Vivint Solar (also called SunRun) is a company that will woo you into thinking they are customer-oriented, responsive, and helpful. Their sales-team is on the ball, ready to get you to sign their contract. When they talk you through the contract, it looks like a win-win situation. This is what they tout: "No up front cost! You pay less per kwh than your local utility company! It's a win-win for the environment and for your utility bill!" I was so ready to do my part for the fight against climate change and start using solar energy, plus get a huge discount on my bill, but I did not read the fine print of the contract. You will sign your life away by signing this contract! Do not do it! I originally found Vivint Solar while walking through Costco. I always trusted Costco products and services, so it didn't occur to me to doubt this company. If I had only read a few of the reviews, I would have known better. Through the Costco contract, I was going to take out a loan and buy the solar panels. However, Vivint Solar convinced me that leasing was the better way to go. They baited me, and then switched me to their lease contract, which is completely one-sided. You can't get out of it! Once you have signed a contract and the panels are up on your roof, there is no going back, and they forget all about you. No more customer service. They just don't care about you anymore. Here is the reality: 1) Your utility bill does NOT go down. It goes UP. Read the fine print! You have to pay for all of the energy your solar panels PRODUCE. Not the energy that you CONSUME. So, if you live in a sunny climate, your panels are going to be constantly producing energy. You will PAY for this energy! Even if you are away on a trip, not using any energy. It's not what you consume, it's what the panels produce! You will see other reviews where people have tried to cover their panels with black tarps, so that they will stop producing energy. But this is in breach of the contract. It states specifically that you cannot obstruct the panels in any way from sunlight. 2) They say they will never place a lien on your home. Guess what? They not only placed a lien on my home, they placed TWO liens on my home! I couldn't sell my house! By the way, a UCC-1 Financing Statement is a lien. It's the same thing. 3) You have to pay them for 20 years! And every year you will see a 2.9% increase. Which is way higher than any increase you will see from your local utility company. Eventually, you are going to be paying through the roof for leasing those solar panels from Vivint. 4) If your roof needs repairing? Forget it. This is where their customer service starts to fail miserably. You need to give them at least 30 days notice. You have to pay a fee to remove and reinstall the panels. You can never get a hold of them. Never mind if your roof is leaking and monsoon season is starting up. If you actually do talk with someone who knows what they're talking about, and has any authority, then it will take 30 days for them to even cash your check. Then they will call you to set up a date another 15 days after that for a team to come remove the panels. It is a pain to get ahold of anyone who can actually help you. By the way, I found out my roof had over 90% hail damage from a storm that occurred before the panels were installed. This means Vivint solar installed their panels on an already damaged roof, even though they told me they did a thorough inspection beforehand. 4) If you move these are your options: a-you can transfer the system to the new homeowner, b-you can take the system with you, at your own expense and provided that your new home is located within their service territory AND where the sun exposure is not less than your current property. c-you can buy the system from them, whatever the price that they set! So, in my case, the new homeowner did not want solar panels from Vivint Solar (imagine that, they actually read the reviews). I could not take the panels with me because I was moving to a location where Vivint did not provide service, so my only option was to buy the panels. I could not get out of the contract any other way. How much do you ask? I had to buy them for $20,000!! This is way higher than if you were to just buy some solar panels on your own. And again, trying to get ahold of customer service and then anyone who could actually tell me how much it was going to be to buy myself out of the contract was nearly impossible. Managers are reluctant to help you and never call you back. I finally called Costco, and they helped me get ahold of someone with authority. Bottom line, if you're going to go with Vivint Solar, only do a purchase contract through Costco, so you have another company backing you up. Do not sign a lease agreement! Read the fine print. Or just don't do it. Go with a different solar company.

Really had a great experience working with Vivint! Stacey was great to work with- very patient, and responds quickly to my inquiries. The only suggestion I have is when I stalling the panels- please try to schedule the whole job I. 1 day. The guys had to come back- on a Saturday but it was early in the AM. Made for a long day- but the guys were also great to work with! Clean, respectful and courteous!

We have your Solid equipment , we need to know who to contact to get our panels cleaned and service our equipment!!!! I cannot find a number to call for service and that was part of our agreement that they would clean and maintain our equipment !! Please help ! Carol Gerstung

I am very impressed with your sales reps they are very personable, patient, and educated in the ins and outs of your product. It was an overall pleasant experience. The installers were also polite and Tidy.

Absolutely wonderful very professional very neat easy to talk to great group of guys I would recommend them to anyone!!

I am very unhappy with this company with the way they treat customer . I signed a contract to install solar panels a year ago and in that contract says that if my roof gets damage it will get fix, well my roof started to show water damage in one area i contact them via email firs they responded saying that they will get back to me with in 2 business days which they never did i am the one calling them to figurate out what are they going to do ;I am very frustrate i will look into all of my options including suing them.

They are efficient and professional . They were able to provide the service promised.

Great customer service and great product. Like the sleek look of these solar panels. Looking forward to saving on our electric bill!

From seller to project manager to installers; I have no complaints. Everyone was very professional and pleasant. Communication was great and everyone cared about me, the customer, and not just about “doing a job”. Very happy with my experience.

Our sales rep Shelby was very knowledgeable and patient as she answered our questions and maintained positive, timely communications with us throughout the process.

I bought a home with purchased Vivint solar system in August. The previous owners reached out to Vivint in mid-July to transfer the solar to me, but I discovered now in September that the transfer was not yet completed. Their customer service is impossible to get to by phone, it ends up in a voicemail box that is full! The chat feature on their website works, but I heard absurd things there such as I can only be added as an authorized user by the previous owner, and a transfer cannot be done. So, on one track, I started the process of becoming an authorized user, and finally was able to login to Vivint and verify that my system was down. The previous owners were very nice and forward their conversation with Vivint, and so when I followed up on that email, the transfer person resumed the transfer process that was put on hold for some unknown reason. They asked me to send information that the previous owners had already provided as part of the transfer process, which I did. I am still not sure where they are at on the transfer. After spending days running around to get my account approved, when I was finally able to login, I discovered that my Solar production was down for more than a month :( Now I am waiting for the next step by Vivint in troubleshooting my solar production. The most annoying parts of dealing with them were: 1. Terrible careless customer service in the transfer process (inaction for two months after the previous owners provided all necessary details). 2. Run-arround and confusion on the transfer: One rep says I can only be added as an authorized user while the other is continuing the transfer process in parallen. 3. A customer support line that has long wait times, and then ends in a voicemail box that is full. There is also an option for requesting a callback on the customer service line, and guess what... when that callback happens, I get to hear the voicemail box full message!!

I don't suggest this company at all!!! Seriously too many problems to even list with them and once you're locked in there's no way out no matter how many problems you have with them. I still receive an electric bill ontop of the vivint bill. Their customer service is atrocious and none of them have any common sense or even knows about the company they work for and if they ruined your roof while installing they tell you it wasn't them, never did i have a leak in my roof till vivint came along and I had three separate rooting companies tell me it was vivint NOT natural causes from the weather. Either do some serious shopping around for a reputable solar company or just dont get them at all because with vivint you're in for years of locked in headaches and nothing but aggravation. If I could give this company negative stars I would.

I already had my own 2K system, but needed a little more. The rep said I would only pay for the kilowatts I needed and it would be cheaper than PG&E. I’ve been paying 200.00 a month to Vivint, 3 times what my electricity bill was before I even had my own 2K system. I’m being totally ripped off, and so far nothing from them. If the whole premise is to save money on your electric bill then they’ve failed big time!

Worst customer service imaginable. It took them at least 10 (maybe 20?)tries to produce the correct paperwork for me to sign and assume a lease. Then, they began billing me at the wrong rate. I have had at least 50 (no exaggeration - they call me every day) conversations with folks from Vivint trying to resolve the problem. The billing/collections department simply runs thru the script and asks me for money. I explain that I have opened a customer service case because I am being invoiced at the incorrect amount, at which point they apologize and transfer me to the customer service department. The customer service department says they have to investigate, and they put me on hold. The customer service agent comes back on the line and says, typically, something to the effect of "oh yes, we have an issue to resolve, and once we resolve it we will let you know." I can practically recite what they are going to say before they say it. The next day, I get another phone call from billing/collections. I mostly ignore them, but about once a week or so I answer, just to see if they have made any progress in correcting my lease rate. It's been months, and we're still on the hamster wheel. I get phone calls and emails every day. I have told them that they are welcome to come and retrieve their solar panels at any point. The solar panels seem to be working fine by the way, but let's be honest, those things are almost a commodity. The distinguishing characteristic between solar companies is their service, and Vivint gets a zero on that score.

Tech came very quick for the installation and did pretty neat job