[RE-wrenches] service call reimbursement

[Matt Partymiller]

I am shocked anyone would refer to SMA's tech support (at least in the
past year) as good.  At least 50% of the time that I have to call SMA I
end up on hold for 45 minutes before the automated system just hangs up on
me.  Most of the level one support staff are useless.  If I try to leave a
message I never get a return call.  SMA service used to be good.  Right
now it is about the worst in our industry.  Their saving grace is a
product that works well (except the Arc Fault detection).

Matt


Matthew Partymiller
Solar Energy Solutions LLC
(877) 312-7456
matt at solar-energy-solutions.com



On Wed, June 15, 2016 7:19 pm, William Miller wrote:
> Fronius is like Sears tools. The warranty is good but you have to use it
> all the time. 500% failure rate on Fronius for us. We use only SMA. The
> TL-22 series has great features. So far it is reliable. SMAs grid tie
> tech support is good. Less impressed with island support.
>
> William Miller
>
>
>
>> On Jun 15, 2016, at 2:26 PM, scot.arey at solarcentex.com wrote:
>>
>>
>> Fronius has been wonderful and as you say, they are prompt.
>>
>>
>> More importantly, they have a tech team one can reach quite quickly.
>>
>>
>> Strongly recommend the company and its product line.
>>
>>
>> Howard "Scot" Arey
>> Solar CenTex
>> 254-300-1228
>>
>>
>> Sent from Outlook Mobile
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 15, 2016 at 3:30 PM -0500, "Sky Sims"
>> <sky at ecologicalsystems.biz> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Just found out the hard way that Solectria (now Yaskawa?) doesn't do
>>> service call reimbursement or cover downtime of their product during
>>> the warranty period. They promised the world when I was in the
>>> inverter selection process but once they get the equipment out the
>>> door apparently down time and the site visits spent fixing their
>>> product is their customers problem. We're thinking about switching
>>> inverter brands, which inverters have the best reimbursement policies
>>> right now? My experience has been:
>>> SMA pay's $150 per inverter per truck roll(although it can be
>>> difficult collecting from them). ABB pays $150 (although it can be
>>> difficult to collecting from them) Schneider Electric pays $150
>>> (they've been really quick to pay anytime there is an issue)
>>> Fronius pays $250 (they’ve been really quick to pay anytime there is
>>> an issue)
>>>
>>> That's my list right now and when it comes to reimbursing installers
>>> for problems with their equipment during the warranty period Fronius
>>> looks like the big winner right now with Schneider coming in a close
>>> second.
>>>
>>> My two cents,
>>> Sky Sims
>>> Ecological Systems
>>>
>>>
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