"Simplee Solar" / Energy Watch

Rex_Mundi

I cant help but feel very cynical here..................

This thread has been going six months now. We have seen the same dodgy sales tactics reported by many people. We have also seen the same unfair contract terms reported by many people. Energywatch, Trading Standards, and the Advertising Standards Agency are all aware of, and are taking action (or have already acted) against this company. There has been negative press about this company in the Mail on Sunday, Sunday Mirror, and Watchdog.

The body of evidence is overwhelming that this company is not a good one to be dealing with, and people should be warned against signing up with them.

Now..................We have three posts by three (supposed) different people who have all signed up on the same day to express their surprise/amazement that there is any problem with this company. This is too coincidental!!! My feeling is that the company have found this thread and are trying to deflect some of the criticisim.

trisontana

I agree with Rex-Mundi. The post from Tom154UK looks very suspicious. For someone who is supposed to be an accountant his spelling and grammar is appalling.

maninthestreet

"It was explained to me at point of order that it was a non cancellable agreement and I had to sign to say I understood this,so it puzzles me why people sign the contract and then try to cancel."

This would be legal if the contract was signed on business premises, or the householder in question had requested a salesman visit their house. However, if the visit was a cold-call, or arranged as a result of a previous cold-call, a 7 day cooling-off period is a legal requirement. Failure to provide the buyer with written details of the cooling-off period constitutes a criminal offence.

MORPH3US

Good spot Rex_Mundi!

I think you are right!!!

M

maninthestreet

paddytess wrote:

I feel I have to comment on some of the posts that have been submitted about simplee solar.I purchased a system in May 2006 and have been very happy with the company and system from the initial sale to completion.It was explained to me at point of order that it was a non cancellable agreement and I had to sign to say I understood this,so it puzzles me why people sign the contract and then try to cancel.I also note that some of the posts complain about high pressure tactics,would someone please explain what high pressure is?.cant people say NO!!!.I actually didn't buy solar for the fuel savings but because I am concerned about the enviroment,i'm a bit of a greenie,but I have made savings on my oil bill which has been an added bonus.

Ok, truth or consequences time - what are area do you live in, and are you happy to let prospective purchasers of Simplee Solar products to see the system in use?

maninthestreet

tom154uk wrote:

I have had a simplee solar hot water system installed at my property for over 4 years,i find the letters put on here by most people who you would hope to be educated very surprising.
I am an accountant and can quite honestly say that the savings i am getting from my solar hot water system far outweigh any returns i would receive from an alternative safe investment,and along the way i,m also helping the enviourment.
I have had nothing but professional dealings with Simplee Solar Ltd and cannot say enough good things about them as a company or the top quality product they supply.
I do think after reading some of the rubbish on here that some people really do not have the intelligence to make decisions for themselves and are always looking for something to moan about, i think we have become a nanny state whereupon people refuse to take responsabilty for there own decisions.
To finish off when i dicided to buy my system i did look at others and some were quite a bit cheaper, but top quailty comes at a price,there is always something cheaper but that does not mean you are getting a good deal,i have had no regrets about paying nearly £7000 for my system.

Ok, truth or consequences time - what are area do you live in, and are you happy to let prospective purchasers of Simplee Solar products to see the system in use?

maninthestreet

happy_hotwater wrote:

I am at a loss to understand this i had my system fitted some 2 years ago i am over the moon i have had cause to call this company twice for minor problems they have been more than helpfull in fact having called them on boxing day 2006 they claimed to have a call back system that they returned the call within 4 hours we had a little family bet me to see just how quick they responded i was amazed 2 hours 34 mins later the installation director called back as he was manning the calls over this period to give his staff a break he apologised for causing us a problem over the festive period and gave me some sound advise assuring me that an engineer would be with me on the 3rd of jan 2007 guess what ? they did turn up about an hour late , but i was more than happy as the engineer said the call was F.O.C even though out of warranty, i cant ask for more than that Thank you Simplee Solar i find it amazing that you have had such bad a bad time from the gutter press and members of this forum i truely hope you can weather this storm for my sake and the sake of all your customers who are not hell bent on bringing you to your knees Good Luck

Ok, truth or consequences time - what are area do you live in, and are you happy to let prospective purchasers of Simplee Solar products to see the system in use?

tom154uk

Ref SIMPLEE Solar Ltd

My name is Thomas Callaghan I am half owner along with Mr Lee Comer of SIMPLEE SOLAR LTD.

One of our customers came across this site and informed us of certain comments made. We have in the last week informed quite a few of our customers of this site, and they have told us that they will be placing positive comments on here.
Last year we installed over 1500 solar hot water systems and in the last 4 years in excess of 4000 systems, we have 1000,s of satisfied customers, but with any business dealing at such a large scale we do get some complaints, but we pride ourselves on getting these rectified as soon as possible, anybody who deals with the general public on such a large scale will confirm that with some people no matter what you do, you will never make them happy.
I would like now to clarify the court case.
In April 2004 we launched a revolutionary solar system that could assist with the central heating, for this to be possible a boiler mate along with a solar pod was needed, the suppliers of these convinced us that they had tested these parts and along with our solar panels would achieve certain results. The April launch took place on the island of Jersey, By June 2004 we were ready to launch the system on the mainland, bear in mind there was a 8-12 week installation time the first installs took place in August 2004,by September 2004 we started to receive complaints regarding the circuit board of the boiler mate, At a cost of £65000 to ourselves we engaged a electrician to upgrade the circuit boards on all the boiler mates, we also informed the suppliers of the problem, By late October early November 2004 even after upgrading the circuit boards problems were still persisting with the circuit boards, on November 11th 2004 we withdrew the product off the market.
In September 2004 the Dorset trading standards had received complaints about the product, in March 2005 they raided our offices treating the staff like criminals, and after an 18 month investigation what they came up with was a charge of misleading advertising.
At no time between September 2004 and March 2005 did they make contact with ourselves to inform us of these complaints.
When this investigation was complete we decided that we wanted it to be heard at a crown court, believing that we would defend the charges.
The prosecutor’s case was 3 so called expert witnesses, who all contradicted each other.
We relied on customers as our defence, At the court case 10 customers came to give evidence in our defence, One was a police inspector who lives in Lincolnshire, another a marine biologist who lives near Gloucester, just a example of the quality of people and the distance they were willing to travel to defend us.
Here are a few examples of what took place in court:
Change: can solar heat my central heating, 3 of our witnesses who have the central heating assist system said under oath, when I touch my radiators I can feel heat.
Verdict, Guilty
One of the prosecutor’s experts said in his evidence that after testing our system, one person using 2sqm of solar collectors could possibly achieve 100% of their hot water all year round. Another of the prosecutor’s expert witnesses said under oath that 40% of your total energy bills accounted for hot water.
Charge: save up to 40% of your total energy bills with a SIMPLEE solar hot water system
Verdict: Guilty
We feel that the bad press surrounding other solar companies 3 months before the case had us guilty before we entered the court house.
I have read on this site that a couple of people have been moaning about the fact we offer no cooling off period.
The OFT states that the way we market we do not have to offer a cooling off period, we have no obligation to point out to a customer that the contract is non-cancellable.
We as a company take this one step further to protect the customer.
On the reverse of our contract under the clause: Cancellation. AS A CASH SALE THERE IS NO COOLING OFF PERIOD, THIS CONTRACT CONTAINS THE TERMS OF A BINDING CONTRACT, SIGN ONLY IF YOU WISH TO BE LEGALLY BOUND.

Underneath this clause we have inserted the words:
I HAVE READ CLAUSE 8 OF THIS CONTRACT AND FULLY UNDERSTAND ITS IMPLICATIONS.

The customer then has to sign under this to agree it has been explained to them.


I am not trying to make out that we are perfect, but I do believe that we are the most ethical solar company in the UK; we have had problems in the past but now work very closely with Mr Ivan Hancock who heads the Dorset Trading standards.

To finish off, the easy way out for us as a company would be to change our name and start again, but that would be deceitful and more important put at risk our valued customers warranties.

ps: I HAVE USED ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS ID FOR THIS AS I DIDN,T WANT TO USE MY EMAIL

Also any future customers who like to vist our offices and see the professional setup are more then welcome.

maninthestreet

Tom154uk

Unfortunately, no one can believe a word you say - deception seems to be second nature to you, and institutionalised within your own company. You have masqueraded yourself on this forum as a satisfied customer of your own company, and then wonder why your company gets a lot of bad press about mis-leading people - is it any wonder? As for the 'solar and renewable energy organization', it maybe no more, nor no less, a Mickey Mouse organisation than 'the solar trade association', but as I can find no evidence that the former organisation even exists, it's impossible to tell. A cynic might guess that this organisation is somehow linked to your company, but I couldn't possibly comment on that, could I?

trisontana

I should like to comment on one statement from Tom154UK :-

"The real problem is that in just about every case ( which account for a small proportion of our business) where somebody tries to cancel the contract, it is 99% of the time their children that interfere, if they were really interested in the well being of their parents they would ask us to go though a complete explanation of how the system can benefit their parents...."

Of course people are going to intervene on their parents behalf if they see that they are being overcharged and pressurised for a system which has very dubious benefits. They do seem to target older people.

As for the system "benefiting" people, you just have to do some simple maths. If, as Simply Solar claim you can save 40% on your energy bills, then for a typical energy bill of £600 a year, and for a system costing £7,000, it would take nearly 30 years to get your money back. That's assuming a saving of 40% , which is highly questionable.