Poncho's Solar Service

Seems like the company is doing a lot to improve their operations. We had a great experience getting solar and battery installed with Poncho’s, and jason, Cindy and harumi and team were amazing.

If I could give no stars I would. This company is not reliable when dealing with warranty service. I had a leaking tank and thought that having a warranty means something. I called and called but no help when I had to get the leaking tank fixed. I kept getting the run around and basically I had to call someone else to replace the tank for over $1000. I will never trust this company or Poncho as he does not back up his products. Good luck to you if you ever have a problem with your products.

Had my Solar Water Heating system serviced as per the 5 year standard. The service runs $325.00 for about 20 minutes of work and approximately $55.00 or less in parts. This to me being a contractor is somewhat high. Now that I know what to do I will service the unit myself in the future. However for those that do not feel comfortable servicing their own unit be prepared to pay a high price. The service includes flushing deposits out of the water storage tank, replacing the sacrificial anode that resides with in the tank itself and change the pressure relief valve located on the roof panel. Some smalls adjustments if needed. This only needs to be performed every five years. The crew was nice enough and answered all my questions. I am glad to know the system is running and in good condition. Hard to write that check.

I had the opportunity to work with Blake Hayward of Poncho Solar. He was a professional and very accommodating with my busy schedule. He gave me the best deal after getting two other quotes. The work was completed in a timely fashion, and he also had the old water heater and panels removed. Highly recommended!

Called at 7:30 am about my solar hot water heater not running. By noon they had somebody at my house fixing the issues.
Same day service is something I’ve rarely seen in Hawaii, 5 stars will do business again.

I entered into a contract over a year ago (promotion at Aiea High School) and still am sweltering in heat. I haven't pushed the issue because I didn't want to spend the money right now but getting them to live up to their contract is hard. They said after the promotion they'd be losing money on the job, and then there were delays working with the AOAO and roofing company on my townhome..... next it was our installer for the condenser moved to Las Vegas and our electrician is - something or other. Very disappointed.......

We normally do not leave reviews due to our hectic schedule, but this experience was so bad that we thought it may help others to avoid suffering unnecessarily (like we did). A neighbor gave us a good reference on Poncho Solar Service, and we thought it may be a good idea to go ahead and replace our leaking water-heater solar panel with them. They showed up on time (good), in an unmarked vehicle (bad) and out of uniform (bad). We saw a surfboard lying in front of our house and asked them about it. The older gentleman rudely & curtly said “That’s mine” without any explanation as to why he set it there. The supposedly “new” solar panel had 2 dings on it. And the caps that cover the electrical connections looked old. So we asked the crew to confirm if this was a new panel. The older gentleman pointedly asked us back: “Do you want this solar panel or not?” Needless to say, we did not. We sent them home. It was absolutely NOT worth it to deal with someone who obviously has zero desire (nor any customer service skills) for our business. It was a major waste of our time and effort. BTW, we called the front-desk office to inform them of what happened. The lady listened and hung up without offering any excuse or apology.

Wow. Whoever answered the phone, should not be answering phones. I told her I had a simple questions about a solar system they installed for us and she replied, I don't know anything about solar, so don't ask me. I then asked her who, and she said that person was on vacation. I asked, "Isn't there anyone else that can answer questions about solar," and she thought about it and told me there was. I asked her to transfer me to that person and she said she didn't know how. I asked if I could leave a message and she told me to call back. Text book example of how to tell your customers that you don't give a cr@p.

I have solar panels that are under warranty and supposed to be serviced by Poncho's Solar. The panels have not been working properly for the last two months and I have called Poncho's to schedule a service appointment at least 15 times--and that is not an exaggeration. The woman who answers the phone when I call knows exactly who I am because I have called so many times. Whenever I call, I am told that I can only schedule appointments with one employee named Chris. I am then told that he will call me back the next day--I make these calls in the morning. I spoke to Chris one afternoon and as we were discussing the problems with the panels, the phone got disconnected. I then tried to call Chris back twice but no one answered the phone. I have now wasted an inordinate amount of time just attempting to schedule an initial service appointment, which is only the first step in getting the system repaired. I am extremely frustrated now by the terrible customer service that I am being provided. My electric bill is now 10x the amount for two months in a row because the panels do not appear to be converting the energy properly.

We had our solar panel installed last year. All is good and electric bill cut in half. For the past week, due to no sun,we ran out of hot water last night. My husband and I could not figure out how to operate the panel on the tank. I saw the telephone number on the tank and said that we should just try to give them a call, and it was past 8PM on Sunday.
Derrick picked up the phone right the way , and walked us step by step on how to reset the tank on the phone with patient and care. I know a lots of people complains about the services in Hawaii in general; however, my experience with Poncho's solar service was wonderful and will recommend anyone who needs water solar panel ( which you should in my opinion and my 50% less electricity bill).
thank you for your professionalism and have a wonderful day.

The guys that came out were great. Both the inspectors and the workers who swapped out my water heater with a new one. They were incredibly respectful and kind. Service guys were 5/5.

Hi,

I called your office on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 to schedule an inspection of my Taco 006-BC4-1, which was making noise. I spoke to Chris, whom then scheduled that inspection for Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - with instructions to remain at home and wait for a phone call between 9 and 10 a.m. to advise time when technician would show up.

So I took the day off from work but no phone call from your field technicians this morning, so called your office just before 12 noon, but was told that Chris, that schedules field personnel, had stepped away from his desk, and that he would call me back as soon as he returned to his desk. Well it's now 4:30 p.m. and have not received a return phone call (did leave my home phone number, and Chris already has my cell number).

As I am a repeat customer, extremely disappointed in the terrible service. Had initially advised Chris yesterday, that I wanted to replace my original 120 gallon tank at the same time your technician replaced my circulating pump (since Chris said your company would NOT simply change out the cartridge). Bottom line is I wasted an entire day waiting on your staff, AND ALSO WAS INSTRUCTED (by Chris) TO STAY HOME AND NOT GO TO WORK, which of course was a waste of my time and waste of my money.

I've heard bad things about your companies poor customer service (from friends and business associates) but figured I'd give your company the benefit of the doubt. But I guess it really is true, that the owner of Poncho's is more interested in overbooking the schedule to obtain maximum daily profits, instead of maintaining his reputation and credibility within the community by providing stellar customer service.

Thanks for wasting my time and money.

Wallace Choy

The quality of the system is okay, but the service is terrible. I had my system installed two years ago. They moved my water heater to a different room, and after talking to Mr. Rogers about where to place it in the room we chose a spot against an interior wall. I didn't realize until later, that is not a good decision. After installation (the plumbing work was beautifully done), my water heater proceeded to blow off hot water a few times a week, and flooding my washroom floor with scalding water, since the outlet for the pressure release was near the interior wall and not plumbed to drain anywhere. I called a few times and was told a bit of water being released was normal - don't worry about it. But my room was ofter an inch deep in hot water !! I asked a friend who happens to run the Stat'e energy efficiency programs about this and he said he found it hard to believe it was installed on an interior wall with no proper drainage, since solar heated water often gets so hot that the heater has to release pressure (and hot water with it). Finally after several more calls they came out and jerry rigged some plumbing cutting into a drain pipe from a sink in a bathroom that is on the other side of the wall. Looks like crap, but at least my laundry room wasn't flooding anymore.

The system has worked great and I only turned on the electricity a few times for the entire two years I've had it - until recently.

Lately, I've had to turn the electricity on nearly every day, because there hasn't been enough hot water. At first I thought it might be the weather, but after a week of record solar production (I have PV on the house), I still had to turn on the electricity to heat water almost every day. So two days ago I called Pancho's to come out and check the system. They said they'd come today, but couldn't give me a time. Since I wanted to get this done, I said okay and cleared my schedule so I'd be available whenever they were able to get to the house. Nothing. At 3:30 or so I called and asked if someone was still coming, or not. I was put on hold and five minutes later was told she would have a "technician" call me. It's now 6:00 pm, and no call.

I understand if you're busy and can't make it. But ignoring and not doing what you say you will is inexcusable. GRRR !!!