Solar Fusion - Any experience?

Druid77

Anybody on here have any experience of Solar Fusion? An elderly friend of mine (who is on the TPS) has recently been rung up by this company and sold a PV Solar Panel installation for (what I consider) to be a large sum. I have been doing a bit of research and have found from the REAL web site

(As a new user I cant give a link but if you look on the REAL site for "non-compliance-activity-in-2010" you will find the text quoted below)

"During 2010 the REAL Assurance Scheme continued to monitor members’ compliance with its Consumer Code robustly. The Panel met 7 times during 2010 and held three Hearings. During the course of non-compliance proceedings, three companies resigned from the Scheme: Affordable Solar Energy, Clear Sky Solar UK and Solar Fusion."

Bearing in mind that REAL are firmly against high pressure selling I can probably understand why Solar Fusion chose to resign from the scheme.

Just wondering if there is anyone else out there with recent experience?

clickschool

They claim to be the largest UK installer of solar panels and resort to high-pressure selling. The difference between 'buy today' or not, was over £4k. And even at the lowest price of around £15k for an 8-panel system (1.8kw), it seemed relatively expensive... (the quote valid for 6 months is about £18k). If I was to secure the deal on the day, I could benefit from their affiliate scheme.... but the whole quote seemed expensive, and it could not be broken down into what I was getting for the money.

On to the next quote... Personally, I would not recommend them.

dealer_wins

Never buy anything when you are cold called. It will always be a ripoff guaranteed.

trev21_2

We had a cold call from Solar Fusion and agreed to a sales visit the following day. The salesman, who claimed to be an accountant, went through the financial benefits and savings of installing solar. After performing a quick survey he gave us the installation cost of 15K for 10 panel PV system and 7K for a thermal system. When I asked for a breakdown of the costs (materials /labour) he replied that he did not know!! He claimed that the some suppliers would charge 15K just for the solar panels. The following day I received a call from the office of Solar Fusion enquiring how the visit went. I again requested a simple breakdown of costs. They said this information was not available but they would contact me again. According to Solar Fusion no one has ever requested such a breakdown. I have not had any further contact from Solar Fusion.
Looking at the internet I discovered that Solar Fusion had been told by Advertising Standards Authority not to use some of the financial details that were given by our salesman in ads as they were judged to be misleading and exaggerated the likely savings made by installation of a solar system. In addition, I discovered that the solar panels quoted would only account for a third of the installation costs. I agree with a previous posting that the Solar Fusion system prices are very expensive and why they do not belong to the REAL Assurance Scheme.

mrde_2

Hi All,

Had the cold call experience and "accountant" round same experience as you, not really pushy but still tried all the sales tricks, had to call the office (at 8.30pm??) for technical questions, then when we told them how much energy we use and how it would not be cost effective at there prices the guy called the "office" again who then talked to me to try and explain the costs, wrote a blog post on mrde.co.uk I cant believe that this sales stuff still goes on, complete waste of nearly 3 hours, you can buy the panels for 3K so why the cost to install is £18 (or £15 if you sign up that night) I will never know.

Keep clear if you ask me.
Lee

spacemaker

We wanted to find out all the info we could on having pv and thermal installed at our house, and so I actually tried out the self-employed commission only sales job route very briefly with a few company's to discover all the quirks and margins etc - Solar Fusion was 1 company that took me on immediately last year - the main man in charge of training there was so blunt it felt I was personally living in the film Glengarry Glenross, in fact the film was mentioned several times during the couple of days it took to become a saleman with them. The regional manager was even more blunt and would allocate "good leads" or "bad leads" on your performance the night before. However what became very clear was that the regional manager treated "good leads" as anyone over 55 as these were the "gold dust" of Solar Fusion's success he said. Frankly I was stunned at how cut-throat the approach of it all was, but basically they used outside contracting teams to install who were self-employed themselves. To be fair though their thermal product for hot water is absolutely superb with the Surface Power cylinder tubes, but PV wise they use Sharp panels which are widely available, so it comes down to who will install, and for what price - basically its about a £1k per pv panel situation - with regards thermal they suggested the salesman did not move from the price which was fixed, at just under £7k, at my time, but rather up-grade the products on offer to the Surface Power tubes, or even a bigger cylinder tank for more water storage. They were a family firm that had expanded very very quickly and needed to throw salesmen into the water and if they sank it didn't matter because there were lots more out there willing to have a go swimming for them. The general average sales commission for the industry seems to around the 10-12% mark on each deal. PV had a minimum 6 panel requirement. So don't forget when your buying the saleman if self employed (ask them!!!) is ALWAYS on commission of about 10% and this is always a bargaining chip, because good company's always make their salemen ring their manager before they leave the appointment as, if they leave the house....they leave the sale behind.....and Solar Fusion explained it was a 1 appointment sale for each of their salesmen - no if's... no buts....and this is fairly standard...its why good "hard core" salemen generally never leave......over the years I've heard of the police being called, fights breaking out etc, all just to get a salesman out the door....but a great way to get them to leave is to ask them to provide personal testimonies from satisfied customers locally were you can also inspect the jobs within the next 24 hours, and then say you'd be more than happy to sign if your review of their previous jobs is satisfactory!! That's a real killer of salesmen because any genuine company worth its salt will happily let you speak to satisfied customers, and even review work......but a saleman will not have access to that sort info, not unless its a 1 man band.....and would you buy from a 1 man band? Personally we would consider buying the thermal from Solar Fusion but not the PV bcause we feel we could get a better deal elsewhere, but its another 4 hour appointment with a new salesman trying to crunch the deal for his 10%, and so we're hanging out a little while before we do it....

Kashby

I too used the self employed salesman route to get some inside info on the whole PV market. Solar fusion were by far the worst, their PV system being 50% more expensive than Anglian, who are considered by many to be a expensive (£18000 for a 1.8kw system).
The sales techniques we were taught in 2 days were bordering on bullying and totally against the REAL guidelines. The technical manager knew what she knew but outside of that her technical expertise was questionable at the very least (I am a chartered engineer by profession).
Their solar thermal (hot water) is very good but once again extremely expensive! The basic components cost around £2000 but they give quotes in the region of £9000 and are quite open about adding £1000 for some simple pipe work if needed!
If anyone has bought from them, even with the 'make a decision now and join our affiliates' ploy, I can guarantee that they have been ripped off.

Hopj211

This company just tried to sell a system to my parents who are in their eighties. I cancelled the contract although there was sustained high pressure to continue and they tried to force my father to continue until I stepped in. They have informed me that they believe they are being very generous in allowing cancellation of the contract outside the 7 day cooling off period, although I pointed out that it was a legal right so I didn't consider it that generous. They are now seeking retention of £750 of the deposit to 'compensate them' for carrying out 4 surveys, although my parents only saw the rep once and a heating engineer on a second occasion. Trading Standards are going to get a call from me.
I would advise keeping well clear of this lot!

red_flump

Just got a call from them today (withheld number) Kept them talikng to find out who they are - reported to TPS and ICO if that helps. I blacklist anyone company that phones me unbidden, but that leaves them to prey on the vulnerable.

Druid77

They still seem to be at work round here. It seems that the REAL assurance scheme has been replaced (or at least renamed) the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC). This code requires that

"Where members promote their services by direct mail or telephone, they must first check the names against the mailing preference service or telephone preference service databases for any exclusions."

I cant find Solar Fusion listed as a scheme member on the RECC website and they make no mention of the RECC on their own website. Funny That.

vibrant24

Druid77 wrote: »

Anybody on here have any experience of Solar Fusion? An elderly friend of mine (who is on the TPS) has recently been rung up by this company and sold a PV Solar Panel installation for (what I consider) to be a large sum. I have been doing a bit of research and have found from the REAL web site

(As a new user I cant give a link but if you look on the REAL site for "non-compliance-activity-in-2010" you will find the text quoted below)

"During 2010 the REAL Assurance Scheme continued to monitor members’ compliance with its Consumer Code robustly. The Panel met 7 times during 2010 and held three Hearings. During the course of non-compliance proceedings, three companies resigned from the Scheme: Affordable Solar Energy, Clear Sky Solar UK and Solar Fusion."

Bearing in mind that REAL are firmly against high pressure selling I can probably understand why Solar Fusion chose to resign from the scheme.

Just wondering if there is anyone else out there with recent experience?

I had Solar Fusion round last night for a quote on infra-red heating system, they started out at £19,000 and I got them down to £15,000. Two guys came out, one Mr. Nice Guy the other Mr. Hard Sell, the latter was not amused when we said we were not interested.... they quoted for 16 heating panels. On ebay you can get a decent panel for £300?!?!?!!?