1/5

posted Oct-20-2010

"I would never deal with this company again. The directions are minimal and tech help is non existent. They do not know their own product. They sent me the wrong controller and sensor kit and since 30 days had passed it was tough luck, your on your own. They would not help me. my system will now only work on manual until I find and buy a new controller on my own. Do not deal with them. If you need spare parts when that time comes. They probably will not know what you are talking about."

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share

4/5

posted Sep-30-2010

"My overall experience was positive, but not without a couple of glitches. After placing an order with Silicon Solar, I ran into a problem. The two items I ordered were not compatible, although recommended on the web site to purchase together. I immediately emailed the company. I received a form reply to expect a response. No response in two weeks. I called. My phone conversation was "painful" in that I felt I had to fight for my position and was given unnecessary roadblocks. However, after requesting a replacement pump, I was told to expect an email with an RMA. It came promptly. I returned the item. The replacement came promptly. It worked with the adapter I had ordered previously. Then I discovered that I had been billed twice for the same order. It had been a glitch on the web site that occurred on my initial order. Solar Silicon credited my account a month later with no prompting from me. I am happy with the pump and adapter. The products I ordered came promptly. The customer service still needs some improvement, but I got what I wanted."

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share

1/5

posted Aug-19-2010

"Sad, Sad, Sad,

Orignal order Nov 2009. System failure early 2010. Company had no record of my order. Many, many requests for tech support. Answers provided indicated that they really didn't understand their own product; I even sent a video sadly to no avail. I ordered a new front cover, including PCB for my system. Purchased "new" battery, although the original was holding it's charge. Eventually got the replacement, only after an enormous amount of emails. New front cover with PCB has never worked. Over $90 worth of international direct phone calls made, to be constantly transfered in a "que", then re-transfered to leave a "voice" message, non of which have been returned. Fish in my pond are dying, absolutely "NO" interest and support from company. Why did I buy in the first place??? About to go legal as I am "OVER IT!". Emails, phone calls, detailed problems provided!!!! All too hard for Silicon Solar. NOT GOOD ENOUGH GUYS!!!! Glenn H Mildura Victoria Australia!!"

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share

1/5

posted Jun-25-2010

"Pleasant sales and customer service people, but ultimately a poor experience.

I bought a solar panel and controller, but was struck that the red and black wires appeared to be mixed up - meaning, red was negative, black was positive. And, I simply couldn't get any charge even in bright sunlight.

After multiple calls, being totally wrong information like "your solar panel needs a whole day or two to "charge itself in the sun before it could produce any electricity," I finally got through to a tech rep. He confirmed there was a good chance the wires were mixed up and I should get a multimeter to determine for sure which was positive & negative. OK, so I bought from them a cheap digital multiplexer - asked for it to be sent comp because it's simply amazing to me a that store involved in electronics send wiring that's backwards (could have damaged the new batteries on my boat if I'd just hooked it up). Any case, they gave me five bucks off the multiplexer. It arrives, and the battery inside that is dead. So I have buy a new batter PLUS a narrow electrican's screwdriver so it can fit through the tiny holes to put in the slots....
The multiplexer confirms the polarity is backwards - black is positive, red negative.

Even though the sales person was very nice, no one that I talked to there seemed to get how fundamentally screwed up it is to send out a charger with the polarity mixed up--what could be more basic?

This whole mess took about three weeks to resolve. Hopefully, it work work well in my boat now.

Bottom line, shop someplace else. "

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share

2/5

posted May-31-2010

"I purchased this product to have and be installed in my pond a week after I bought it. I waited a few days and I still didn't have a tracking number on my package. I emailed them before I got any type of answer on what is going on with my order status. No where on the site did it say the product was out of stock. So, currently I'm waiting on this pump, without it I can't put fish in the pond or have a working waterfall. I was given a date of july 30th. Don't know if I can wait that long for the most important part of the pond!"

This review was modified by scorpion01024 on May 31 2010 03:22:52 PM

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share

1/5

posted May-23-2010

"Bought a 12V solar fountain; however when I received it the pump said 7V. I called customer service, and was told that the rep would check and call me back. 4 days later I called to see what happened, but the same rep was very short with me.I was told the picture of the pump on the website was not the right pump, and it was about 1/3 the size from what I received! She said the one I received was the correct pump, and the packer never makes a mistake.

Thinking I would need to return it, I had not checked the other packed materials until after the 2nd call. There were parts missing! At this point rather than deal with the impertenant customer service rep AND take a chance more would go wrong, I returned the item. They have yet to reimburse me AND they charged me for the return freight! #1-bad customer service = no return for many people; #2-If it's in the ad you send THAT item! Very disappointed in SILICON Solar! "

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful Cool Share

2/5

posted Jul-18-2009

"I placed my order Jun 23, 2009 for a product SunFlow Plus Night Pack and have yet to receive it. After my 3rd phone call to Silicon to finally speak to the office manager Jen Richfield she assured me that my product was shipped out Jul 13, 2009 and will be rec'd before the end of the week. Using the tracking # given to me I keyed into the UPS.com today only to find out the order was void by the sender so I proceeded to inquire WHY? Now my concerns are rising. I would hope Silicon would be reliable for it's services or send my money back so that I can find a company that will stand behind it's services.

I've since found this website of complaints which is disturbing.

My check cleared Jun 30, 2009 and now gathering resources in order to follow through with filing a complaint with the NY Attorney General Office, my banking institute, BBB, etc. if necessary should I not receive a response from the email or a phone call I sent to Silicon Support before the end of the week.

I hope Silicon holds up to it's commitments because I would rather have a good product then have to go through all the aggravation of filing legal actions.

Catherine O'Briant"

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful (1) Cool Share

1/5

posted Jul-06-2009

"I placed an order in may after chatting with a sales rep regarding when the order would be fulfilled. I was told the item was in route from the supplier and I would receive it within two weeks. After a month I had received nothing. It took several communications to them to get an update. I was told it would be several weeks longer before they ship my order. They could not tell me why. This was a red flag for me so I asked to cancel the order and get a refund (they charged my credit card immediately even though they had nothing to ship, another red flag).

It has been a few weeks from when I canceled the order and I've not gotten my money back. I've sent several inquiries regarding the status of the refund and gotten no response from the company.

I would not recommend purchasing from this company due to lack of communication and their inability to deliver on their promises.

I can not comment on the quality of their products since I haven't received anything from them.

Update:
I did finally receive a refund but only after I called PayPal on the phone. When I opened the dispute the funds in question were held in escrow by PayPal but Silicon Solar misunderstood they had to approve returning the money to me. It appears they may have thought it was an automatic refund which it was not. Only after I escalated the case to PayPals customer service did someone at PayPal review the case and release the funds back to my account.

This case is now resolved and my initial review is still valid. The first delivery date for my order was missed and when I inquired about status I was give a second date which was also missed. I would strongly encourage Silicon Solar to state realistic delivery to their customers as this failed order caused me to not be able to show my product (which was to use their solar collector as a component) at a solar expo. "

This review was modified by cmedico on August 12 2009 12:49:23 PM

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful (1) Cool Share

1/5

posted Jun-29-2009

"ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I wish I had found this site before I placed my order (5 months ago). And I still don't have my product. They have given me at least 5 delivery dates, which I passed along to my client, and again...I STILL DON'T HAVE MY PRODUCT!!! I look like a total liar to my (Large and New) client and I'm not sure they will ever do business with me again. This will cost me tens of thousands of dollars in lost sales!!! @#$@#$@# Both Jen and Corey have been no help...when they tell you they will call back, THEY DON'T and when they tell you the product will be there, IT ISN'T!! It's now a running joke around the office...whenever something is late we say they "silicon solared" us. And they have 100% percent of our money. We are furious!!!!!"

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful (1) Cool Share

1/5

posted Jun-26-2009

"It seems I should have done my homework before ordering anything from this company. It started with the VP of Sales Matt Farrell talk to me in a condescending tone when I mentioned fraud and his company. Now it all seems to be true. They immediately billed my credit card for $5533.93 and then proceeded to string me along about when I was to actually receive the order. To this day, 6/26/2009, we are still waiting. Worse yet, when I try to call any of the phone #'s including Matt's, live tech support, PR, new sales, it all goes to voice mail. BUYER BEWARE, IF INTERESTED IN SUNMAXX GO SOMEWHERE ELSE OR FIND ANOTHER MANUFACTURER YOU WILL BE SORRY IF YOU USE SILICON SOLAR, WE ARE VERY SORRY AND ARE NOW PROCEEDING FRAUD CHARGES WITH AMERICAN EXPRESS."

comment! report?

Is this review?… Helpful (1) Cool Share