retrieving the tool and going back to my gate for an extensive period of time, ION refuses to releas the employees last name for criminal charges and refused to pay for damages. ION does not protect their customers and has left me victimized and refused to hold their employee accountable.