Sue Capes
GBCheck whether you might need an MCS certificate I would really recommend you pay a little more and go with a company that can give MCS certification. I had six solar panels installed by Bespoke Solutions (NE) Ltd in September 2023. I didn’t have a battery installed at this time. Installation was quick and efficient and the panels work well. I received the paperwork - guarantee and electrical certification - shortly after paying in full. However there is (was) only one person in the office dealing with everything and to get any kind of after sales service was impossible. No replies to emails or phone messages (but see my edit further down). The sales pitch made a big issue of they fact that although Bespoke are not registered to be able to give an MCS certificate, they say it is no longer necessary, citing Octopus having made a statement in August 2023 to say they would, in future, be making feed-in payments to non MCS customers. I have been in touch with Octopus about this (I was already a customer) and they say they are trialing this but the only way to get them to start assessing your installation is to pay them a fee of £250 and then the process will take weeks. As they are only offering 15p per kW (and apparently this is generous) I estimate it would take about two years just to recoup the admin fee, so I am giving away the spare energy. I have also subsequently discovered that insurance for panels without MCS certification is either impossible or very expensive and makes selling the house trickier too. MCS certification is not possible retrospectively either. I would have put this review up earlier only the company wasn’t on Trustpilot (even though I was apparently shown some reviews from here during the sales pitch) and I didn’t get around to asking Trustpilot to add a new company till recently. Sorry if this info comes too late for you. Edit added 14/03/2024 I note the contents of Bespoke's reply and can add that since writing this review I did speak to Bespoke about it before they replied, and I have booked them to install a solar battery (arranged several weeks before their reply) because I appreciate that payback from the utility company will never be as much as the electricity costs me (even if I could get it) and as I've only had the panels over a winter period so far, I haven't seen a huge benefit from them yet. My comment about office back up relates to many failed attempts to receive a copy document taken back to the office in error. I understand that the office is now being run by a completely different team and can confirm that the lady in charge now is super-efficient and helpful. She returned the document within a day of asking - I'd been waiting months for the previous person to return it. Once again, I confirm that I have no problem with the work that Bespoke do and am looking forward to the installation of the solar battery next month.
Alison Henderson
GBReview on wrong website My sincere apologies for posting a review on the wrong website!