Haleakala Solar Inc.

unknown

Our solar water heater needed service - no more hot water. We needed quick, professional service, so after reading reviews we called Haleakala. I made contact on Tuesday and scheduled the service for Thursday. Kamu and Cliff arrived shortly after 8:00 am as promised. They were professional and they amiably answered my "2-yr. old- type" questions. Our pump and the temperature gauge were both dead, so it was a fairly quick fix. Kamu went to the roof, took pictures of the panel and also took photos of the water tank and controls. I assume we now have visual records stored on a computer at their office. Apparently, there is still viable life in the panel and the tank, so we'll see Haleakala in the somewhat distant future. This was a most pleasant experience from start to finish - very professional and courteous.

Service was very punctual!

See description for comments

The good:
-Price, about $250 dollars better than second best offer
-Highly rated on Yelp
-Very responsive, sales department and service
-Tank installed is a very good model
The bad:
-Installation set for between 1100 and 1200 on Friday.  Crew arrived at 0800!!  My wife had adjusted her morning errands so as to be home by 1045.  We are not comfortable having workers in our house (garage too) without someone there.  My father in law did not go to work that morning so we had someone at the house while they worked.  I called Haleakela and service manager said it was his fault, he sent his crew early.   I really had a problem with this. What kind of customer service includes completly disregarding the appointment time, a time Haleakela themselves set, and arriving 2.5 to 3 hrs early.  He did not even offer anything other than an appology - even when I told him my father in law had to miss a mornings work
-They left their transportation dolly and a tub of copper fittings behind.  Took them almost a week to come get them.
-During my intial call to sales, we discussed the instalation and she said that when the new tank wsa installed, they checked the whole system (panels, lines and tubes, etc.).  I asked after the installation if they did this check during the installation of the tank.  The answer was no.  So, when Haleakela did send someone to pick up the dolly and fittings, I asked the tech who came if he was going to do the check.  He had not been instructed to but would do it.  I tipped him $20 because he was so helpfull did a great job checking the system.  So, BAD that they did not do the check and left their stuff behing.  GOOD because of the helpfulness of the tech who came to pick up the dolly and fittings.
-The warranty and instruction paperwork was not filled out. The installation booklet had a check list the installer should use to install the tank as well as spaces for the model, serial number, date installed.  I know this may seem nit picky but excellent service, the excellent service promised in their advertisments, would really include using the checklist so your customer gets resassurance the thing was installed correctly and writting down the serial and model number saves the customer the pain of crawling around the tank looking for the numbers.  Again, not a show stopper but certainly NOT excellent service.

unknown

They did a great job working with me and explaining the options and locations that would be best for our system.  Everyone from sales, design, installation, and follow-up inspector did a great job.  I was amazed how many people were involved in such a small job. We also relocated our storage tank outside and Mr. Tokunaga did a great job in constructing a shed for the storage tank.  It looks like a part of the house and not a shed.  I would highly recommend Haleakala solar and Mr. Tokunaga.