Evergensolar
★ 3.6
evergensolar.co.uk
There's a thin line between HARD SALES and BLANTANT LIES.
I found the advert online and booked a non-obligation assessment for Evergen Solar. Two men arrived: James and Steve, Steve from "Head Office". They arrived at 6pm and over the next FOUR AND A HALF HOURS proceeded to tell us all about their solar as below:
The "Survey" - this took place at around 7.30pm in early November, during the pitch black. They could not see the roof, and did not enter the attic. This is the only "survey" that is completed on the property (despite being referred to as an official survey in the paperwork).
"FlexiFit" - We were told that we could get a reduction from £14,972 to £13,488 for the cost of the package if we opted in for "flexifit", which was to agree to installation in a specific week because there were apparently ongoing installations taking place in the local area. The specific week was just 2.5 weeks from the date of assessment, and acknowledgement that the scaffolding would remain up for a further 28 days. To see which date they could do the install they called Rob and put the call on speaker.
"Extras" - Rob in the office was called THREE times during the night and all conversations took place on speakerphone. During our second call, Rob told us of how we'd be able to do a great upgrade on the solar panels themselves from 395W to 485W, and a second 5kW battery. It was commented on by James and Steve how this was "a great deal" and "wow" we were lucky. Our third call to Rob was to see if we could have any extra money knocked off of the cost if a sign was put up on our scaffolding. Rob apparently messaged the "marketing guys" (all these people were apparently still working at gone 9pm, by the way) to see what they'd be happy to subtract from our overall package cost. This ended up being £270.
"Grant / Loan" - When we initially discussed any financial support for the solar installation it was mentioned how there was a new government initiative that had come in the previous week whereby each postcode area was allocated a "pot" and "when it's gone it's gone". We were told that we might not even qualify for this. However, we have since read that the new initiative has no income threshold and is not postcode dependent (we automatically qualify). Although technically there is a centralised "pot", there would be warning 6 months in advance of this being withdrawn from use. We were clearly misled to believe that we should sign sooner rather than later.
"Pressure to sign" - In addition to the pressure to sign ASAP to benefit from the pot of government money, we were also advised that if we didn't sign at that time, the "flexifit" week would be full as they were filling up fast (according to Rob on the phone).
We were discouraged from "thinking about it" and then signing back another time. We were literally laughed at when we asked if they needed to come back for us to sign up. They suggested that they would not have time to come back because of all of their appointments.
"10% of package fee if cancelling within 7 days" - When we discussed signing and then cancelling if we changed our minds, we were told that the 14 day cooling off period only applied to the credit "loan" and did not apply to the solar itself because of the process of applications would have already begun. We were told that this is to cover the cost of applications that happen immediately after we sign up, and the cost of the survey - but as discussed, there is no official survey. In fact, they make you sign a section of the T&Cs to say you agree to this. This is NOT LEGALLY STANDING. There is indeed a 14 day cooling off period whereby you can be fully refunded for any deposit.
"Applications" - The T&Cs specifically mention fees related to the applications that occur in the first 7 days of signing up to the solar package. HIES registration actually an annual membership fee for the company, or fee per installation AFTER install.
The EPVS registration, which is £45 per completed solar and battery install, or annual fee for the company.
The G99 application - to sell electricity back to the grid. Not even required for a standard domestic setup.
"EPS" (Emergency Power Supply) - we specifically said that we wanted to be able to use our solar as a back up for when we have power cuts in our area. But there was no discussion about what our requirements of this were and we assumed that this was included as standard. We researched and discovered it is a separate system. When we reviewed our paperwork, there was no mention of any element of an EPS system. I text the salesperson who said they "forgot" to put it on the form and added a "plug" to our package.
We decided to cancel our order and submitted an email in order to do so. Following this I received 2 calls from James, then a further 2 calls and a text from Tom the Customer Service Manager who apparently needed to "sign off" the cancellation. I informed Tom that I did not want to communicate with anyone in non-written form. Deposit was refunded the next day.
The "Survey" - this took place at around 7.30pm in early November, during the pitch black. They could not see the roof, and did not enter the attic. This is the only "survey" that is completed on the property (despite being referred to as an official survey in the paperwork).
"FlexiFit" - We were told that we could get a reduction from £14,972 to £13,488 for the cost of the package if we opted in for "flexifit", which was to agree to installation in a specific week because there were apparently ongoing installations taking place in the local area. The specific week was just 2.5 weeks from the date of assessment, and acknowledgement that the scaffolding would remain up for a further 28 days. To see which date they could do the install they called Rob and put the call on speaker.
"Extras" - Rob in the office was called THREE times during the night and all conversations took place on speakerphone. During our second call, Rob told us of how we'd be able to do a great upgrade on the solar panels themselves from 395W to 485W, and a second 5kW battery. It was commented on by James and Steve how this was "a great deal" and "wow" we were lucky. Our third call to Rob was to see if we could have any extra money knocked off of the cost if a sign was put up on our scaffolding. Rob apparently messaged the "marketing guys" (all these people were apparently still working at gone 9pm, by the way) to see what they'd be happy to subtract from our overall package cost. This ended up being £270.
"Grant / Loan" - When we initially discussed any financial support for the solar installation it was mentioned how there was a new government initiative that had come in the previous week whereby each postcode area was allocated a "pot" and "when it's gone it's gone". We were told that we might not even qualify for this. However, we have since read that the new initiative has no income threshold and is not postcode dependent (we automatically qualify). Although technically there is a centralised "pot", there would be warning 6 months in advance of this being withdrawn from use. We were clearly misled to believe that we should sign sooner rather than later.
"Pressure to sign" - In addition to the pressure to sign ASAP to benefit from the pot of government money, we were also advised that if we didn't sign at that time, the "flexifit" week would be full as they were filling up fast (according to Rob on the phone).
We were discouraged from "thinking about it" and then signing back another time. We were literally laughed at when we asked if they needed to come back for us to sign up. They suggested that they would not have time to come back because of all of their appointments.
"10% of package fee if cancelling within 7 days" - When we discussed signing and then cancelling if we changed our minds, we were told that the 14 day cooling off period only applied to the credit "loan" and did not apply to the solar itself because of the process of applications would have already begun. We were told that this is to cover the cost of applications that happen immediately after we sign up, and the cost of the survey - but as discussed, there is no official survey. In fact, they make you sign a section of the T&Cs to say you agree to this. This is NOT LEGALLY STANDING. There is indeed a 14 day cooling off period whereby you can be fully refunded for any deposit.
"Applications" - The T&Cs specifically mention fees related to the applications that occur in the first 7 days of signing up to the solar package. HIES registration actually an annual membership fee for the company, or fee per installation AFTER install.
The EPVS registration, which is £45 per completed solar and battery install, or annual fee for the company.
The G99 application - to sell electricity back to the grid. Not even required for a standard domestic setup.
"EPS" (Emergency Power Supply) - we specifically said that we wanted to be able to use our solar as a back up for when we have power cuts in our area. But there was no discussion about what our requirements of this were and we assumed that this was included as standard. We researched and discovered it is a separate system. When we reviewed our paperwork, there was no mention of any element of an EPS system. I text the salesperson who said they "forgot" to put it on the form and added a "plug" to our package.
We decided to cancel our order and submitted an email in order to do so. Following this I received 2 calls from James, then a further 2 calls and a text from Tom the Customer Service Manager who apparently needed to "sign off" the cancellation. I informed Tom that I did not want to communicate with anyone in non-written form. Deposit was refunded the next day.
Critical Review
high-pressure sales
misleading survey
excessive visit duration
overpriced package
deceptive practices