Ohio Attorney General Sues Solar Power Company Over Aggressive Sales Tactics And Consumer Fraud
The Ohio Attorney General recently filed a lawsuit against a North Carolina-based company that sells solar panels. The attorney general filed their complaint after more than 100 customers complained about shoddy or substandard work and high-pressure sales tactics. Pink Energy, formerly known as PowerHome Solar, faces allegations of:
- Aggressive sales tactics
- Misrepresenting cost savings after the installation of solar panels
- Warranty issues
- Poor construction and installation
- Customer service issues
Attorney General Dave Yost is suing the company under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act and Home Solicitation Sales Act. Since 2020, the company has faced 124 complaints filed by consumers against it with the Ohio attorney general’s office. This is not the only lawsuit that the company is facing. In July, one Ohio couple filed a federal lawsuit against Pink Energy after they paid $48,000 to have solar panels installed in their home. Their case is one of 13 federal lawsuits filed against Pink Energy in Ohio. According to the lawsuit, Pink Energy made false or misleading claims related to their solar panels. They allege that the representations made by the company were “false, fraudulent, misleading, scientifically inaccurate, and scientifically impossible.”
An attorney representing the couple said that they plan on asking the court to put on stop payments and prevent the lending parties from reporting those stop payments to the credit bureaus. The lawsuit is also seeking damages from Pink Energy.
While the complaints alleged by consumers vary in scope and type, most of them boil down to the same allegation: the solar panels produce nowhere near the amount of power that Pink Energy claims they would. Pink Energy, in turn, is blaming the lack of power on a piece of defective equipment manufactured by another company, Generac Equipment. Pink Energy has filed a lawsuit against Generac Equipment blaming them for the malfunctioning solar panels. Pink Energy blames the volume of complaints on the faulty part and is also claiming they lost revenue as a result of the faulty part. However, many of the complaints filed against Pink Energy predate the use of the Generac Equipment part and the scope of these complaints cannot be reduced to simply a malfunctioning part.
The Ohio attorney general is asking the court for an injunction to prevent the company from operating in the state of Ohio and for damages to consumers. The company announced that it was going out of business due to declining sales.
In this case, Pink Energy is accused of violating the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act by misrepresenting the efficacy of their solar panels to consumers and then doing a poor job of installing them.
Talk to an Ohio Consumer Fraud Attorney Today
The Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act attorneys at Kohl & Cook, LLC represent the interests of consumers in consumer fraud lawsuits filed against Ohio businesses. Call our office today to schedule a free consultation, and we can discuss your right to recover damages right away.
Source:
cleveland19.com/2022/09/27/ohio-ag-sues-solar-company-over-shoddy-work-aggressive-sales-tactics/
