Semper Solaris

Alex O.

Costumers service so bad don't use Semper solar
Before to late what I did year a go they play game
On your monitor I call costumer service they never call me back

Dan E.

Well, here goes. I'll try to make this as short as possible without leaving out details.

I chose Semper Solars back in January of 2018 because I liked the idea of a company supporting veterans. After making my decision to go with Semper Solaris, I was immediately contacted and the sales rep, Bill Young, came out to give me a proposal on February 5th.

Bill was a typical sales person. He was very fast to deliver information, much of which I needed further explanation on. However, he was a nice guy. We actually started talking about guitars and he showed me a few things on mine. The guy was really good! Anyway, I received a quote within 48 hours, which I approved, and we were on our way.

I was then contacted by Billie Yako, who introduced herself as the main point of contact. After having a site assessment and getting all the proper paperwork in order, I was scheduled for install on April 5th.

I was then introduced to my project manager, Mike Feathers. This is where my issues began. After the first day of a 2-day installation, I contacted Mike Feathers to voice some concerns about the location of a few panels (see attached pictures). I did not like how visible the reverse tilt panels looked from the sidewalk. I asked Mike if it was possible to relocate them. He agreed they didn't look that great. On a 2 dimensional diagram it seemed logical, but after seeing it installed, I inquired about other options. Regardless of my inquiry, the project continued and was completed the next day. I did notice several bolts and debris in my yard that fell off the roof but I guess that is to be expected. I also noticed a cracked tile (picture attached) that was only glued together and not replaced.

I stayed in contact with Mike for the next few days as he promised he would look into options about relocating 4 of the panels and would talk to the design team. At this point, Mike stopped responding for 2 weeks and I never heard anything back. I then contacted Billie Yako, which prompted an email from Sarine Porter. Sarine explained to me that Mike Feathers ""no longer worked for the company"" and that she would look into the matter. She mentioned she would have not known of my issue had I not emailed. Sarine informed me that she would also have Kurt Vangelisti contact me.

At this point it felt like if I wanted to have any progress made, I had to keep emailing so they wouldn't forget about me. I would wait about a week, and when no contact was made to me, I would email and get a response. Eventually on May 7th, a month after the install, I was given some options of how to relocate the 4 panels. None of the options seemed much better. I had my own idea in mind, which I proposed via email. After having an accessor come out and look at my plan, I was told it would work on May 23rd. Kurt let me know that moving the 4 panels would cost $600. I agreed to that and they were successfully moved on May 30th (see attached pictures).

Lastly, the biggest problem I encountered had to do with part of my contract. During his sales pitch, Bill Young convinced me that I could save energy by installing a variable speed pool pump, which would allow me to use one less panel on my roof. I liked the idea of that and agreed. Therefore as part of my contract, a pool pump was to be installed. I mentioned to Kurt (after finding out that my project manager, Mike Feathers, wasn't with the company anymore) that the pump was never installed as per my agreement with Bill Young. Kurt informed me that Bill Young was also no longer with the company and that Semper Solaris doesn't usually include pool pumps as part of their contract. However, since it was in my contract, Kurt said he needed to find someone who could do the install. I gave him the number of a pool professional in the area.

After several weeks of not hearing anything, I was contacted and told that Semper Solaris will not install the pump and would prefer to issue me a $1500 rebate. I thought it was interesting since the pump installer told me he would do the job for $1350 in total. Regardless, I agreed to taking the check. I received the check on July 12th, finally putting a close to my interaction with Semper Solaris.

All in all, my relationship with Semper Solaris started on February 5th and ended on July 12th, a total of 5 months. It was a rather frustrating 5 months. Many times I felt like I needed to rattle cages in order to get any correspondence. It was disconcerting that 2 of the people I dealt with were fired or let go during the process. To me, it felt like Semper Solaris was unorganized many times.

Everyone I dealt with was cordial and nice. The project, now that it is finished, looks good. However it was the time it took and the constant badgering by me to get things done that causes me to question whether I would recommend Semper Solaris to any of my family or friends inquiring about solar installation in the future.

Anokina K.

Billie Yako was my awesome project manager. Such a strong asset to this entire process and hard worker. Any issues i had were resolved immediately and all questions were answered. Could not have been a more easy transition! So happy I made the switch!! Thank you Billie!!

Jeremy S.

I am very disappointed!!!
On 3/24 Bill came out to give us proposal for solar. Which Bill had great customer service and did a great job! However we were promised a proposal within 48 hours. We never received the proposal. A lady called a few days later to follow up with our experience.  She asked if we received a proposal and i said no. She told me she would follow up on the proposal. A couple weeks go by and we have 2 other solar companies come out and give us proposals. Because we are wanting to get solar as soon as possible. I told my wife as a Marine Corps veteran myself I wanted to give Semper Solaris a chance. So she left a bad yelp review because we still did not receive anything from Semper Solaris. After the yelp review Bill's supervisor Kurt calls me and promises me i will receive the quote that day. Kurt tells me ""we want to get you the best deal so that you can change your yelp review because that hurts our business"" and he laughed. I was upset that he would say this and laugh. Then Shawn or Sean not sure how to spell it, called me from the corporate office in San Diego and ask me what happened. I explained and he told me he did get an email to follow up from the lady that called me about my experience. He continued to tell me Bill is no longer with the company,  this really makes me upset because Bill was great, this is not something you share with customers (made me feel really bad because Bill was great i understand mistakes happen but make it right) and if he should get fired what about the girl and Shawn that received the email to follow up? I believe they should be held accountable as well for not following up. It should not take a yelp review to get involved there was plenty of opportunities to make it right with us. But that is not all. Shawn advises me that he wants to send Kurt which is Bill's supervisor to my house next week to give me a new proposal on 4/27. I say i am good with that. Kurt emails me the following morning saying he heard i scheduled an appointment with the company next week 4/27 and he will be sending out a veteran employee. I respond telling him Shawn told me you (Kurt) were coming. Did not get a response. I call Shawn today 4/19 and ask him about Kurt coming out to my house next week. Shawn just said ""I see here that they are sending an employee under Kurt"" i said you told me yourself you were going to send Bill's supervisor Kurt to give me this qoute and he admitted he did. So i asked can you send me a quote by email because i really want to give you guys a chance and want to get this asap i been waiting almost a month. Like i told my wife because i am a Marine Corps  veteran Semper Fi which is where this company gets there name from which is disappointing! However i received the quote from Bernie and the quote is more than the first proposal. Bernie would be the 5th person i have dealt with in almost a month! I would prefer if anyone reach out to me in regards to this review i prefer to talk to Kelly Shawhan and prefer not to talk to anyone else.

Jacquelyn C.

In January my husband and I decided it was time for us to get solar. We did a lot of research on different companies and the panels. We had a few companies come out for estimates. We ended up going with Semper Solaris because they offer the best panels hands down, they use sun power panels which are the best on the market. Tanya was the sales rep who came to talk to us, she was VERY professional, she was able to answer every question I asked, she also brought a sample mini panel to show us why sun power panels were the way to go. So we signed up Jan 8th, next Anthony was assigned to us to help with getting the panel layout picked out and submitting our permit to the city to get the plans approved,this was so easy and he was also very helpful. We are lucky because our city had approved the plans in about 6 business days which was amazing!! Then we had Sarine call to set up installation which was set for 2 days after we found out we got approved for the permit. We were up and running in 32 days which was amazing (including getting our permission to operate from Edison) every step of the way the people we were in contact with were very professional and polite. The team who was doing the install, Henry was the person who ran the wiring and got the box on the side of the house, he did a great job. No complaints from us. We are so please with our install and having solar is great! 100% recommend this company. I also want to add, it has rained 10 times since we have had our install with no leaks yay!

A M.

Semper Solaris is a great company from our sales rep Mike Barnett to our customer care officer Anthony Zelaya the communication was outstanding. The install of the panels was quick and neat they made sure to go over every aspect of the project and review once complete to make sure everything that was discussed was completed. I would highly recommend using Semper Solaris

N S.

Great company to work with. I've recommended to friends already. Mike W. was my sales guy and really explained things to me in the way I needed. Billie was my project manager and also stayed on top of things - and I know I'm a royal pain. All of the workers were great too - clean, courteous, very professional. I had a few snags along the way with my installation that were related to the age of my house (roof issues, panel box) and they worked with me to come up with a solution that wouldn't break the bank. I was really surprised by that. My panels are producing tons of energy, and I love the app that lets me track production/usage. My only gripe is some of the workers kept using my personal ladder and not their own, however that's small potatoes. The other solar companies I looked at offered more expensive product that was lower quality. (I'm an engineer. I read the specs.) Or, they gave a ridiculous bid. I think Sun City was 20K-30K higher. I almost laughed out loud.

Fair warning: It took a really long time to get approval from my utility (SDGE) so the whole process took six months because of the utility dragging their feet. Actual installation was fast. My friends with SCE had their solar approved within three weeks, so based on who provides your electricity will seriously affect project speed. They warned me about this ahead of time.

Robin R.

We had a wonderful experience with Semper Solaris. The crew was
polite and very organized. Our Sales Rep was Bob King and he was very good to deal with. Our Customer Care rep is Veronica Mosqueda
and she has been terrific. Super nice and follows through with phone calls and answering questions. All of the workers were very nice to deal with with very helpful attitudes. Chris was the lead and all did a great job. The stucco worker was also super helpful!! Thank you so much.

David G.

I cannot recommend Semper Solaris highly enough! The gentlemen with whom I spoke about different options that may work best for my home was professional, courteous, and extremely knowledgeable. I spoke with 3 other companies, and it was clear that Semper Solaris offered the highest quality products and services. From my first call until the system was ultimately installed, the process was completely transparent. It all happened exactly how I was told it would happen, and they even finished early. My system works great, my electric bill last month was 94 cents, and my wife and I could not be happier.
I am a retired Marine, and I actively seek out veteran owned business with which to do business. Thank you Semper Solaris for representing veteran owned businesses so well.

Stop looking - go with Semper Solaris!

Richard A.

When we called the sales person Hayden Nix came out. He was very informative about the solar system. As the project moved forward Anthony Zelaya was always checking on things. If i had any questions Anthony would get back to us very quick with the answer. I would recommend Semper solaris to everyone.