Where I live we have constant mail spam from fake traders with leaflets linking to review sites full of fake reviews by their friends and family, you can't trust reivew sites, This is a widely know issue that has been around for years especialy in the building trade, And the review sites do nothing about them when you report it, all they care about is ad money and this includes a lot of the largest review sites on the internet.
Thanks for this. I am really confused about your statement that a solar system has to "push out a higher voltage". Unless I am missing something this would cause all sorts of problems. An inverter uses a link inductor (somewhat complex to explain) which controls which way the current should be flowing. Thoughts? Thanks again.
You're a saint for doing this for this gent. Honestly, it boils my blood to see things like this. I'm a self employed computer systems integrator (posh for "I build custom computers") and the stories I've heard make me so sad. I was called by a retirement home just last week where a resident had some work done. While they were in the residence, they were able to get a few more jobs. They butchered peoples computers leaving them worse off than before they started. I went in and fixed them all up, back to where they were. I carried out physical maintenance on their computers and made sure they could be as good as they could be. I didn't charge them for labour. People that take advantage of anyone are nothing but scum. I just wish the police and court system would take action on these clear cases of miss-selling and misleading advice. It's nothing but a scam.
I am also in the computer line of work and the things i overheard sales people tell elderly customers. They flat out lie and try to up sell the customers stuff they have no use for what so ever. It is just so wrong and makes me sad.
You're a saint too for helping those residents of the retirement home. Elderly people can get so distressed when they get taken advantage of or they think they've lost everything on their computer. Nice to know there's at least one good and kind computer expert out there.
Another scam which has been going on for years is the extended warranty. I used to be in the same line of work as you. An example: A potential customer, who is now a friend, asked for a quote for the computer he wanted. So I gave it, and detailed my customer care terms. He then went to a big high street retailer and paid £400 more for a much less capable (entry level) system, and then bought the 3 year extended warranty, That computer was nothing but trouble, and he wasn't happy when I told him that I couldn't open the box to try to fix hardware issues without voiding his warranty. So he went to the shop, after a month or two and paid the labour costs for fitting a new hard drive and installing the operating system. Only the hard drive was covered by that warranty, according to the shop. They failed to tell him that the drive had a 12 month warranty, which meant there was no cost to the shop. He scrapped the computer about 2 years and bought another computer, again from a retailer. So that warranty wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. At about the same time, another customer bought a computer from me, for the lower price. They owned that computer for at least 5 years, and I was called out twice in that time, to fix software issues. At some point, they had more memory fitted, for an inflated price, by another technician, who remarked about the high quality of the construction, and in particular the almost bomb proof cooling system. (That pleased me.) Indeed, if the cooling fan had failed, the heatsink and case ventilation would have enabled the computer to run at full power without overheating. How much did that extra cooling cost the customer when they bought the computer? About £25. How much did my 2 call-outs cost them? About 25% of the high street shop's 3 year extended warranty. Furthermore, when they sold the computer, it still made a very useful entry level computer for someone's secondary school child; perfectly adequate for their school work.
If only the world had more sparkies & tradesmen like you. I’m pretty tuned in but I’ve had numerous run ins with dodgy workmen over the years. Big thanks for all you do ✌️
I am old school as a joiner and I always make sure the customer is happy with what you have done for them do the job right even if it takes a little longer if the customer is happy they will pay you and come back to you for more work 😊👍well done to you sir keep up the good work 👏👏
I can't hep thinking these scammers worked / owned the original solar installers and are using the info they have on all their installs to fleece the vulnerable. Good work on exposing this, Jordan.
I wonder if the original companies sold on the details of customers at some point. We'd been contacted by someone and they've obviously got our details from somewhere, and we did know the original company had gone out of business quite soon after they were fitted. I wonder how many people think they are dealing with the original company or someone nominated to take over maintenance. My gut was that it was dodgy but I can see how someone might not notice especially with how many installers have gone under.
Well done. As an 'oldy myself If I get a knock on the door and a stranger is standing there trying to sell me something, I always say I dont buy at the front door then close it.
If they're in your garden you can also state their and their company's implied right of access is withdrawn and staying will be taken as harrassment before closing the door and if they don't leave they are commiting a criminal offence right there and then (it'd only be one instance of harrassment so no pattern to actually prove though) :)
Brilliant video for any generation. Getting scammed and the complexity is definitely a barrier to entry, something I'm sure a lot of us think about, especially for elderly relatives and family members. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for this! Know little about solar but my elderly parents are in the process of getting them and could easily see them entertaining such cold callers longer than they should, will warn them about this. Such a shame the industry is prone to a bust/rename nature with personal information flowing to predators. Seen all sorts of scammers in our area from boilers, insulation, windows, CCTV installers & more.
Well done mate, it makes my blood boil that someone can take the piss out of that man. I honestly think they should have international laws on this scamming.
Super video and an important topic to cover, well done Jordan and the Artisan team. Voltage optomisers were sold extensively around a decade ago. We spend a lot of time removing lots of them these days. More trouble and problems than they ever solved.
Not all heros wear cloaks. Thank your for reassuring Colin with compassion. It’s so easy to fall for these scams. Colin is also lucky to have his son supporting him. Karma will sort everyone out.
There could be a “ photo and details” accessible database of scammers as reported.. scammers just change or update their scams but they remain at large.. great run through Artisan👍
good advice to everyone with solar or who is considering solar. This has displayed yet another example of companies or individuals targeting the aged and venerable. Big thanks to Artisan for producing this video.
Jordan. Thanks also for mentioning that a slightly higher voltage is what is pushing the house to select electricity from the inverter instead of the grid. Makes sense.
Watched hundreds of videos on these systems and this one has finally made my mind up. Way to much hassle and far to expensive to warrant any savings. Solar panels are not for me.
Great helpful video! My dad gets at least 2 cold calls a week from many different companies about his solar panels 😢 Luckily he knows they are scammers.
We have a BT Call Blocker on our landline and quite a few of the calls that it intercepts and blocks are, when I Google the number, a solar scam. Great job getting the message out there. Keep up the good work.👍👍
I had the same experience as your elderly client. He had hardly got through the front door before he started on about the input voltage to the inverter. Nothing else on the checklist promised in their initial approach seemed to interest him and almost as soon as he had looked at the inverter display he said he would have to "fail" the installation. He then tried to pressure me to buy a voltage regulator that just happened to have come available For my part, I kept plugging away at the other checks on the system that had been promised which seemed to annoy him as "failure" rendered those superfluous. I informed him it wasn't my way to fork out big money without further enquiries. So, our conversation went rapidly downhill ending with him ripping up his results sheet from his clipboard and storming out. His throwaway line was to forget that he had ever been. I guess it was his obvious preoccupation with just this one inverter voltage thing that had set alarm bells ringing.
This is a great video, having had an over voltage (and living in a rural area), what I found was that on a sunny day the export of power to the grid was regularly driving the grid voltage over 253v, so one suggestion I would have for checking grid voltage is that it needs to be done when grid export is happening and also over a longer period of time. Also, the inverter should have historical information on grid voltage since it’s been installed, so that’s another place to look. In my case I contacted the DNO and after some calls into their contact centre, they came out tested the voltage, determined that the local pole mount transformer didn’t have voltage taps and changed it for one that does and now my grid voltage sits around 238-241v most morning and gets up to no more that 248v on a sunny afternoon.
I installed solar on my last house back in 2014. Four or five years later I started to get letters offering free safety checks. A quick Google search showed it to be nonsense and I just shredded it. I moved three years ago so I can't quite remember whether it was addressed to me or the Homeowner. There was a hint that some MCS list might have been used inappropriately but I couldn't prove that. It could also just have been someone using Google maps and Street View to identify properties.
Great video, this is the sort of content that gives back to the viewers by giving them warnings and heads-up in advance. Nice to see. And great to see that family sharing their story.
I had a similar thing. Cold caller told me that the company that had installed my panels had gone bust but they were willing to take over the contract. I do not have solar panels. An appointment was arranged and a man turned up. He noticed that i did not have solar panels and i agreed. He was a little upset because he had driven 50 miles and threatened legal action. I pointed out that at no time did i say that i had panels, that i was told that i had by their young lady. He left. A few minutes later i received a call from a very irate woman....the one that told me that i had panels....threatening legal action. I wished her luck and hung up!
Well done Jordan, another top video. I've been told that the new regulations insist on an anti surge device in your consumer unit. Is this another optimiser scam?
Thanks for those guys coming forward and for you Jordon for making your time free for these guys. We have not been approach by any such sales people, but the grid does vary at our location in mid Wales. We have seenk and report as high as 250.53v and as low as 230v on our Solar Assistant monitoring system which was corrected a few days later back to 241.1v and could show you a graph, but UA-cam does not support photos in the reponces saddly.
Great video. Sadly solar scammers are not specific to just the UK. Lots of them in the USA who lie about government incentives and what not. I knew the guys I picked were legit when they outright told me my solar array would cover around 50% of my usage (WFH + 2 EV cars) so they weren't exaggerating and the pricing per component was on par with local suppliers I could buy myself. I've had it for a year now and roughly speaking ya they're right it's covering about 50% of my usage.
We have one a similar size, but no electric cars - 3 adults in property. Our annual generation approximately equals or JUST exceeds our usage, as predicted. Because of there being times when the batteries are fully-charged and we're not using the rest, we sometimes export, and likewise, there are times when our peak usage is too high, or we've exhausted the batteries, so we import. Those two figures are approximately the same, over the year (obviously, this month, our usage is about double our production, but I found that this was the worst month last year). I also note that our gas usage is reduced as well (used for heating/hot water), since there are occasions, especially in spring/autumn, when we use self-generated electricity for small heat boosts or boiling water for washing-up rather than gas.
The cold calls relating to solar are a right pain luckily my current phone lets me blacklist numbers. I tried complaining to Ofcom gave them the phone number and name of the company but got nowhere. I have only had an over voltage on 1 day in the 12 years I have had my solar. When the over voltage occured both my solar inverter and battery inverter disconnected to protect themselves. IIRC the cutoff was at 254v I suspect the over voltage was due to high levels of solar on the grid as when the sun started to go down the voltage dropped and both systems reconnected. It was a bit worrying at the time but it's never happened since. My battery inverter provides a graph of the AC input voltage it tends to fluctuate between 240 - 248v.
Moved into a property already with solar, previous owners were elderly and there is a voltage optimiser installed. The voltage from the main supply is within the optimal range.
I'm what you call a "DNO", exept I work in Denmark. I do this sort of thing a few times every month, where I go out to the cable box furthest away from the grid transformer and measure the voltage. If the voltage is out of guidelines, I disconnect the transformer from the grid and step the windings on the transformer up or down accordingly. The difference over here is a "voltage complaint" is automaticly reported to us by the house meter. That's what we react on. Therefor the grid is completly self reliant and will be serviced without costumer intervention.
Step 1.... stop answering the door to these scumbags... Step 2 is a must especially if you worry for your parents, grandparents etc.... fit a door bell camera...... Step 3 keep telling them these are near all scammers calling your phone or knocking on the door Step 4 be there for your family and keep them safe..... It's so sad to see so many especially elderly getting conned like that, he wouldn't use enough electric to even benefit having panels and here in Ireland the pensioners get so many electric credits free, so many of them loving in the dark still in many cases loads in the bank or cash and won't spend it on themselves
Also suggest registering with telephone preference service to stop cold calling and mail preference service to stop junk mail - its not perfect but over a period of a few months it does substantially reduce the rubbish..
Alternatively, if it's a phone call, have some real fun with them. I got the classic conservatory cold call and was so fed up I decided to have some fun. I held them on the phone for over an hour going over options, designs, prices, installation times, etc. At the end I asked if the conservatory came on stilts. Obviously they where confused, it was then that I explained that my property was a third floor flat. I've never heard so much swearing from someone.
A big one on the tech side is get a proper ad-blocker on their devices. The vast majority of malware that comes from non-dodgy computer use comes from unscrupulous ad networks and dodgy Facebook ads. Just make sure you put on an exception for our lad here ;)
You're making me smile so much. I have ad reducers running, but a VPN does even more to keep ads from following you around. I have UA-cam Red, or Premium or whatever they call it now so if I appreciate someone and watch a lot, they're making even more than the ads.@@hiddendip5165
Such an honest genuine company and I wished you where in my area, solar is something I'v been thinking about lately, and after watch a few of your videos you would be the company I would definitely be contacting.
I have been critical on some of your videos... think it's only fair to give praise too... this is a good video. Glad you were able to give the reassurance to a vulnerable person 👍👍👍
my dads had similar. The original company went bust. The "phoenix" company keeps calling my dad to say the old installation is no longer safe and needs replacing. Even though its worked fine for over 20 years. The power company also keep trying to make him sign a new agreement that lowers his £££ for selling excess back to the grid.
I know someone who was tricked into a voltage optimiser. Solar installer went bust, a new company who happened to have their contact details approached offering a free check. Thankfully they didn’t take out maintenance. A scam just as you describe, operating in Cambridgeshire.
Well done Jordan, soooo refreshing. We had a 4kW array fitted in late 2011. Apart from a new inverter, all still good. I get cold calls about solar 'health' checks literally almost every 2 or 3 days. Presumably the gvmnt released our details without asking I'd say.
Like the last guy ( Christopher-S) said, your a saint , I don't have solar panels but you info regarding this scam must be invaluable to many people who watched this vlog , well done for putting yourself out like this , best wishes
Great content and great work you are doing! I think the voltage is probably too high (sometimes). I've looked continuous data of the grid voltage of a house and it can vary a lot over the day. To know for sure, it is necessary to do a measurement campaign over a few days to figure out the max voltage acheived. I'd say, if the voltage that high in a single measurement, there's a good possibility it may vary +/- 5% around that value within the day.
Mix a small amount of Jeyes fluid in water and spray on the panels, the rain will wash it off and the lichen will disappear for a whole year, no scrubbing required!
Unfortunately the scum who hard sell double glazing door to door aren't above preying on our parents and grandparents. Its people like you who buck this trend. Honesty is a rare and prized value in todays world. Respect sir. P.s. my old man was telescammed two years ago. Solution... change phone number and call guardian but what a nightmare!
Been waiting months for a voltage recorder from our DNO, without that they won't acknowledge our overvoltage problem. It's regularly over 255V and peaks over 260V most days
PS solar arrays in domestic install don't need to be earthed! ON fault, they can reach string level (700VDC). Inverter is ISOLATED ,so RCD is not involved. Fault will hopefully show on inverter, but it CANNOT shut down the 700v string voltage.
My parents had solar hot water heaters installed about 15 years ago. The installer went bust, as did the manufacturer of the panels. They get regularly hounded by someone who obtained the customer list, who tries to sell them an annual service which costs twice what it would cost to use gas to heat the same volume of hot water the system produces. Unbelievable.
I think a good rule in general is: If they come to you they're most likely a scam, if you go to them they might be legit. Don't buy anything from cold callers and door to door salespeople. Don't respond to any form of marketing.
Lmao I love that when UA-cam plays an ad for me it's first ad is a well known solar scam in my state of a company that charges you MORE per month to use YOUR roof with no battery backup and no drop of cost should "their panels on your roof" feed back into the grid.
My voltage optimiser, which was fitted free with my installation 12 or 13 years ago is still working very well. Another scam is fitting a voltage optimisers in the wrong place.
Thanks for the video. I live in a rural area with trees close by and the raise solar panels are abig no no. Lots of room for leaves etc and jack daws to nest and then cause damp issues. I had never thought about cracked panels too as I had considered a neighbers where the panels are integrated into the roof tiles. It gets rid of the leaf and nesting issue I worry about, but cracked panels are expensive to repair. A tile is just a few quid. In high winds I can imagine we're going to get the odd short branch hit our roof.
What are the odds that setting-up the system so you can monitor it properly is an "optional extra", allowing them to charge more for changing 0 to 100 and showing you how to log in...
Great video, great information. I'm in the states but for the most part the equipment is the same, just different mains voltage. I have a great installer and glad to see there are great installers in the UK that are there to help and not just make a fast buck/quid.
Well done Jordan. Over the years I have had so many scammers try it on, either by email or by phone, generally i I like to play with them a little then block them.
Note that the cracked panel at 10:25 may be a fire hazard. That panel should be checked with a thermal camera as cracked cells can overheat or just flat out replace the panel. Well done raising awareness about these kind of scams and keep up the good work!
@@artisanelectrics Of course you did, why am I even doubting this. 😅 The customer notice might not have made the editorial cut, but having mentioned the crack, I should have assumed you're including that in the report. 👍
I'm a field service engineer for a number of years, I work for a company that maintains vending machines. I've always worked in vending and haven't come across or been asked to up sell or cold call at all. However I have a couple of friends who left my company to go to work in other sectors as engineers. One returned for the same reason as in this video. He was being forced to up sell EVERYTHING for a financial gain to the engineer. He was also told he had sales targets to meet. It's a disgrace that some companies do this.
Depending on where you are and what the network operators requirements are, you may have to further limit the maximum voltage rise from the solar imverter. Specifically if you are exporting to the grid which may cause higher than normal voltages on the grid
We had two quotes for Solar PV back in late 2018. One guy talked up a storm about voltage optimisers, claiming that by dropping our voltage from 245V to 230V we'd save a load of money "because you'll be using less power". We nodded politely, then went with his competitor.
If less volts, then more amps, and until you combine the 2 into watts over time, you won't know your cost. Don't know enough to put a bet on it, but as the saying goes, I bet your devices would cost you the same. (Simpler. Devices don't change the watts they need because voltage is different.)
My elderly next door neighbour got targeted by one of these maintenance companies. They recommended a clean, 2 annual services and also something about an over voltage error. Luckily for her, I had a solar install booked a few weeks later, and our guys checked her system free of charge and said there wasn’t any issues.
Great stuff! I am astonished about how many solar scams there are. Ironically, I've just watched an advert, played during this video, which I believe is a solar scam. I have also noticed some of Artisan's footage being used in some solar adverts.
Yes, I will look out for them and let you know. The one I saw the other day started by saying something like "do you live in one of these areas, and are you considering solar panels? Well, stop!"...
A friend of mine got ripped off £3500 for a useless maintenance contract and a voltage optimiser. This was before I knew her very well. More recently she was visited for a "free check up" after a cold call claiming to be from the warranty company. He told her the inverter was showing a fault and needed.a replacement for £4000. But now she knows to run these things past me before agreeing to any work. When I went to look the inverter was displaying "grid failure, check fuse". So I checked the MCB and it was off. I turned it back on and the system has worked perfectly ever since. Now I can't "proove" that it didn't trip because of a temporary fault but it's highly coincidental that it failed on the day he visited. I have to wonder at how many people are being ripped off by these crooks on a daily basis.
We had a genuine over voltage at our property. Called the DNO, and they said it’s considered an emergency due to danger and someone was there in 15 minutes. They measured the voltage then, found it within limits, and so installed a logger for a week and then adjusted the tap on the transformer to compensate.
welcome to our world! It's nothing new, these 'up grade' companies have been running calls like this for ten years or more. Well done for highlighting it though.
i relise that you need to make vidios but well done to you! not only helpping out that famley but also to bring the sams out to us the public. good one jordan.
This is the trouble with anything that is technical you will always get scammers. Whether its solar, insulation, cavity wall insulation, heat pumps...... Ect you will get scammers with little experience. I work in the motor trade I see garages set up we call you tube mechanics. They haven't got a clue and don't know what a torque wrench is. It's about time all trades where regulated and all employees are vetted and accredited with the trade they are qualified in.
Getting the DNO interested in oven voltage 😂. Back in 2011 a few of us in a rural area had solar installed some of the systems were performing much better than others. ( this was very early days for solar) after some time it transpired some systems were shutting down in peak sunshine due to over voltage. DNO wasn’t interested as when they tested the voltage it was just under the 258. The basic optimiser proved to be a cheap and easy fix to the problem installations. Lamps and plug in power supplies lasted a lot longer on the lower voltage. A lot of the farms around have supplies at or over 250v add solar and it starts to lift.
My dad nowadays tells salesmen that "My son has power of attorney, he looks after my money now, so you'll need to speak to him too". The dodgy ones quickly make their excuses and leave.
If there is overvoltage, undervoltage and frequency outside 50Hz, the inverter switches off and a red light appears. This is mandatory in all European countries that are connected to the common continental electricity grid. But England is separate. The connection between England and the continent is established via a high-voltage DC line. That's why the English electricity grid is separate.
Unfortunately these sort of scams are going on around the world lately. It's really sad, but unfortunately some people still like to scam the innocent and vulnerable people out of there savings.
Request a quote from Artisan Electrics here - app.openquote.net/company/artisanelectrics
Where I live we have constant mail spam from fake traders with leaflets linking to review sites full of fake reviews by their friends and family, you can't trust reivew sites, This is a widely know issue that has been around for years especialy in the building trade, And the review sites do nothing about them when you report it, all they care about is ad money and this includes a lot of the largest review sites on the internet.
Thanks for this. I am really confused about your statement that a solar system has to "push out a higher voltage". Unless I am missing something this would cause all sorts of problems. An inverter uses a link inductor (somewhat complex to explain) which controls which way the current should be flowing. Thoughts? Thanks again.
You're a saint for doing this for this gent. Honestly, it boils my blood to see things like this. I'm a self employed computer systems integrator (posh for "I build custom computers") and the stories I've heard make me so sad.
I was called by a retirement home just last week where a resident had some work done. While they were in the residence, they were able to get a few more jobs. They butchered peoples computers leaving them worse off than before they started. I went in and fixed them all up, back to where they were. I carried out physical maintenance on their computers and made sure they could be as good as they could be. I didn't charge them for labour.
People that take advantage of anyone are nothing but scum. I just wish the police and court system would take action on these clear cases of miss-selling and misleading advice. It's nothing but a scam.
I am also in the computer line of work and the things i overheard sales people tell elderly customers. They flat out lie and try to up sell the customers stuff they have no use for what so ever. It is just so wrong and makes me sad.
It angers me so much knowing this is going on and that so many victims are being scammed
Nice one. 👍
You're a saint too for helping those residents of the retirement home. Elderly people can get so distressed when they get taken advantage of or they think they've lost everything on their computer. Nice to know there's at least one good and kind computer expert out there.
Another scam which has been going on for years is the extended warranty. I used to be in the same line of work as you. An example: A potential customer, who is now a friend, asked for a quote for the computer he wanted. So I gave it, and detailed my customer care terms. He then went to a big high street retailer and paid £400 more for a much less capable (entry level) system, and then bought the 3 year extended warranty,
That computer was nothing but trouble, and he wasn't happy when I told him that I couldn't open the box to try to fix hardware issues without voiding his warranty. So he went to the shop, after a month or two and paid the labour costs for fitting a new hard drive and installing the operating system. Only the hard drive was covered by that warranty, according to the shop. They failed to tell him that the drive had a 12 month warranty, which meant there was no cost to the shop. He scrapped the computer about 2 years and bought another computer, again from a retailer.
So that warranty wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.
At about the same time, another customer bought a computer from me, for the lower price. They owned that computer for at least 5 years, and I was called out twice in that time, to fix software issues. At some point, they had more memory fitted, for an inflated price, by another technician, who remarked about the high quality of the construction, and in particular the almost bomb proof cooling system. (That pleased me.) Indeed, if the cooling fan had failed, the heatsink and case ventilation would have enabled the computer to run at full power without overheating.
How much did that extra cooling cost the customer when they bought the computer? About £25. How much did my 2 call-outs cost them? About 25% of the high street shop's 3 year extended warranty. Furthermore, when they sold the computer, it still made a very useful entry level computer for someone's secondary school child; perfectly adequate for their school work.
No 6: NEVER talk to cold callers. If they haven't been invited by you to contact them, then they are almost always up to no good.
Nice one Jordan.
Thank you Jordan! For helping this lovely gentleman and making it right!
Course he’d be happy to help this lovely gentlemen out, he’s still sending him an invoice 😂
@@MrLegend139well yeah he’s running a business not a charity
The point being, a fair price for an honest job.
@@Daniells1982fair price off Jordan? Have a day off. Even dick Turpin wore a mask!
If only the world had more sparkies & tradesmen like you. I’m pretty tuned in but I’ve had numerous run ins with dodgy workmen over the years. Big thanks for all you do ✌️
I am old school as a joiner and I always make sure the customer is happy with what you have done for them do the job right even if it takes a little longer if the customer is happy they will pay you and come back to you for more work 😊👍well done to you sir keep up the good work 👏👏
👍👍👍
I can't hep thinking these scammers worked / owned the original solar installers and are using the info they have on all their installs to fleece the vulnerable. Good work on exposing this, Jordan.
I wonder if the original companies sold on the details of customers at some point. We'd been contacted by someone and they've obviously got our details from somewhere, and we did know the original company had gone out of business quite soon after they were fitted. I wonder how many people think they are dealing with the original company or someone nominated to take over maintenance. My gut was that it was dodgy but I can see how someone might not notice especially with how many installers have gone under.
Well done. As an 'oldy myself If I get a knock on the door and a stranger is standing there trying to sell me something, I always say I dont buy at the front door then close it.
The right way to deal with it
If they're in your garden you can also state their and their company's implied right of access is withdrawn and staying will be taken as harrassment before closing the door and if they don't leave they are commiting a criminal offence right there and then (it'd only be one instance of harrassment so no pattern to actually prove though) :)
Well done for exposing these solar scams and helping this family out Jordan. I love Artisan Electrics content. Keep the videos coming.
The message needed to get out there
Brilliant video for any generation. Getting scammed and the complexity is definitely a barrier to entry, something I'm sure a lot of us think about, especially for elderly relatives and family members. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for this! Know little about solar but my elderly parents are in the process of getting them and could easily see them entertaining such cold callers longer than they should, will warn them about this. Such a shame the industry is prone to a bust/rename nature with personal information flowing to predators. Seen all sorts of scammers in our area from boilers, insulation, windows, CCTV installers & more.
Well done mate, it makes my blood boil that someone can take the piss out of that man. I honestly think they should have international laws on this scamming.
Jordan, You are a such a 💎 gem. Thanks for helping this gentleman with his solar problem.
God Bless people like you 🙏
David
I appreciate that!
Nice to see a quality installer helping to reassure vulnerable people - great work!
Super video and an important topic to cover, well done Jordan and the Artisan team. Voltage optomisers were sold extensively around a decade ago. We spend a lot of time removing lots of them these days. More trouble and problems than they ever solved.
Not all heros wear cloaks. Thank your for reassuring Colin with compassion. It’s so easy to fall for these scams. Colin is also lucky to have his son supporting him. Karma will sort everyone out.
There could be a “ photo and details” accessible database of scammers as reported.. scammers just change or update their scams but they remain at large.. great run through Artisan👍
good advice to everyone with solar or who is considering solar. This has displayed yet another example of companies or individuals targeting the aged and venerable. Big thanks to Artisan for producing this video.
Jordan. Thanks also for mentioning that a slightly higher voltage is what is pushing the house to select electricity from the inverter instead of the grid. Makes sense.
True! Watched MANY solar videos, and this is the first, I believe, that I've heard this!
Watched hundreds of videos on these systems and this one has finally made my mind up. Way to much hassle and far to expensive to warrant any savings. Solar panels are not for me.
Great helpful video! My dad gets at least 2 cold calls a week from many different companies about his solar panels 😢 Luckily he knows they are scammers.
Well done Jordan. Great help to everyone especially the customer!!
We have a BT Call Blocker on our landline and quite a few of the calls that it intercepts and blocks are, when I Google the number, a solar scam. Great job getting the message out there. Keep up the good work.👍👍
I had the same experience as your elderly client. He had hardly got through the front door before he started on about the input voltage to the inverter. Nothing else on the checklist promised in their initial approach seemed to interest him and almost as soon as he had looked at the inverter display he said he would have to "fail" the installation. He then tried to pressure me to buy a voltage regulator that just happened to have come available For my part, I kept plugging away at the other checks on the system that had been promised which seemed to annoy him as "failure" rendered those superfluous. I informed him it wasn't my way to fork out big money without further enquiries. So, our conversation went rapidly downhill ending with him ripping up his results sheet from his clipboard and storming out. His throwaway line was to forget that he had ever been. I guess it was his obvious preoccupation with just this one inverter voltage thing that had set alarm bells ringing.
Those scammers should not be allowed to have people's information. You are a star to sort it out.
It angers me so much knowing this is happening
This is a great video, having had an over voltage (and living in a rural area), what I found was that on a sunny day the export of power to the grid was regularly driving the grid voltage over 253v, so one suggestion I would have for checking grid voltage is that it needs to be done when grid export is happening and also over a longer period of time. Also, the inverter should have historical information on grid voltage since it’s been installed, so that’s another place to look. In my case I contacted the DNO and after some calls into their contact centre, they came out tested the voltage, determined that the local pole mount transformer didn’t have voltage taps and changed it for one that does and now my grid voltage sits around 238-241v most morning and gets up to no more that 248v on a sunny afternoon.
They are not being contacted by 'other companies'. They are being contacted by the company that went bust, now with a new name!
Jordan this was a fantastic episode, well presented and production qualities were top rate. Your delivery and content super thank you.
Great work Jordon! So great seeing these people exposed!!
I installed solar on my last house back in 2014. Four or five years later I started to get letters offering free safety checks. A quick Google search showed it to be nonsense and I just shredded it. I moved three years ago so I can't quite remember whether it was addressed to me or the Homeowner. There was a hint that some MCS list might have been used inappropriately but I couldn't prove that. It could also just have been someone using Google maps and Street View to identify properties.
Great video, this is the sort of content that gives back to the viewers by giving them warnings and heads-up in advance. Nice to see. And great to see that family sharing their story.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I had a similar thing. Cold caller told me that the company that had installed my panels had gone bust but they were willing to take over the contract. I do not have solar panels. An appointment was arranged and a man turned up. He noticed that i did not have solar panels and i agreed. He was a little upset because he had driven 50 miles and threatened legal action. I pointed out that at no time did i say that i had panels, that i was told that i had by their young lady. He left. A few minutes later i received a call from a very irate woman....the one that told me that i had panels....threatening legal action. I wished her luck and hung up!
Amazing story, worth the retelling!!
Well done Jordan, another top video. I've been told that the new regulations insist on an anti surge device in your consumer unit. Is this another optimiser scam?
Congratulations for being an honest gentleman. A better role model could not be found.
Thanks for those guys coming forward and for you Jordon for making your time free for these guys. We have not been approach by any such sales people, but the grid does vary at our location in mid Wales. We have seenk and report as high as 250.53v and as low as 230v on our Solar Assistant monitoring system which was corrected a few days later back to 241.1v and could show you a graph, but UA-cam does not support photos in the reponces saddly.
Great video. Sadly solar scammers are not specific to just the UK. Lots of them in the USA who lie about government incentives and what not.
I knew the guys I picked were legit when they outright told me my solar array would cover around 50% of my usage (WFH + 2 EV cars) so they weren't exaggerating and the pricing per component was on par with local suppliers I could buy myself. I've had it for a year now and roughly speaking ya they're right it's covering about 50% of my usage.
We have one a similar size, but no electric cars - 3 adults in property. Our annual generation approximately equals or JUST exceeds our usage, as predicted. Because of there being times when the batteries are fully-charged and we're not using the rest, we sometimes export, and likewise, there are times when our peak usage is too high, or we've exhausted the batteries, so we import. Those two figures are approximately the same, over the year (obviously, this month, our usage is about double our production, but I found that this was the worst month last year). I also note that our gas usage is reduced as well (used for heating/hot water), since there are occasions, especially in spring/autumn, when we use self-generated electricity for small heat boosts or boiling water for washing-up rather than gas.
The cold calls relating to solar are a right pain luckily my current phone lets me blacklist numbers.
I tried complaining to Ofcom gave them the phone number and name of the company but got nowhere.
I have only had an over voltage on 1 day in the 12 years I have had my solar.
When the over voltage occured both my solar inverter and battery inverter disconnected to protect themselves.
IIRC the cutoff was at 254v
I suspect the over voltage was due to high levels of solar on the grid as when the sun started to go down the voltage dropped and both systems reconnected.
It was a bit worrying at the time but it's never happened since.
My battery inverter provides a graph of the AC input voltage it tends to fluctuate between 240 - 248v.
Great video! And lovey to see you helping the vulnerable while spreading fantastic information! 🙏
Glad it was helpful!
Great video, Jordan, really useful content that should become a go to for anyone caught by scammers. Hope it gets shared heaps 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Moved into a property already with solar, previous owners were elderly and there is a voltage optimiser installed. The voltage from the main supply is within the optimal range.
Excellent video - first one I've commented on and it's great to see you helping this lovely gent out.
I don't have solar panels but its useful to have this knowledge to pass on to others who have solar panels to be aware of scammers.
I'm what you call a "DNO", exept I work in Denmark. I do this sort of thing a few times every month, where I go out to the cable box furthest away from the grid transformer and measure the voltage. If the voltage is out of guidelines, I disconnect the transformer from the grid and step the windings on the transformer up or down accordingly. The difference over here is a "voltage complaint" is automaticly reported to us by the house meter. That's what we react on. Therefor the grid is completly self reliant and will be serviced without costumer intervention.
So good to share this great job lads 🇨🇮😎
Brilliant thing you’ve done for this gentleman hat’s off to you 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Step 1.... stop answering the door to these scumbags...
Step 2 is a must especially if you worry for your parents, grandparents etc.... fit a door bell camera......
Step 3 keep telling them these are near all scammers calling your phone or knocking on the door
Step 4 be there for your family and keep them safe.....
It's so sad to see so many especially elderly getting conned like that, he wouldn't use enough electric to even benefit having panels and here in Ireland the pensioners get so many electric credits free, so many of them loving in the dark still in many cases loads in the bank or cash and won't spend it on themselves
Also suggest registering with telephone preference service to stop cold calling and mail preference service to stop junk mail - its not perfect but over a period of a few months it does substantially reduce the rubbish..
Alternatively, if it's a phone call, have some real fun with them. I got the classic conservatory cold call and was so fed up I decided to have some fun. I held them on the phone for over an hour going over options, designs, prices, installation times, etc. At the end I asked if the conservatory came on stilts. Obviously they where confused, it was then that I explained that my property was a third floor flat. I've never heard so much swearing from someone.
A big one on the tech side is get a proper ad-blocker on their devices. The vast majority of malware that comes from non-dodgy computer use comes from unscrupulous ad networks and dodgy Facebook ads. Just make sure you put on an exception for our lad here ;)
You're making me smile so much. I have ad reducers running, but a VPN does even more to keep ads from following you around. I have UA-cam Red, or Premium or whatever they call it now so if I appreciate someone and watch a lot, they're making even more than the ads.@@hiddendip5165
Do you have stilts you say? @@JoannaHammond
Read many a comment deserving an upvote, but finally upvoted you. :)
Such an honest genuine company and I wished you where in my area, solar is something I'v been thinking about lately, and after watch a few of your videos you would be the company I would definitely be contacting.
Hope to see you soon 😉
I have been critical on some of your videos... think it's only fair to give praise too... this is a good video. Glad you were able to give the reassurance to a vulnerable person 👍👍👍
my dads had similar. The original company went bust. The "phoenix" company keeps calling my dad to say the old installation is no longer safe and needs replacing. Even though its worked fine for over 20 years. The power company also keep trying to make him sign a new agreement that lowers his £££ for selling excess back to the grid.
I know someone who was tricked into a voltage optimiser. Solar installer went bust, a new company who happened to have their contact details approached offering a free check. Thankfully they didn’t take out maintenance. A scam just as you describe, operating in Cambridgeshire.
Well done Jordan, soooo refreshing. We had a 4kW array fitted in late 2011. Apart from a new inverter, all still good. I get cold calls about solar 'health' checks literally almost every 2 or 3 days. Presumably the gvmnt released our details without asking I'd say.
Like the last guy ( Christopher-S) said, your a saint , I don't have solar panels but you info regarding this scam must be invaluable to many people who watched this vlog , well done for putting yourself out like this , best wishes
Great content and great work you are doing! I think the voltage is probably too high (sometimes). I've looked continuous data of the grid voltage of a house and it can vary a lot over the day. To know for sure, it is necessary to do a measurement campaign over a few days to figure out the max voltage acheived. I'd say, if the voltage that high in a single measurement, there's a good possibility it may vary +/- 5% around that value within the day.
Mix a small amount of Jeyes fluid in water and spray on the panels, the rain will wash it off and the lichen will disappear for a whole year, no scrubbing required!
people try to clean our chimmneys several times every year, for a fee, even though they are not in use since 2007...
People clean their solar panels? I haven't done that since it was installed, and really it did not have noticeable lowered results in 10 years.
Unfortunately the scum who hard sell double glazing door to door aren't above preying on our parents and grandparents. Its people like you who buck this trend. Honesty is a rare and prized value in todays world. Respect sir. P.s. my old man was telescammed two years ago. Solution... change phone number and call guardian but what a nightmare!
Well done Jordan, Keep up the great work mate.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you
Nice to see there are still some genuine people left in the world
Been waiting months for a voltage recorder from our DNO, without that they won't acknowledge our overvoltage problem. It's regularly over 255V and peaks over 260V most days
Inform your insurance company to see if you are covered for damage to any appliances and CC the DNO
PS solar arrays in domestic install don't need to be earthed! ON fault, they can reach string level (700VDC).
Inverter is ISOLATED ,so RCD is not involved. Fault will hopefully show on inverter, but it CANNOT shut down the 700v string voltage.
My parents had solar hot water heaters installed about 15 years ago. The installer went bust, as did the manufacturer of the panels. They get regularly hounded by someone who obtained the customer list, who tries to sell them an annual service which costs twice what it would cost to use gas to heat the same volume of hot water the system produces. Unbelievable.
I think a good rule in general is: If they come to you they're most likely a scam, if you go to them they might be legit. Don't buy anything from cold callers and door to door salespeople. Don't respond to any form of marketing.
Great video jordan loving to see my mate grant be involved with this 👍👍😎😎 thank you for spreading awareness for oldys like myself
Lmao I love that when UA-cam plays an ad for me it's first ad is a well known solar scam in my state of a company that charges you MORE per month to use YOUR roof with no battery backup and no drop of cost should "their panels on your roof" feed back into the grid.
My voltage optimiser, which was fitted free with my installation 12 or 13 years ago is still working very well.
Another scam is fitting a voltage optimisers in the wrong place.
It's a good thing you're highlighting things like this but lets face it there's an absolutely humongous scam going on here.
Agreed
Thanks for the video.
I live in a rural area with trees close by and the raise solar panels are abig no no. Lots of room for leaves etc and jack daws to nest and then cause damp issues.
I had never thought about cracked panels too as I had considered a neighbers where the panels are integrated into the roof tiles. It gets rid of the leaf and nesting issue I worry about, but cracked panels are expensive to repair. A tile is just a few quid. In high winds I can imagine we're going to get the odd short branch hit our roof.
Nice job! In the U.S. but always enjoy your videos.
It sounds like the original installer didnt fulfill their contract either by not setting monitoring up correctly.
What are the odds that setting-up the system so you can monitor it properly is an "optional extra", allowing them to charge more for changing 0 to 100 and showing you how to log in...
This is a fantastic marketing video. Not only is the video well done, but the customer will be telling his neighbors about this guy.
Not many companies like yours are about my friend congrats to you for helping that family well done
Great video, great information. I'm in the states but for the most part the equipment is the same, just different mains voltage. I have a great installer and glad to see there are great installers in the UK that are there to help and not just make a fast buck/quid.
Well done Jordan. Over the years I have had so many scammers try it on, either by email or by phone, generally i I like to play with them a little then block them.
Note that the cracked panel at 10:25 may be a fire hazard. That panel should be checked with a thermal camera as cracked cells can overheat or just flat out replace the panel.
Well done raising awareness about these kind of scams and keep up the good work!
We did raise this with the customer. Thanks it is the least we can do about the issue
@@artisanelectrics Of course you did, why am I even doubting this. 😅
The customer notice might not have made the editorial cut, but having mentioned the crack, I should have assumed you're including that in the report. 👍
I'm a field service engineer for a number of years, I work for a company that maintains vending machines. I've always worked in vending and haven't come across or been asked to up sell or cold call at all. However I have a couple of friends who left my company to go to work in other sectors as engineers. One returned for the same reason as in this video. He was being forced to up sell EVERYTHING for a financial gain to the engineer. He was also told he had sales targets to meet. It's a disgrace that some companies do this.
Bloody well done mate ! Need more awareness against these bxxxxxds
Depending on where you are and what the network operators requirements are, you may have to further limit the maximum voltage rise from the solar imverter. Specifically if you are exporting to the grid which may cause higher than normal voltages on the grid
The salesman giving the free inspection is the old company under a different name.....obviously.....to some 🙄
We had two quotes for Solar PV back in late 2018. One guy talked up a storm about voltage optimisers, claiming that by dropping our voltage from 245V to 230V we'd save a load of money "because you'll be using less power". We nodded politely, then went with his competitor.
If less volts, then more amps, and until you combine the 2 into watts over time, you won't know your cost.
Don't know enough to put a bet on it, but as the saying goes, I bet your devices would cost you the same.
(Simpler. Devices don't change the watts they need because voltage is different.)
My elderly next door neighbour got targeted by one of these maintenance companies. They recommended a clean, 2 annual services and also something about an over voltage error. Luckily for her, I had a solar install booked a few weeks later, and our guys checked her system free of charge and said there wasn’t any issues.
Great stuff! I am astonished about how many solar scams there are. Ironically, I've just watched an advert, played during this video, which I believe is a solar scam. I have also noticed some of Artisan's footage being used in some solar adverts.
Which adverts are these, if you can send me a link on instagram messages then we would like to take a look if possible
Yes, I will look out for them and let you know. The one I saw the other day started by saying something like "do you live in one of these areas, and are you considering solar panels? Well, stop!"...
A friend of mine got ripped off £3500 for a useless maintenance contract and a voltage optimiser. This was before I knew her very well. More recently she was visited for a "free check up" after a cold call claiming to be from the warranty company. He told her the inverter was showing a fault and needed.a replacement for £4000.
But now she knows to run these things past me before agreeing to any work. When I went to look the inverter was displaying "grid failure, check fuse". So I checked the MCB and it was off. I turned it back on and the system has worked perfectly ever since. Now I can't "proove" that it didn't trip because of a temporary fault but it's highly coincidental that it failed on the day he visited.
I have to wonder at how many people are being ripped off by these crooks on a daily basis.
We had a genuine over voltage at our property. Called the DNO, and they said it’s considered an emergency due to danger and someone was there in 15 minutes. They measured the voltage then, found it within limits, and so installed a logger for a week and then adjusted the tap on the transformer to compensate.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Do Not Knock signs are a big thing here in australia, stops 99% of cold calling door knockers.
welcome to our world! It's nothing new, these 'up grade' companies have been running calls like this for ten years or more. Well done for highlighting it though.
Cold calling can also be unexpected phone calls as well as door knockers.
Great video and explanation....... not all hero’s wear capes!
i relise that you need to make vidios but well done to you! not only helpping out that famley but also to bring the sams out to us the public. good one jordan.
Moved into a new build. Had panels on the roof. I cased to the cables down to the cupboard under the stairs. They didn’t even wire it up 😂
This is the trouble with anything that is technical you will always get scammers. Whether its solar, insulation, cavity wall insulation, heat pumps...... Ect you will get scammers with little experience. I work in the motor trade I see garages set up we call you tube mechanics. They haven't got a clue and don't know what a torque wrench is. It's about time all trades where regulated and all employees are vetted and accredited with the trade they are qualified in.
Fantastic video thoroughly enjoyed it, keep up with the good work
Getting the DNO interested in oven voltage 😂. Back in 2011 a few of us in a rural area had solar installed some of the systems were performing much better than others. ( this was very early days for solar) after some time it transpired some systems were shutting down in peak sunshine due to over voltage. DNO wasn’t interested as when they tested the voltage it was just under the 258. The basic optimiser proved to be a cheap and easy fix to the problem installations. Lamps and plug in power supplies lasted a lot longer on the lower voltage. A lot of the farms around have supplies at or over 250v add solar and it starts to lift.
My dad nowadays tells salesmen that "My son has power of attorney, he looks after my money now, so you'll need to speak to him too".
The dodgy ones quickly make their excuses and leave.
Report the company to the Information Commissioner's Office and Trading Standards...
If someone needs to knock on your door to sell you something...its good for them and bad for you! Tell them to do one!
Exactly my friend
If there is overvoltage, undervoltage and frequency outside 50Hz, the inverter switches off and a red light appears. This is mandatory in all European countries that are connected to the common continental electricity grid. But England is separate. The connection between England and the continent is established via a high-voltage DC line. That's why the English electricity grid is separate.
My solar installation company emailed me warning of such scams. I could do with my panels being cleaned though :)
Unfortunately these sort of scams are going on around the world lately. It's really sad, but unfortunately some people still like to scam the innocent and vulnerable people out of there savings.