We all expect something left outdoors for a while might get a bit damaged by the wind, or rain - but the last thing you’d expect to see is your solar panel getting burnt by the sun.
But that’s exactly what appears to have happened to Oamaru man Ron Pringle’s solar heating panel – which he discovered less than five years after it was installed.
“Yeah, it’s stupid, isn’t it. Makes me wonder how good they really are,” Mr Pringle told Fair Go.
He thought it was a fairly simple fix, so Mr Pringle contacted the company he purchased it from, SolarPro.
The company promised to come out and replace the panel right away, but four years later he was still waiting, and the company had by now gone out of business.
“It’s almost as if they got sick of me ringing and blocked my number,” he said.
“I haven’t been able to speak to anybody…since.”
When a company goes out of business, it can leave you in the lurch – and if you’ve got a product that needs repair or replacement, you might be better off going to the manufacturer instead.
But Mr Pringle didn’t know who that was, so he approached Fair Go.
He’d also since found out SolarPro’s owners had started a new company and were selling a different type of solar system – but he still couldn’t get them to fix his.
When Fair Go got in touch, SolarPro’s James Quaid said his new business was also about to be shut down, but that he would finally get the repair done.
“I’ve still got panels at my workshop – I’m an electrician. I’m in Invercargill, that’s all,” Mr Quaid told Fair Go.
But the distance didn’t seem to be a problem - within a week, Mr Quaid had been to replace the panel. And Ron now has a smile… on his sun dial.
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