02/14/2019
Anonymous
I have had my solar system for about 10 years and for the most part it has been operating as expected. After a drop in production, I contacted Sun Power for warranty work (25 year warranty). They verified that the power production was out of spec and referred me to a local Sun Power dealer to provide the warranty work. This was not the original installer of the system but an alternate since the original installer went out of business. I was later informed by the 3rd party servicer that there would be a $250 charge for the labor on the initial inspection since they were not the original installer of the system. I reviewed the Sun Power warranty online and it specifically stated that labor is included; there is no mention of an exception clause. I followed up with Sun Power directly thinking that the $250 labor charge was an error, they confirmed that it was not. After going round and round with the warranty rep for about 10 minutes, reinforcing that this information is not listed on the website and violates the consumer's faith in the company, I was told that if an issue is identified I can apply for a reimbursement for a credit for the initial $250 labor charge. I requested a conformation email of this reimbursement practice as proof that the offer was mad to me and I was not just making it up if and when I would seek reimbursement. The agent took and verified my email information and stated that she would send over a reimbursement offer conformation email. We will wait and see if an email ever arrives and some modicum of trust is rebuilt with Sun Power.
SunPower reply
02/15/2019
SunPower proudly stands behind its warranty, which is the best in the business. Your SunPower warranty will cover any labor cost associated with a product we manufactured as long as the problem is determined to be product related. Since the nature of the problem cannot be determined without a site visit, and there is always a possibility that the problem is not product related (i.e. installer workmanship), the possibility of a diagnostic charge exists. However, if during the site visit it is determined to be warranty related, there would be zero out-of-pocket expenses to the homeowner.