Lumo Indian Call Centre True Value Solar Panels Farce! What Fun? Hidden Costs?

[redders_60]

Hello All; I don't think I've posted on the social boards before but just had to share this little gem that happened yesterday...

To cut a long story short, hubby bought solar panels from True Value Solar. Had to pay by bank cheque. Due for installation between 7am & 10am yesterday. They finally arrived (after many calls) at 1.30pm. Installation proceeded promptly, techs were helpful (despite not knowing which direction North was!) & all paperwork supposedly received. Cost was $2700, but we figured this would be a saving in the long run, as we are approaching retirement age & electricity bills for us are currently around $85 per month.

We were asked to contact our energy supplier (In this case Lumo) who would then contact SP Ausnet & we would be attached to feed back into the grid when our useage was less than our already small bills.

Therein lies the comedy of errors!   4pm Melb time - Lumo call centre in Mumbai India. Almost incoherent fellow who's name sounded like Ganesh told us we needed to email 3 forms to Lumo. I ended up using the Alpha Foxtrot Bravo etc trying to establish which of the huge pile of forms were needed to be sent. (Still a little iffy on these requirements - so hasn't been done yet as I'm not sure I got the email addy correct & can't work out which forms are needed)

Then he joyfully told me Lumo will charge $80 to $300 to connect us to the grid!??? What The??? But I can pay it off on my bill & they might get there in about Feb to look at my Smartmeter.

Not at any stage were we told it would cost us to setup to feed energy back into the grid! So now we have solar panels, an inverter & no hookup! (Nor prospect of it happening anytime soon & without cost!) What a crock! 

Has this sort of thing happened to anyone else? True Value led us to believe a simple phone call would be all that was needed to inform Lumo of the solar panels, & that Lumo in turn would contact SP Ausnet (the main supplier) & all would be good by tomorrow (now today)

[debra9275]

Were they a company who "cold called" you about solar installation? We've been getting quite a few of those lately. We haven't added solar panels to our home so far so I don't know a lot about it or the hidden costs

Thst's the problem with all the call centers being OS, you can't understand nor communicate with them properly & it's very frustrating

[rabbitearbandicoot]

where are you? have you got analogue meter(s)?

I don't know for sure, but I have been told that with analogue meters they will wind backwards whenever you ship electricity out to the grid. If that is true then you will be OK.

It may even pay you to talk to someone about changing suppliers. They are all cracking their necks to pinch customers.

We recently spoke to energy watch - they will advise you on who is cheapest in your area and also who has the best feed-in $.

We changed our supplier and, so far, haven't received any bills for conection.

[green.fields]

I can only tell you what happened in our case with a Solar Gain. They came and installed panels, invertor and the electrician that came with them hooked it up straight away to the analogue meter which yes indeed while power was being made went backwards which was good.

Then we had to wait about 3 months (backlog) for our new meter which the energy provider put on, we had to pay about $280-00 for the new meter.

The form for recs was left with us to forward by fax to the energy provider and that was processed pretty quickly. We have no choice in energy providers, only one in my state.

I can't understand why your unit wasn't connected to your old meter, something wrong there.

[azureline**]

Ours was connected to the grid by Energex. No cost? They installed a new digital meter. Qld.

[redders_60]

I'm in metro Melb & have a so called Smartmeter already installed. 

I think it might be a good idea for me to shop around for energy companies. Lumo has a big advertising campaign on TV here in Melb ATM. I was less than impressed by their offshore call centre, called during normal Aussie business hours, only to get Mumbai India & a bloke with very poor English skills. Surely there are Aussies that can have that job? (& make things less frustrating for those trying to deal with OS call cantre people!)

[donnashuggy]

It's a real problem, I have to wait on the phone and be polite just in case it is eBay calling, otherwise I would be hanging up swiftly

[mugssy65]

Yes Redders exactly the same story but it took almost 8 mth for us to get our new meter!
Our story gets worse because our suplier stole all the money from his installers, closed up shop and ran off to America where he is now happily living it up. Meanwhile we now have no war entry on our units and no one willing to touch them! The company was unleash solar.

[redders_60]

Hi Debra; No hubby called them after seeing a TV ad. We had been thinking of panels for awhile. Maybe I should have handled it? Goodness knows then it would have been done right! (I ask more questions) 

As it is; I still can't contact Lumo & get someone who speaks reasonable English. (Those thinking of changiong to Lumo as an energy supplier please note this!) & am still really annoyed at undisclosed connection costs & the long wait for someone to come & inspect our SmartMeter. We no longer get meter readers here, so why all the cost & long wait for someone to come & look at a box on the side of the house?