Heliocol West

Smooth installation of a solar heating system for our spool. (4,000 gallon)

They installed it without our having to be present and one person showed up to install an additional section that I requested after the initial install. It works as advertised. They provided telephone support when I initially had operational questions.  I'd use them again!

I called to have the automated valve repaired. A month and half later it is still not fixed. The customer service is terrible.

Mister system.
Terrible customer service and suspect install. It took multiple calls to make appts and they kept changing and/or saying they didn't have me in their scheduling system. Mister installed 10/2021. Turned it on in the spring of 2022 and no power or mist.

I called for service which took a few phone calls and very long wait times. Made an appt weeks out and on the day of the appt they didn't show up. I called and they said a former scheduler didn't enter all my information so I wasn't on their schedule. No body bothered to call me. They said someone will come out in 2 days but I am suspect.

HORRRIBLE!

We were installing a new metal roof but before we could out solar panels for the pool needed to be removed. That is the only part of the project that went good.
Excuse after Excuse and than four months of no contact they finally finished in November.  I with held final payment just like they withheld communication and install for four months. Plan was to make them wait as long as I had to. They called, emailed and texted me daily, sometimes all three. My only downside was the first payment was on file so they just charged the final payment to the same card.
Do Not have anything to do with this company.
When you are only after the Greenbacks  you will lie, cheat and destroy,  it's a pity for their employees who just have a job to do. An attorney cost money which I do not have so I am using my right to free speech.

Avoid this company. They came out for a consult. The whole setup sounded great. They sent over a CONTRACT and I signed it and returned it along with my 50% deposit. The next day they called and said that the price was a mistake and wanted over $1,3000 more. When I told them no and that I expected the work to be done at the agreed contract price they completely ghosted me. They stopped returning phone calls and emails. I had to put a stop on my check.

First off I love my warm pool ! Helicol West has TERRIBLE customer service . My system is leaking so I've had to shut off the solar . When you call you go to voice mail box and rarely get a return call . I've been scheduled for repairs which took 9 days just to connect with someone  then the next opening for repair is 60 days from my original call .. 60 days is unacceptable in my opinion. My system is almost a year old and this is the second repair issue that I've had.  The first one the customer service person was RUDE .  I would not use this company again . Shortly after the solar was installed I called the salesman to ask a question he didn't answer so I left a VM and a text .....no return VM or TM.  TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE customer service

I called  in April for Warranty work on the solar pool heater this company installed.  It has failed every year that we have had it when we go to turn it on in the Spring.  Every year it requires repair.  This year I called in April.  They have no show- no called for service appointments four times so far!!!  I have to take off of work for these to meet them!  Customer service is very poor if you can get them to answer the phone, which is rarely.  Buyer beware!

Be careful with this product, Heliocol. The company that installed my Heliocol system went out of business. I phoned Heliocol directly and got nothing but the run around. The system is still under warranty but Heliocol avoided my calls and gave me the run around. Finally had to get it repaired out of pocket.

I would not buy a potato from this company if it was the last potato on earth. Unresponsive doesn't begin to describe their lack of customer service.

I have experienced a frustrating poor response and reliability of scheduled appointments.  Multiple times I was assured of a call back "later in the day" to schedule a requested removal of panels to facilitate a roof repair. On the forth day of calling  this company I finally was connected with a scheduling representative... appointment established & confirmed.. no show.. called back requested speaking to someone senior (other than receptionist) waited 55 minutes.. never did speak to requested supervisor ... incrediability poor customer service...

Michael called and got Don (their "best guy") scheduled to come out to give me an estimate for a solar pool heater on June 15. Don text me that he was running late and showed up about 10 minutes after scheduled appointment....not a big deal. After telling me about how long he'd been in the business and how awesome he was we took a look at the project. He brainstormed ideas, looked at the property to see what was available, and asked questions about my pool system and what I was hoping for. Anyway, he finally said his anniversary was the next day so "please give him a couple days."  I waited until Monday June 21st and finally text him to see if he had an estimate yet. His response was, "Sorry for the delay I will have that for you by tomorrow morning." Didn't get anything "tomorrow morning" so I text again Wednesday June 23rd....I got no response. I text again Thursday 6/24....ignored again. Friday 6/25 I messaged the company and waited for a response. Nothing. Saturday 6/26 I called the company and left a VM. I called the company again Monday afternoon 6/28 and Michael said he would make sure Don calls me when he's available. Don finally called me Tuesday 6/29 and he had no idea who I was, which project was mine, and definitely didn't have a quote for me. I told him I was annoyed and tired of waiting and of the horrible service. He was trying to throw out ideas while on the phone with me. I had already stayed home from work the day he came out to give me the original estimate and I didn't have time to stand there on the phone with him again while he tried to figure out a quote. I said, "if you have an estimate just email it to me because I don't have time to stand here and do this again. If you don't have a quote or don't want to provide one, just email me that too." Anyway, here we are 7/1/2021, and no quote, no service, no correspondence. This was to get a sales quote and make new money....just imagine how'd they would be on a service call after they already had your money! No thanks!

Years ago Heliocol put solar hot water and pool solar on the roof. I was later told they should not have sold me the water heater solar, as I was on gas and the backup for their system is This will be in parts in Twitter due to limited number of characters.

Years ago Heliocol put solar hot water and pool solar on the roof. I was later told they should not have sold me the water heater solar, as I was on gas and the backup for their system is electric, much more expensive and reduces significantly any savings.
Five years ago all sort of green material coming through my faucets, shower heads ruined and all had to be replaced. Big expense I paid. Found out the rod in the tank completely disintegrated. Likely due to the hard water in AZ, but they should have known this since they are in AZ. Anyway, put in a different rod and seems to be fine.Told me to service every 4-5 years. I have called and left messages for service to call me back twice over the last ten days and sent an email request for service. Never even the decency to call me. Finally, reached Melody last Friday, explained the situation and she "promised" to get back to me Monday to arrange a service call. She never called, I called and left another message and still did not have the courtesy of calling me back. Do you really want to buy their products and not be able to get them serviced?
Horrible company!
In regard to the solar for the pool. Over time the small tubes spring leaks. Bad for the flat roof and the elastomeric coating. Each time I would call for a repair it would take two to three weeks for them to come out. In the meantime I had to turn off the solar so it did me no good. Finally, went on the roof with my pool guy and learned how to repair it ourselves. Stupid of Heliocol, now they lost all that money which I gladly paid when they did come out.
The company is horrible, they sell you things they should't, they don't return calls or come out to do the necessary service. ZERO STARS. Need I say more?

If this is posted they are really stupid and really don't care about their customers, since I was nice enough to send a copy of the above to their main office with a note to please have someone of a managers level or above call and rectify this situation. I have given them a week to respond and they must have decided not to......

HelioCol Product is great.  DO NOT BUY THEIR PRODUCT ad their customer service is not great, it is horrible.  

The customer service is left to be desired.  Our system was installed first part of January 2020.  Installers damaged roof tiles.  I informed the sales individual of the damage immediately, sent pictures and was told, I would be contacted.  No one ever reached out to me.  I continued to contact the sales guy and never heard back.  In April, the product had leaking issues on the roof.  Called for service and the individual came to fix it.  The service tech's ladder fell on our pergola.  She provided us a number and a name to contact to get it fixed along with the roof.  The individual she referred us to was Bruno.  We contacted Bruno was given his voicemail.  We made several calls and we were trying to be kind and patient.  In June, my husband finally reached him and we were told, they would be out next Friday.  No one showed.  We called again and continually received his voicemail.  By August, I was irate the way we were treated.  You spend this much money on a product and hope for great customer service and still nothing.  I called Bruno again and stated by this time, I could be 7-8 months pregnant with how long it is taken them to come and fix the damage they caused.  Finally they called and schedule a service tech to come and review the damage and compare colors to order parts.  That was September 8.  Then they went silent again.  Contacted the original sales guy, Rusty, shortly before Christmas and was promised a call back from him regarding the situation and still no response.  I called Bruno on January 4th and he remembers us and I expressed my dissatisfaction with the company and was promised to be call on January 6th regarding the status to repair the damage to our house.  It is Friday, January 8 and I still have not heard from him.  I called the number to speak with him and told I would need to leave a message.  I have asked to speak with Bruno and was told it is a board of directors.
I have tried to be patient but I'm tired of empty promises to fix the damage that has been done to my house.  I will be reaching out to the Better Business Bureau and may begin to seek legal actions if this issue is not resolved.

I don't know if I would recommend this company but I definitely recommend a solar pool heater. My pool would have been closed in mid September as the water temperature was in the 70s. I thought the solar heater may not be working so I called the company. The worst part is that they charge $100 just to show up and look at your system! And then they charge per half hour on top of that. I hated that but they came and fixed the heater and my pool went from 81 to 90 degrees in the first day and up to 92 degrees the next day! It is now November 7th and my pool is in the lower 80s which is still swimmable. The solar heater definitely works fantastically in Az where there is plenty of sun.

The installers are excellent and very responsive.  Get their phone number directly when they are working on your system and bypass their main line as those folks are not much help at all - except to collect your payment.

Funny how the reviews with one star have been removed from this site for "not meeting the review guidelines".  
Do your homework if you are purchasing a solar pool heating system from this company.  Make sure that the representations the salesperson makes about how the system will heat your pool are in writing, because we experienced significant misrepresentations.  Bottom line is that the system does not even come close to performing the way the sales rep presented it.  The Customer Service Manager, Bruno, is the sales rep "wing man", and calls the customer a liar stating that his sales rep would never make such representations.  Before my one star review on Yelp was mysteriously removed, I was contacted by two other Heliocoil customers who had the same experience.  Very unethical company!!!

Loved our Sales Rep...Horrible back end service. Let's talk specifics. Our installation was delayed twice and then left half finished for weeks. We called several times to find out when we could expect our home to be finished and were left with unanswered/unreturned calls. Once we finally did get in contact with the home office, they did not prioritize our home getting finished and told us it'd be a few weeks out. Looking back I wish we would have read the several reviews of people in the same position as us.

Added a solar water heater to the house three months ago and we're already seeing the savings and rebates!
Great people - Great company!!!

I really want to rate them higher but in the 5 months we've owned our solar heating, it's never worked, we had a leak, and scheduling someone to come look at it takes weeks. The salesperson was friendly and nice but the product and follow through is poor.

So, not heating at all and has taken 6 weeks to even get an appointment. Buyer beware.

Terrible customer service.  Do not return calls.  Make appointment and not show up or call.  Very unreliable.  Had to call another company to get service on our solar pool heater.  Waited three works for appointment and no show.

Had Heliocol install a heat pump pool heater for us - they said it would be quiet and efficient, and boy were they right! The installers were very professional and went above and beyond to make it a beautiful install - they had to use a crane, and the plumbing had to be done in a difficult area and was done thoughtfully to allow us as much room for access as possible. Price was a bit more than other estimates we had gotten, but we feel it was totally worth it for the quiet and efficiency. Great unit, great experience

We have had Heliocol for several years and enjoy being able to swim later in the year. Our electrical control box started shorting out, so I scheduled an appointment to have the box replaced. Due to a cancelation, I was able to get the appointment rather quickly. I received a call the day prior and was told the tech would arrive between 1:00 & 3:00pm. Great. After leaving work early to accommodate the appointment wasn't a big deal knowing I could go back to work after the repair. After 3:00 and no sign of tech, we called Heliocol to be told the tech was running behind, but would be here. At 4:45, still no tech and another call to Heliocol to be told the tech was definitely going to arrive but delayed due to longer repairs than expected. At 6:50, STILL NO TECH and ANOTHER call to Heliocol, I was apologized to, but the tech was on his way home!! Are you seriously kidding me???!! No calls from either the tech or the office. HELICOL, THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!! Maybe time lost from someone's paycheck isn't a big deal to this company. A very poor way of doing business and keeping customers satisfied. Maybe that's why there was a cancelation and I got my appointment so fast. Maybe someone else is as disgusted as I am.

Hello,
I have been trying to contact someone for service on my solar system leaking from my roof since May! Every time I call the number provided to a company Heliocolwest, I am told the Orange Ca, office manager or the lady who is in charge of appointments Melody is in a meeting, and that there are no other employees or managers or supervisors or even an owner to speak to. I have called every hour random times mornings afternoon and they are always in a meeting! I was charged for the service when I made an appointment that no one came to which was for July, Yes called in May had to wait a month for availability and then no show! This is the worst company I have had to deal with in awhile, there is nobody ever except for the lady Laura who answers phone she is given no information to help people and is left with Melody and who knows who else not doing their job either. I'm sending this info to my lawyer I paid for lifetime coverage for this system then was charged for repairs services that never happened! This company has failed to provide the services needed which were to be provided per the contract I signed in my purchase and that is a clear breach. This needs to be handled immediately today and a service rep out to my location for repair tomorrow. I will give that opportunity before I file.

Wow, I'm amazed by the negative reviews!

We decided to go with Heliocol West since they were recommended by our pool company, Lakeside Pools. Michael Chung came over and gave us a quote and we signed up with him. Gave him a 50% deposit and the rest was due after the solar panels were installed.

As soon as the pool was finished we called to schedule and we had solar panels within a week. There was a small leak that we noticed the first weekend, but they sent someone over on the Monday and it took 5 minutes to fix.

We are absolutely delighted with the system so far. We've been in the pool every day and the panels warm it up by about 8-10 degrees every day. The water got to 87 this afternoon from an overnight low of 79.

The guy who came to fix the leak told us about a "liquid solar cover" for the pool and we are using that as well. It's amazing! Pool stays about an extra 6 degrees warmer overnight with that.

Hopefully we will continue to be delighted with our Heliocol system. I would certainly recommend them. If anything should change, I'll be sure to update my review.

We used Heliocol to install our misting system in our backyard and they did an exceptional job. Michael was our sales guy and he walked us through the entire process up front and was always available to answer any questions we had along the way. Mike installed our system and he is a misting "guru"! He really knows his stuff and went out of his way to ensure we were happy with the pressure and the angles of the misters, etc. Finally, Aaron was a tremendous help with the programming of our remote with our Hayward system. He was awesome and helped fix some issues that had nothing to do with Heliocol. Can't thank him enough!

We're enjoying our misters every day and spending a lot more time on our patio! The system created a lot more living space for us instead of being confined in doors during the brutal summer months! I highly recommend them!

Anxious to sell us our solar pool heater but terrible installation last week! After 24 hours it is leaking so badly in multiple places after we have to shut down our entire filtering system. No call back from our sales person MW or office. The check cleared right away though. If not satisfied by the end of today I will share the video of an unusable pool and system. Disappointed to say the least.

We had the solar system for our pool installed on our pergola in March. During the installation the pergola was damaged. We have contacted the company 4X, last time being told parts were in just waiting to schedule repair. Have not heard anything since June. Though we have left voice message/emails to no avail. Love the system, dissatisfied with customer service/repair follow up. Like anything else, eager to sell sysyem without follow through.

Customer Service is continually lacking. Shouldn't a call back be mandatory when you have a problem with THEIR system?? Is there any less of an F U to a customer than not calling them back??? Wishing we had gone elsewhere as this is ongoing with them.

I was a very happy customer.  I have recommended Heliocol West to several friends.  The system works very well until there is a problem.  It turns out that their 12 year warranty only applies to the actual panels and the clamps all the piping valves are not covered.  So when water started dripping off the roof I went up to see where the water was coming from and found the hose bib on the roof was leaking where it screws into the lower PVC pipe.  I called the company and that was when I learned the great 12 year warranty does not cover anything but the panels. However it says on my printed estimate it says "Heliocol has the Best Warranty in the business 12 year warranty on panels parts labor and installation".  We went with Heliocol largely because of the warranty.  Just know that the warranty does not cover anything but the panels and their clamps.

The problem is not with the system, this is the second one we have had installed and they add months to the pool season. The problem is there customer service after the fact. Our new unit sprung a leak so I called to get someone out on Thursday morning. I was told someone would call me back. I didn't get s call back so I called in the afternoon. I was told they needed to look at schedules and they promised a call back before the end of the day, no call came.  No call on Friday and I was busy so I could not call them, and they have no weekend service so I left a message. No response to the message Monday morning so I called. The soonest they said they could get anyone out to look at my leaking new system was a week.  This is the second time I have had to call for a service issue and the second time with this type of response.

Buyer beware!!!!  This company will lie to you about what the system will do.  Our solar system barely heats our pool, not what we expected with our $5,000 purchase.   The company will not stand behind their product and even attempt to make things right with their customer.   I'm so passionate about how badly we were mistreated, I am leaving my phone number so any prospective purchaser could call me while conducting their due diligence, I simply would hate to see anyone else waste their money on this system and boost this company's bottom line.  I'll provide you with all our details and you can decide if this system will work for you.   Jayne O'Brien (928) 460-1845 - Scottsdale, AZ

My husband and I are insane and have done 7 remodels.  If you've ever done one you know you spend most of your time frustrated.  Well...   We just redid our patio and pool and added pool solar.  I could give you a list of companies/people I was ready to strangle (J) but instead I'll tell you about Heliocol Solar.  They did EVERYTHING correctly.  They did EVERYTHING they said they would do.  They did EVERYTHING on time.  (Even when we had to shift their timing because everyone else didn't! do their part on time.).

Very professional company!

If you're going to have a solar controller installed please buy your own and have them install it.  The gentleman that came out was very professional and did a great job.  The problem I had was that the controller they installed was $295 with the actuator valve on Amazon, I was charged $395 for the controller and I was going to be charged $300 for the actuator.  The installer gave me a break and only charged me $255 for the actuator valve.  I mean if that isn't price gouging I don't know what is.  I feel I was totally ripped off by Heliocoil.  So please do some research before which I usually do but I trusted them but I was sooooo wrong.

Don't be too sure that they will show up on the appointed date.  I got blown off on a repair call 3 times.  When a service tech finally arrived, he was very professional and experienced.  He did the repair and checked the whole system. Happy now.

I had a great experience getting my solar pool heater installed. The sales manager, Michael was great and worked with me to get it installed as soon as possible. They trenched and painted all the pipes and it all looks seamless.

We live in the Tucson area and recently had a system installed. The problem is not with the unit, it's with the customer service group. The system was installed great. The problem with it is that it is so complicated that we cannot even operate it. When we ask for help, they seem to think it's our problem and that we need to address it. When we call, we get bounced around from person to person until someone tells us there is nothing wrong with the unit. It was operating fine when they left. It was not operating correctly when they left and now we can't get them back out here to show us what to do.
I guess I should have done better homework when selecting a company to do this.
This one obviously was a big mistake.

Received unwanted telephone calls from this company even though we are on the do not call registry. We have asked them to never call our number again. We have never used them for anything.

We had our solar system installed in February 2017. There was an issue with the existing artificial turf not being put back in place properly after the installation. Bruno was reaching out to the company that did the turf installation as the turf was just installed prior to the solar installation. This process took over a month to get resolved, however, Bruno made sure I was reimbursed for the charges to fix the turf (I thought it was ludacris that I had to pay the turf guys myself). It's now June and the system is leaking water all down my roof. I called to get someone out to fix it and I was told by Cathy that it would be a week to get someone out and in the meantime I should shut the system off. Ok, so now I won't have use of my pool until the system is fixed as the system is ran through my variable speed pump that also runs my filtration, ozone, sanitizer and water feature. Why would any company not have enough technicians to service their product sooner than a week out. I certainly hope they have everything they need to fix it when they get here next week!!! I will post an update after the issue is resolved.

This company goes by the names of Heliocol West and Green Energy, Inc. Avoid them if at all possible. I purchased a solar water heater, manufactured by Heliodyne a little over 5 years ago. The system was working fine until March 22nd, when I noticed a water leak from the hot water tank. Since the water tank was part of the original system, I contacted Heliodyne and was told that Heliocol West was their service provider for the Phoenix area. The water tank came with a 6-year warranty, so it looked like a fairly inexpensive and easy fix. Boy was I wrong!
I had sent several photos and it was obvious the water tank was leaking. They were "backed up" so an appointment was scheduled a couple of weeks out, not a problem as only issue was I needed to empty a 5 gallon bucket every couple of days. When the technician arrived, he had been told to confirm the leak and then go pick up the tank. He confirmed the leak and then called to say Helicol had never ordered a replacement! Now I am emptying the bucket every day, but still have hot water. They get the new tank schedule another appointment a couple of weeks out. When they replace the tank, I am informed that my Heliodyne controller is bad, but they have one on the truck, which they can replace it with. OK, fine. Just another $300 and I am good to go. Wrong again!
Now one of the two pumps is not working and needs to be replaced. They need to order one of those and I wait another couple of weeks. They show up, replace the pump. Bet you thought this was the end, right? Well now you are wrong. Now a valve is leaking and needs to be replaced and they need to order one.
Mean while during all of the appointments, they have rescheduled on me 3 times. They call the night before and confirm the appointment and then their scheduler calls the morning of and says sorry we will not be there today. No thought to the fact you have already rearranged your schedule to accommodate them. Too bad for you. It has now been 3 months and I have no working solar water heater. I was told "Bruno" would call me 3 days ago, but you guessed right! No call from Bruno.
Bottom line is the technicians are really nice, polite and leave the worksite clean. The rest of the company seems to have no concept of what customer service is. If I could give this company a negative rating I would. If you are considering a solar water heater, find out who services them in this area. If it is Heliocol West, I strongly suggest you find another brand.

The ONLY complaint I have is that the guy, figuring out how much money I would save with the new  pump, took forever. That being said, the sales person, Michael Chung and the lead installer were super. The product is everything I could have hoped for. I wanted to see the water
so it was not an option to put a cover on at night..and I like to run my waterfall all day and into the night...my pool is now swimmable starting in mid -March thru mid-October (I need 83+ to swim!). BTW... $42/ month in savings. I wanted 2-3 extra months and l easily got them. Before I bought, I read some bad reviews and I'm still wondering what happened because I would totally recommend them to you (and I'm picky). Update: I have gotten 3 months extra and if I could take water below 84 degrees would get an additional 2 months! I had a pump issue recently and two years later they were incredibly polite and came and have tried to resolve the issue, with not one complaint. It will need the manuf. to come and check, which Aaron saw to. This is a top flight company!! Professional!

If I could give no stars, I would. The solar hot water system for the pool has not worked an entire year since we've had it. They claimed it was because we had the light color panels, then replaced them with black. Now the panels are leaking. The earliest appointment is the middle of next month,  they want $75 to come out, $150/hr for labor, plus parts - and they want a credit card NOW or they won't make the appointment?!? I'm not giving you credit card info a month before you get here! Stupid.

When we purchased our new home in Mesa, we knew one of the first things we wanted to get was a solar pool heater.  I contacted Heliocol and their sales rep, Michael Chung, came to visit us and answer any and all questions we had.  My wife and I were both extremely impressed with Michael's knowledge of the industry and Heliocol in particular.  We had our system installed in February of 2016 and the first day we swam was March 3rd.  The pool hit 80 and we felt like we just had to go in, even though our preference is 88.  Since early to mid April our pool as been between 86-88 degrees.  We have been extremely happy with our Heliocol solar pool heater and I would highly recommend Michael Chung to anyone that wants to know everything about solar pool heating.

We installed a solar water system by this company in July 2010. It cost $6000+, roof mounted system. Was sold as a low maintenance system that we shouldn't have to do anything to but check the ph once every 8 years. Well less than 3 years later î it seemed like the system was draining water out the overflow all the time, we finally called them in 2014, and they came out to determine that the thermostat was bad. This was covered under warranty, however the labor was $500+.  Now it is winter 2015 and we are getting very little hot water even tho the pipe is hot. Called a plumber who would not touch it. So back to calling them out, $150 just to come out for 30 min! Now the mixer valve is stuck and he is installing a one way valve to prevent the cold water from entering the hot water line.  So why was this not done in the beginning???  My advise is steer clear of this company. I could have bought a new hot water heater every year for what I have spent!!!

Not a reliable company in my experience. Incompetent technicians that can't solve a problem that they have been trained for. Customer service offers you a lot of excuses, like : technician is sick or is away etc...
They have installed solar panels for our pool in Mesa, AZ and a brand new pump . Both haven't worked since installed 4 months ago and every time their staff comes to fix it , the problem stays the same. Our pool has never reached the temperature that they promised. The pump doesn't work. I am tired of their lack of attention and unprofessionalism. I am going to take legal action, since I have paid them and got nothing in return.

Does an honest reputable solar company exist in the valley?  So far I have yet to find one and would love to hear about one that can actually service and repair solar systems.  Because this one certainly is not that company.  They are so so so poor at customer service that I lack the heart and energy to go into each and every time that they have failed to follow up, failed to return phone calls, failed to fix the problem, fail to fix the problem they just fixed and then give one lame excuse and reason they can muster to avoid dealing with frustrated customers.  The fact they make extra money on 'trip charges' only motivates them more to come repeatedly.  The last 'reason' i got today was "oh that's because they need to fix it in the morning because of expansion and contraction". Then why did they come last time in the afternoon when they know this? I've been dealing with the company since late March and if I knew of a single option I'd run from them screaming but unfortunately they have a cornerstone on this market. I'm not sure if the woman I speak to every time (Cathy) has any skin in the game, at least enough to care about the company's future, but in my experience she holds the key to it's success or failure since she is the intermediary of every transaction and only serves to further the customer's aggravation and frustration. If I ever need service again I'll trash my system before I call these people back.

In a single word:  unconscionable.

Do not do business with this company. The product is good, but the service department is terrible. This problem could perhaps be solved by firing the smug and arrogant service manager (Tempe, Arizona) who may at one time been a good pool boy, but who I believe as a person and businessman is an arrogant, uncooperative pr*&k. Here's the story. I noticed a leak in the vacuum breaker valve in my Heliocol installation, so I had Heliocol come out to fix it. It cost $75 for the visit and $75 for the half hour of work. Problem number one is that the "work" was simply to unscrew the valve and wrap its threads with plumber tape. So I paid $150 for a piece of plumber's tape which took about 2 minutes to fix. If the service manager had suggested that I look at the threads beforehand to see if that was the source of the leak before scheduling  a service trip, that would have been greatly appreciated and would have saved me $150, but of course, he is not in the business of helping customers.
The second part of the story is as follows: About 4-5 days after the plumber's tape fix, I noticed that my pool cleaner worked fine when solar was not enabled, but as soon as the solar water panels were engaged, the pool vacuum line suction decreased so much that the cleaner stopped its operation and the cleaner just sat still in the pool and stopped vibrating and moving. I called Heliocol's service department and spoke to the worthless service manager. I have to confess that I secretly hoped to get a free analysis trip out of the call because this new malfunction occurred so close in time to the plumber's tape visit. Instead, his focus was to blame the pool equipment and disavow any responsibility for the malfunction, and he may very well turn out to be correct about that. Time will tell. But I sure did not want him to do his Pontius Pilate routine on me which is what happened. After all, the pool and its equipment with the add-on solar panels comprise a system, where one malfunction might show up in another part of the system. I hoped he would come up with some troubleshooting suggestions which did not occur. What a loser! Anyhow, this morning I spoke with my pool installer and he made some helpful suggestions to attack the problem (unlike Heliocol) before a service guy comes out.