Summary: We were misled as to what we were buying and what refiance options we would have. We are paying $42,000 for a system that we were told and thought would all by elimiate our power bill (minus the basic fee) and paying at an interest rate that we were told there were refinace to green energy loan financing for a much lower interest rate. (Our credit is not the issue for us not being able to obtain this- rather the fact that it is a "refinance" and that is not available to the green energy loans as we were told). They have been unwilling to help us. They gave us a very minimal amount of extras due to our frustrations and we are still left with a extremely exensive system that we were misled into signing as what was verbally explained to us was not what was written. We were tricked into trusting the salesman and signed documents under false pretenses. Please don't get scamed the same way.
Timeline with specifics below
In Sept 2014 we signed up for a free consultation with Brimma Solar at the Yakima fair at the sundome.
Sometime between then and October, an appointment was made via phone to have someone come to our home for a consultation. On that call, it was explained that it was very important that we have our power bills/history with us for them to be able to do the consultation.
10/11/14 Thomas Clarke, general manager for Brimma Solar/National Solar came to our home. At this time, we had our children with someone so that we could both be present and able to clearly understand and listen to the consultation. Thomas was at our home for several hours. He started out by our power meter, and I recall him saying that the “feds” required him to start with that prior to going further into the discussion.
He showed us several YouTube videos on solar energy as well as at least one that was a National Solar/Brimma video. He explained that in 2005 federal incentives were started for solar energy upgrades. We showed him our detailed power history since the first month we built our home- September 2012-September 2014 which gave details as to the days since last read/usage in kwh/bill amount. We talked about what our plans for expansion of our home/power usage in the future was. He explained to us that our shop was in the perfect position, pointing perfectly due south, as if we planned it for solar. He said that in this area we would have maximum production and would be good candidates for solar. He explained how some are not- ie- they don’t have enough sun or their power usage is not great enough to be worth investing. We at one point said “why wouldn’t people do it?”. That is where he explained some cannot due to financing and some cannot due to the lack of ability to produce due to lack of light. He stated that Bill Gates, for example, had money to invest, but he could not have that large of a system due to the lack of space for panels. He explained that we wouldn’t eliminate our bill as there is always a “basic” fee. We looked on our bill and determined that is $7.75/month. We talked about how our bill is on average $250/month and that if all we had was the basic fee, that would give me the $250/mo in power savings to pay towards the panel. We explained how we had just purchased a trailer and how I am very tight on our budget and that is how I would be able to pay for the panels as well as the tax credit and July checks.
Incentives as we understood it- as Thomas explained it:
- Sales tax exemption
- 30% tax credit during the first tax year that we would get cash back at the time we filed our taxes
- For 5.5 years, each July, until 2020 we would receive a check back for everything we produce above and beyond what we use.
Thomas also explained that if we qualified, we could get financing , $0 down, at 0% interest, 0% accruing for 1 year. After 9% interest rate for a 10 year term loan. He said as a part of the fair special, we would receive 2 free panels as well as a 5% discount for fair special. He told us that there was a lot of “green” financing available and that a lot of people would use the 1 year deferred interest and payments and then refinance it with another bank. He suggested Hapo by name. We believed what he was saying, knowing that we had excellent credit, that it wouldn’t be an issue and that is what we planned on doing, after we paid the incentive and July check the next year to pay it down.
The majority of the discussion took several hours. After he explained everything, we told him that we wanted to sign up. He showed us the charges- and we opted to have Brimma finish the power to our shop. We signed up for 16 panels and with the 2 free, that would give us 18 total. At that point he did not explain the energy it would produce- he told us that our July checks would be approximately $3675 per year. While he was completing the paperwork, we made copies for him of our paystubs, drivers license etc. He left us with several documents- the Improvement Agreement, the Photovoltaic Solar Resource Estimate, the Photovoltaic Incentive WorkSheet , a Model Disclosure Statement Notice to Customer and the Buyer’s Retail Sales Tax Exemption Certificate. He told us someone would be contacting us to come to the property and make the plans etc. He also told us that they did referral credits, giving us up to $500 for each person we referred. Thomas did ask for a down payment, and not remembering how he had said it was $0 down, I wrote out a check for the down payment and gave it to him. $315.70. This is reflected on the Improvement Agreement we signed showing the total due upon installation as $42,529.30.
When Thomas left, we were excited, immediately went and told several people. We posted on our facebook pages and sent messages to several people giving them detailed info as to what we understood. From that, 1 person immediately who was interested, contacted us, as he had been already looking into solar. He signed up after Thomas came to his home as well. Several months later, another friend of ours also had Thomas out and signed up for an identical system.
Later the same day 10/11/14, I wrote Thomas an email asking him about the $0 down and asking if I misunderstood and why I was charged a down payment. He responded the same day saying he was sorry and that he would process it as zero down and send our check back if that is what we would like. I explained that is what I wanted.
10/12/14 I sent Thomas an email, telling him that our first friend was interested and I was referring him. He did sign up for a similar system as we did.
At this point we did get documents in the mail showing our credit had been checked by Salal and showed our scores.
12/2/14 Brimma Solar installed our panels on our shop. A gentleman named John talked with my husband for quite a while going over the internet program and box used to monitor the system. He explained to my husband that several inspections needed to be done before Pacific Power could finish hooking up the system. We signed several documents- see attached Contractor Completion Certificate and Funding Instructions (solal document), (which is not complete matching what we received later from Salal when we asked for a copy of the paperwork they have), Certificate of Completion/Proof of Final Payment (this also does not reflect the $144 filing fee) as well as other documents showing the layout etc.
12/3/14 our second friend also said she wanted us to refer her to Thomas- I sent him an email telling him her contact information. She also signed up for a similar system. However, was given a discount due to not being able to get started as they were short on panels.
12/9/14 Justin Lancaster, Finance Manager contacted us stating that the financing documents that Thomas filled out at the time of the original site visit did not reflect the deposit. He said he could either redo them or he could refund us the deposit and leave the docs as is. We wrote back that we didn’t want to pay the deposit, that Thomas has said he would send our check back. (at that point we had not received it back).
I found the Brimma Solar representatives at a Home Show in Seattle. They later contacted me and setup an in-home consultation. The consultamt was a high pressure salesman with lots of tricks up his sleeve. When it came down to the pitch it was $35,000 for a 12 panel system, they dropped it down to 33k for the home show special. They wanted a large downpayment and would finance for 7% interest. We finally agreed on some terms (5% interest for 10 years). I gave them $1000 downpayment and was expected to come up with another $7000 over the next 2 months, and that they could not begin installation without it. Over the next 2 months I had trouble scratching together the remaining $7000 I did get them an additional $3000 but was not sure where I would find the final $4000 to finish the down payment. I told them that I would probably have to cancel because I could not afford it. This is when they told me that I would have to pay them 30% of the contract value to cancel the contract! What? Yes they had a 30% cancellation fee if you do not cancel within 3 days of signing the contract. So, they make $10,000 just for getting me to sign, no equipment, no installation, just pure profit. sign this contract and you owe them 30% of the sales price (which is about the same amount as the tax credit!). I went ahead and borrowed money to finish the down payment and get the system installed. The installation was professional and clean, but I am still smarting from the price gouging. To make matters worse, when I looked into the matter further they are more than Double the cost of the competitors! Double!. At the time of our installation, using top of the line panels built in Washington state, with converters built in Washington state, an installed system should cost about $5000 per kilowatt of energy (about 4 panels). My 12 panel system should have cost about $16,000. Brimma charged me $33,000, and would not let me cancel unless I paid them 30% of the contract ($10,000). Furthermore, the salesperson calculated that we would make about $2500 per year in credits from the local power company for energy we sell back to them, with that and the tax credit and the savings on our annual electricity we would pay off our system in about 7 years. Well, that aint true. The system only generates enough electricity to pay about $1600/year (they were off by $900/yr), and the savings is only about $40/month. We may never have the system pay for itself in full. I later did the math and I would have saved money to pay them the $10,000 cancellation fee and purchase my system from a more reputable company. The other solar installation companies in the Seattle area that I later talked with do not have contracts with cancellation fees, and their warranty on installation is for 5 years, not 2 years like Brimma Solar. WTF? Yes, good, responsible, professional companies do not need tricky contracts, and they stand behind their work, not like Brimma Solar! I am now stuck making payments on a $25,000 loan at 5% interest for a system that should have cost half as much! I wish I had done the smart thing and asked for 3 bids before signing any contract. This company leaves a bitter after taste.
Brimma Solar Reviews
Summary: We were misled as to what we were buying and what refiance options we would have. We are paying $42,000 for a system that we were told and thought would all by elimiate our power bill (minus the basic fee) and paying at an interest rate that we were told there were refinace to green energy loan financing for a much lower interest rate. (Our credit is not the issue for us not being able to obtain this- rather the fact that it is a "refinance" and that is not available to the green energy loans as we were told). They have been unwilling to help us. They gave us a very minimal amount of extras due to our frustrations and we are still left with a extremely exensive system that we were misled into signing as what was verbally explained to us was not what was written. We were tricked into trusting the salesman and signed documents under false pretenses. Please don't get scamed the same way.
Timeline with specifics below
In Sept 2014 we signed up for a free consultation with Brimma Solar at the Yakima fair at the sundome.
Sometime between then and October, an appointment was made via phone to have someone come to our home for a consultation. On that call, it was explained that it was very important that we have our power bills/history with us for them to be able to do the consultation.
10/11/14 Thomas Clarke, general manager for Brimma Solar/National Solar came to our home. At this time, we had our children with someone so that we could both be present and able to clearly understand and listen to the consultation. Thomas was at our home for several hours. He started out by our power meter, and I recall him saying that the “feds” required him to start with that prior to going further into the discussion.
He showed us several YouTube videos on solar energy as well as at least one that was a National Solar/Brimma video. He explained that in 2005 federal incentives were started for solar energy upgrades. We showed him our detailed power history since the first month we built our home- September 2012-September 2014 which gave details as to the days since last read/usage in kwh/bill amount. We talked about what our plans for expansion of our home/power usage in the future was. He explained to us that our shop was in the perfect position, pointing perfectly due south, as if we planned it for solar. He said that in this area we would have maximum production and would be good candidates for solar. He explained how some are not- ie- they don’t have enough sun or their power usage is not great enough to be worth investing. We at one point said “why wouldn’t people do it?”. That is where he explained some cannot due to financing and some cannot due to the lack of ability to produce due to lack of light. He stated that Bill Gates, for example, had money to invest, but he could not have that large of a system due to the lack of space for panels. He explained that we wouldn’t eliminate our bill as there is always a “basic” fee. We looked on our bill and determined that is $7.75/month. We talked about how our bill is on average $250/month and that if all we had was the basic fee, that would give me the $250/mo in power savings to pay towards the panel. We explained how we had just purchased a trailer and how I am very tight on our budget and that is how I would be able to pay for the panels as well as the tax credit and July checks.
Incentives as we understood it- as Thomas explained it:
- Sales tax exemption
- 30% tax credit during the first tax year that we would get cash back at the time we filed our taxes
- For 5.5 years, each July, until 2020 we would receive a check back for everything we produce above and beyond what we use.
Thomas also explained that if we qualified, we could get financing , $0 down, at 0% interest, 0% accruing for 1 year. After 9% interest rate for a 10 year term loan. He said as a part of the fair special, we would receive 2 free panels as well as a 5% discount for fair special. He told us that there was a lot of “green” financing available and that a lot of people would use the 1 year deferred interest and payments and then refinance it with another bank. He suggested Hapo by name. We believed what he was saying, knowing that we had excellent credit, that it wouldn’t be an issue and that is what we planned on doing, after we paid the incentive and July check the next year to pay it down.
The majority of the discussion took several hours. After he explained everything, we told him that we wanted to sign up. He showed us the charges- and we opted to have Brimma finish the power to our shop. We signed up for 16 panels and with the 2 free, that would give us 18 total. At that point he did not explain the energy it would produce- he told us that our July checks would be approximately $3675 per year. While he was completing the paperwork, we made copies for him of our paystubs, drivers license etc. He left us with several documents- the Improvement Agreement, the Photovoltaic Solar Resource Estimate, the Photovoltaic Incentive WorkSheet , a Model Disclosure Statement Notice to Customer and the Buyer’s Retail Sales Tax Exemption Certificate. He told us someone would be contacting us to come to the property and make the plans etc. He also told us that they did referral credits, giving us up to $500 for each person we referred. Thomas did ask for a down payment, and not remembering how he had said it was $0 down, I wrote out a check for the down payment and gave it to him. $315.70. This is reflected on the Improvement Agreement we signed showing the total due upon installation as $42,529.30.
When Thomas left, we were excited, immediately went and told several people. We posted on our facebook pages and sent messages to several people giving them detailed info as to what we understood. From that, 1 person immediately who was interested, contacted us, as he had been already looking into solar. He signed up after Thomas came to his home as well. Several months later, another friend of ours also had Thomas out and signed up for an identical system.
Later the same day 10/11/14, I wrote Thomas an email asking him about the $0 down and asking if I misunderstood and why I was charged a down payment. He responded the same day saying he was sorry and that he would process it as zero down and send our check back if that is what we would like. I explained that is what I wanted.
10/12/14 I sent Thomas an email, telling him that our first friend was interested and I was referring him. He did sign up for a similar system as we did.
At this point we did get documents in the mail showing our credit had been checked by Salal and showed our scores.
12/2/14 Brimma Solar installed our panels on our shop. A gentleman named John talked with my husband for quite a while going over the internet program and box used to monitor the system. He explained to my husband that several inspections needed to be done before Pacific Power could finish hooking up the system. We signed several documents- see attached Contractor Completion Certificate and Funding Instructions (solal document), (which is not complete matching what we received later from Salal when we asked for a copy of the paperwork they have), Certificate of Completion/Proof of Final Payment (this also does not reflect the $144 filing fee) as well as other documents showing the layout etc.
12/3/14 our second friend also said she wanted us to refer her to Thomas- I sent him an email telling him her contact information. She also signed up for a similar system. However, was given a discount due to not being able to get started as they were short on panels.
12/9/14 Justin Lancaster, Finance Manager contacted us stating that the financing documents that Thomas filled out at the time of the original site visit did not reflect the deposit. He said he could either redo them or he could refund us the deposit and leave the docs as is. We wrote back that we didn’t want to pay the deposit, that Thomas has said he would send our check back. (at that point we had not received it back).
I found the Brimma Solar representatives at a Home Show in Seattle. They later contacted me and setup an in-home consultation. The consultamt was a high pressure salesman with lots of tricks up his sleeve. When it came down to the pitch it was $35,000 for a 12 panel system, they dropped it down to 33k for the home show special. They wanted a large downpayment and would finance for 7% interest. We finally agreed on some terms (5% interest for 10 years). I gave them $1000 downpayment and was expected to come up with another $7000 over the next 2 months, and that they could not begin installation without it. Over the next 2 months I had trouble scratching together the remaining $7000 I did get them an additional $3000 but was not sure where I would find the final $4000 to finish the down payment. I told them that I would probably have to cancel because I could not afford it. This is when they told me that I would have to pay them 30% of the contract value to cancel the contract! What? Yes they had a 30% cancellation fee if you do not cancel within 3 days of signing the contract. So, they make $10,000 just for getting me to sign, no equipment, no installation, just pure profit. sign this contract and you owe them 30% of the sales price (which is about the same amount as the tax credit!). I went ahead and borrowed money to finish the down payment and get the system installed. The installation was professional and clean, but I am still smarting from the price gouging. To make matters worse, when I looked into the matter further they are more than Double the cost of the competitors! Double!. At the time of our installation, using top of the line panels built in Washington state, with converters built in Washington state, an installed system should cost about $5000 per kilowatt of energy (about 4 panels). My 12 panel system should have cost about $16,000. Brimma charged me $33,000, and would not let me cancel unless I paid them 30% of the contract ($10,000). Furthermore, the salesperson calculated that we would make about $2500 per year in credits from the local power company for energy we sell back to them, with that and the tax credit and the savings on our annual electricity we would pay off our system in about 7 years. Well, that aint true. The system only generates enough electricity to pay about $1600/year (they were off by $900/yr), and the savings is only about $40/month. We may never have the system pay for itself in full. I later did the math and I would have saved money to pay them the $10,000 cancellation fee and purchase my system from a more reputable company. The other solar installation companies in the Seattle area that I later talked with do not have contracts with cancellation fees, and their warranty on installation is for 5 years, not 2 years like Brimma Solar. WTF? Yes, good, responsible, professional companies do not need tricky contracts, and they stand behind their work, not like Brimma Solar! I am now stuck making payments on a $25,000 loan at 5% interest for a system that should have cost half as much! I wish I had done the smart thing and asked for 3 bids before signing any contract. This company leaves a bitter after taste.