PetersenDean

100% false promises
Aug 16th, 2020

Not answering my phone or emails today for warranty service during their Chapter 11 process.
Mar 10th, 2020

Company is bankrupt and I can't get a hold of anyone for warranty issues.
Feb 12th, 2020

I started my Solar around September 2016. This is when I started bidding and interviewing companies. Between September and October I interviewed, vetted, and received bids from 15 companies, including Petersen Dean Solar. Unfortunately by the time I got to Petersen Dean Solar 4 America, they had to deal with someone that was well versed in the industry and looking at home solar companies. On or around October 2016 I met for the first time with Brad Schmidt from Petersen Dean Solar for America (PDS). He showed up a couple of minutes early, dress professionally, very personable, and the most knowledgeable of any off the previous 15 representatives that I talked to. Brad had information and answers to EVERY question that I had at the tip of his tongue. A great start to a great customer service relationship. We signed the contract in mid November. He explained everything in great detail. To his great credit the project flowed exactly how he laid it out. The pricing was fantastic! Technical information was made simple to understand. Almost everything went fantastic. A couple of very minor hiccups with the project manager(PM) (not returning phone calls and questions), project planning went great, they got me everything I needed to work with our HOA including licensing, insurance, bonding, and vehicle insurance, schematics, "blue-prints" / roofing lay out, main break panel upgrade etc. They handled all the local permitting that I needed, and where there on the day of the final inspection. Excellent! Unfortunately, if you remember 2016 winter and spring we had constant rain. It was because of this that our installation was delayed until end January / February. Installation went without a hitch (except for failing to replace some molding which they came out in two days to replace), they were spotless (so much so that I didn't even know they had come by, did the installation, and called to see what happened). Having been in customer service, training, worked in the restaurant industry, sales, served as a Navy Chief for 30 years, work as Performance and Executive Coach, I am a stickler for exceptional world-class leadership and customer service. I was so excited and enthusiastic about PDS that I referred a number of customers to them. For a variety of reasons some chose not to go with PDS, mostly about the cost of solar, none about the customer service experience. In the last year I referred two people to PDS. The first had a huge project; a roof replacement AND solar. The customer service, project planning, months of delays ended up in threats of legal action for breach of contract on PDS's part. While they completed the roof, they backed out of the solar because of the extensive delays and contacted me. Since I had completed my project, Brad Schmidt had moved to another company. I contacted Brad and put him in contact with my friend and in less than 2 months start to finish, they had their solar installed and operational. I used to monitor my panels every day. Over time, that increased; any way you get the picture. Well one of panels was producing only 20% of expected production. I called them on 20 February, 6, 8, and 10 March. Each time I called I was told I would get a call back from Ramiro. I was irate by 10 March. I spent 18 minutes on the phone on 10 March, mostly on hold, finally got an appointment for someone to come out and on 19 March. Because of this issue and issues with my friend I can no longer endorse or recommend Petersen Dean Solar. When customers layout $25-$35,000 for home solar, we expect much better customer service… Especially AFTER the sale! This is when the rubber meats the road, and the quality and character of a business comes through. The sloppy communication, follow-up, customer service, lack of professionalism with me and people I have referred. I will update this review if it is warranted.
Sep 6th, 2020

At the end of June, 2019, we entered into a contract with Petersen Dean to install a new roof and solar panels on our house in San Mateo. Petersen Dean advertised that it could install the system in 2019 to ensure that we would be eligible for a 30% tax credit on the solar panels. This was a material representation upon which we relied, and which we discussed with Petersen Dean's sales people, and which was factored into the total cost of the system presented to us. Through numerous errors, omissions and delays caused solely by Petersen Dean, which we can elaborate on in great detail and which evidence both incompetence on the part of Petersen Dean's operations team and an attitude of indifference toward our concerns about the mounting delays, Petersen Dean failed to install the solar panels until February of 2020, and as a result we are not able to claim the tax credit for the 2019 tax year and the tax credit for 2020 installations is reduced to 26% instead of 30%. We had reminded Petersen Dean numerous times in the summer and fall of 2019 that we expected the system to be installed in 2019 and that it would be a material breach of our agreement if it were installed instead in 2020, but their operations team not only ignored our pleas but was hostile and rude throughout the process, and they even suggested that we commit tax fraud by claiming the system was substantially completed in 2019 (saying they would "allow" us to pay early to evidence this) even though it was patently false. Finally, when the system actually was installed, their installers damaged our irrigation system by driving a grounding spike into the water distribution system. They have offered a mere $55 reimbursement of the cost to fix the irrigation system in exchange for a full release of all claims, which is wholly inadequate to compensate us for the damages incurred by their delayed installation of the solar panels. These damages are not indirect or consequential in nature -- the 30% tax credit for the 2019 year was expressly contemplated as part of the price of the system and advertised as a reason to contract with the company when we did, with the guarantee that the system would be installed in 2019. The total solar cost was about $17,500, which means that our losses caused by their delays are about $700 in the reduced tax credit, plus the lost time value of the tax credit we should have received now but now cannot claim until tax year 2020. We proposed a settlement of these claims in the amount of $1,000 plus the $55 reimbursement, and the company has offered only the $55, which is itself an affront to the good faith efforts we have made to resolve our valid concerns. What's more, our final payment for the system was not overdue, but the company already filed a lien against our property and threatened a civil lawsuit to enforce the lien, even though we have a good faith dispute about the amount of our damages that we have the equitable right to offset against our final payment, and we have not refused to pay the balance less our damages. In fact, we have paid all but the disputed amount, to ensure that we are not in default of our obligations under the contract. But their attorney says they will bring a civil lawsuit immediately to foreclose on our property if we don't pay even the disputed amount. We view this as an effort to bully us, with threatening letters about forced sale of our property, into waiving their breach and paying more than we should rightly owe under the contract. This company has been abusive all along, and the pattern continues.
May 20th, 2020