American Solar Energy

A rep came to our house to do a home energy audit. He of course says that our hot water heater is old and that a solar water heater would be the way to go. After some high pressure sales and numbers the rep said that we would save $70 on our electric bill and that the unit would only cost $61 a month for the next 10 years. The total cost for the water heater was like $12,000 but with all the "rebates and incentives we would get the unit for around $8,000.



I told the rep we wanted to think about and it possibly talk to other customers. Instead of leaving us a list of people to call he called someone from his phone and told the man that we wanted to know about his experience with their company. It seemed very staged and like the person he called was a friend of his. The guy told us that he saves about $188 per month on his electric bill. WHOSE ELECTRIC BILL IS THAT HIGH in the first place that their water heater cost $188 per month to run??? The rep told us that they were A+ with the Better Business Bureau (the BBB) and with Angies List.



We signed up, but my gut didn't feel right about the sale. We had to sign something says that the rep did not promise a specific amount of savings off our electric each month. After the rep left, I looked up the BBB and the rating was actually an F with lots of complaints. All the reviews on sites like this were bad. I had a co-worker look at Angies List and she said "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE". She sent me a screenshot of one review page where they had all F reviews. We cancelled immediately. The rep spent another 30 minutes on the phone trying to convince my husband to change his mind. Then they got disconnected and the guy never called back. I was glad, but it is kind of shady that the guy didn't politely call him back.



I am still worried that I gave such a shady company my personal information including social, banking info, date of birth etc. I swear in a few months I will be a victim of identity theft. I would do your research before you agree to this. They are liars. Call their company too during after hours. The phone system is so cheap and sounds like a fly by night business. I googled solar water heaters and we can get one much cheaper if we chose to go that route. I am just going to buy a new regular one once this one dies. It would only cost about $600 vs the $8000 they are trying to charge. Do you homework and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. If I could rate a 0 I would!!! High pressure sales to sign immediately are NEVER a good sign.