I thought I should share this experience here. From what I heard, Sunsynk is generally a good brand and good value for money. I know quite a few people who have installed them and have had no issues. 

I installed an 8kW unit (along with 2xHubble 5.5kWh batteries and 10x550W panels) in January this year. It was working perfectly for about 4 days and then I received a DC overcurrent fault notification from the app. The installer had a look and tried resetting everything but kept getting faults. They disconnected the batteries (they seemed to start up just fine when not connected) but measured a dead short over the battery connection terminals on the inverter. Everything was logged on the app and all the important stats were well within the limits of the inverter. I was of course disappointed, but I understand that these things can happen.

The inverter was sent back to Sunsynk for replacement/repair on 23 January 2023. The installer did speak to them by phone to explain the situation and asked if they could expedite or provide a loan unit and they said they would see what they can do but the it might take up to 3/4 weeks. The installer sent weekly emails to follow up. The only response we received was a request for the serial number of the unit. After 4 weeks we received a response saying the unit will be ready the next week (this was almost 3 weeks ago). It is now more than 7 weeks since the return was logged and my last 4 emails have gone unanswered. I have essentially been ghosted. They have not provided any information on the reason for the delay or what the problem with the unit is. Only one short response saying the unit is being repaired should be ready "next week".

I don't know why this is being repaired instead of being replaced. They won't tell me that or who made the decision. I am really frustrated with he situation and their response. What really gets to me is the complete lack of feedback. When the install was done, my old 3kVA inverter with battery backup was disconnected from the essential circuits and it was reconfigured to run the whole house. When the inverter failed, I was under the impression the whole time that it would be replaced "soon". It just didn't make sense to re-wire the db and re-wire it again the next week when a replacement came. Even if they just let me know it would take two (or more) months to attend to it, I could have made alternate arrangements (renting one or buying a replacement for the meantime), but you are continually stuck in limbo.

Apologies for the rant. But I think people should know what they are getting into when they buy this brand. It is extremely frustrating.

There is also something going on on facebook.

Bad service, No Support  and so on.

Check the link

Sunsynk Users & Installers

14 minutes ago, Leon Pierre Susan said:

I don't know why this is being repaired instead of being replaced

The Consumer Protection Act is on your side - see Repair, Replace or Refund – who’s choice is it? – SEESA Blog

Wow guys this is humbling very sorry for your poor service there @Leon Pierre Susan. Actually what is very interesting to know is that the Sunsynk installer support group has Deye technical staff that are on the same group attending to ppls ills. Funny also to note some Deye installs also appear on the same group. 

Maybe that extra you pay is not so worth it. Looking at stock levels as an installer. Looks like the Humble Kodaks are going to make a massive come back 😂😂😂

Having installed lots of these machines , I still would bet my life support on the OG7.2. it's been doing duty in my home for quite a while. It has its quirks & needs watching & care every now & then but it's just pure uncomplicated magic at a good price. Wats more it was repaired outside of warranty by @BritishRacingGreenit was a Durban Flood victim. 

Still can't believe he brought her back to life. Now it's just my belief that we need to start to realise that the Axpert is a Land Rover Defender of old. It can be bush fixed by a local genius. Parts are also locally found in abundance.  The Sunsynk I'm not so sure. Probably in the right hands can be repaired. 

Once again so sorry for this poor experience to the OP. 

You're not alone. My 8kW Sunsynk was running for less than 14 days and I noticed a burning smell when we left for the shops. Came back and the output was completely dead. It went in for "repairs"on the 31st January. My installer has been following up weekly and as of last week they had not even looked at the unit. At least you are ahead of me in the queue. Service and communication has been poor. I was expecting a straight swop out given that it was so new. 

Maybe this can help.

 

Are there multiple Sunsynk distributors in SA?

I had to have my 8kW Sunsynk repaired last year. Took about a month. I guess they are swamped. If you look at the number of inverters being sold one can imagine that they are having some issues. Same story with Hubble. Too big too soon. And then the technical department does not grow/scale with the rest of the business.

8 minutes ago, WAP said:

I had to have my 8kW Sunsynk repaired last year. Took about a month. I guess they are swamped. If you look at the number of inverters being sold one can imagine that they are having some issues. Same story with Hubble. Too big too soon. And then the technical department does not grow/scale with the rest of the business.

The Sunsynk sales in the last couple of months has escalated drammaticaly.this is of course the marketing presence that uncle Keith and co has established, along with what needs to labelled as good inverter. People are invariably willing to spend the extra bucks, after all the system as a whole is very expensive anyway. 

Wether they can and how to absorb the new pressure on support ecosystem, time will tell. In the interest of many owners, my hope is they will, as they should be equipped to do so. 

Consumer Protection Act
If the issue occurred within 6 months of the purchase, then it's your right to determine whether you want to Replace, Repair or Refund. 

If you choose Repair, and the repair is not successful then the provider may choose to Replace or Refund.

I almost always opt for Replace.

Generally are returned rate is extremely low. The  problem is our sales, extremely high even 0.004% results in a lot of returns.

As we really appreciate your support of our brand we have made a decision with all our major distributors. Any customer who has returned an inverter and it has not been repaired or looked at for over two weeks they have proof of the item being returned to our service centre our distributor will offer a brand-new replacement. subject to Ts and Cs 

No customer should wait more than two weeks to have an inverter, repaired or replaced. That is my commitment.
 

Keith Gough

ceo 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear about your experiance.

Sadly, I'm in a similar predicament with my Sunsynk 5.5kw inverter.

 

The inverter was installed and set-up roughly 3 weeks ago. We discovered that any system settings would revert to what appears to be factory settings and would not save. The installer returned and managed to get a techinician to perform an online firmware update whilst the unit was in situ. This seemed to resolve the problem, but 1 day later, the "factory" settings returned. At this point I requested a replacement unit (R28 000 is a lot of money to pay for something that doesn't work)

 

The installer returned, removed the unit, and unit was delivered to the supplier (Segen Solar in Cape Town). Here the unit was tested, another firmware update performed, unit deemed working and fine, note no replacement offered). Unit was again set-up by my installer, and settings entered. All seemed fine for 2 days, then the issue returned and I was back to "factory" settings.

 

Unit has AGAIN been returned to Segen Solar. I have called them, but they refuse to speak to me as a customer and will only deal with the installer. I have reiterated my request for a replacement, but Segen Solar seem determined to return the "repaired" unit, despite the Consumer Protection Act stating that it is the consumer that makes the decision.

 

I am utterly disappointed in the lack of customer support and the refusal to honor consumer "law" by Segen Solar. Whatever their own returns policy may be, it does not trump that of the CPA.

 

So in 3 weeks, the unit has undergone 3 different "repairs". Right now, I'd just like my money back and go elsewhere. The unit is still with Segen Solar. Not holding my breath. Next step will be the legal offices.

 

IANAL, but:

So:

1) the consumers choice is between 'repair or replace' or 'refund', NOT 'repair', 'replace' or 'refund'.  So it is the sellers choice to 'repair or replace', unless you request the 'refund' option.

2) In the case where the goods were returned a 2nd time for the same fault, the seller has only TWO choices - 'replace' or 'refund'.

3) Any other warranties are in addition to the basic CPA warranty clauses and can not replace them.

Also, your claim is against whoever sold the unit to you. You have no claim against the wholesaler, unless you bought it directly from them.

On 2023/03/28 at 3:09 AM, Keith Gough said:

Generally are returned rate is extremely low. The  problem is our sales, extremely high even 0.004% results in a lot of returns.

As we really appreciate your support of our brand we have made a decision with all our major distributors. Any customer who has returned an inverter and it has not been repaired or looked at for over two weeks they have proof of the item being returned to our service centre our distributor will offer a brand-new replacement. subject to Ts and Cs 

No customer should wait more than two weeks to have an inverter, repaired or replaced. That is my commitment.
 

Keith Gough

ceo 

 

 

 

I think it would be great if all the distributors in this country shared the same sentiment as you are stating here and actually realised that the end user customer who generally has no say when it comes to repairs or faults are in fact the people who believed in your product and warrantees in the first place and subsequently went ahead and purchased the Sunsynk products only to be disappointed by the poor service levels afterwards.

After all they are the very customers who keep the distributors in business by supporting them and purchasing their products continuously no matter where they eventually  end up purchasing it from.

I have recently spoken to several installers who are very hesitant to install Sunsynk products as it unfortunately seems that their confidence in the good quality of Sunsynk products is tarnished and often marred by their lack of confidence in poor after sales support and poor back-up service as well as their inability to address problems efficiently and effectively. 

Several customers have expressed stupendous waiting periods on newly purchased products as can be seen on most poor reviews involving Sunsynk Products.

This is something that in my opinion can be rectified by the drop of a hat hence I am hopeful to see it happen soon as it would be sad to see this good brand being affected negatively.

On 2023/03/28 at 11:32 AM, JustinSchoeman said:

IANAL, but:

So:

1) the consumers choice is between 'repair or replace' or 'refund', NOT 'repair', 'replace' or 'refund'.  So it is the sellers choice to 'repair or replace', unless you request the 'refund' option.

2) In the case where the goods were returned a 2nd time for the same fault, the seller has only TWO choices - 'replace' or 'refund'.

3) Any other warranties are in addition to the basic CPA warranty clauses and can not replace them.

The repair or replace is at the direction of the consumer though. 

1 hour ago, Gooney Bird said:

I think it would be great if all the distributors in this country shared the same sentiment as you are stating here and actually realised that the end user customer who generally has no say when it comes to repairs or faults are in fact the people who believed in your product and warrantees in the first place and subsequently went ahead and purchased the Sunsynk products only to be disappointed by the poor service levels afterwards.

After all they are the very customers who keep the distributors in business by supporting them and purchasing their products continuously no matter where they eventually  end up purchasing it from.

I have recently spoken to several installers who are very hesitant to install Sunsynk products as it unfortunately seems that their confidence in the good quality of Sunsynk products is tarnished and often marred by their lack of confidence in poor after sales support and poor back-up service as well as their inability to address problems efficiently and effectively. 

Several customers have expressed stupendous waiting periods on newly purchased products as can be seen on most poor reviews involving Sunsynk Products.

This is something that in my opinion can be rectified by the drop of a hat hence I am hopeful to see it happen soon as it would be sad to see this good brand being affected negatively.

As a Sunsynk installer, I have also had to wait for up to 2 months for feedback from Sunsynk regarding a repair. My main issue is that they there is no communication from them whatsoever. You can Email/WhatsApp and no response whatsoever. Their generic promise is  3-4 weeks when you hand an inverter in, but that’s never been my experience. 
 

They also have no way of initially determining whether a fault is a factory fault or a fault caused by poor installation. So if your inverter gets installed and on day 1 has an issue due to a factory fault, that inverter goes to the back of a queue with every other unit that’s in the repair centre and it only gets looked at when it’s at the front of the queue. 
 

So as much as I would like to believe the 2 weeks promise, it’s never happened in my experience. 

2 hours ago, Leshen said:

The repair or replace is at the direction of the consumer though. 

A lawyer explained to me that it is exactly as worded in the Act. At the discretion of the consumer, either (a) or (b).  The consumer has no legal right to say which of the options under (a) must be chosen - they only have the discretion to pick option (a).

Actually, I see there has even been a court ruling on this:

 Nico Tourelle v Yamaha Crescent:

“The way in which this right is formulated creates the possibility that it may be interpreted to mean that the consumer can choose between paragraph (a) and (b), but once that choice is made, the supplier can choose whether to repair or replace the goods. The alternative interpretation is that the consumer has the choice between any of those 3. This would mean that the consumer can insist on replacement goods even where the goods can be repaired economically. However, if the legislature intended that the consumer should have a choice between all 3 remedies, the Section would have been phrased so that the supplier must at the direction of the consumer either (a) repair the goods; (b) replace the goods or (c) refund the consumer.

The first interpretation is to be preferred even though it is merely the lesser of the two evils given that the consumer will still be able to choose a refund in cases where it is neither fair nor economical.”

8 minutes ago, JustinSchoeman said:

A lawyer explained to me that it is exactly as worded in the Act. At the discretion of the consumer, either (a) or (b).  The consumer has no legal right to say which of the options under (a) must be chosen - they only have the discretion to pick option (a).

Actually, I see there has even been a court ruling on this:

 Nico Tourelle v Yamaha Crescent:

“The way in which this right is formulated creates the possibility that it may be interpreted to mean that the consumer can choose between paragraph (a) and (b), but once that choice is made, the supplier can choose whether to repair or replace the goods. The alternative interpretation is that the consumer has the choice between any of those 3. This would mean that the consumer can insist on replacement goods even where the goods can be repaired economically. However, if the legislature intended that the consumer should have a choice between all 3 remedies, the Section would have been phrased so that the supplier must at the direction of the consumer either (a) repair the goods; (b) replace the goods or (c) refund the consumer.

The first interpretation is to be preferred even though it is merely the lesser of the two evils given that the consumer will still be able to choose a refund in cases where it is neither fair nor economical.”

Thanks for that. Learned something 

On 2023/03/14 at 11:25 PM, slipx said:

You're not alone. My 8kW Sunsynk was running for less than 14 days and I noticed a burning smell when we left for the shops. Came back and the output was completely dead. It went in for "repairs"on the 31st January. My installer has been following up weekly and as of last week they had not even looked at the unit. At least you are ahead of me in the queue. Service and communication has been poor. I was expecting a straight swop out given that it was so new. 

Received my repaired unit today. 58 days later

On 2023/03/28 at 3:09 AM, Keith Gough said:

Generally are returned rate is extremely low. The  problem is our sales, extremely high even 0.004% results in a lot of returns.

As we really appreciate your support of our brand we have made a decision with all our major distributors. Any customer who has returned an inverter and it has not been repaired or looked at for over two weeks they have proof of the item being returned to our service centre our distributor will offer a brand-new replacement. subject to Ts and Cs 

No customer should wait more than two weeks to have an inverter, repaired or replaced. That is my commitment.
 

Keith Gough

ceo 

Thank you Keith and welcome to our forum. Thank you also for your commitment.

The reality seems to be that repairs do take longer than 2 weeks, and also that the consumer is without an inverter for that period of time. I went the Sunsynk route almost three years ago on the perceived strength of the brand's support in South Africa. I even went to the trouble to enquire about whether loan units would be available if a unit needed a repair under warranty, and I even have the 2 documents attached that Segen were distributing at the time, explaining how the "loan unit" procedure would work. I spread these documents to all that I knew at the time, as a testimony to Sunsynk's commitment to great service in South Africa.

I was therefore rather surprised when I experienced a problem with a 5K unit in the Eastern Cape in October last year: It over reports PV production by about 300 Watts, so whilst not a major fault, it still is quite irritating, especially on low production days. After going through all the support channels, the case ended up with Sunsynk UK, who referred me to a local Sunsynk Technician (Gerrie Rautenbach), who analysed all the data and agreed with me that the calibration was not correct. He suggested that I send the unit in for repair and directed me to the online RMA site https://rma.sunsynk.com  I asked about a loan unit, to which he responded that Sunsynk do not offer loan units, and that repairs are known to take 3-4 weeks, but will only be placed in the queue when it was received. My client is an elderly and sickly man whose household includes an individual with special needs (cerebral palsy), and who is dependent on a reliable electricity supply, and with no loan unit, I opted not to send it in. I am quite disappointed in Sunsynk's stance with respect to loan units, and the fact that Sunsynk's policy seems to have changed.

Providing loan units for repairs under warranty bears testimony to the commitment of an inverter brand in South Africa, and gives effect to a number of other commitments like:

• Build quality and quality control in manufacturing;
• Quality of warranty repairs;
• Swift turnaround of units repaired under warranty.

Sadly this does not seem to be the case, despite these two documents (attached), ostensibly authored by David Drake and dated 16 March 2022. Could you please confirm Sunsynk's official policy on loan units in South Africa?

Sunsynk loan unit agreement.pdf Sunsynk Repair Replacement Policy-2.pdf

Edited March 30, 20231 yr by YellowTapemeasure

I am shocked by these reports.

My 8kw Sunsynk has been going well for two years now with no problems.

If you want to sink any brand it must get a bad name from South African consumers.

There are plenty of car manufacturers who can vouch for this.  
I wish Sunsynk well for their venture into Australia as they don’t have our patience.

Oh, and the Aussies read our forums.

Keith would do well to take action in this market.

My brother had a not so good repair experience with Deye recently - will I recommend it. Obviously not …

As a installer and seller we will not touch Sunsynk. Period. We generally encourage customers wanting Sunsynk to rather look at another brand.

Edited March 30, 20231 yr by Wynem

39 minutes ago, Wynem said:

As a installer and seller we will not touch Sunsynk. Period. We generally encourage customers wanting Sunsynk to rather look at another brand.

And what do you suggest as an alternative?

Just a quick FYI....

I had a goodwe that died after 3 months usage. It was replaced with new after about 2 weeks. 

I learnt a valuable lesson. When you buy from xxx.co.za, they are the 3rd or even 4th vendor in the SA side, supply chain.

I bought my unit from X, but the repair was logged against Y....Only after intervening  and much discussion with a really helpful lady at Segen was my problem.solved.

Your installer has to argue with many people in the supply chain to fix the problem, it's a full time job handling the supply chain issues on a return/repair.

I can't complain with my Goodwe. A really boring item, it just works. Simple to use and after 4 yrs it's still going! No screeching or high pitch fans. I believe there's a 6kW unit arriving in April, priced competitively vs the sunsync 5kW.