Complaints
Filing a BBB complaint against SunStrong: what it can and can't do
A lot of SunStrong owners file a Better Business Bureau complaint when the phone calls go nowhere. It is worth doing, and it is free. But it helps to know what it does: the BBB gets SunStrong to answer you, in writing, in public. It cannot make SunStrong fix the system, correct a bill or refund anything. What usually moves things is a written dispute to SunStrong that quotes your own agreement, sent alongside the BBB complaint.
A lease or a PPA (SunStrong bills you for the system): your agreement sets what they owe you, from repairs to the rate on your bill. That agreement is what your dispute and your complaint should point to.
A loan (you own the system): SunStrong may not be the right company at all. Repairs usually go to the equipment maker's warranty, and the loan is with your lender. Check who you are dealing with before you file.
What a BBB complaint can do
- Get a written answer. The BBB sends your complaint to the company and asks it to respond, usually within a couple of weeks. Whatever SunStrong says back is on the record, in their words.
- Put it in public. Complaints and the company's responses generally appear on the business's BBB page, with your personal details left off. Other owners read them.
- Reach someone other than the phone queue. Many companies route BBB complaints to a different team from general support.
What it can't do
- It can't order anything. The BBB is a private nonprofit, not a government agency or a court. It cannot make a company repair, refund, credit or change a bill.
- It doesn't read your agreement for you. If your complaint says "they won't help", the answer will be a form reply. If it says "Section 8 of my lease says they repair the system, it has been down since June 3, and I asked in writing on September 1", the answer has to deal with that.
- It doesn't stop the clock on your own side. Keep paying what you do not dispute, keep proof of every payment, and keep your own records while you wait.
The order that usually works
- Write to SunStrong first. One letter, by email so it is dated: what your agreement says, what is wrong, what you are asking for, and a date to answer by. Quote the section numbers. If your agreement names a mailing address for notices, send a copy there too.
- Then file with the BBB, and attach that letter. Keep the complaint short and factual: the same facts, the same section numbers, the same ask.
- Save their answer. Whatever comes back, through the BBB or directly, put it next to the page of your agreement it should match. A written answer that does not match your agreement is useful to have.
- Other free routes exist alongside the BBB, such as your state attorney general's consumer protection office. Those are government offices, and the same letter and records go with them.
If the problem is a dead or weak system, start with the free production check: it shows what your system should be making for your address, which is the number your letter and your complaint can both point to.
“He is terrific to work with. Goes above and beyond!!!”
Joan F., New York, a SunStrong lease customer
“After the letter was sent, it was mere days that they got back to me with a much more positive email looking into all our issues causing the total system to be down.”
Tami B., SunStrong customer
The letter is the part that does the work. If you want to write it yourself, the $29 kits lay it out for the common SunStrong problems: the Billing Dispute Kit, the Dead or Broken System Kit, the Production Guarantee Kit and the Buyout Quote Check Kit.
Or I write it for you from your own agreement and records: $99 flat. You read and approve it, then send it yourself from your own email.
See the kits, $29 or have it written for you, $99; or email jon@solarstillworks.com.
What this page isn't
It isn't legal advice, and agreements differ from one customer to the next, so your own agreement wins over anything general here. It's what has worked for owners in the groups I spend my time in.