Business ProfileforPink Energy

At the time of the business closure in 2022, BBB was reporting the following information regarding a pattern of complaints:

According to information in BBB files, Power Home Solar, LLC d/b/a Pink Energy has a pattern of complaints in the areas of product and/or sales practice issues, as well as customer service issues.  Specifically, complainants allege that during the sales process representatives are suggesting the consumer can expect large savings on their electricity/utility bills as a result of the solar panel systems being installed.  Complainants allege that the sales representatives claim the solar power will provide the majority of the energy needed/used by the consumer's home and sometimes overproduce resulting in credits from the power companies.  Once the contract has been signed, complainants allege that they experience long delays in getting their systems activated due to inspection issues or equipment issues.  Additionally, once turned on, complainants allege the systems are not producing as much energy as previously suggested during the sales process.  Complainants are furthermore alleging that once they attempt to bring these issues to the company's attention, they are experiencing communication challenges such as long hold times on the phone, lack of response to emails, and/or unfulfilled promises to review the systems in question.

On May 6, 2022, BBB contacted the company seeking their voluntary cooperation in eliminating the pattern of complaint.  Power Home Solar, LLC d/b/a Pink Energy responded to the request agreeing to work toward eliminating the pattern of complaints by taking the following steps outlined by the company below:
We have instituted a minimum 7-day (longer if required by applicable jurisdiction) penalty-free cancellation period in order for customers to have additional time to review their contract and decision to purchase.
We are expanding our customer service team to better and more quickly respond to customer inquiries and have hired a leader with nearly 30 years of experience in sales and customer service to run this team.
We will launch a digital customer portal to give customers real-time insight into project status and timelines and provide a post-install communication and support tool.
We have extended our workmanship warranty for all existing and future residential customers to 10 years.
We are performing an independent investigation into sales practices.
We have been and will continue to revamp and improve our sales processes, and we are placing a renewed focus on ethics, honesty, and quality control. This includes:
The elimination of commission-only sales associates.
A third-party review of all sales training materials and requirements.
All sales associates must complete two weeks of training and a three-part Ethics in Sales course.
All sales associates have recently reaffirmed their ethical pledges and will be required to reaffirm them annually. All sales associates must sign a robust Honesty & Ethics in Sales Policy and retrain on sales and ethics policies every 60 days.
Recording and regularly auditing the sales team’s interactions with customers. This includes leadership dropping in on calls regularly and state of the art technology that uses AI to identify key words and phrases that should not be used and alert the sales associate in real time as well as flag for management.
New account success managers that walk customers through the contract to ensure they understand what they are agreeing to.
New project acceleration team that calls customers within 72 hours of the sale to go over a brief questionnaire to make sure they understand all terms of the contract and loan.
The establishment of an internal ethics committee to regularly audit sales practices to ensure all our ethical standards are upheld.
A secret shopper program.

 BBB Monitored the company’s efforts:
UPDATE 8/24/2022
Pink Energy outlined their plan to address the pattern of complaints identified by BBB and this update serves as the basis for our review of their progress to date.
BBB identified three primary areas of concern: sales practices; product quality; and customer service issues.
Pink Energy implemented a number of new policies and procedures relative to the training and oversight of their sales teams. BBB has seen a reduction in the number of complaints relating solely to selling practices.
Pink Energy recently terminated their relationship with Generac, a key supplier of batteries and components for their solar installations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQa_j1PGDwE). BBB believes that this step is addressing the product quality issues.
At that time, customer service issues persisted and consumers continued to point out lengthy delays and difficulty in contacting Pink Energy for service issues.

At this time the pattern of complaints will no longer be monitored or is no longer ongoing.

On September 26, 2022, the Missouri Attorney General's Office filed a Petition to obtain injunctive relief, restitution, civil penalties, and other equitable relief against Power Home Solar, LLC d/b/a Pink Energy in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County.  Charges filed allege that the business has made misrepresentations to Missouri consumers about its residential solar energy generation systems in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

The matter is pending.