Solar Roof, big price increase

[jjrandorin]

Another item to note here I had to cut down my tress and other items around the house. Also, applied for loan financing which now i will not be able to use and which will negatively affect my credit due to the fact Credit was run when I applied.

While a credit pull can affect your credit score, if you dont execute the loan , it doesnt change all that much. "My credit was lowered because of a credit approval" is not the path to take for complaining about this, its pretty immaterial.

The first complaint "the price was raised on what I believed was a signed contract" is the main complaint.

 

[h2ofun]

Another reason so glad went with a standard comp roof and panels. IMO, the solar roof just was way too complex.

I have been looking at roofs with funky solar panels on them. In the past, how fancy could one put angels on their roof. Now it would seem
it would be best to make the roof and simple as possible with largest flat surface pointing south.

All businesses have had massive price increases based on the new world. If they cannot make a profit, they are out of business. Telsa seems to be doing
what they have to in order to charge the new worlds real price. Sucks, yep, But get on with it.

 

[Jimmy209]

I was quit surprised at this too, as I'm reading these other post I'm shocked this has been happening for quite a while. I placed an order earlier this year, got a quote, loan and inspection was great. City permit was being gathered to begin construction then 2 days ago I got the email. My quote also went up $20k. Luckily for me I printed out the contract and also the loan which states the original amount of $43k and now it's up to $63k for a 7.78KW system. This seems to be a bait and switch tactic and it's unfair. Has anyone taken legal action? Where can we go to take action?

Also I tried to call my roof advisor person, I called via tesla direct and entered his extension...I got a message saying sorry but my call cannot be taken at the moment ease try again at another time.

I'm also thinking about making a YouTube video on this, this is bad practice from a reputable company.

 

[h2ofun]

While a credit pull can affect your credit score, if you dont execute the loan , it doesnt change all that much. "My credit was lowered because of a credit approval" is not the path to take for complaining about this, its pretty immaterial.

The first complaint "the price was raised on what I believed was a signed contract" is the main complaint.

I see no way that Tesla will lose. Just put on a comp roof and get panels. So easy to fix.

 

[h2ofun]

I was quit surprised at this too, as I'm reading these other post I'm shocked this has been happening for quite a while. I placed an order earlier this year, got a quote, loan and inspection was great. City permit was being gathered to begin construction then 2 days ago I got the email. My quote also went up $20k. Luckily for me I printed out the contract and also the loan which states the original amount of $43k and now it's up to $63k for a 7.78KW system. This seems to be a bait and switch tactic and it's unfair. Has anyone taken legal action? Where can we go to take action?

Also I tried to call my roof advisor person, I called via tesla direct and entered his extension...I got a message saying sorry but my call cannot be taken at the moment ease try again at another time.

I'm also thinking about making a YouTube video on this, this is bad practice from a reputable company.

IMO, not worth the energy.

 

[jjrandorin]

(Moderator note:

A new member joined TMC to post a link to a discussion / "Call to action" that is in some thread on Reddit. TMC does not allow active redirection of its membership to another site, so I was not able to approve their post. With that being said, I would imagine that there is likely interest to people in this thread that there is something happening on Reddit, so in the spirt of information sharing, I am mentioning it ("there appears to be some sort of call to action on Reddit on this topic" )

People should be able to find it by searching the internet should they so choose.)

 

[wjgjr]

I see no way that Tesla will lose. Just put on a comp roof and get panels. So easy to fix.

I firmly disagree with this logic. I know you are not a fan of the solar roof and that is fine - to each their own. But the same reason Tesla offers the roof at all is the reason this is not an easy fix. Not everybody wants, or will even consider, panels, based on their aesthetic preferences. And, at least in some cases, a new roof plus panels was (under the contracts Tesla is now trying to replace) a more expensive option. I suspect that will be far less common under the new pricing. And, in any event, customers signed a contract for a specific product at a specific price. Tesla certainly does not have the right to offer a "fix" that is a very different offering.

 

[jjrandorin]

I'm also thinking about making a YouTube video on this, this is bad practice from a reputable company.

There will likely be a million youtube videos, unless you are already a popular streamer this is likely a waste of time.

 

[holeydonut]

I firmly disagree with this logic. I know you are not a fan of the solar roof and that is fine - to each their own. But the same reason Tesla offers the roof at all is the reason this is not an easy fix. Not everybody wants, or will even consider, panels, based on their aesthetic preferences. And, at least in some cases, a new roof plus panels was (under the contracts Tesla is now trying to replace) a more expensive option. I suspect that will be far less common under the new pricing. And, in any event, customers signed a contract for a specific product at a specific price. Tesla certainly does not have the right to offer a "fix" that is a very different offering.

I guess that DOW solar shingle went out of business, but have you seen a quote from Luma to see what the ballpark cost for a comparable system would be from competitors?

 

[cobra]

I guess that DOW solar shingle went out of business, but have you seen a quote from Luma to see what the ballpark cost for a comparable system would be from competitors?

I was wondering the same. Ran across a product from GAF, but more of an in-roof panel than a shingle product. Are there any others out there?

On a separate topic, there is a post offsite claiming that Tesla raised the solar roof non-solar roof rate to $14/sqft across the board due to supply price increases and will not honor previous price quotes/agreements.

 

[tekdemon]

Tesla solar needs to do what they do with their vehicles. If you sign a purchase agreement/make deposit etc...then it needs to lock you into the price as advertised.

I have a feeling that Tesla solar just kicked themselves squarely in the nuts on this one—especially with competition so close on their heels. I’d imagine a ton of folks are going to back out now. I’ll have to ask my neighbor about his pending installation in may—I have a feeling that he’d probably pull the plug on this as well.

Tesla didn’t honor the signed agreements for the recent Model S and X refresh with price hikes so they haven’t been doing that anymore even for cars.

My theory is that they just can’t produce anywhere near enough solar roofs and have bizarrely chosen this huge price hike as a way to force cancellations so that there aren’t endless news articles about them delaying installs for years.

 

[Gshaenan]

Same here. $50k increase. Will take legal action. This is absolutely the worst way to treat loyal customers.

 

[h2ofun]

Same here. $50k increase. Will take legal action. This is absolutely the worst way to treat loyal customers.

I am always amazed at how many folks say they are going to take legal action on stuff. And then they see the price for the lawyer. I did follow up my issues in the past hiring a lawyer on an issue, but is was not cheap and very stressful. Unless life or death, would not do again. Life is TOO short.

 

[Tdreamer]

Just got the e-mail indicating a price increase is inbound. We ordered in 10/2019 and have been working towards the install for over a year and with the installation date set for June, excitement has been building. This SUCKS.

My order does not YET show any increase in price, although since seeing the Electrek article linking to this thread, I've been monitoring closely. Today I did see the cost of new gutters added back in to the quote (and then removed again), and the amount of the SMART Solar Incentive go way up before dropping back down again. Current order matches the contract I signed in March 2020. For me, pre-install work is done - had a second onsite visit by Tesla Energy two weeks ago to collect additional measurements (mostly skylight sizing) they didn't get last year due to changes in what they gather up front (so they said when they were here).

In terms of complexity, I guess I'd call it a moderate by the new rules.
14.5 kW + 3 PW

 

[SMAlset]

Had our roof not still had many years of life left in it would have likely gone with solar tiles. Haven’t been paying much attention to the market but when I looked before wasn’t much I was impressed with. It’s still a new product and don’t think there are many teams of installers qualified yet to do the work correctly. I can understand Tesla’s situation if prices thanks to covid have gone up that much. Also can understand the sticker shock for customers waiting for install. They must have a lot of orders if they can’t absorb the increase in costs. I mentioned elsewhere that I saw that they are urgently hiring for solar roof teams. That might not be so urgent when people understandably fall out of line on this. Needs to make financial sense and for those more complicated roof designs very well might not.

I see another issue in that after they dropped the price a while back it’s hard for people to feel a higher price is palatable even if it is really reflective of the current market conditions. Of course it needs to make economic sense for them based on how long they will stay in the house. Hate to see all the bad will that this recent email is generating.

 

[gpez]

I am always amazed at how many folks say they are going to take legal action on stuff. And then they see the price for the lawyer. I did follow up my issues in the past hiring a lawyer on an issue, but is was not cheap and very stressful. Unless life or death, would not do again. Life is TOO short.

This is very true, though many companies offer a group legal program that employees can take advantage of. If I was in this situation I absolutely would use that coverage to explore my options and even take further steps, including bringing suit.

I had a contractor I hired for a small (<$5k) outdoor project that was done completely incorrectly. My group legal plan covers such disputes and I was able to get legal counsel and representation at no additional cost to myself. Ultimately my lawyer brought suit against the contractor's bond which was settled out of court and I got my money back plus the amount needed to make me whole (ie rip out what was done and start over). Paying lawyer fees likely would have eaten in to that settlement.

 

[jjrandorin]

This is very true, though many companies offer a group legal program that employees can take advantage of. If I was in this situation I absolutely would use that coverage to explore my options and even take further steps, including bringing suit.

I had a contractor I hired for a small (<$5k) outdoor project that was done completely incorrectly. My group legal plan covers such disputes and I was able to get legal counsel and representation at no additional cost to myself. Ultimately my lawyer brought suit against the contractor's bond which was settled out of court and I got my money back plus the amount needed to make me whole (ie rip out what was done and start over). Paying lawyer fees likely would have eaten in to that settlement.

This is totally off topic, but I also have a similar employee benefit where I work. Its a small cost every year for access to multiple different legal representatives who participate in the program. I used it for the first time a couple years ago to get a trust started, and move my home, etc into the trust.

It only cost me like $90-100 for a couple of document filings, and the lawyer I used to me if I didnt have that plan it would have been around $1900. In all the years I had the coverage I didnt pay that much total for the years worth of coverage. Not everyone has that option where they work, but it has given me peace of mind knowing that I can get legal representation if I feel I need it for something.

If I were in the situation described by people in this thread, I would likely use my legal plan to see what my options were, since there would be no cost for a consultation.

I have no idea what peoples recourse is, but the fact that tesla is doing this fairly unilaterally means they likely think they CAN, legally. I would guess they also know how unpopular this would be, so they must be intentionally trying to either shed business, because they cant afford to do it at the rates they quoted previously.

(just personal opinions here, no additional insight etc. I have no contacts regarding this).

 

[ATXMD]

I placed my order in October 2019.

My price (17kWh roof, 6 powerwalls) went from $110k to $170k. My reservation was placed in October 2019. The design and final price of $110k was agreed and signed in late March of this year, so clearly "increased price as a result of the pandemic" is not accurate, since they knew about that well before we agreed to a price. Tesla filed the permit last week.

The language in the contract is as follows:
Contract Price. We will update the Price Sheet if we are required to change any details due to unforeseen circumstances or causes a change to the solar portion of your Solar Roof, including the unavailability or change in the value of any incentive payable to Tesla, which Tesla assumed in setting the Contract Price. If any of these changes negatively impact you (e.g., your Contract Price increases or your Solar System size or output decreases), we will give you the opportunity to accept or reject the updated Price Sheet prior to installation of your Products. If you accept that updated Price Sheet, it will supersede this Agreement. If you do not accept that updated Price Sheet, this Agreement will terminate and we will refund your Order Payment (unless the change was at your request). Due to inventory availability, we may choose to increase your solar energy system size by up to 10% at no additional cost to you and without a change to the Price Sheet.

I see two problems.
1) they can change this if they are required to change any details. Seems like they need to show how they were required to change the pricing based on this.
2) they increased the cost of my powerwalls by $10k. This section is clearly only about the solar portion of the roof, which does not include the powerwall. This seems like it violates the agreement.

Don't see how they are going to back up an across the board increase in price.

 

[h2ofun]

This is very true, though many companies offer a group legal program that employees can take advantage of. If I was in this situation I absolutely would use that coverage to explore my options and even take further steps, including bringing suit.

I had a contractor I hired for a small (<$5k) outdoor project that was done completely incorrectly. My group legal plan covers such disputes and I was able to get legal counsel and representation at no additional cost to myself. Ultimately my lawyer brought suit against the contractor's bond which was settled out of court and I got my money back plus the amount needed to make me whole (ie rip out what was done and start over). Paying lawyer fees likely would have eaten in to that settlement.

Yep, I engaged the calif contractors board on a contractor. Did not cost me a penny. I got 100% of his bond, and at the end he paid me some money he owed she he did not have to go to court.

 

[WaitingForRoof]

Tesla has informed me on call that all projects in pipeline will be affected by this price increase and there is no negotiation or escalation. I’m not sure about a law suit, but personally I will be filing a formal complaint with SEIA and encourage others to do so.

Complaint Resolution | SEIA

www2.seia.org