genius energy free solar panels

Loonytuned

Hi all

First post here but felt I had to sign up after searching for info on Genius Energy.I am a former MCS registered pv designer/installer and therefore know 'a bit about how it all works'. I was handed a quote from Genius Energy provided to a friend of a friend in order to give it the once over for them. I was frankly shocked at what I saw. The system quoted for (which would not fit on the client's roof!) was twice the going rate - nearly £12k for a sub 4kW system! With their finance package, it was coming in at over £23k!!! [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] I shall be reporting the company to RECC and Trading Standards but I fear nothing will be done. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM] There is also little doubt in my mind that richbynameonly37 is likely an employee of the company!

squeegy

Im afraid my auntie and uncle I believe have been seriously stung by Genius Energy. They have just paid £13k for a 3.5kw solar system that uses polycrystalline panels (which I believe are a cheap option), also with voltage optimiser, led bulbs and gas optimisation (which I believe is a timer!). They got sucked in on the hype of the sales person who claimed they would be getting back through the FIT £300 a quarter so their system would pay for itself. I too am in the process of having a pv system installed and my installer is so concerned about their plight that he has got involved to see if any of the info Genius Energy has given [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]. At the moment they are stuck into finance for 15 years with this company paying back £25k over the term. I sincerely hope my auntie and Uncle can find away out of the mess this company has got them into and take some kind of action against them. They have already spoken to trading standards who dont really want to know. Ive told them to talk to the CAB to see what they can do. Also they are contacting the MCS, RECC and also tge finance company Genius Energy tied them with. Any advice you can give to help would be greatly appreciated.

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

pakinpelu

I will never recommend this company to anyone. Their sales man came to my house, he made his presentation but hid the truth about the financial aspect. He brought the form to be signed but I never knew he was obtaining loan with my name. He told me he wanted to check to verify my account. He never left a copy to be read. I later got a letter of ten thousand pounds loan in my name. I contacted the loan company to get a copy of document because genius energy did not release a copy of documents with them despite several request. I discovered that my name was typed on the form after I signed it. I am paying £120 every month and will pay for ten years !
I have written many mail to the said sales man, he has refused to see me or give the information I requested for. I told him he was economical with the truth. I wrote his company, they have not reply. I rang them few times, the receptionist will promise someone will call me back but nobody call back.
Beware, don't be another victim.
Paul

pakinpelu

I am also looking for the options of legal redress, it is a complete mess. They have affected my finances because I am paying back loan I never bargain for
Paul

zeupater

Genius_Energy wrote: »

Hi all ...

We’re posting this as we’d like to give you a few facts and offer you a chance to get in touch to talk about any issues you may have.

First up we are a reputable Renewable Energy Company with a raft of accreditations – including; MCS registered, Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC), Renewable Energy Association (REA), Solar Trade Association (STA) and the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA)

We had a RECC inspection six months ago and are working very closely with them to ensure that we are achieving and adhering to their strict consumer guidelines.

We sit on the strategic committee for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and were recently invited to accompany Greg Barker, the Minister of State at DECC to lobby the European Commission over proposed plans to impose trade duties on certain Solar Panels.

We have become the third largest domestic renewable energy installer in the UK and are helping thousands of frustrated homeowners’ combat ever increasing energy bills.

If anyone wishes to call us on 0121 711 7000 for further information we’d love to hear from you.

Many Thanks

The Genius Energy Team

Hi

Despite what has been written so far I will extend the usual courtesy and welcome you to the forum in the hope that opening a membership account is a prelude to entering into open discussion in order to assist those who may be having issues with other forms of contact with your organisation. I believe that it is a forum requirement that anyone seeking to post on behalf of a commercial organisation seeks permission from MSE to do so, therefore it would be good etiquette to check before posting too many times.

Anyway, back on thread .... To me, it looks like a little transparency and explanation is due here. There are many on these boards who have arrays, both RaR and owned, and have a pretty decent view of what is possible and what is unlikely as well as having a very good grounding in mathematical, logical and financial matters which is usually sufficient to validate the likelihood of any claims.

As you are undoubtedly aware, many thousands of people visit these boards in order to gauge and test the accuracy of what they have been told or sold. From what has been described to date it seems that the potentials of the package on offer from yourselves and the manner in which it is being offered is both dubious and likely extremely overpriced. It therefore seems that the ball is currently with yourselves to provide explanations to counter this initial viewpoint.

I would expect that many reading this thread would find it to be both fair and interesting for yourselves to provide a detailed explanation & pricing of what would be considered to be an average installation, say along the lines of what has already been described, including what the anticipated savings would be.

If you are open to being transparent you will obviously need some data to work with ... so a starting point is - South facing un-shaded roof with 35degree slope in Meriden (central England, near Birmingham) which is large enough to accommodate a 4kWp system, household is dual fuel with national average consumption (E=3300kWh/G=16500kWh) .... that should be enough to be getting along with, so sell us the ability to have a system - on credit, of course!

As for the previous posts, the major issue which stands out seems to be credit related. As you should be aware "If your business sells goods or services on credit, offers goods for hire, or provides debt counselling or debt adjusting services to consumers, you almost certainly need to be licensed by the OFT." (http://oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/credit-licensing/do-you-need/who-needs/#.Uyn0S2dF200), however, all of the bodies listed in the above referenced post are renewables related & have absolutely no direct relationship to the legal requirements regarding the offering of consumer credit.

Please do contact the forum administrators and gain permission to post ... I, along with others would really love to enter into detailed discussion which could prove interesting to many interested readers.

HTH
Z

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Despite what has been written so far I will extend the usual courtesy and welcome you to the forum in the hope that opening a membership account is a prelude to entering into open discussion in order to assist those who may be having issues with other forms of contact with your organisation. I believe that it is a forum requirement that anyone seeking to post on behalf of a commercial organisation seeks permission from MSE to do so, therefore it would be good etiquette to check before posting too many times.

Looks like Genius Energy are now ex-posters.

ed110220

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

Looks like Genius Energy are now ex-posters.

Unless they've been seriously misrepresented, it would seem this is no loss!

zeupater

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

Looks like Genius Energy are now ex-posters.

ed110220 wrote: »

Unless they've been seriously misrepresented, it would seem this is no loss!

Hi

Considering the earlier posts on this thread I would have been very surprised if the organisation had registered with MSE and entered into an open discussion regarding their offering, but it's still possible.

[TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

HTH
Z

tali

Told them to get me off their database months ago - but i keep getting calls.
One idiot i had to cut off , the 2nd was polite and the 3rd insisted on telling me despite informing him i was at work.Told him not interested and reply was usual BS "So you're not interested in saving money off your bills?" yada yada yada

squeegy

Further to my earlier posting regarding Genius Energy. Not sure if this is the right or wrong thing but ive found there are actual lawyers who run the no win no fee for people who feel they have been mis sold Solar PV systems. Ive forward this info onto my relations in the hope that these firms may be able to help them??