On three occasions now, I have tried to order goods from Power Forum Store. One can go through the on-line order process but, when you get to the payment page you are told to send an e-mail for the final quote including delivery costs. That's the end of the process. I've never received the "final quote".

Try e-mailing - no reply. EVER!

Try telephoning - the landline "is not in service" and the cell number is not answered.

If you don't want to do business, that's fine by me. But I really dislike getting messed about by someone who advertises and never responds. What if you had a warranty claim - Will Power Forum Store be there to help you? Don't hold your breath.

I strongly recommend that you take your money elsewhere, as I shall.

I have bought from them in the past and have had very good service.

Before that I have had a similar experience to yours with Inverter Warehouse (unbelievably poor service) but persevered and finally got my stuff, at very good prices.  I came to the conclusion that perhaps those suppliers with low markups cannot afford a lot of spare staff. The recent excessive load shedding has led to suppliers in this industry being completely swamped.  Good luck finding one that is not...

I have had excellent service from The Powerforumstore.

I think that the current situation and context needs to be borne in mind, things are really busy and everyone wants service at this time of severe load shedding.

1 hour ago, Calvin said:

I have bought from them in the past and have had very good service.

Before that I have had a similar experience to yours with Inverter Warehouse (unbelievably poor service) but persevered and finally got my stuff, at very good prices.  I came to the conclusion that perhaps those suppliers with low markups cannot afford a lot of spare staff. The recent excessive load shedding has led to suppliers in this industry being completely swamped.  Good luck finding one that is not...

That's very true. I often judge the quality of an unknown restuarant's food by the amount of empty tables they have, and the queue outside.

I know exactly what you are talking about because Im busy buying a battery and inverter through the store. Actually I should probably say trying to buy a battery and inverter.

One thing I did notice is that there was an extra step in the quote process which wasnt clear the first time I tried and it hadnt sent through the request. The second time it went through and I received a mail as confirmation that someone would send a quote and that they are experiencing extremely high request volumes.

It took around 4 days to get my quote, I responded and paid the next day and didnt hear anything for about a week. I was called to say there was a break-in at a supplier and all of the stock was stolen and that the next shipment was at the end of Feb. 

It seems like no one has stock of Sunsynk inverters, solar panels over 450W and Sunsynk batteries.

 

Hi Guys 

So to clear a few things up.

So yes we are Inundated with quote requests telephone calls every day stage 6 Loadshedding is not helping we have dedicated staff handling phone calls on the land line and is also responsible for handling queries on stock she has to phone every missed call that was made to the land line and cell phone number.

So please anyone that has slipped through the cracks please communicate with me Via what's app 0742189845 or send us an email [email protected] or log onto the online store www.powerforum-store.co.za 

I will personally make sure everyone will get the attention they deserve you can also send a personal message on the power forum.

We are currently 150 quote requests behind at any time so there is a day or two delay on quotes however everyone of the staff are doing them as fast and as thoroughly as possible.

We are a reputable company we have over 20 000 members keeping us honest.

So the legitimacy of our company is unquestionable. We give the best prices possible with the added value of support and free advice we also have a group of trusted installers we can put you in contact with.

The information my staff gave you is correct 2 of our main suppliers were hit last week with armed men ready with trucks and cleared the warehouses out due to requests from the suppliers I cannot name them.

This is not the first time this has happened this year.

Stock is in short supply not nearly enough for demand.

These attacks on our suppliers make things worse.

The only way you can secure stock at the moment is by way of back order.

Thank you for you patience and understanding in these matters and Don't Hesitate to contact and I will try to assist where I can. What's app 0742189845 calling me won't work because I am always in a call.

3 minutes ago, Methuselah said:

UPDATE

I've now had an e-mail from Power Forum Store sales to say that I've not completed my order. Duhhh. So they can obviously communicate - but perhaps that was just the web site bot. I've responded, asking for the quote, but I'm sure that would be above the bot's pay grade...,

Every response is a person responding every email is read by a person. Please read my previous post.

Installers are going through the exact same experience. The demand is very high. Its impossible to reach everyone that has a request. I can only describe it as trying to drink water out of a fire hose at full tilt. 

The equipment and logistics is also in short supply. Quotes are only valid for a short period. Good suppliers are swamped. I think most people need to realise that we have a much larger problem here.

We have not even reached the peak of the demand because its only January. Choose a good supplier/ installer or equipment and persevere. I know its frustrating but be patient and willing to wait for a quality product or job. You wont regret it...

I can only talk for my own operation. I am even willing to allow a customer to pay a deposit for the equipment and get it delivered until there is chance for our team to install. Installations can be scheduled but equipment supply disruptions will keep this market frustrated for both parties. 

 

 

 

About 3 weeks ago I tried to place on-line orders at three different suppliers for an axpert inverter and a LiFePo4.  I am still waiting for replies.  Likely, I didn't make any payments and just walked away.  These days you don't buy what you want but rather what you can get.  Something as simple as a fuse holder just simply cannot be found anywhere.  Even the fuses themselves are difficult to obtain.  I was told that new stock will only arrive in 2 to 3 months.  I even tried alternative sources such as auto-electricians.

And then the government/municipality has the nerve to tell me that I can sell back excess  KW units at less than half price, when I can't even buy a 100A fuse?  I have to provide the capital outlay, the maintenance, the insurance, the under-roof space sacrifice for the equipment, the negative ascetics to the property (conduits and trunking on outside walls), the likely EMI/RFI/dirty electricity radiation, a possible fire hazard (especially on high-power inverters if you want to sell-back) and the municipality sells-on the units on at 100% profit.  I wouldn't even be surprised if SARS would also come knocking, wanting their cut on my power-generating "enterprise".

They can all go to hell.

If you want to sell your electricity, rather sell it to your solar-less, inverter-less neighbour.  LOL.

48 minutes ago, Superfly said:

Huh? Who said staff should process on Sundays? Shut the system down after hours then.

The orders get processed as soon as humanly possible the current backlog stock shortages and high demand has increased the turnaround time However to expedite the process an what's app message to my number helps.

If you're this backlogged, call it out clearly on the website so your customers understand why

2 hours ago, madness_za said:

If you're this backlogged, call it out clearly on the website so your customers understand why

It does mention in the automatic reply for any query on the website that "we're getting your quotation ready. We will email it to you as soon as possible we are experiencing high demand for equipment at the moment we will attend to your order with urgency"

 

Just as an aside, I was in my local Rubicon earlier this week because I heard they had 550W panels in stock, the queues of people wanting quotes on solar systems was nuts.

The salesmen are run off their feet and they are unable to put together a full system because of stock shortages. 

Through the years of loadshedding I noticed with friends and family that around 8 months ago many were getting inverters and batteries installed. Now its inverters, batteries and panels and there are VERY few people I have spoken to that are not trying to put together a system at the moment. I think everyone is coming to the realization that we are on our own for power and need to make a plan.

8 hours ago, Superfly said:

Huh? Who said staff should process on Sundays? Shut the system down after hours then.

You did?

14 hours ago, Superfly said:

Same here, ordered on Sunday no quote - I rather went elsewhere, I can't be put up with this kind of thing.

10 minutes ago, RocketBoy said:

Through the years of loadshedding I noticed with friends and family that around 8 months ago many were getting inverters and batteries installed. Now its inverters, batteries and panels and there are VERY few people I have spoken to that are not trying to put together a system at the moment. I think everyone is coming to the realization that we are on our own for power and need to make a plan.

Yep. Same as people who want to be somewhere at 10H00, so they leave home at 10H05, and then blame the traffic 🤣

That's human nature for you.

13 hours ago, Steve87 said:

Installers are going through the exact same experience. The demand is very high. Its impossible to reach everyone that has a request. I can only describe it as trying to drink water out of a fire hose at full tilt. 

The equipment and logistics is also in short supply. Quotes are only valid for a short period. Good suppliers are swamped. I think most people need to realise that we have a much larger problem here.

We have not even reached the peak of the demand because its only January. Choose a good supplier/ installer or equipment and persevere. I know its frustrating but be patient and willing to wait for a quality product or job. You wont regret it...

I can only talk for my own operation. I am even willing to allow a customer to pay a deposit for the equipment and get it delivered until there is chance for our team to install. Installations can be scheduled but equipment supply disruptions will keep this market frustrated for both parties. 

 

 

 

The other day an installer was on his way to perform site inspection and because of load shedding ,robots out , he ran 10 minutes late . Called the owner of site and apologized for the delay , only to get a very unbecoming response.

Sorry to be direct , but if that's the customer attitude, let him enjoy the  continuation of  ZERO Volts Alternating Current.

I understand that people are frustrated during the current crisis, but anyone who has been following Powerforum in the last few years, or even researched the comments history, will know that it is not a fly-by-night operator. Maybe the current flood of demand has got them and the industry scrambling, but that shouldn't be a reason to take your frustration out on others who are doing their best under trying circumstances that they are not responsible for.

Maybe I'm sounding like a fanboy, but Powerforum has done a hell of a lot to create a platform to help folks out, customers or not. Nothing less than building a nation here.

Or maybe I'm not distinguishing enough between the forum and the store, but hey, whatever. I saw the train coming in time because of reading stuff on this site, so I'm sorted for power, thank you.

 

1 hour ago, GreenFields said:

I understand that people are frustrated during the current crisis, but anyone who has been following Powerforum in the last few years, or even researched the comments history, will know that it is not a fly-by-night operator. Maybe the current flood of demand has got them and the industry scrambling, but that shouldn't be a reason to take your frustration out on others who are doing their best under trying circumstances that they are not responsible for.

Maybe I'm sounding like a fanboy, but Powerforum has done a hell of a lot to create a platform to help folks out, customers or not. Nothing less than building a nation here.

Or maybe I'm not distinguishing enough between the forum and the store, but hey, whatever. I saw the train coming in time because of reading stuff on this site, so I'm sorted for power, thank you.

 

Im in the buyers boat and Im happy to wait until the store has stock again, this forum and the store arent going anywhere soon and its just going to grow. The benefit is that I feel safe in the knowledge that they arent going to disappear, I cant say the same for a lot of the retailers that suddenly popped up.

I was offered a refund as I had already paid and I had the option to find another solution, but after putting some thought into I decided to just be patient and get the kit I wanted from a store that Im happy to support.

3 hours ago, RocketBoy said:

Im in the buyers boat and Im happy to wait until the store has stock again, this forum and the store arent going anywhere soon and its just going to grow. The benefit is that I feel safe in the knowledge that they arent going to disappear, I cant say the same for a lot of the retailers that suddenly popped up.

I was offered a refund as I had already paid and I had the option to find another solution, but after putting some thought into I decided to just be patient and get the kit I wanted from a store that Im happy to support.

Thank you very much for that. Times are busy but we get to everyone. We are also expanding staff very very soon. 

Sincerely

Jason

I can only add my experience, I was very lucky to find an excellent installer who quoted me and installed my setup within 2 weeks of my request for a quote.

This week they're not replying to calls or Whatsapp messages and I hardly blame them, when seeing how many of my colleagues are trying to jump onto the solar wagon now.

Hang in there, it's worth using a well-regarding company with a proven record, rather than rushing out and using a fly-by-night operation

I have now delayed my need for a backup/solar solution. Will sit through load-shedding until everyone and his dog has a system in place, then try again. Not worth the hassle at the moment to fight for quotes and stock. Can totally understand that installers and vendors can't keep up with the demand at the moment.

Fortunately I am a delayed gratification type of person 

Good luck out there.

7 minutes ago, Johnjohn said:

I have now delayed my need for a backup/solar solution. Will sit through load-shedding until everyone and his dog has a system in place, then try again. Not worth the hassle at the moment to fight for quotes and stock. Can totally understand that installers and vendors can't keep up with the demand at the moment.

Fortunately I am a delayed gratification type of person 

Good luck out there.

I hope it pays for you. I just think the penetration of PV systems is still very low when driving around. Based on this the sector should remain very busy for years. 

I thought the service from The Power Forum Store has, so far, been excellent. I put through a quote request for panels over the weekend. Definitely didn't expect a reply over the weekend. Actually got a quote by Sunday evening. Few back and forth emails today about some other options. All answered within minutes. 

28 minutes ago, Boreddesigns said:

I thought the service from The Power Forum Store has, so far, been excellent. I put through a quote request for panels over the weekend. Definitely didn't expect a reply over the weekend. Actually got a quote by Sunday evening. Few back and forth emails today about some other options. All answered within minutes. 

Thank you so much for the review.

We will continue to push to provide the best service possible.

Sincerely

Jason

On 2023/02/06 at 9:12 PM, Energy-Jason said:

Thank you so much for the review.

We will continue to push to provide the best service possible.

Sincerely

Jason

Wimpie delt with everything. Panels ordered and paid. We now wait for stock to arrive. So far, excellent service. 

Just a shout out to the Powerforum store and the incredible help and assistance from Wimpie. Prices were extremely competitive and the communication from Wimpie was exceptional. I had a tight deadline with receiving the goods before the pre-arranged installation date and Wimpie went out of his way to ensure the goods were delivered on time. 

Regards

Terence