Review for Encor Solar (Out of Business)

Office location: 343 E Six Forks Rd, Raleigh NC, 27609

03/27/2024
Jacquie Spear Wilmington, NC

Horrendous and extremely costly

After fighting for about a year, including the engagement of a law firm, panels were connected to the grid, We are still paying electric bills of more than 125.00 monthly and we owe about $90,000.00 for panels. We were required to begin paying for the panels before they were working because the financing was through Launch Financing. Have filed a complaint with the North Carolina Justice Department, but were told they could do nothing because the Chairman of the Board of Encor advised them that the company had closed and had no money. They suggested contacting Better Business Bureau and the Publlic Utilities commission, which I did. No help there, apparently Solar is not regulated by the Utilities commission. Numerous contacts to the Financing Company, Launch have provided me with the right to file for financial relief by applying for a three month deferral of payments. During that suspended period, interest would continue and the debt would still be owed. I do not consider that a reassonable offer. Has anyone filed a class action suit? My attorney advised nothing more they could do, but referred me to 3 bankruptcy attorneys who advised they do not handle this type of case. Sales tactics were unethical, The finance agreement was signed under duress. I never received a copy for the final contract including the interest rates. I just received this week a copy of the Financial contracts from Launch, although I had requested them numerous times from Encor. There was initially a customer service number that representatives answered. The reps seemed concerned but no results followed. The line then went directly to voice mail which promised a return call that never came. Eventually the line was disconnected altogether. It took hiring an attorney to get any response from Encor and that was through the legal department. They were successful in getting the connection to Duke resolved, but several of the panels do not appear to be carrying the promised load, leading to the continued high electric bills. There is no service organization. Launch promised to refer us to another company that would service the panels but we are still waiting. When I finally received a copy of the financial contract, it shows that the agreement is with Hatch Bank.(not mentioned on any previous communication. The initial contract was for 76,363 with Sunlight Financial with a rebate of 19,854(because installation/completion took more than a year, the rebates offered by the utility expired at the end of 2022 and installation was in 2023. The quoted APR was .49. The second installation contract was signed in February, 2023 for 37,139 and an interest rate of 2.99, inverter type Enphase. A rebate of 11,141.75 was included, and apparently not available in 2023 according to Duke/Progressive Energy. The second contract showed a finance company of KiFi. Again, the only copy I just received from Launch shows the "Lender" is Hatch Bank, with an interest rate of 1.49.