Vista Solar Contractors LLC

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unknown

Dear Angie's List, Plz see letter below we sent to Roger Timoteo (CEO of Solar Vista). We have now been w/out a/c for two weeks. Upstairs unit still frozen up (since 5-23-15). Downstairs unit runs continuously even though setting is on automatic and is costly to keep on. My mother is bed bound, on continuous 02, and on Hospice. It's been very difficult on her. They were supposed to repair 6-1-15 but Roger ordered his guys not to come. After calling and reminding them we're under warranty he stated someone will be out on 6-8-15. During the winter we used our fireplaces and plug in heaters as our energy bills were more costly than w/our previous units. This has been a nightmare for us from day 1. Thank you for hearing us out. Dear Mr. Timoteo, May this letter serve notice to you and Solar Vista of your attempt to defraud us as consumers. Please see the facts below. June 2014: We met with your representative, Denise regarding your product. She told us we would receive a refund from our federal tax return for $9,600 to apply to the $32,000 you were charging us to install solar powered heating and air. We relayed to her we were self employed and we wouldn't qualify for the refund, but she insisted we would. I conferred with our tax accountant and she confirmed we would not qualify so we informed Denise we could not afford your product. Denise called back 2 days later and stated that you and Solar Vista would pay the $9,600 if our tax returns did not. We were impressed by the offer and decided to have the panels and units installed. I had to request several times a written letter stating that we would be reimbursed. During installation we encountered several problems. Solar Vista improperly wired our hot water heater three times and promptly flooded our porch (and heater closet) three times. We were without hot water too many days and times to count. There was no offer of compensation. Also, during installation, the a/c unit installed upstairs quit running several times. A worker was sent each time and put a "bandaid fix" on it. The last time it broke a man named Tony was honest with us and stated the control panel was fried because of improper wiring by your employees, which presented a serious fire hazard. Our house is a 110 year old wooden structure. Our electric bill for that month was over $500. No compensation was offered. When the downstairs unit was installed the workers bumped our satellite dish and we were without television for the day. There is a problem with the serial numbers not matching the paperwork. Our upstairs unit is a Fridgidaire and our downstairs unit is unmarked. You stated they should both be unmarked but my girlfriend who also employed Solar Vista has two Trane units plainly marked. We were informed that our energy bills would be cut in half, but they have been consistently higher since installation. Our February 2015 bill was over $700. Our tax accountant stated that your paper work was not properly filled out. The SRCC report is missing and the state will not refund our $12,500 until they receive it. Please see below recorded information as it occurred. 2-5-15 Initial call to Denise at Solar Vista regarding high energy bills. Leo came out on 2-20-15. Said Entergy has been reading meters incorrectly. Leo stated that Solar Vista was having the same problem with several other customers. Told us to call Entergy to let them know we had solar power and said he would get back to us. Called Entergy-all they could do was send us meter reading info. 2-26-15 Called Leo back for update-no answer, no voice mail. 2-26-15 Called Mike Sims (manager) for update, left recorded message. 2-26-15 Brandon called (on Mike's phone) and said Mike was out sick. Brandon was unaware of situation and said he would call in morning. 2-27-15 Brandon called back and told my husband, Will, we need more insulation, (at our cost), check cracks in windows and a few other things, then said he would come to check w/thermal instrument and put voltage meter on units. We told him our other units did a much better job and we hadn't done anything different since the prior year. No one called back. 3-19-15, Will called Solar Vista and left message w/Danielle for Roger Timoteo (CEO) to call back. No call by 3-23-15 so Will called back again. Roger Timoteo returned call. Offered compensation for electric bills if warranted. Roger Timoteo stated he'd call back the next day to set appointment to meet with us at our house. 3-24-15 Danielle called back and set appt. for 3-27-15 w/Mr. Tomateo. 3-27-15 Mr. Timoteo came to our residence with a helper to check units and panels. He asked us if we were the ones who wanted the solar panels where they're placed on our roof. We told him no, that they were the professionals. He was cordial and apologized for our troubles and bills and said one of the solar panels needed to be relocated. He stated he had to evaluate his findings and get back to us on how he would proceed with repairs within a week. We showed him the letter he wrote and signed regarding the payment of $9,600. He said he would have to check w/his office to see if they had a copy. Mr. Timoteo shook our hands and assured us he would repair whatever necessary, no matter what the cost. 4-8-15 Have not heard from Mr. Timoteo. Will called and Danielle said he was out of town for the week. 4-13-15 Will called for Mr. Timoteo and was told he was out of office for the day. 4-15-15 Called again-Mr. Timoteo's in a meeting. 4-17-15 Called again-Mr. Timoteo is in a meeting w/company's president. Danielle said he would call back this evening or first thing Monday. 4-21-15 Called again. Mr. Timoteo was in a meeting-Danielle would give him message. 4-23-15 Called again-Mr. Timoteo was in a meeting. As of date of this letter we have received no calls from Solar Vista since March 27, 2015. We are in the process of trying to gather the funds (that Solar Vista promised to reimburse) to pay Green Sky Loan Services (contracted by Solar Vista) before they begin charging us 18% interest by July 2015. We feel at this time that Solar Vista has fraudulently acquired $32,000 from us via written and oral misrepresentation as well as unqualified labor and inadequate products. We are requesting, Mr. Timoteo, that you honor your word and refund our $9,600 immediately. We would like for Solar Vista to resolve the above matter completely and in a timely manner. We would like to see our energy bills cut in half, and if not, please refund our money. E-mails to follow regarding promissory letter and Entergy bills. We have sent a cc to our attorney, Larry Centola but will refrain (for one week) in sending to the others listed in hopes of you resolving the above matter. We understand you will be speaking with Mr. Centola on Tuesday May 19 at 2 p.m. Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Will Sapia cc: Larry J. Centola, Attorney at Law, National Council of Jewish Women/Fox 8 Defenders, Angie's List, Better Business Bureau

Overall, I believe Vista Contractors to be capable of quality work,however, what we experienced felt like a money grab. Our biggest problem was lack of communication and a refusal to accept responsibility for sub par work. Throughout the process we felt bullied and left holding the bag on a multitude of mistakes. Our only way to stop the bleeding was removing elements from the scope of work and handle it ourselves to ensure it came out correctly and the way we envisioned it. My wife and I purchased a home project house using a FHA 203K renovation loan. This is a very particular loan that requires a lot of paperwork and attention to detail. Initially, we were impressed with Vista's attention to detail while we in the process of securing the loan. They were very quick to respond to the many documents that required signatures. We were were provided with a bid in a timely manner and was nearly identical to the other bid received and felt very confident that we had good numbers. Construction began in September. When the change orders began is when we started to get nervous. Its an old house and change orders to be expected as there are always some hidden gems. My problem was how they were handled. There was initial meeting to establish that a change order was necessary. Instead of receiving a quote for the change order ,the work was performed and we were given a bill to sign. This was a huge red flag. The proper way to handle a change order is exploration to determine the problem, provide quotes to correct the problem, and then discussed a way forward before any work is performed. Now we are in a tight spot because we have a deadline to complete this project from our bank and if we start disputing charges it will cause a stop work on the project when the contractor feels they wont get paid. The contractor absolutely understood this as this is how the game is played. So with our hands tied to fight this we are now getting consistently steam rolled. Many people who work with a general contractor know the feeling of being bullied into submission, accepting sub par work, and paying for charges that are unwarranted. The feeling is maddening and nearly sets me on fire thinking about it. A most recent example was our electrical work. We were given a quote of 8500 to rewire the house. My wife wanted to add cabinet lighting. We were told it would not be cheap because drilling an $800 cabinet and running the risk of damaging it does not make sense for a $500 job. Ultimately, we were provided a change order (which we were never quoted) for $3500. The change order read in clumsy english a list of items that we were unaware of and were never brought to our attention. We were told that this was the cost to "do it right." This past weekend I brought in an electrician who was familiar with the electrician we used was disgusted with the work he saw. No hope for warranty work because we learned he had actually been deported. AFCI breakers (required by code) were installed at the panel to pass inspection and removed after the fact to save money. Entire electrical runs were jumped directly off the panel and not on a breaker. The list goes on to the tune of about $1000 in repair work fix work that I paid a change order to have "done right." What is most unsettling is how many faulty wiring configurations were in plain sight then how many other incorrect wiring situations remain behind closed walls. In the event of an incident it is ultimately the general contractor's liability which is why it is their responsibility to make sure work is done to code. The lack of communication and planning proved to be source of setbacks. Ultimately, the contractor was unable to provide a draw schedule to satisfy the bank. Their request for draws was denied as it was not done properly, attempting to draw money on work not yet performed. At that point I built a schedule that reflected the work that has been completed so the contractor to get paid and built a schedule that would dictate the flow of money. It took a lot of effort to organize all the elements of the draw schedule down to the dollar that the contractor was not able or not willing to perform. I cannot imagine most contractors allowing their customer to dictate when and how much they get paid. The effort required to properly manage a construction job was not exhibited. Working with a contractor has reputation of causing to smart people to act dumb and making sane people act crazy because you are in a situation where you feel powerless and have everything to lose. It might be easy to read this and think that we were being dramatic,however, we were required to hire a private inspector to keep tabs on the work who echoes all of our complaints. He was consistently appalled and infuriated at the work he inspected and felt that we were being taken advantage of. His most common quote was "If there is (X amount of dollars) in there then show me where it is because I don't see it." I truly believe Vista is capable of better work and quality job management, however, you would have to be masochist to want to experience what we went through to complete our project.

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Efficient, Clean, Friendly.

unknown

It went well. They were on time and their work was professional.

The job was done very professionally from the sales process to final walk tholu excellent.

The entire team at Vista Solar was a pleasure to work with. As with any large job, a few small issues arose. They were promptly addressed. I highly recommend Vista Solar.

unknown

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