Review for AMECO Solar & Roofing

Office location: 4705 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Suite 205, Valley Village CA, 91607

05/04/2023
Victoria Los Angeles, CA

Job pretty much done but frustrating process

I'm in the home stretch of getting a full roof replacement and new solar system installed in a single family home in CA. AMECO has been ok. I was hoping for a better experience, but the communication side of the experience with AMECO has been very frustrating. Gus, who was my first contact, was great. Super easy to schedule with. Very clear and answered all my questions. Very patient as well as I had to put the project on hold for a few months. But he picked things up right where we left off a few months later when I was ready to move forward. He explained how they work and highlighted how efficient and communication is one of their strengths. Efficient is accurate. The roofing sub and solar install sub teams were fast and seem to have done solid work. My biggest frustration and reason for the 3 starts is communication. This is not their strong suit to say the least. My project manager for the roofing section has been incredibly frustrating to work with. While he would reach out when items or decisions were needed, he would frequently leave out important information or just not answer my question. Not a big deal until we found out that we need a full redecking of our room. The cost quoted was significantly higher than our original contract which include a price/plywood sheet. Our PM explained that this is because our contract was speaking only about a few sheets being replaced... not a complete redecking. I let him know this is a bit disappointing but I understood as the total price still remained fair. He later texted me and offered to upgrade our plywood to a higher quality, thicker type of plywood to "keep our customers happy". I didn't ask for this and definitely didn't expect it. But I was appreciated the gesture greatly. I really lost trust in his word and abilities the next morning when the supplies delivered where the minimum thickness plywood and OSB. Not only did we not get the upgraded plywood, more than half the roof was being redecked with OSB (not per contract or my expectations). I immediately reached out to my project manager and he said he would get back to me. It wasn't until later that afternoon after they had finished the redecking that he confirmed it was not in fact the plywood we had agreed upon. I guess I shouldn't have let them do the work, but I am not a contractor and was confident that I knew what plywood vs OSB meant (I only learned later when my husband explained it to me). Also impending rain scheduled for later that evening left me feeling like I had no choice. Solar install was fine and super fast--done in one day! The solar project manager has been better about communication. I really appreciate how she answers all my questions eventually and seems to quickly addresses next steps. For example, when we passes inspection for the solar, within a business day she notified and filed for PTO with LADWP. I was shocked LADWP came the next day and we got our PTO! But even with her, there is a struggle with communication that I suspect is related to either disorganization or lack of communication on the back end. We are done with all the actual work. I am very eagerly waiting to pay my final bill and turn my system on. But I'm waiting for AMECO to get me signed unconditional waivers which our sales person brought up himself as something they are good at doing. The one from the roofers took about 2 weeks, which is fine. Our solar PM got the one from our install within a day, which was surprisingly fast. Unfortunately she's getting a lot of push back from the solar panel parts supplier. And I still am a bit confused if I need just one waiver from AMECO that could encompass the whole project or two --one for roof and one for solar. I've asked everyone I could think of--our roof PM, my solar PM and some person who randomly emailed me one day saying they were from accounting. There is no clear answer. I know this will eventually all get settled. It's just been frustrating and reminds me why I hate working with contractors who use subs. The work seems solid. Price was good value. Communication is just horrible.