Citisolar

Citisolar is Very unprofessional – I dealt with this company 2 years ago, such a headache. Those of you that are going through the same fustration that I went through, Just report it to NSW fair trading tribunal. And they'll do the rest. Hope this helps. Cause it well did with my case.

Fell below all efficiency targets, employees inarticulate and unreachable – All installations fell so far below cost efficiency standards that we were surprised to find that this is supposedly a real, public company. Yet even so, they are unable to be contacted - inarticulate and evasive in person. We had prepared legal action, as the efficiency targets that were promised were beyond the capabilities of the tech that we… Read more

were sold, but simply lost interest in confronting the company and disposed the solar panels. We used a local, solo freelancer to install new solar panels at 0.5x the price that are over 15x more efficient, the difference is stark.

Any other solar solution is preferable, even the solo journeyman we contracted was more professional, with far better service, pricing and results. The installation itself is the only thing that seemed to be done professionally, I believe the leadership and business plan is the issue, not the labour. The previous leadership who came to us and sold us on the panels has since moved onto another very poorly rated solar business with the same issues indicative of a scam.

Buyer Beware – Beware. Installed in 2012 with 25 year warranty, 3 panels down and they are not contactable via phone or email. I found an online contact form 2 weeks ago, suprise suprise no response. :(

Beware – Supply and installation went well, as did first 26 months of operation. When inverter blew up, totally unable to contact company for warranty resolution. Phones unable to connect (at 5 of their locations), ex-staff mobiles disconnected, e-mails not replied to. Suspect company is no longer trading although website and ASIC search indicate otherwise ! BEWARE ! Show details

Avoid dealing with Citisolar – Pathetic service with 2 stuffed installs. Keeps fobbing off and not solving issue. Do not deal with this company. They are unprofessional and unreliable. Do not turn up when arranged. Did not leave a working system. Left a broken system when previously working. As previously stated the electrician that turned up indicated that he was not the… Read more

one to relocate the meter box. It was suggested that some other electrician who has never been seen would do the relocation.

In terms of this it is getting beyond a joke and if the first electrician you have contacted is unavailable to do the jobs then another should be arranged to do the job. This is close to approaching a breach of contract by failure to supply an adequate service and I am now in process of commencing discussions with a consumer law representative over this.

The other issue is that the state of the existing solar system at my sister’s residence that was left in a non-functioning state resulting in only mains power being used. This is resulting in an unnecessary cost and it appears that the system supplied was ineffective, faulty or not fit for service. This is also being discussed as a possible breach of consumer law by supply of a system that clearly has not been fit for service with inadequate follow-up.

The whole experience has been unacceptable with repeated mis-scheduling and failure to turn up on agreed times/schedules. The access to my property will soon be an issue with other events occurring that cannot be changed or rescheduled that will result in no one being available to obtain access as required.

As a process to move forward it has been suggested by the consumer affairs representative that a definite and final date for action including installation be obtained. If this date is not met then action be implemented for cancellation of installation contract at residence 1. There is also the issue of the installation at residence 2 that has had monies pain for an ineffectual and dysfunctional system. If this is not sorted out an independent electrician will be contracted for removal of the installed, and dysfunction, equipment along with legal action against Citisolar for the cost of rectification including refund, compensation of loss of access to previously installed functional solar system and return of supplied equipment

It is hoped that it will not be necessary to take these steps but be aware that this process is now being considered. The next step is in Citisolar’s capacity to obtain an electrician at the earliest opportunity for completion of works at residence 1 and rectification work at redidence 2. This needs to be provided as a firm commitment date with nil further correspondence on the rescheduling to be entered into. If this is not complied with and the installations not completed or rectified as may be applicable then further actions through consumer affairs will progress.

My advice is to stay clear of this company.

October 25th 2018 Update: Avoid Citisolar at all cost - should have 0 stars

Have had 2 jobs with Citisolar. Did not turn up on the day the installations was originally planned then on the following Sunday morning unannounced the solar panel installers turned up and installed the panels. That was about 3 months ago with wires from the panels just left hanging with tape over the end. I am wondering just how safe that is. Has not kept any of the promised installation dates or repair dates for an installation that was put in place in August and failed in less than 24 hours. Have now been advised that the electrician would arrive today to move the meter box and install the inverter. Would have the battery system installed 10 to 11 days later. Well it is now 11am with nil signs of the electrician (as expected it is just more delaying tactics). It is now reaching the time that if the electrician does not show up soon it will be too late to get this job done today.

Am now going to close the bank account that I gave Citisolar authority to debit as I will not be paying for work not done and be looking at a court order to block them or their agents having any access to the property. Will be putting locks on the access points and then they can negotiate over the solar panels.

It has reached the stage where I will need to arrange another electrician to do the installation. Citisolar has not kept any of their agreements from the start so my recommendation is to have nothing to do with this company. Just review the other reviews and you will see that this is not an isolated case.

Don't trust this company – After taking them two year to get it working I now save $18 a quarter after paying $8500. What a waste of money and their service it's non existing worst company to deal with.

Service non existing – Service is absolutely non existent, without investigation they blamed the problem on the weather, after taking 3 days to return a phone call, they in fact have their answer machine on continuous so as not to speak to anyone. When they eventually call back I was told they do not have a service department and would not advise whom to contact, … Read more

And that is what I mean by service NON EXISTENT.

ZERO stars is too kind , you should be able to publish - 5 stars.

Beware of scammers – We responded to a phone invitation by Citisolar in July 2010 to look at ways to eliminate our power bill and possibly get a pay back during the summer period. We were sold a 3Kw system of 14 panels with 25 years warranty and 10 years warranty on the Aero Sharp Inverter. The inverter began to show problems after only 5 years and at 7 years it… Read more

doesn't turn on anymore making the whole $17,650 system just a lump of junk sitting on my roof.

Every time we contact them they give us all sort of excuses and they even hung up on us.

We had the Tullamarine office send e-mail to owner in Queensland but he doesn't reply.

Since not even Consumer Affairs has any willingness to get involved, it looks like we have been scammed big time by a Company that is still scamming the public and even collecting Government incentives.

Worthless Warranty – Under no circumstances should anyone get involved with this company. Citisolar’s Brisbane Branch went to great lengths to avoid their warranty obligations. They never return emails or phone calls, they keep asking for more and more irrelevant information and place every obstacle possible in your path to avoid any warranty repair. We eventually gave in and arranged for repairs through another organisation. Avoid this company like the plague.

Stay away from citisolar – My inverter started going into fault in October 16, I rang citisolar for assistance and they floged me off under the inverter manufacturer warranty. I'm up to my third inverter and the system is still in fault. Samil now telling me that it's not their inverters as they test fine and that it's a panel or hardware problem. I tried ringing citisolar… Read more

this morning and suprise surprise their office is shut. I"ve been down the accc road once already about these matters and citisolar lied to them and did nothing for me. These systems are overpriced and unreliable and with no customer service it is a poor choice to go down this road.

September 7th 2017 Update: Stay away from CitiSolar

After my last review of CitiSolar I've had to employ contractors to troubleshoot the faults in my solar system. It was found that 2 panels were faulty causing the system to fail. The contracters asked why CitiSolar wasn't fixing the problem and all I could tell them was CitiSolar won't respond to any problems with their systems. The contractor got the system running by bypassing the two faulty panels. After receiving the fault report I sent it on to CitiSolar, followed by a phone call. The CitiSolar warranty person (what a joke) why the contractors didn't fix the problem, I responded with the contractors were asking the same questions of CitiSolar and the panels were unfixable.

It's been 3 months and counting since the report was sent through with no response. Once a month I give CitiSolar a ring to let them know I'm still around and I require my faulty panels replaced. At this point they start talking all sorts of dribble and garbage with no action to repair the faulty system they installed.

By the looks of things I'll have to buy new panels myself and employ contractors to install then I'll serve notice to appear in small claims court.

Do yourselves a favor and don't by a system from CitiSolar, read the reviews and go with a company with a reputation for supplying a good product and services.

Do not touch CitiSolar or Samil – CitiSolar do not ever answer the phone - either land line or 1300 number. My Samil inverter has not worked since last October. I was made to pay for the electrician to remove the faulty one even though it's under warranty. I was given a REPAIRED replacement which did not work either and I am still waiting. I can never get to speak to anyone from Samil - it is always someone from a call centre who really does not care.

Do Not Use This Company – Hi, have for the past 8 months been trying to get my solar panels fixed and they refuse to answer my calls. Their phone is always engaged like it is off the hook. Pathetic customer service.

The warranty avoiders – My Samill inverter had a relay failure prior to the warranty running out. Citisolar the installer in Adelaide but now in Brisbane refused to honour the warranty. SA Consumer Affairs wanted me to negotiate a refurbished solar inverter with Citisolar as the warranty rests with them. To no avail, they now refuse to answer my emails and tried to fob… Read more

me off to the manufacturer of the inverter. I now want the Consumer Affairs to help. My feelings are do not trust them to honour their warranties.

April 25th, 2017 Update: Still no reply from Citisloar

I have tried to negotiate a replacement inverter from Citisolar to no avail. Like so many on this forum, they have not had the decency to contact me. At first they did but now they have "shut up shop".

SA Consumer Affairs have taken up the challenge and are now investigating Citisolar on my behalf.

Pathetic!!! – We've had this solar for about 3 years we have a fault with our inverter since December last year and they basically have said we have to do everything ourselves and pay for an electrician to repair it??? I will now be going to accc...

Inverter poblems – one of our inverters have developed a fan fault. contacted Citisolar via there web site middle of December 2016, still have not heard any thing from them. will try to ring them on Monday 9 January 2017. if I do not get an answer from them I will be going to ACCC. October 5th 2017 Update: Inverter issue Fixed my fan issue on my inverter. Used compressed air and blew out the dirt and grit. Working properly and generating power.

Very disappointed – First came across this company in Tasmania in 2013 and the in May 2013 had hot water and koolsola heatpump installed. Have had a number of things go wrong and they are very slow in sorting it out or fixing the problems. I also believe our panels do not work properly.

Poor warranty service – We had a 27 panel 5 kW system installed in April 2011 and told after viewing our power bills for a year that this would give us a credit each quarter - no this never happened. In December 2015 we rang them to advise there was a relay fault on the inverter. Initially they seemed great was told they wouldn't repair it but would replace the… Read more

inverter, ok I thought this is great service - no this never happened. It's now July and I am still waiting. You have to organise your own repairer as Samil will not send the replacement part to a house address - something we found out in April after several phone calls to find out what was happening oh and did I mention they do not organise or pay for labour or even want the faulty inverter back - strange process. So we think we have finally tracked down our replacement inverter that was sent with the fault report from the last place it was installed but citisolar assure us it has been "reconditioned" and is good to be installed, well let's see ( when it finally gets installed) mr Greg Catton managing director, are you aware this is how your company does business? Very disappointing

Cold Calling – Had a cold phone call to business phone and told the girl i was too busy to have someone come out and see me. Her attitude changed dramatically Eg (when arent you busy you must have some spare time etc) . She was very dramatic about it. Was a very unproffessional call.

Overpriced and Rogue Company – I was seduced to sign the contract with CitiSolar. I was told I was receiving big discount if I signed up on that night. And I was also told there was 10 cooling off days that I could rescind the contract without paying a cent. They sell me 12 panels for $6000. Later the night I found out I could get much cheaper price everywhere. The next day I… Read more

rang them to cancel my contract. And I followed their instruction to email and post my written notice of rescinding the contract. Nevertheless, they still charged me 100 deposit on my credit card 14 days after my cancellation. I tried to ring their office more than 10 times, no one answered the phon..... I have told my bank the transaction was unauthorized. But I still have not get my money back yet. You can imagine if I had installed their solar panel and had problem, how difficult would be to just get in touch with them....No one seems like work in their office. I will report to Fair Trading too. And I will fight to the end to get my $100 back.

Good Service and Product – I had a system installed over 3 months ago with Citisolar. Just received my first bill back and had a substantial saving and will only get better with rising energy prices. Sales consultant was informative and polite and they managed the process from start to finish. I am happy I decided to use this company.

Excellent products and customer service – I had quotes elsewhere but decided on CitiSolar after meeting with Michael. Excellent presentation about products and services. Installation was quick and am looking forward to the savings in the future. Would highly recommend them.

over priced and not saving anything – We bought a system from a fast talking salesman assuring us we will get rebates. So far the most we have saved is about $30 off the bill. They also said the repayments would only be for 18 months. Turns out they lied and it is for 4 years. I am thinking of going to consumer affairs over this. Don't use them. :(

Solar cowboys – I installed a solar system with CitiSolar and paid a premium because they marketed themselves as a professional company and said they only used the best materials. 18 months latter, my first warratty claim was dealt with rudeness, poor service and delays. In the end I bought my own electrician to replace the faulty electrical switchboard that got… Read more

water into it. Lucky I did as my electrician found the breaker was incorrectly wired and they used cheap Chinese circuit breakers. Don't trust this company, they are fast talking solar Sharks.

Leaking roof – I had my solar panels installed, by citisolar, just after winter. They left there card board packaging behind, a stain started showing up on my ceiling a month later, but I didn't worry to much about it, until December 7th 2014. We had heavy rain on that day. Water started running through one of the spot lights in my daughters bedroom where the… Read more

solar was installed, the next day the same water stain that appeared in our master bedroom appeared in the kitchen ceiling which is next to my daughters room. So I called up citisolar for someone to come out and have a look, the roofer came and told me that the toilet exhaust in our bedroom had no silicone on it, which is why there was probably a leak there, but he checked it,and it was pretty dry, he checked my daughters roof and couldn't find any leaks there, but he said he wouldn't be able to see it until the next rain, but he checked it and said it was dry too. don't get me wrong, but my roof was just replaced brand new in February 2014,and my house is only 4years old had no problems through winter till after the solar was installed. So a week went past, I get a call from citisolar, telling me that I have to pay for the roofer that was called out, because it wasn't there fault that the roof was leaking. So I explained to her, if she can call up the roofer, so he can explain to her what he told me about whats happened to my roof. So I haven't heard from her since, but now I'm stuck with 2 water stained ceilings, and a roof which i dont know if the problem is fixed or not. No one else has been on my roof, or touched the roof tiles, until they installed the solar panels. I believe if you touch some ones roof and remove the roof tiles , your held responsible, I don't even know if I should call them up for someone to come out and paint my ceiling, I'm more worried that they will charge me for it.

Great company and very professional! – I had a 5kW system installed at my home and found Citisolar to be very professional. I had a few questions about solar and had heard different stories but Citisolar were able explain everything in great detail. They organised everything from start to finish for us and had us installed within 4 weeks, the installers were very polite and extremely… Read more

tidy they spent an hour cleaning up at the end of the day and it was clear to see they pay attention to detail. Best of all i have noticed a huge reduction in our power bills! Very happy with the overall service.

Appalling system and equally appalling service – Please stay away from this company. We commissioned their rep to recommend a quantity of solar panels for our use. He recommended 20 panels which would be more then sufficient to cater for our usage and also stated that we would be in credit. We paid around $19,000 for the system and since the installation we have paid $285 dollars for around $600… Read more

tri monthly electricity charges. Last tri monthly bill we were in credit by $85 dollars. This was the first and only time in 3 years. Our current bill we paid $207 of a $560 electricity bill. We waited a year before they send someone to review the system. The Director of the company agreed we were undersold a system but they have refused to negotiate with us for a probable solution. Very disappointing. We wanted to be self sufficient of the electricity company and green but unfortunately we selected the wrong people to do business. They paid the first bill after the installation of $405 out of $600 electricity bill. They said they would pay the bill if I don't investigate further Citisolar were very swift in making the sale but terrible in providing quality service information and resolving a traumatic and expensive situation investigative

Definitely an upmarket system but worth the money so far – After signing up with Citisolar I thought it might have been a mistake to pay as much (10.300$ for a 4,5kW) as there are cheaper quotes readily available over the internet or print. But going through the whole process until after the install I realized my money was well spent. They really did look after us, always let us know where they are and… Read more

whats happening. The installation was quick and spot on and the installers asked if there's anything from our side that we'd like to mention concering the install. The panels do look good and perform great so far. The only question is how good they handle their warranty claims. I hope nothing breaks down.

Service quality and savings – Wow I have no bill the call I received from their call centre to their rep coming out to see us was fantastic , we got an accurate assessment of family's needs and from the first call and installation and after service has been fantastic, by the way we are pensioners and we were lucky enough to be apart of their display promotion 3 years ago,… Read more

since then their royalty program is 150.00 for every referral that does business with CITISolar , we believe in this company and now have control of this bill that use to be frightening,

Go on Aussies if its not with Citisolar JUSt get solar

Citisolar, don't expect service! – We had a 4.4Kw system installed at a premium price of $19,000. It has been in for approx 10 months. First account was great! $199 credit and our $550 bill paid as well. 2nd not so great, about $65. Last bill, less than $20. I contacted Citisolar and they want accounts before the addition and after to review and see if there is a problem. Spoke… Read more

with a friend who has a 5Kw system cost of $11,000 to install. On Tuesday, beautiful sunshine all day. Between 2pm and 4pm, his system made 2Kw. I read mine at 10am and again at 4.30pm, it had not registered a thing!! When I contacted the company at Mansfield, the person said that she could not comment before they had reviewed all paperwork. All we want is for someone to come and check the system out as, obviously, there is a problem. Very unhappy!!!

Lack of Service and initial price