third Party Installations [RE-wrenches]

[Joel Davidson]

Kirk,

I understand what you are saying and agree with you except for part about the
electrocuted weekend warrior.
Most customers who buy from mailorder houses are either on tight budgets or are
tightwads or both. They can be very frustrating. Today I talked with an
installer who turned down installing an Astropower kit that a homeowner bought
by mailorder (not from me). The installer said that the customer was unwilling
to pay $2 per AC watt which is his regular installation fee. $2/W may seem high,
but this experienced installer never charges ups or extras and is always in
demand.

If cheapskates and warranties are the issues, then what are the logical choices?

Customer buys materials from A and self installs. Good.
Customer buys materials from B and buys labor from B. Good.
Customer buys materials from A and buys warranted installation at the going rate
from B. Good.
Customer buys materials from A and will not buy warranted installation at the
going rate from B. Good-bye.

Happy trails,
Joel Davidson

Kirk Herander wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joel Davidson <joeldavidson at earthlink.net>
> To: RE-wrenches at topica.com <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Date: Friday, November 02, 2001 1:48 PM
> Subject: Re: third Party Installations [RE-wrenches]
>
> >Here we go with this subject again.
>
> Yep, here we go.
>
> >Put yourself in the customer's place. You want your off-grid PV system
> installed
> >properly so you get a quotation from a local experienced installer. You
> want to
> >pay for his expertise, but his inverter and PV module prices are higher
> than the
> >same parts sold elsewhere. The installer says he will not install equipment
> that
> >you buy. You tell him "parts are parts" and are willing to waive all
> warranties
> >in writing, but the installer refuses to install parts that you buy
> elsewhere.
>
> Does such a customer exist, one that will waive all warranties if I install
> their not-bought-from-me equipment? You mean I can just walk, with no
> ownership, regardless of problems they may have in the future? Please, sign
> me up. Then I won't need liability insurance either.
> >
> >Again, put yourself in the customer's place. You want an on-grid system,
> did your
> >homework and shopped around for parts. You want to get a homeowner's
> permit, buy
> >the parts and subcontract the labor to install 24 solar modules, roof
> racks, an
> >ST2500 inverter, wire and conduit, a disconnect switch, a 15A breaker and
> >miscellaneous parts. The local experienced contractor refuses to give you a
> labor
> >only quotation saying that he is liable for every aspect of his work. You
> tell
> >him that you are willing to pay for his  "package" of experience, labor and
> >liability, but the contractor refuses unless he can sell you the parts too.
>
> The experienced installer says, "OK I'll do it, take ownership after the
> install, honor all warranties with prompt repair or replacement from my own
> inventory, be available for questions, for $15 more an hour than if you
> purchased from me." the customer says "go to hell, you're ripping me off",
> I'll install it with my neighbor. And then the customer badmouths solar
> because the system sub-performs. It's happened - to me.
>
> >What do you do?
>
> >2. You install the PV system yourself, tell people how easy it was to
> install and
> >maybe start selling and installing systems yourself.
>
> Yes, its quite "easy to install" by the homeowner, of course, in this age of
> the weekend warrior, just like building a shed or hanging wallpaper. Except
> a 2 x 4 won't shock you to death if you pound a nail in the wrong place.
>
> Kirk
>
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