Solar panel company let us down, and can't contact them

phebe3

We contracted with First4Solar last October to have solar panels fitted on our house. Meant to be February 2023 but was delayed by weather so moved to April, last week. However, despite the fact that my husband contacted them the week before and they told us it was going ahead, nobody turned up. After a day or two trying to contact them by any way possible he eventually managed to get hold of someone, who told him the person who had been dealing with us had been sacked and we weren't in the diary.

So….we are still waiting to hear if /when they can fit them…and once again we cannot get hold of them by any means. Phone goes to answerphone and emails go unanswered. We have already paid £250 to have the survey to ensure we can have the panels and if we cancel we will lose this money as it would be us who cancelled not them. We wanted the panels by spring which was why we booked with a solar compnay in October. Companies are now offerring shorter lead times, but would we lose our survey money if we went with them and not First4Solar? As we entered into a contract with them and I feel they haven't kept their side of it?

It has been needlessly stressful and annoying, the panels cost a large amount of money and we came back from holiday specifically to be here for fitting. I feel we have not been treated in a courteious or professional manner and this is made worse by the fact they are very difficult to get hold of.

Aylesbury_Duck

What does the contract say about cancellation and your survey expense? If the survey has been carried out, it seems fair that you pay for it but it's also fair that you have the survey itself to keep.

km1500

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/first4solar.co.uk

phebe3

Yes re the above…not much help to us now perhaps….they were better in October! Although makes me disinclined to trust them to fit the panels or go much further with it

km1500

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6443711/urgent-warning-for-customers-of-first4solar-solar-panel-and-battery-company

Also on here

phebe3

Thank you for this geekylisa...what a mess.  We did pay on credit card as we try to pay for everything (more protection) Looks like we won't be getting an installation from them.  I must admit I am losing faith in paying people to do things, we paid a decorator to paint our hall ,stairs and landing and he made a real mess of the job :-( But that's another story...

geekylisa

Update We now have evidence that on 04/05/23 First4Solar filed notification with Companies House that they intend to appoint administrators.  To be clear, we have no evidence that this is a company, which through no fault of its own, has fallen on hard times. Directors appear to have known EXACTLY what they were doing and every excuse you heard appears to have been absolutely intentional. I'm pleased to hear that at least you paid by credit card.