ION Solar

Disappointed

Incredibly unhappy with this company at this point. We started the conversation and process of moving forward with solar panels in July of 2022. Solar panels were not installed until December of 2022. It was initially reassuring that every time I called, we were 'just within the expected timeframe' but it became very suspicious that there was only forward motion after I would call and text. It is now May of 2023, the solar panels have been installed for 5 months, they are not active, I have already made 2 monthly payments on my solar panels in addition to my regular monthly electric bill. We have failed two inspections; they were a no show for my third inspection. Waiting for the 4th one to be scheduled. Installation was spread out over a two week period when it should have been done within the day that it was scheduled to be installed. Multiple visits since to fix things that are missing or to label things that were left unlabeled.

They lack project follow-through. pick a different company.

I signed the agreement to have my solar panels installed in August of 2022. They had delays and installed them in January of 2023. HOWEVER, they forgot to install a shut off so we did not pass the inspection... and it has been over THREE MONTHS since then and I still have not had my panels turned on, I am getting bills for the panels on my home, but I am unable to use my panels. I called and asked for a reimbursement of our bills while we are in this holding pattern, and they "will get back to me" - this is the second time I made this request and I have yet to get ahold of someone who will help us get this resolved. My contract said they would have this completed by now... I would strongly suggest using a different company.

Not impressed

I started this project last year in June of 2022. I was told it would be done before the end of the year. I wanted a unground system not roof. Very expensive. I was finally called in February that my papers for loan were up March 19 2023. I told them I wasn’t signing new ones. So they extended 2 months. A guy showed up to do trenching in early march and walked off and didn’t do anything. Turns out they had to go over buried electrical line. They totally redesigned. So this week they did trenching and ran over sprinkler system and timing wires. They said they would work out a solution and call me with it and to ask the trencher for a quote. He said he wasn’t licensed for that and homeowners usually do it themselves. I got a quote myself and called them multiple times with this information no response. No call back. Very disappointed

Total disappointment

Still waiting 9 months 3 months of payments and nothing

DON'T DO IT!

These people force you to sign 4 contracts, refuse to give you a copy when you sign, then tell you you sould have read it better. They say they'll cover you until it works with payments, then send you to collection. They work with credit people SO bad, they don't even work with them anymore, and you are stuck with an off-shore payment to who knows who. They send 3 texts with different information on the same step. NOONE there knows what they are doing, andd the salesmen lie. The only decent service was with the actual installers-they were gold-EVERYTHING ELSE about this company sucks!! The last slap? YOU have to hook up your own system to get it to work!! The questions below and the lack of answers tell you exactly how little the sales people tell you. I don't know anything about my system, and I hate this company with the passion of a white hot sun! I am suing them in court to get my 800 credit score back!

No response from company. Very high electric bill

I've been trying to get a hold of someone to help me with my very expensive electric bill. Tate refuses to have their supervisor contact me. I've also asked Ellis to help me but literally Noone gives a crap! You all got your money from me and you're done!

6 months passed. $200 saved on bills, $660 paid for the panels...

We are about 6 weeks post activating Ion Solar. . . They send people out to look at the house and roof and make estimates on wattage. We were told our panels would make our energy bill nil, with only a little bit of draw from the energy company during the winter. They guaranteed the price for the panels monthly would be the same as our average energy bill, and thus, gain solar without having our bills go up at all. It did NOT lower our PGE (electric) bill. It's the same as last year at this time. (Approx. $250) When we used their app to look at the wattage it was accumulating, it was ridiculously low. The panels are basically useless. So NOW . . . We not only have our $250 PGE bill, but an additional $185 solar panel bill. When I emailed about when we could expect that to change, they ghosted us. Oh, except for the part where we got the reminder about our automatic withdrawal coming up. DO NOT GET ION SOLAR!!! ITS A SCAM!!!! (If you notice, the positive google reviews are from before people actually use the panels. . .)

Terrible company. do not recommend!

Check reviews before choosing a solar company. Ion Solar is terrible!

Day 253: Ion has not finished the job

I have panels without electric hook up on my roof and Ion continues to make promises and continues to not deliver on finishing the job. Several no shows, several no calls, and lots of heart ache over this job. I just want Ion to complete the electrical work. I've filed a claim with the BBB and in discussion with Denver 7 news. Two weeks ago they sent an injured electrician to my door and I had to find out from him that he was not able to do the work, even though he had been injured for over 2 weeks. The company seems to have lost touch with customer service since I have several neighbors that hired Ion for their panels a few years ago and did not experience these issues.

Wish I could give a 0 - Terrible Installation & Customer Service

Initial sales representative did a good job of explaining the product and the service that would be provided and the offer the best deal he could at that time. We choose to proceed and set up time and date for installation after HOA approval. Set up a date that my spouse could take time from work to be there for the installation and an hour after the proposed time, we reached out to ION as nobody had called or showed up. We received an apology and said they would reach out later in the week to try to set up another date. Agreed upon a second date and time that my spouse could once again get time away from work. On the date of the appointment, received a call 25 minutes before the time and was told, "we cannot make it today, we will have to schedule another time." They called back to ask if they could come back the next day, but unfortunately, my spouse cannot get time off from work. We then decided to call and cancel and received lots of excuses from Ryan about how this never happens and they want to make it right by setting up 3rd appointment. We continued to state that we will just cancel as this interaction is an example of the service we believe that we would receive in the future. They called back a week later to try and see if we would give them a 3rd chance and when we said we would not, they stated then you will have to pay the cancellation fee of $1200 that will be due today. Stated this is a terrible form of customer service and disrespect of the time my spouse took away from work and is not offered anything more than a fee that is to be paid immediately. He asked if his manager could talk with us to see about waving the fee and we agreed. Cody came on and again, explained how the first 2 cancellations never happen, 1 maybe he said, but never 2. And how they were outside of their control because the first time the installer was sick and the second time the truck broke down for the day. He tried to ask if there was a date that would work for them to come back and finish the install and I explained we were not interested and to please stop trying to complete the sale. He stated he only has 2 options and that was move forward with the install or charge the cancellation fee. I asked why he cannot cancel the fee and he explained that he cannot make magic happen and it was out of his control. I stated, then please proceed forward with the cancellation. He explained that they would be out money from a third party that they had to pay up front, and never once was concerned about the time my spouse took away from work and the money it cost us. He came back with, "If you would let me offer 1 last super deal to try to resolve this.This is what I will do. If we can agree on a 3rd try, I promise it will happen and if it doesn't, I will waive the fee." So, the Super Deal is, we miss the appointment twice and that is ok, and we will not waive the fee (because he cannot perform magic), but if we miss a third time, then we will waive the fee." Unfortunately, we decided to cancel, and yes, we received the cancellation fee with the due date of today marked on it. We are new to the area and do not have any feedback on ION before this process started, but unfortunately, the install service and the customer service does not appear to be in line with a successful sustainable business model.

Horrible Company! Big Cheater!

Do not choose this company! I would give zero if I could. Let me tell you how I was cheated by this company. My sales rep was Ryan, and he came to my house at the end of July 2022 to introduce Ion Solar as a full-service company and the benefits of solar. First, he projected the solar panels based on my previous 12 months of utility bills in order to ensure the production of solar panels to meet my needs. Second, he pointed to one of my utility bills and stated the Energy Charge and Fuel Charge would show $0, and the only thing for which I had to be responsible was the tax, which Ion Solar could not void. In addition, he promised me that my utility bill would be less than $5 (tax) after my solar panels were activated. Third, I would receive a call back within 24–48 hours from customer experience if I had any problems. Here are the realistic ones: First, the solar panels did produce as estimated. Second, unfortunately, my utility bill was much higher than his promise. I had been paying $70 to $85 every month to the utility company since the solar was activated, plus $84 for the solar monthly premium. Compared to what my sales rep promised me, I had been paying $65 to $80 more every month. I had been calling the Ion Solar customer experience team for five months, and I had spoken with many people, such as Will, Daniel, and Michael. Will told me that his manager would take care of me if I could provide evidence about what my sales representative promised on my utility bill. I emailed my evidence to them a long time ago, but no one could really solve my issue. The most ironic thing was that everyone kept saying that the solar system produced 100% of its estimated output, which I had never questioned. My most recent utility bill was for 11/23/2022 - 12/22/2022, the total of Energy Charges and Fuel Charges was $92.94 without Ion Solar and Taxes, whereas the total bill was $85.67 with Ion Solar. However, my Ion Solar monthly premium is $84, so total I paid for current month was $85.67 plus $84. Third, as I said above, I had been calling this company many times. No one called me back during the time frame of 24-48 hours. Overall, I am so disappointed in the company’s ability to solve problems. The salesperson represents Ion Solar, not me. I think Ion Solar should have been fully responsible for their employees' overpromising. However, I have been fully responsible for his unprofessional behavior. The issue was that my utility company charged me a higher rate and credited me with a much lower rate. However, the root of this issue was my sales representative's overpromising, which caused this problem because he overpromised me the $5 on my utility bill that gave a good value for installing solar without any knowledge about how my utility company credit consumers. It is immoral behavior to utilize such an unprofessional resort as cheating consumers to meet their sales goals. As consumers, we only buy the product that will offer more value for us. As I explained, the salesperson promised the big value which was I could save money with Ion Solar, but it did not come true. Be aware! Do not trust this company! Avoiding ion solar is an intelligent decision if you are deciding to install solar!

What a sham!! EXTREMELY UNSATISFIED!!

Don't let the salesman swindle you at the door. They will do anything to get your business. This company has been absolutely horrible to work with. A lot of empty promises. Customer service has very poor communication skills. They give you the run-a-round every time you call. I signed a contract in July of 2022 to have 18 solar panels installed on my roof. It is now January 2023 and the panels are still not operational. They keep putting the blame on the utility company. They fund your loan without you being able to reap the benefits of the solar panels. Now I will likely be stuck paying both an energy bill and the solar loan bill. The goal was to offset the electricity cost. What a sham!! Ridiculous!! I highly recommended you stay away from Ion Solar. As part of the agreement, I was supposed to receive a $700 incentive... still haven't seen that cash either!!

I signed a contract with Ion Solar on Jan. 21 of 2022, coming up on a year. The panels were expeditiously installed late March of last year after I complained to the company about not hearing back. Inspection didn’t get completed until August which since then they have been telling me that they are waiting on approval from Tri-county Electric. I was coerced by Goodleap to start paying for the panels in September due to it being six months after the install date. I’ve been paying to both Tri-county and Goodleap. I found out today that Tri-county rejected the electrical worked back in August and Ion Solar failed to take action to correct it. I’m whole heartedly regretting ever signing up for solar panels. This has been a complete nightmare and I don’t know what to do!

Good panels but way behind schedule & poor customer support

BLUF: Good product but shoddy contractors and unreliable corporate customer service. The solar panels themselves are good, but companies cashing in on the green energy incentives are a dime a dozen. Go with one that won’t jerk you around. We signed our documents on February 5, 2022 with a timeline of installation in about 90 days (“but we’re almost always under that timeline” –the salesman) and a guarantee that the panel system would be lowering our electric bill before we began paying down the loan (outsourced to another company) in July. The system was not complete and turned on until August 16: 175 days after signing and nearly twice the advertised timeline. This was largely due to two failed electrical inspections and long delays getting Ion’s electrician out to redo his work, but we also had delays in communicating plans from the salesman to the engineer, project manager going weeks between responding to messages, and the installation crew arriving with CAD designs that did not match the latest conversations between sales and engineering departments. The frustration and wasted time of the overruns was worsened by Ion’s failure to make good on the commitments made by both Ion's salesperson and my project manager that if the project was delayed past when we had to begin making loan payments (“but that’s not going to happen”—salesman) Ion would make us whole. We ended up having to pay both bills simultaneously for both July and August. Ion reimbursed us for July, but everyone simply stopped responding to emails once it became clear that the same thing would happen in August. Very disappointed at both the overrun and Ion's failure to keep its word.

Terrible, they drop every ball in the court once you sign

If you like waiting an entire year to get working solar panels, it's great. If you like being strung along with no real project management, it's great. If you like chasing them down every step (which is seemingly infinite), it's great. If you don't like those things, please run away as fast as possible. If I could rip these panels off my roof and cancel my order I would. What a **** company.

Failed inspection, no followthrough

Installers damaged my attic. Eventually, the company fixed this problem after I proactively reached out. They forgot to schedule my inspection. After a month of waiting, I called every day, which eventually got the process moving. The system failed inspection. I have not received a resolution.

Horrible Customer Service and Communication

We signed our contract in August and it is now the end of November and we still are have no solar. No customer service! We are expected to make our first payment in the middle of December, but we have no product. Lack of man power to handle the design and they are making it our problem. We understand that things happen , but this seems to be a comedy of errors. We totally regretting our decision to work with ION. Contract states 6 - 8 weeks for the process. 20 weeks and probably will be another 5 weeks before completed.

Horrible Experience - Has already cost me thousands of dollars

This was the second time we've elected to have solar panels installed on our roof. The first experience in our last home was fantastic, and I'd assumed working with Ion would be comparable. Unfortunately, experience with Ion has been absolutely abysmal. We went under contract at the end of May. The panel installation was done in June, but the system was never brought to a point where it was operational. It has now been 5 months, and no one is communicating with me. Periodically they will send someone out to the property, but then provide no explanation of the problem, or give expectation of what the next steps are. They encouraged me to change electric providers to another company who's rates are nearly double what I was paying before because of their net metering terms. Now I'm stuck paying an inflated electric bill as well as a solar loan, which is costing me $400-$500 more each month than what I was paying previously. I have 40k of solar panels and inverters on my roof that aren't generating electricity, and requests for an update on the project just get ignored. I've always been pro solar, but I'd recommend avoiding Ion at all costs. They will tell you how good their service is and how valuable their warranty is, but they've already chosen to ignore me before the installation was even completed.

Overpromise under deliver

To be start I can say the salesperson Jason was a great salesman explained the benefits and didn’t rush me to make a decision. I signed the contract in April they installed the panels in July! Good start. They didn’t use the builders conduit that was already installed with the house. Now there is ugly conduit outside the house. I have had 3-4 failed inspections, more delays then I can think of. It’s now end of October and still not finished. The GM only gives excuses and not a solution or even a what can I do to make this better! Avoid the company like the plague!! Too much turnover and turmoil in the company. Everyone points the finger at someone else.

Bad Customer Service even after cancellation

Ion Solar’s sales team is great at hooking you in. Maybe I fell through the cracks but the other ratings and complaints tell me otherwise. Here’s my story: We signed in March expecting 2-3 months until install. We schedule in June. The reschedule because my local utility delayed. Fine. Come July, we get rescheduled but turns out, another delay! So we agree to wait until the utility can schedule before confirming a new date. Come august, still nothing. Come September, nothing. At some point, I ask for weekly updates to make sure we’re following up with the utility company. Turns out, I had to reach out to get updates and even then, no updates. I end up cancelling. They charge me the cancellation fee. Fine. I send a check in and it gets deposited by them. Then a month later, they have the audacity to invoice me for the cancellation despite it being paid for already.

Poor Extended Service

My panels are 2.5 years old and I already have one off line and another underproducing. My Xcel bill was $190 in July, and I’ve been billed for electricity every month since. Ion charges $250 to come out and service the panels 24 months after installation. I’ve been rescheduled by this company several times. They have no showed on the 14th, 17th, and 20th so far and still cannot confirm a date. My panels are paid in full, and this is the most ridiculous customer service I’ve encountered for a purchased product of this dollar amount.

Garbage

Where to start. Everything includes the fact solar doesn't even produce enough power to cover its own cost let alone any excess power you use. I would never have solar let alone Ion Solar touch my home again.

So annoyed

So the guy who came to the door to set up the sales pitch was great and so was the guy who sold us on solar. Then we go months with out knowing anything I mean months. Then it finally came installation day. The crew was nice and the electrician. Then after two days at my house they were done and then only then did they inform me that they don’t have the battery pack for the system to run. It will be another 2 and so months til that comes in. Then we notice they put a crack in our ceiling. They didn’t inform us of any of it. So now we have a system installed that can’t operate til who knows when. Then we have a crack that was suppose to be repaired twice already and both times no one shows up! I about had it with them for real.

Coming back to update everyone

After my review was posted about not being very happy, a representative wrote a very nice message (you can see for yourself down below) and claimed that he wanted to get in touch with me about my experience. I reached out to the email he provided and was contacted by email in the next few days. He claimed he didn't recognize my profile because it was in cancellation. Anyways, I reached back out to him and he apologized for being so busy and I never heard back from him again. This is the same line of BS I was fed by another upper management person. They claim to care about you and want to put on a good show here in the reviews but behind the scenes is quite different. Just wanted to update everyone here. I was willing to give them a second chance and did just that, only to be let down again. You've been warned my friends!