Sunrun Inc.

Worry free with Vivint

We got a solar system from Vivint in 2014 at no cost. We purchase clean energy from them instead of the overpriced, polluting electric company. It has worked great for us. We signed up to be “green,” but we have also been saving money every month. The bill is super reliable every month and year. The sales rep was nice. He wasn’t pushy at all. He answered all of our questions and made the whole process quite clear and easy. It was much easier to get the info from him. Looking online took so much more time and didn’t really answer our questions. Vivint took care of everything. They designed the system for us to review, sent an employee out to do a survey of our home, handled the permit with the city, installed the system in a day, and scheduled inspections from the city and electric company all at no cost to us. The installers were done quickly, and we barely noticed they were there. They monitor the system through a digital meter, but other Vivint employees have stopped by a couple of times to check on us and confirm we were happy with the product. I also enjoy the piece of mind I get by not worrying when I leave the a/c on all day/night, or when the kids leave all of the lights on.

Scam

This company pockets all solar incentives/rebates while you, the homeowner, are saddled with a 20 year lease with an escalation clause that eats up any possible savings you might incur in the first place. Do your homework before going solar and steer clear of this company.

Vivint Solar

I am two months into a 20 year contract and OMG where are the divorce papers. I was promised savings and I’m paying more. There is only 72 hour period after install to have the solar panels removed. My last bill prior to solar was $80 now I’m paying $140 and the summer hasn’t even started. The reviews on Vivint’s page are only from happy customers they don’t give you the option to post on their page. Also check them out on the Better Business Bureau I wish I did

Tips for anyone looking into solar you need to consider

I’m in Bakersfield, CA and I’ve been an electrician for over 21 years as well as an energy consultant in the commercial sector. I found it far more appealing to have my solar installed by a company that will be around throughout the warranty term of 20 years and guarantee watertight roof penetration for that term. This is hardly the case for small local business who offer a fraction of the warranty and do not monitor the system production which in my opinion is the main problem for a great number on complaints with regards to peoples true-up bill and system failures. with vivint It can be viewed in real time by an APP through the company and is handy for controlling you usage if you have smart home security through Vivint Or ADT... a reall blessing for those who like to be in control and know where the stand on kWh banked or owed, and if it’s time to wash the panels of dust etc... there are, as with any business model within capitalism, some potential flaws where an individual can take advantage of a consumer, but I assure you it’s not within the company’s intentions and nowhere is it promoted through policy as ethical to deceive a customer. WHAT YOU CAN DO AND NEED TO KNOW: 1)Contact you local branch District Sales Management first because this is typically resolved much faster and directly in the hands of that local office to take immediate disciplinary action. 2)when you write a review make certain that you call out by name the rep who did not explain the details or may have misled you in any fashion especially if they intentionally lied to you. 3)It’s important to note that by no means are all reps the same, and your experience is at the mercy of the rep that creates your account! If you feel that someone is untruthful or simply unsure of the process of solar, or too pushy without being forthcoming with details about your proposed system design, contact the local office and request that a DM Sales representative accompany them to better explain how solar works, your options and system specifics. 4)Solar should easily be explainable to the likes of what you can expect pay, save, as well as what you are currently paying.. especially what the specific kWh used over the past 12 months billing history was. This is the most important part of the entire design process and I can’t emphasize enough the need to ensure that your representative did in fact pull your 12 month history from your utility provider to adequately design the system to cover your needs to avoid a true-up bill. Not every house has adequate sun hours and available roof space to fit an array to offset 100% NET meter cost. In CA we can design to a maximum offset of 110% if you wish to have that cushion, or to simply cover the $10 monthly NET Meter charge from your grid power provider. But that’s entirely your decision to request the offset be above 100%, as it will only be designed with a 2.5% <+-> without being requested by your sales rep & your approval. 5)PPA accounts need to understand this FACT.. Because you may pay more than you paid on a particular month the year prior to solar, it does not mean you won’t be saving money. This is not how a PPA works. For example; you may pay a little more on months that you didn’t typically use a lot of power and that extra power you didn’t use is definitely going to be used by you spread out through the course of 12 months. If you previously hit tiers 3 or 4 with your grid provider then you most likely experience bills during the summer that range anywhere from $700 to $1200 mo in June, July August... and I’ve personally witnessed some as high as $2400 in one month! So to offset the power you need to cover those months your likely to see the low usage monthly bills bit above the grid per total you paid previously, but you’ll never get hit with a $600 or greater bills and you’re not subject to the high tier rates of $0.27-$0.40kWh. You’re simply spreading the power out over a year @ a rate less than you had.. & when said & done, you will in fact save a lot of money. I can assure you this is true & I would urge you to refrain from writing negative reviews prior to your 1year true-up date with regards to bold statements like below. You simply haven’t been through the required time frame to know what you’ve spent or saved and again that was not explained to you by the rep and he or she should be named in your review in order to amend such occurrences.* Your representative is responsible for your wellbeing when designing a system.. they are responsible for gathering the specifics and submitting the accurate data to the engineering division where your overall system will be configured and submitted to permit. It’s not necessarily the corporate office that is to blame for anything up to the installation point of your system and it’s important to be confident with your reps ability to put themselves in your shoes. I hope this helps shed some light.

Worst Solar Company EVER

DO NOT use this solar company. Our panels were not working for 4 months and we got a $1700 bill from SCE and they did not compensate us. And, we didn't even know they weren't working for that long of a period. It is impossible to get anyone on the phone. When the panels were down, we would just have a workman show up at our house unannounced to check on the system. WORST solar company ever.

Don't do Vivint

Do no use Vivint Solar, you will not get the savings you think you will. 6 months in and I see no savings and I am now left with a nasty pigeon infestation that is going to cost me $1000+ to clean up. Believe me, look elsewhere if you are considering solar

Best install in my ‘hood

Two neighbors have competitors & when Brian G showed up I was skeptical. But my design is the best looking and clean install of the three😀 He was informative and professional. Can wait to start reaping the rewards and savings of producing my own electricity

Vivint Lie!

You actually end up spending more money for your electric bill (not up to 20% saving what they claim). You have to pay for what system generate not how much you used. End of the year if have extra electricity in the account, according to the Maryland law you have to sell it to the power company (with much less than half price what you paid for it to vivint)- that means you ware losing 50% of you money for the energy what you did not even used! On top of that they are using you roof top! After 20 year you will not own the system. but when i get it vivint guy says i will own it after 20 years-another lie. and so on. Think and read the agreement twice before you get vivint solar system.

Rip off

let me start by telling you never lease from sun run your not just paying almost 15 cent per kilowatt more the Edison in your 5th year but also the customer service is the worst in my case the mash that is rapped around the solar panels is defective that let birds live between my roof and the solar panels the bird poop is always falling from the roof in my pool since the solar panels are lease sun run should be responsible for repairs sun run refused to repair it I don't recommend sun run to any one

poor

Worst company ever! .. Promsied to save 40%. I now get two bills one from solar the other fron electric. Within tbe first year, I Requested to have everything removed. They said too bad you have a contracr. Meter wasnt reading for four months and they didnt even bother to cbeck it.

Finally gave in!

I had issues setting up the account with corporate online but prior to that and after that the process has been smooth! The fact that I haven’t had to speak with anyone since then and I just saved $100 on my first month I would consider this a good decision. I have no complaints!

We tell all of our friends about Vivint Solar

My wife and I are in our 80’s and we love saving money everywhere we can. My good friend recommended us to this company about three years ago and we still talk about our savings. What was most important to us is that we could do this without costing a penny. Nowadays there is just not many things you can do that save you money and have no upfront cost. We are even looking to add more.

POOR SERVICE

First, they took MANY MANY months before turning it on! I had to write letters and made numerous phone calls to make it happen....Exremely frustrating. Then it worked well for a while and I was relatively happy. THEN, it took VIVINT SEVERAL months to tell me that my system was NOT REPORTING.....and I was accordingly charged regular rates from my other provider!!!! I sent a letter to VIVINT in JANAURY....IT IS MAY and they still have not responded . I am an Attorney and plan on filing an action.

Happy solar customer

We got our solar panels about 6 months ago and we love it we are already seeing savings! We love how in the winter the snow removes itself quicker. We are retired and we were looking for ways to save and this didn’t cost us anything and gives us savings every month. Doesn’t get better than that!

A++

Had system installed in September and was up and running in December due to a bunch of untimely storms. However, so far so good. Being in New England, keep in mind that December thru February are going to be slow producing months due to lack of daylight and storm after storm. However, March came and system produced a ton. April is even better so far with a week to go. Now, for the beginning of the endeavor. Vivint has been great. Our regional manager; Thiago, has been fantastic. All questions answered, all processes explained completely, and even after install some 8 months later, he still keeps in contact to check in on how we like the system and checks out data periodically to ensure system is doing what it is supposed to be doing. One of the better reps we have ever dealt with.

Lengthy Process..

Thiago was awesome. The process took a long time, Thiago always returned my calls answered my questions. Couldn’t have asked for a better representative. Hopefully the process does not take so long for other customers. Glad that my system is turned on!

No complaints here!

I looked into getting panels for a while, but it didn't seem to be cost effective to get them if I needed to lease them, so I gave up. I had a Vivint Solar sales guy stop by and go over it with me. He said it would cost me nothing to install the system and if I didn't buy the system they would charge me 19.2 cents a KWH I produce. So that is what I did. The system got turned on in mid-March. So far so good. I haven't paid a cent for the install, my sales guy was honest, and will be able to get a tax credit next year. So unless I'm not seeing something I got exactly what I was told I would get! Thanks Vivint!

Stay far away from Vivint

Vivint solar ruined my home, doing over $367,000 in damages. Over the last 16 months of the Hell Vivint has put my family through, and ruining not just my home but my life, I discovered there are thousands of victims all over the US and that 8 Attorney Generals have filed fraud and racketeering charges against them. They come in destroy your home and walk away. They are criminals in every definition of the word.

Happy customer

I have had my system for 4 years and we love it. We have a pool and it saves us a ton on energy costs with the pool. We haven’t paid national grid since we put them on and pay about half as much as we ever did to the power company. We didn’t pay anything for the panels and it has been a great decision.

Best decision made!

When Thiago Barros came to the house to explain the solar panels, he was very knowledgeable and convinced me to go with Vivint. He is a tremendous asset to this company and I recommend him very highly.

Great Job

Vivint solar has done an awesome job installing solar at my house. The process was extremely complicated because of National grid, but Thiago my sales manager, took care of everything. He even helped me with the applications for my tax credits.

Damage to House/Customer Service

We had panels installed in January. One of the installers fell from the roof and put his foot through our bedroom window. Luckily the installer was OK and they assured us that they would make make repairs. After several contractors came to look at the window, it was determined that our Pella window could not be reglazed and no longer manufactured. They would install a window "close" to what I have. I told them that I wanted all of my windows in the front of the house to match. Needless to say, it is now April and I still have a broken window in the front of my house and I am getting the run around from the Complaint Dept/Damage control. STAY AWAY! We had several friends and family members that were getting ready to contact Vivint for installation...no any more! By the way, we signed up with friends and was promised a $500 referral gift card...still waiting for that too!

Bad start

Had a PPA installed. Equipment looks great. I thought the install went well until I got the ok to turn on. Only waited 40 days from install to power up, which was great. However, turned up system about ten days ago and did not actually work. Called in and got the worst customer service, scheduled a technician, tech never showed. Called in again and they said it wasn't producing because it was cloudy, informed then it's been sunny and I'm 80s. Anyway, still not working and waiting for company to repair.

Overcharged and no customer service - Rip Off Company

DO NOT HOOK UP WITH THIS COMPANY. They are a rip off and has no customer service. I just received my March 2018 invoice and was shocked to see they were charging me $484.91. I never ever received a high bill and knew it was a mistake. After contacting customer service, they admitted it was a mistake and would research it and call me back immediately. After not receiving a return call, I had to call them and got the run around for a few weeks to finally getting an answer that they were denying our complaint stating they system was not properly communicating with ours and we were not charged enough a few months prior. This is impossible as I compared our bills the year prior, 12/7/17 - $69.55; 1/8/18 - $54.79; 2/6/18 - $66.95; 3/7/18 - $484.91. Prior year: 12/7/16 - $90.70; 1/7/17 - $73.45; 2/7/17 - $80.53 and 3/7/17 - $77.13. How did they come up with a $484.91 bill???? They gave no proof. Do not use them!!!

No customer service

Ignored complaints. Destroyed personal electronic s. took 1 year to respond after I cut payment.