Strange call from Sunrun asking me about my true-up.....

[sorka]

So I got this call yesterday from someone claiming to be from Sunrun asking me how I was doing with my Tesla solar and if I was prepared for my HUGE true-up bill that I was going to get.

I replied fine and that I was currently about $200 below my true-up target currently to which he asked how did I know that. I told him that I'm tracking all usage from the Tesla's API in a model that is compared to the B&W bill. I started spouting out numbers and stats at which point he just hung up. My intention was to waste his time until he gave up and hung up which only took about 20 seconds.

I looked up the number and it's listed as a DISH network number in Visalia(559 666-3242).

Anyone idea what he was really after?

 

[Silicon Desert]

It could have been SunRun. They are very aggressive and from what I understand, they recently agreed to pay something over $5 million for illegal marketing calls.

Oh and I might add that they claimed the calls were made by Media Mix on their behalf, or something like that. Yet, they settled the class action suit anyway.

 

[holeydonut]

So I got this call yesterday from someone claiming to be from Sunrun asking me how I was doing with my Tesla solar and if I was prepared for my HUGE true-up bill that I was going to get.

I replied fine and that I was currently about $200 below my true-up target currently to which he asked how did I know that. I told him that I'm tracking all usage from the Tesla's API in a model that is compared to the B&W bill. I started spouting out numbers and stats at which point he just hung up. My intention was to waste his time until he gave up and hung up which only took about 20 seconds.

I looked up the number and it's listed as a DISH network number in Visalia(559 666-3242).

Anyone idea what he was really after?

Back before I really hated PG&E in 2019; I got a Nest Thermostat through their rebate/subsidy program and registered for "demand response" which would allow a third party to remotely control my thermostat during peak time. As a result of my participation in this, I used to get calls from all sorts of companies affiliated with PG&E's DRP to offer me "energy services" since my energy profile was so wasteful and crappy.

I had to call PG&E and request to be removed from affiliate marketing tied to DRP. This actually worked and I stopped getting the notices and solicitations by late 2019.

You can read more about this "access to data" for DRP here:

Rule 24

PG&E’s Rule 24 program provides customers the power to control their electricity usage.

www.pge.com

Since you're a pro-active energy manager, I'm assuming at some point in time you've likely put your data on the DRP...

 

[sorka]

It could have been SunRun. They are very aggressive and from what I understand, they recently agreed to pay something over $5 million for illegal marketing calls.

Oh and I might add that they claimed the calls were made by Media Mix on their behalf, or something like that. Yet, they settled the class action suit anyway.

But what would the purpose of their call even be? I've already bought my system and not from them.

 

[Redhill_qik]

So I got this call yesterday from someone claiming to be from Sunrun asking me how I was doing with my Tesla solar and if I was prepared for my HUGE true-up bill that I was going to get.

I replied fine and that I was currently about $200 below my true-up target currently to which he asked how did I know that. I told him that I'm tracking all usage from the Tesla's API in a model that is compared to the B&W bill. I started spouting out numbers and stats at which point he just hung up. My intention was to waste his time until he gave up and hung up which only took about 20 seconds.

I looked up the number and it's listed as a DISH network number in Visalia(559 666-3242).

Anyone idea what he was really after?

That is really weird, what possible reason could Sunrun have in making this call to you to take a dig at Tesla. If you had gone with Sunrun you would have had the same amount solar on your roof as you got with Telsa or within a percent or two and would have nearly identical bills. I can't see how they would turn this around and into a sale for them.

 

[hayhayday]

Prob looking for people who increased their usage after getting system and they could "take care of" the true up by roling it into a lease on a 2nd system.

 

[jjrandorin]

Prob looking for people who increased their usage after getting system and they could "take care of" the true up by roling it into a lease on a 2nd system.

Thats assuming it was actually sunrun, and not just a random phisher looking for a mark, like those "your car warranty is expiring, this is your last warning, calls i get, even though I have 2 cars that have the new car warranty still on them, or the "This is the IRS text messages etc.

Unfortunately I have had the same cellphone number for 15 years, so I dont want to change it, but its definitely "out there".

In iOS, they recently added the ability to send all calls that are from people not in your contact list straight to voicemail without ringing, and that has helped quite a bit.

 

[Redhill_qik]

Prob looking for people who increased their usage after getting system and they could "take care of" the true up by roling it into a lease on a 2nd system.

I think that a lot of people have undersized systems out there based on comments about being surprised by large true-up bills. Until Tesla radically dropped the prices on installed systems I think that most of the industry were going with 50-60% of the annual need without ESS to make it affordable. This resulted in pissed off people thinking they were going to $0 bills, but actually had overall higher rates due to TOU than they had before without ESS to mitigate the highest peak charges after having spent $20-30,000. Calling back prior quotes that went with another vendor might be a viable sales pitch.

Last year when I was trying to figure out the cost-benefit of solar by learning about NEM2, MDCs, NBCs and True-Up i reached out to my local Nextdoor community to see what other people knew. Most replies were from installers saying they could give me quote and none of them would share any actual data for their own home systems, so I knew that something was fishy.

Then I found this forum and life was good with many people sharing their experiences, install layouts, actual numbers, and understanding of the PG&E tariffs.

 

[h2ofun]

I think that a lot of people have undersized systems out there based on comments about being surprised by large true-up bills. Until Tesla radically dropped the prices on installed systems I think that most of the industry were going with 50-60% of the annual need without ESS to make it affordable. This resulted in pissed off people thinking they were going to $0 bills, but actually had overall higher rates due to TOU than they had before without ESS to mitigate the highest peak charges after having spent $20-30,000. Calling back prior quotes that went with another vendor might be a viable sales pitch.

Last year when I was trying to figure out the cost-benefit of solar by learning about NEM2, MDCs, NBCs and True-Up i reached out to my local Nextdoor community to see what other people knew. Most replies were from installers saying they could give me quote and none of them would share any actual data for their own home systems, so I knew that something was fishy.

Then I found this forum and life was good with many people sharing their experiences, install layouts, actual numbers, and understanding of the PG&E tariffs.

I just showed my setup to a neighbor who is looking to maybe get solar or batteries. I gave him all the engineering angles, starting with why? He had never logically thought that much about it, just sounded cool. I said if you do go solar, get this year and go as big as you can afford and get approval one, and pay cash

 

[Electrph]

Thats assuming it was actually sunrun, and not just a random phisher looking for a mark, like those "your car warranty is expiring, this is your last warning, calls i get, even though I have 2 cars that have the new car warranty still on them, or the "This is the IRS text messages etc.

Unfortunately I have had the same cellphone number for 15 years, so I dont want to change it, but its definitely "out there".

In iOS, they recently added the ability to send all calls that are from people not in your contact list straight to voicemail without ringing, and that has helped quite a bit.

thats funny .. my friends / family give me crap for having same cell # ~ 22yrs .. it's gone from pac-bel to cingular to at&t then i ported to verizon .. i figured same . my number has def been passed around by undesirables

 

[sorka]

thats funny .. my friends / family give me crap for having same cell # ~ 22yrs .. it's gone from pac-bel to cingular to at&t then i ported to verizon .. i figured same . my number has def been passed around by undesirables

I've had my cellphone number since 1991. Motorola bag phone with a big old lead acid battery that the handset plugged into. That was GTE Mobilenet which was eventually purchased by Verizon.

 

[jjrandorin]

thats funny .. my friends / family give me crap for having same cell # ~ 22yrs .. it's gone from pac-bel to cingular to at&t then i ported to verizon .. i figured same . my number has def been passed around by undesirables

Lol.. I remember having a cellphone back then (22 years ago) but it was work related, and when I left the company I was not able to keep the number (nor did I want to, back then, lmao).

In any case, my bet is on "spam call" for the OP. I have also gotten plenty of "energy services" type spam calls that try to tell me I am "qualified for X or Y" and just give me your information and we can send someone out to your home free to evaluate X".

Even if that was legit, I wouldnt want it.

 

[Electrph]

I've had my cellphone number since 1991. Motorola bag phone with a big old lead acid battery that the handset plugged into. That was GTE Mobilenet which was eventually purchased by Verizon.

oh damn 1991 i think that is the winner

 

[Electrph]

Lol.. I remember having a cellphone back then (22 years ago) but it was work related, and when I left the company I was not able to keep the number (nor did I want to, back then, lmao).

In any case, my bet is on "spam call" for the OP. I have also gotten plenty of "energy services" type spam calls that try to tell me I am "qualified for X or Y" and just give me your information and we can send someone out to your home free to evaluate X".

Even if that was legit, I wouldnt want it.

my guess would have been phishing / scam except knew they had tesla solar so maybe aggressive sunrun etc ?
Now if they asked if u wanted to prepay your trueup using itunes gift cards ....

 

[jjrandorin]

oh damn 1991 i think that is the winner

Yeah I think I had a pager in 91, lol

 

[Electrph]

Yeah I think I had a pager in 91, lol

oh god personal pagers forgot about those

 

[sorka]

Yeah I think I had a pager in 91, lol

I had a Motorola pager as well. Cell phone stayed in the car. Before my bag phone, I'd have to hunt down a pay phone to return a page but they were on every corner so that was easy.

By the time 1997 came around, I had my startac, Rim 950 Blackberry pager, and palm pilot all on my belt. I had to endure constant batman utility belt meme jokes from friends, family, and co-workers.

Now it's just a single slab of glass in my back pocket

This was back when blackberry had their innovative keyboard and transreflective display. They eventually lost their way on what made them great. That 950 was my favorite mobile communication device of all time even up to this day.

 

[getakey]

not my first phone

 

[sorka]

That startac was the first phone I could easily put on a belt weighing around 3 oz. I had an assortment of candy bar style phones between 1993 and 1995 until I got my first startac. I worked for a company that had a business dealing with Motorola and was able to score one in November of 1995 a few months before you could buy them anywhere. So for two months I had the worlds smallest phone and got asked a million times if it was a toy when I was out and about in public.

 

[jboy210]

So I got this call yesterday from someone claiming to be from Sunrun asking me how I was doing with my Tesla solar and if I was prepared for my HUGE true-up bill that I was going to get.

I replied fine and that I was currently about $200 below my true-up target currently to which he asked how did I know that. I told him that I'm tracking all usage from the Tesla's API in a model that is compared to the B&W bill. I started spouting out numbers and stats at which point he just hung up. My intention was to waste his time until he gave up and hung up which only took about 20 seconds.

I looked up the number and it's listed as a DISH network number in Visalia(559 666-3242).

Anyone idea what he was really after?

There are a lot of solar companies trying to throw shade and sh^%&t on Tesla these days.

It appears Tesla has cut deep into their markets and now cut them off from Powerwalls. So on YouTube and other places, you see them bad mouthing Tesla and especially Powerwalls. It is almost comical to watch their videos from 3-4 months ago where they pushed to their Powerwall installer status, and compare them to now where say the Powerwall is a POS.