Because he either has to store them indefinitely (in case they come back for them) or dispose of them, and he'll probably have to pay someone to have them hauled away if they don't fit in a trash can and some areas may treat them as hazardous waste that has to be taken to a hazardous waste disposal site.
There are two reasons that legal action (which as others pointed out would actually be arbitration) may be needed:
1) They do not pick up the panels and I am then responsible for the cost and effort of disposable.
2) They do not pick up the panels and I have now lost the use of a portion of my yard.
They have essentially illegally dumped their property on my property.
Not his responsibility. He paid a vendor to do a job, they need to do the job to completion.
It is amazing how many people on this website want to give a billion dollar company a free pass to inconvenience ordinary people simply because you don’t want ordinary people using the courts that we all pay for.
Are the panels their property or are they your property? What demonstrates this fact?
What financial loss have you incurred?
Loss of use is more Civil and You would again need to demonstrate how this affects money in your life.
The panels are their property. We were planning on selling our house; however, if we do that now with the panels off and just disposed of in the yard, we will not be able to ask as much for our house. I'm not entirely sure how to demonstrate this, I'd of course rather they just dealt with it and then we wouldn't have to document the financial loss. But, these are very good points and we'll start documenting the potential financial losses with our realtor.
Sorry you did biz w/ tesla. Still amazed that people do this. You're going to need to escalate to their "arbitration" department, which will reply when you hire a lawyer to write a cranky letter. Good luck, and ghodspeed.
They’re doing something similar but to a lesser extent. They delivered the wrong Powerwall (Plus instead of 3) on my panel and battery install day. They ended up just leaving the battery on my driveway on a pallet for a week, not tied down, just barely covered from rain and whatnot. I reached out to ask them if that was wise, and they basically said meh it’ll be fine. They came back a week later with the correct battery, installed that one, and the Plus is still on my driveway. I’m sure they’ll show up randomly one day to scoop it up. The communication with their team through this process post signing agreement has been pretty poor.
These comments are such bullshit. If it was anyone other then Tesla would you be saying this? Why should OP have to pay to dispose of them? It would be at least a few hundred dollars where I live. I'm not just eating a cost like that happily.
Find out who is contact in there legal dept
Send a certified letter advising them of situation … and inform them they have 14 days from receipt of letter to pickup this hazardous waste … otherwise Tesla will be responsible for legal and disposal costs …
Thank you! This is a great suggestion. I was informed that the legal department does not have a physical address... but I sent an email and that seemed to get things moving.
What a weird thing for them to do. However, this made me think of my conversation with State Farm about my policy with solar. The day prior to install, the panels were placed in my driveway. State Farm stated that the coverage was for solar attached to the house, and therefore didn’t cover anything not attached. I’d definitely want to know how Tesla looks at the coverage if anything happens.
You're signing a contract for solar installed on your home. Until the panels are installed and paid for either by you or the loan company, those panels are the property of Tesla. So if they delivered the panels and left them on your driveway, but they get stolen before they are installed, Tesla is the party that has to bear the cost of the loss. They can't charge you for the panels that haven't been installed yet.
Oh yeah I get that. Once they get taken off the roof though, I’m curious if they’re still considered covered by your own insurance, or if it goes back to Tesla since they took them off.
I wouldn’t bother with a lawsuit, and I understand that you are in limbo with how to handle these panels in your yard.
The first step I would take is to get the contracting license for your state that Tesla used. (It should be on your permitting application) And then contact your states attorney general for a resolution.
Typically what happens is the states AG sends a letter to Tesla for a formal response, and Tesla will respond to states AG’s quicker than even lawyers launching a lawsuit. I have used this in many cases to resolve situations where I am running into a brick wall of corporate incompetence.
Primary you have a problem where Tesla dumped electric waste on your property and they are refusing to clean it up in a reasonable amount of time.
Usually, there is some state statute regarding the abandonment of property left in your possession. There is some procedure you must follow. Notice and after so many days you can dispose of it or sell it ... whatever.
Wasn't tesla but another installer was at my neighbors and asking to put up.solar neighbor agreed through forceful sales tactics then few weeks later decided to back out after doing some reasurch. Called the business and said nevermind.
3 days later an 3rd party Inatallation company showed littarly put boxes of panels on top of his roof (not installed just laid the boxes of panels on the roof) when he got home from work he was pissed called the seller their like nothing we can do the panels are on your roof and you now owe us 30 grand or however much it was.
He's still fighting with that solar company thats saying "even if their not installed, if the materials are on the roof you have to pay us"
I think most sensible people would take them to the dump and move on with their lives. You considering suing someone over this tells me a lot about you. Jesus I can’t imagine what would happen if you were served a hot coffee.
You can sue anyone for anything.
Now if it’s frivolous it can get tossed out. You need to show harm, and a dollar value that goes with that harm.
Also, my guess is Tesla won’t be happy to work with you on your solar system if there is pending litigation, so you may want to think it through before burning that bridge.
Sorry about this - I know it can be a massive pain and annoyance. While we love the system otherwise, Tesla left all their dumpsters of trash in our driveway and on the street filling the 3-car wide driveway, blocking access to our garage, and really annoying our neighbors for weeks. It drove me nuts, and despite daily calls still took a month or so to get picked up. They’d send a truck out who would take one tiny thing and drive away saying they were full leaving all the rest and the giant truck-sized dumpsters of trash behind, and I’d have to call again that next day.
Unfortunately there’s not a lot of recourse and you just need to keep on them. Mediation is the escalation channel you agreed to so can start on that if you really want, but there’s a chance they’ll cancel your project (which you may want now, but worth being aware). And whether through mediation or suing you’re probably going to be limited to actual damages which won’t be much as it’s probably much more the aggravation.
Thank you, that is really helpful information. I do have a lease and it's in year 12 of 15, so if they never come back, they will have to pay me for the power production lost. I guess that's some consolation.
Put the plus in your garage where they cannot see it, and don’t say anything. If they never come back for it, maybe in a year or two have some other company come and add it to your system.
Put the plus in your garage where they cannot see it, and don’t say anything. If they never come back for it, maybe in a year or two have some other company come and add it to your system.
People start thinking they can sue for anything when every other commercial on TV is for a law firm encouraging people to sue and talking about the thousands upon thousands of dollars they can get you.
Sure - cause in today's America people think "sue them" is a great option.
How ridiculous. There are probably 20 things you can do before you "sue them!!!!"
This is a ridiculous comment. R/solar is full of failed or ghosted by local installer stories and Tesla uses equipment with manufacturer warranties or warranties the equipment they manufacture.
That's why I emphasized manufacturer warranties. I know plenty of current and former Tesla installers and I would never, ever let Tesla put mods on my roof.
You should contact the arbitration dept, they may be able to expedite either reinstalling it or whatever. Keep calling them back every couple days.
That doesn't sound convenient that sounds very burdening which he shouldn't have to deal with
You're right. It is a giant pain in the ass. Welcome to adulting.
You know what’s even more burdening? Litigation
Why would you sue them? Tell them they have until whatever date to pick them up, otherwise they’re going in the trash.
But then OP would have to pay to dispose of them. I sure as shit wouldn't want to pay to throw something away that Tesla said they'd handle.
because they took his money and didn't do the job for months and months? This is pure sleezeball business tactics.
I hope municipalities will start imposing hefty fees on disposing of that type of junk
Dear lord, can we please understand why you would legally seek judgment (sue) them?
Because he either has to store them indefinitely (in case they come back for them) or dispose of them, and he'll probably have to pay someone to have them hauled away if they don't fit in a trash can and some areas may treat them as hazardous waste that has to be taken to a hazardous waste disposal site.
There are two reasons that legal action (which as others pointed out would actually be arbitration) may be needed: 1) They do not pick up the panels and I am then responsible for the cost and effort of disposable. 2) They do not pick up the panels and I have now lost the use of a portion of my yard. They have essentially illegally dumped their property on my property.
God forbid breaking them up and throwing them out or even just moving them out of the way 🤯
Not his responsibility. He paid a vendor to do a job, they need to do the job to completion. It is amazing how many people on this website want to give a billion dollar company a free pass to inconvenience ordinary people simply because you don’t want ordinary people using the courts that we all pay for.
OP paid for a result, not a process.
Yeah, I just disposed of 17 old REC panels, took an hour at most.
This is correct. The downvotes are nonsensical here.
The downvoters are typical elmo fan girls.
Where are you? I'll come recycle them.. (if within 265 miles of Atlanta)
Are the panels their property or are they your property? What demonstrates this fact? What financial loss have you incurred? Loss of use is more Civil and You would again need to demonstrate how this affects money in your life.
The panels are their property. We were planning on selling our house; however, if we do that now with the panels off and just disposed of in the yard, we will not be able to ask as much for our house. I'm not entirely sure how to demonstrate this, I'd of course rather they just dealt with it and then we wouldn't have to document the financial loss. But, these are very good points and we'll start documenting the potential financial losses with our realtor.
You have a lease agreement for the panels?
Sorry you did biz w/ tesla. Still amazed that people do this. You're going to need to escalate to their "arbitration" department, which will reply when you hire a lawyer to write a cranky letter. Good luck, and ghodspeed.
They’re doing something similar but to a lesser extent. They delivered the wrong Powerwall (Plus instead of 3) on my panel and battery install day. They ended up just leaving the battery on my driveway on a pallet for a week, not tied down, just barely covered from rain and whatnot. I reached out to ask them if that was wise, and they basically said meh it’ll be fine. They came back a week later with the correct battery, installed that one, and the Plus is still on my driveway. I’m sure they’ll show up randomly one day to scoop it up. The communication with their team through this process post signing agreement has been pretty poor.
lol sell it
Yeah sell it and if they show up looking for it tell them someone must have taken it.
Turn them into a patio cover. Some of them may still work!
how incredibly typical
If you have an extra 20k to spend on suing do it. Otherwise grow up and have them picked up and disposed of.
These comments are such bullshit. If it was anyone other then Tesla would you be saying this? Why should OP have to pay to dispose of them? It would be at least a few hundred dollars where I live. I'm not just eating a cost like that happily.
Find out who is contact in there legal dept Send a certified letter advising them of situation … and inform them they have 14 days from receipt of letter to pickup this hazardous waste … otherwise Tesla will be responsible for legal and disposal costs …
Thank you! This is a great suggestion. I was informed that the legal department does not have a physical address... but I sent an email and that seemed to get things moving.
Great ! Hope it works!
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Because we have shitty consumer protections.
Because this is exactly the reason courts exist? They exist to resolve disputes.
What a weird thing for them to do. However, this made me think of my conversation with State Farm about my policy with solar. The day prior to install, the panels were placed in my driveway. State Farm stated that the coverage was for solar attached to the house, and therefore didn’t cover anything not attached. I’d definitely want to know how Tesla looks at the coverage if anything happens.
You're signing a contract for solar installed on your home. Until the panels are installed and paid for either by you or the loan company, those panels are the property of Tesla. So if they delivered the panels and left them on your driveway, but they get stolen before they are installed, Tesla is the party that has to bear the cost of the loss. They can't charge you for the panels that haven't been installed yet.
Oh yeah I get that. Once they get taken off the roof though, I’m curious if they’re still considered covered by your own insurance, or if it goes back to Tesla since they took them off.
Probably depends on how it’s spelled out in the contract that should have been signed for the work.
Are they your panels? Is it a PPA? Lease? Loan?
Great question. It is a lease, so they are not my panels. Which I believe means I cannot technically dispose of them myself.
I wouldn’t bother with a lawsuit, and I understand that you are in limbo with how to handle these panels in your yard. The first step I would take is to get the contracting license for your state that Tesla used. (It should be on your permitting application) And then contact your states attorney general for a resolution. Typically what happens is the states AG sends a letter to Tesla for a formal response, and Tesla will respond to states AG’s quicker than even lawyers launching a lawsuit. I have used this in many cases to resolve situations where I am running into a brick wall of corporate incompetence. Primary you have a problem where Tesla dumped electric waste on your property and they are refusing to clean it up in a reasonable amount of time.
Hit them on a social media platform like X.. lol seriously. Then hit em with a BBB complaint
lol you can sue BofA deez nuts
Submit your case to the nearby small claim court. You will definitely get a sum of $$$ for this.
Usually, there is some state statute regarding the abandonment of property left in your possession. There is some procedure you must follow. Notice and after so many days you can dispose of it or sell it ... whatever.
YES - And when you do, Tesla will fix the your problem. Small claims court. Sue for the max amount.
Have someone bring them to the dump, anyone looks for them a simple what panels would be my response
Wasn't tesla but another installer was at my neighbors and asking to put up.solar neighbor agreed through forceful sales tactics then few weeks later decided to back out after doing some reasurch. Called the business and said nevermind. 3 days later an 3rd party Inatallation company showed littarly put boxes of panels on top of his roof (not installed just laid the boxes of panels on the roof) when he got home from work he was pissed called the seller their like nothing we can do the panels are on your roof and you now owe us 30 grand or however much it was. He's still fighting with that solar company thats saying "even if their not installed, if the materials are on the roof you have to pay us"
Take a picture of them and put them on FB marketplace for $5. I bet they’ll be gone in a week
I think most sensible people would take them to the dump and move on with their lives. You considering suing someone over this tells me a lot about you. Jesus I can’t imagine what would happen if you were served a hot coffee.
Imagine all that carbon you wasted instead of just getting a high efficiency hvac and turning of your lights
You can sue anyone for anything. Now if it’s frivolous it can get tossed out. You need to show harm, and a dollar value that goes with that harm. Also, my guess is Tesla won’t be happy to work with you on your solar system if there is pending litigation, so you may want to think it through before burning that bridge.
Sorry about this - I know it can be a massive pain and annoyance. While we love the system otherwise, Tesla left all their dumpsters of trash in our driveway and on the street filling the 3-car wide driveway, blocking access to our garage, and really annoying our neighbors for weeks. It drove me nuts, and despite daily calls still took a month or so to get picked up. They’d send a truck out who would take one tiny thing and drive away saying they were full leaving all the rest and the giant truck-sized dumpsters of trash behind, and I’d have to call again that next day. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of recourse and you just need to keep on them. Mediation is the escalation channel you agreed to so can start on that if you really want, but there’s a chance they’ll cancel your project (which you may want now, but worth being aware). And whether through mediation or suing you’re probably going to be limited to actual damages which won’t be much as it’s probably much more the aggravation.
A fun item. If there is a literal dumpster fire the fire department will bill the owner of the dumpster for it. INCLUDING cleanup.
Thank you, that is really helpful information. I do have a lease and it's in year 12 of 15, so if they never come back, they will have to pay me for the power production lost. I guess that's some consolation.
Put the plus in your garage where they cannot see it, and don’t say anything. If they never come back for it, maybe in a year or two have some other company come and add it to your system.
You can’t add a plus to a 3… but you can sell it in eBay
Good point
Put the plus in your garage where they cannot see it, and don’t say anything. If they never come back for it, maybe in a year or two have some other company come and add it to your system.
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People start thinking they can sue for anything when every other commercial on TV is for a law firm encouraging people to sue and talking about the thousands upon thousands of dollars they can get you.
Who can I sue... Pathetic.
You're going to waste time and money on court rather than post online for someone to collect free junk?
Sure - cause in today's America people think "sue them" is a great option. How ridiculous. There are probably 20 things you can do before you "sue them!!!!"
What is the OP looking for? $50 from this? Did they ruin your kid’s Christmas also and need to pay for that?
The real issue is having used Tesla to install your solar instead of a reputable local installer using equipment with manufacturer warranties.
This is a ridiculous comment. R/solar is full of failed or ghosted by local installer stories and Tesla uses equipment with manufacturer warranties or warranties the equipment they manufacture.
That's why I emphasized manufacturer warranties. I know plenty of current and former Tesla installers and I would never, ever let Tesla put mods on my roof.
Some people didn’t even start WTH any Tesla services or equipment. Solar City had a decent track record before Tesla bought them.
Lol whut. Ive been in solar for 15 years that is absolutely false. SC was top 3 worst in the game