When a woman decided to have solar panels in her house in Northern California, she ran away from small startups in the solar space. She wanted “a company that was firmly established” and “could service the products if something went wrong.” This is why she chose Tesla, but she now regrets that as “a very big, costly mistake” after her roof almost fell on her head.
Everything happened on the morning of December 27, 2021. According to this Tesla customer – who asked us to remove her real name from this article – she “woke up to our ceiling having caved into our living room.” The pictures in this article were taken by her soon after everything happened. However, that was just the anticlimax of a situation that had been going on at least since October 24, 2021. Or perhaps even before that, as you shall see.
This lady was already a Tesla customer when she decided to purchase her solar roof in 2020 – she owns a 2016 Model X. The contract with the company was signed by the end of that year, and she had the solar panels installed by April 2021. Problems started six months later.
“The first major rain where I noticed water coming into my house was actually on October 24. I called and emailed Tesla several times, and they didn’t bother responding at all. When I posted a picture of a giant bowl full of water that I had collected from water pouring into my living room on Twitter, someone contacted me.”
Photo: A woman in Northern California
It was mid-November. What could have been a way to prevent everything she is now going through turned into a small sample of what was to come.
“The workers they sent over weren’t claiming any responsibility. In fact, they tried to bill me for their time – and sent me an invoice for $200. They were rude and very aggressive, saying: ‘Our being here isn’t an acknowledgment of any responsibility.’ I pushed back on them to repair their mistake on the roof. I also said they needed to send a drywaller to my house because the ceiling inside had severe water damage. They came in, took photos, and said they’d be back. But no one ever came.”
The Tesla Solar customer did not want to count on Tesla’s goodwill and had already asked a reputable roofer to assess the situation as soon as she noticed the leak.
“He climbed on my roof and took photographs which clearly showed Tesla had drilled directly into the shingles on my roof, without bothering to seal at all.”
She insisted that the company repair her roof until the inevitable happened.
“I continued to get invoices from Tesla for that day, which was appalling to me, and I continued to reply that they needed to send a drywaller to my house, that there was water damage, but nobody responded. I called several times, asking for someone to come out, but nobody ever came.”
Photo: A woman in Northern California
After her roof collapsed, this Tesla Solar customer was thankful that her daughter and her dog were not in the living room when everything happened and tweeted about the situation. Many people saw and shared her tweet, which helped her get some attention from Tesla.
“A week after posting my tweet, one of Tesla‘s regional managers – a person by the name of Joe Homen – contacted me and said: ‘We have agreed to take care of the expenses regarding the re-roof and the repairs… We’re so sorry this happened…’ But, as it stands today, Tesla‘s dragging their feet, stalling.”
The EV maker would be doing that with the excuse that it is no longer taking care of the situation.
“Tesla told me that now a third-party is handling my claim, and it’s out of their hands. Essentially, it seems their job it is to bully claimants to take a smaller amount for what their damage is worth. They told me today that they haven’t ‘determined responsibility yet’ and ‘anything Tesla told me previously doesn’t stand because [they're] now in charge of my claim.’”
Meanwhile, she and her daughter are facing a hard time.
“Currently, we are out of our home, and because there’s a housing shortage where I live, we are staying in an Airbnb out of my own pocket with my daughter and our family dog. I’m a single mom battling two insurance companies on my own – and getting nowhere.”
Photo: A woman in Northern California
The Tesla Solar customer was kind enough to tell us more about their difficulties.
“I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket; our Christmas presents were crushed and ruined; furniture was destroyed; valuable pieces with sentimental value damaged. We lived out of a suitcase for ten days, are now in a rented home, and my contractor cannot begin without the green light, which Tesla (and State Farm) will not give. I’ve sent Tesla receipts and asked for reimbursement and nothing.”
To make matters worse, the Tesla Solar customer’s Model X also decided to leave her stranded.
“I’ve been having terrible problems with my 2016 Tesla X. Apparently, when the 12V battery decides to die, there’s no warning, and you can’t even get in the car, access the app, do anything at all. I had just driven to the temporary housing location with my dog in the back of the car and, guess what? My Tesla wouldn’t open. I called Tesla roadside service, and they told me the battery had died… They couldn’t help me. I had to tow the car to a service station, but they had no appointments available for a week. Meanwhile, my precious dog was locked inside. For hours.”
After going through all this and still without a solution for her situation, we asked her what she would tell anyone that, like her, was wondering about putting Tesla Solar panels in their roofs.
“I would absolutely advise anyone considering using Tesla Solar to do their due diligence. Don’t rely on the Tesla name and perhaps one friend’s positive experience. There are hundreds if not more people like me. I’m frankly shocked they’re even allowed to do work in the solar space. It’s clear they don’t know what they are doing.”
Editor's note:
The woman in Northern California that told us her story here decided she did not want her name in the article anymore. We have removed it at her request. She bought solar panels, not a solar roof, which is a different product. The article was revised to avoid any confusion between the two.
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