written by Ian-LS on 20/12/2012
£10,500 for a 2.5 kWp, which is 2 years out of date. Called calling people to arrange site surveys, then chasing them up the next day. Sales people not knowing what they are talking about and miss selling what customer might earn under the Feed in Tariff. AVOID AT ALL COSTS
written by TerryJohnWilkes on 09/12/2012
I was skeptical after hearing about the Solar Energy Savings Ltd scandal however the new company "Ultra Energy Ltd" is run by new directors and this company is very different from the last one! 1) They explained very clearly how the feed-in-tariff works, regarding solar energy as a means of earning money back whilst also helping the environment. 2) They sent an advisor around the next day to assess whether we were eligable for having solar panells fitted on our 4 bedroom detached house. This was just a quick 30 minute chat and the energy advisor was very polite and informative. I didn't know much about solar energy but had a profounded knowlege by the time he left! I googled it later and what he said seemed to fit. 3) We agreed to have 9 panels fitted (the advisor advised us that we would have enough room for 9) and Ultra Energy sent someone 5/6 days later to fit them. That was over 2 months ago and so far so good they seem to be working even though we've not had much sun! (we were told the panels work in daylight not sunlight alone) I've noticed from the little box they've installed in the attic that we are already saving so much (many k/w getting recycled every day earning 16p per k/w put back into the national grid.) Hope to get an investment back soon! They also called back a few days ago to make sure the panels are working and they said they would refund us if we were not happy but like I said so far everything is working fine and the panels are not even an eyesore like I worried they would be! I was skeptical about this company having researched them AFTER getting the panels put on the roof but this new company Ultra Energy gave us the best price and also the best service.
written by on 02/12/2012
This company made two appointments and did not keep them. they did not even ring to let us know they would not be coming and when we rang them just made another appointment that they also failed to keep - again they did not have the courtesy to ring to let us know why. We were also subjected to numerous untruths and misquotes over the phone.
written by on 08/08/2012
Finally the goverment body REAL seen sense.Dont be fooled though!! They will rise from the ashes like the poverbial pheonix. Rouges and scoundrels,reminded me of Oliver Twist. Ultra Energy is apparently there next name.Beware!!!
Written on: 08/08/2012
Ultra Energy is up and running. Same managers and same salesmen. Same tactics. A lot of people have lost thousands thinking they would get it back in 5 years.
Written on: 16/10/2012
Yes you are correct-Ultra Energy is the new Solar Energy Savings.Operating from Manchester on a National basis. Hard sell-Believe me the hard sell. Over inflated prices-false promise-bare faced lies. Need we say more!!! Buyer beware this could cost more than your pride. You do not have to sign on the night and get 3 quotes-shop around-common sense prevails.
Written on: 10/09/2012
I worked for Ultra Energy for two weeks, before coming to the conclusion that they intended to carry on in the same way as they had under their previous incarnation as Solar Energy Savings (It is the same people, working from the same offices).
Ultra Energy's managers (who I now know had been Solar Energy Savings managers only two weeks before I met them) increasingly demanded that I break the law using the same discredited tactics they had employed at SES.
During my brief time working (although I was never paid) for Ultra Energy I was asked to:
*Falsely tell customers that a discount on purchase price was available as part of a government scheme.
*Exagerate the performance of the panels and the return on investment.
*Tell customers that most of the purchase price would be returned to them under a scheme backed by 'Helvetica' insurance.
*Withhold price information until the end of a sales visit and not leave written information unless a sale has been agreed (even the company brochure contained no contact details or business name!).
*Offer customers an inflated initial price, with discounts for signing on the day, agreeing to provide testimonials, providing customer referrals, displaying a board outside their home and providing performance monitoring data
*Use high preassure sales techniques, particularly the notorious 'phone close' to preassure the customer into making an immediate decision.
Sadly, many of the types drawn to solar energy sales have been selling other products (windows, kitchens, bedrooms, etc.) in this way for years. Nobody has stopped them ambushing customers in this way and so they do not see it as a bad thing.
Not all salesmen work in this 'smash and grab' way however. Personally I am a firm believer in Henry Fords adage that a good product sells itself, the salesmans job being to open the customers eyes to the merits of the product and gently lead him in the right direction.
These days a good product needs also to be at a competitive price, which Ultra energy, being nearly twice the price that a comparable product can be bought elsewhere, are not.
written by on 19/07/2012
This company cold calls households without any reference to whether they are on the Telephone Preference Service. If they do this to you, you should complain, the more complaints, the more chance this company will stop doing this. If you do make a complaint, the contact number for this comapny (solarenergysavingsuk) is 0208 731 2474
written by on 19/07/2012
Do you homework, a search shows their capital issued is £1.00. The owners have a chequered past, see the Daily Record campaign against rouge traders and SAS Ltd., you'll find the same names. They are not MCS registered nor are they members of REA. Installations are subcontracted to MCS registered firms, the impact of this is that their costs are at least 15% higher than for a MCS registered company. VAT for a MCS firm is 5%, 20% for a non-registerted organisation. If you are considering PV Solar you'll get a better deal anywhere than from this bunch. I have been told that the Dept of Innovation, Training and Skills have applied for a winding-up order.
written by on 18/07/2012
We used this company to fit our panels. I did not know very much about solar panels or their price at the time and did not realise this company were very expensive. I went ahead with it but it was a disaster from start to finish. They were not MCS registered, they sub-contract all their work and there is a complete lack of coordination. You can never get to speak to anyone in the company when things go wrong. Please do not be tempted!
written by pippa1231 on 14/07/2012
From getting a quote to the finish job every thing went to plan The fitters arrived on time and did a very neat job with the electric and a good clean up when finish and explained to me in great detail what did what in the electric cupboard and were very friendly And a few week later a chap came round to inspect their work it was a job will done
written by on 10/07/2012
Having ummed and aahhed re solar for the last few months i eventually got a few quotes together from 2 local companies(shade greener and mont blanc) and Solar Energy Savings as i had a neighbour who used them. the local companies were slighty cheaper for a 3kw system as that is all i could fit on my roof but i was not happy that the wanted a 50% deposit and one of them wanted the balnce on delivery of panels before the job was actually fitted. i had seen the fit over the rd from solae energy savings and the rep who cam round has very knowlegable and did not pressure us with any hefty price drops etc, we decided to go with solar energy savings and the job has now been completed without any problems and we are registered and earning, the rep has since been back to see us to get some pictures and he asked us if we would put some positive stuff on the internet as he tells me they have had some bad press in the past, this does not concern me as the job was done perfectly and i would reccomend them on as well, i run my own business and have had the same forom junkies that i have seen about solar and to be honest dont believe all the negatives, some people need to move on with there lives.. Many Thanks to Lee and his team....
written by on 21/06/2012
If you have ever been to a hard-sell timeshare presentation, this is exactly the same process! They expect you to say yes 'on-the-day'! I worked in legitimate Business-to-Business Sales Management for many years before I semi-retired, so I knew exactly what they were trying to do. It is sad to see companies still attempting to 'hood-wink' and pressurise consumers in this archaic manner. My opinion: If a company cannot stand by their presented proposal for at least 7 days, then they have something to hide. Whatever you do, do NOT leave them an initial deposit ‘on-the-day’. This is a Limited Liability company, so if they wind-up, you will be on a very long list of debtors. The 1 hour turned into well over 2 hours. It would have been much longer had I not excused myself. After we got rid of them, I looked them up on the internet. There are many complaints about them. And reading the complementary review on here, I would say, given its structure & grammar, it was clearly written by Solar Energy Saving personnel!
written by hollydog5 on 28/05/2012
After the initial quote and the request of a deposit which would not be taken from the bank until contracts were signed, we decided agaist having the work done. We contacted them within 3 days to let them know we were not going ahead, and then were suprised to find the deposit of over £2000 had already gone from th bank. Numerous phone calls requesting the return of our money have yielded nothing. Trading standards have been informed and we have followed their advice and await with baited breath for our money to be returned. So far it has taken 4 weeks. Be warned!!!
Written on: 13/07/2012
hi have you got it back yet ,,,,,the same has happened to me xx
Written on: 19/12/2012
Same problem with ourselves, payed the deposit changed our minds after researching and cancelled the very next day by phone and then sent off the cancellation form still waiting after 5 weeks.
Written on: 27/01/2013
I'm in the same situation 3 months on. I've heard they are now in liquidation. Ultra Energy seem to be able to get away with it! If you or I had taken £2000 from someone we'd find ourselves in court instantly. They appear to be untouchable and obviously know that and will start up again soon under a different guise is my bet. I don't know what can be done . . . .
Written on: 29/01/2013
I phoned this number and they told me to phone Refresh Recovery. They also gave me my contrct number as the salesman took all the papedwork with him when he left our house. Hope this helps, we don't out any hope but we have to try.
Written on: 05/02/2013
Yes, I too eventually managed to search out the Administrators and got in touch with them (Refresh). There will be nothing left because Ultra Energy don't seem to be a company with assets, as such. Any "liquid" cash (i.e. ours!) will most likely have either been salted away where no-one can get at it or spent on the no doubt lavish lifestyles of (name removed) and his accomplices. I doubt that this is an unforeseen liquidation; I think it has been carefully planned.
There must be lots of others in exactly the same position and this is nothing short of theft - and its a great deal of money. I wonder if writing to our MPs might do any good? The police also should really be taking action - but I expect they won't be interested.
Written on: 06/02/2013
I have just wrote to my MP via a site called write to them. Please do the same
Written on: 06/02/2013
Thank you. I will.
Written on: 08/02/2013
I have now been reliably informed that the same tricksters who were behind Solar Energy Savings/Ultra Energy Global (and several other "Companies" previous to those) have now started "trading" again (would you believe?!) as Energy Solutions - their Leeds outlet is the same as was for Ultra Energy: Topcliffe Mill, Topcliffe Lane Morley. Beware! It's looking like thousands of pounds is owed to hundeds of people.
If you have been duped in the past by any of these bogus firms please register your complaint with the Insolvancy Service and spread the word as widely as possible, These people need stopping in their tracks immediately.
Written on: 11/02/2013
Thank you for the info. I shall look into the company an I will do what I can to muck their operation up.
written by on 18/05/2012
Was told by call centre (cold call) that agent only take 1 hour of our time - arrived 19:35 left 21:50! Discount surprise, surprise only for tonight did say they could hold off for 9 days and post date the cheque!!!! NO literature left with us at all to peruse at our leisure. Figure after figure quoted - doesn't leave customer time to digest/research/look at getting money. Also if you pay by credit card, they want 3% - daylight robbery!!
written by on 12/02/2012
didnt have panels fitted even though we had payed a deposit and fastrack fee of £495 to beat the december 12th deadline.the 25% deposit (£2698)was taken in early november and from then on it went downill.couldnt get through to their call centre,electricians didnt turn up on both dates and finally on wed 7th of december was read out a statement buy call centre staff saying they couldnt meet the deadline.we then asked for a refund which should have taken 5 working days and we got it on 11th jan(at least 16 working days)after threatening court action.the whole experiance was very stressfull. would not recommend them!
Written on: 12/06/2012
The subcontractors did a good job, but the organization behind it all was sloppy. The SES salesmen didn't show ID, and didn't outline what the regulations were regarding MCS certification and Building Regs compliance. Their web site is not a charitable site (its URL includes the letters ORG, which suggests it is, but they are before the dot not after it - this is sneaky.) The salesmen did work out the likely output from the panels dependent on aspect of the roof, and when the surveyor came to look at the roof he upgraded the type of panel to higher output. However, not all the info from him reached the installing team. They arrived in white unmarked vans, with the right panels, but without outdoor sheathed cabling, so they had to make adjustments to where the cables went (indoors) and the job took much longer than they expected. They did, however, make a tidy job. Two different teams turned up to remove the scaffolding, so the second lot had a wasted journey. The electricians who completed the installation finished the job late in the day and so could not test that it worked. We had a sunny weekend and apparently generated nothing. Two cables had been fixed in negative polarity and when the installer's inspector arrived he put that right, but our calls to SES had not been passed to his firm. There were several options for contacting various aspects of SES, including (significantly) Complaints, but the option that was supposed to go to the Scottish installers was answered by a Mancunian girl (SES are based in Manchester). I believe the same girl was answering all of the options, which would fit with the single page web site! The MCS certificate was emailed to us within 24 hours, but we also got a paper copy. The guarantee was slow to arrive but the paperwork all came eventually. I'm placing no reliance on the "get your money back in 5 years" certificate which was the first thing to arrive! I think we could have had as good a job done locally more cheaply and with less worry. Overall - even if a cold call does fit what work you are considering having done, don't react. Go and get 3 or 4 quotes locally first.
written by morag1 on 23/01/2012
I really felt the need to give a positive review on this company and industry as not sure what has happened in the past, or who has annoyed who but... In my experience I found Solar Energy Savings Ltd friendly. Yes they were looking for a sale - clearly... we all need to make money! However, they knew their business, was clear about the benefits, pros and cons, were very clear about the cooling off period and cancellation. My panels are now installed and I am delighted - really happy. In addition I feel I should point out my friend also signed up but after me then felt the need to cancel. She has had her full refund back. Slightly longer than 7 days; however, was over the XMAS period and had an update from the company. All I can say is make up your own mind. They are a huge company with clearly the majority of very satisfied customers and like every other improvement company a few negatives. I am so glad I ignored the small few and went with the much larger happy as my service has been great.
Written on: 31/03/2012
How long did it take for your building regs compliance certificate to arrive? we've got our MCS cert but not the building regs, yet.
Written on: 11/06/2012
People that I know are currently in the process of having panels installed and I have to say that I fear the worst from the way that Solar Energy Savings Ltd are dealing with this contract and from the majority of the reviews on this company. At the risk of being a cynic, how do I know that this review was not written by a representative of the company?
It seems strange that such a 'huge company' as you put it, has a single page up on the net at present in lieu of a working website...
I really do hope that this review is an honest one.
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Maryjones1's Response to TerryJohnWilkes's Review
Written on: 10/12/2012
Shameful disgusting praise. Nice employee comment.