SUTTON, Mass. (WHDH) — They’re not quite sun-worshipers, but Ray Minchello and his wife love getting outside to soak-in the golden rays. In fact, sunshine is a big reason why they built their dream home in Sutton.
“When we first saw this lot, we saw the potential in solar power because it gets sun all day long,” says Ray. “Probably eight or ten hours a day in the summertime.”
Lots of sun can translate into lots of money saved on electricity. So back in February, Ray decided it was time to go solar by covering his roof with sunlight absorbing panels. He contacted Solar City, a company based out of California, hoping they could shed some light on his potential savings.
He says, “They got back to me and said ‘yup, you’re certainly a potential solar customer…’”
According to Ray, Solar City sent two men over to his house who climbed onto the roof to measure it and figure out how many panels would fit. But they were using something that got Ray’s attention.
“The brace was some sort of belt type of thing and he had it around his waist. And from his waist I could see it stretched out towards the roof.”
Ray says the other end of the harness was somehow attached to his roof and a few months later…
“My own contractor was finishing off some trim work on the house,” Ray recalls. “And while he was on the roof he noticed several of the shingles that had caulking in it.”
He says the men from Solar City nailed their safety harness right into the shingles. But instead of replacing them, they used caulking to plug up the holes! So Ray called Solar City several times over the next few weeks and says the representatives kept promising that someone would call him back.
But his feeling of hope on the horizon was eventually eclipsed when he says no one returned his call.
“That was the third time, and basically I’m the kind of guy that says ‘three strikes and you’re out’ and then I called Solve It 7.”
We took the case to our legal expert, Bob Harnais, to ask if the caulk repair was sufficient, or if Solar City needed to replace the shingles.
“There is a law that says everything has to be done in a workman type manner,” Bob says. “And to destroy shingles isn’t in any way a workman type manner.”
Hoping to provide Ray with a ray of hope, we contacted Solar City and sent pictures of the damage along with a repair estimate from Ray’s contractor. After some back and forth messages, we received the email that Ray had been waiting for.
“They did agree to send me a check for repairs to my roof!” Ray says.
Ray got his roof fixed, and Solar City sent him a check to cover the cost.
“I want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for all the work you did to get my issue solved,” says Ray.
It was a solar solution for Ray’s stressful shingle situation, and if there’s a problem you need help with; give us a call. 617-367-7777 or send us an email at SolveIt7@whdh.com.
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