Scam Warning: Fake Solar Panel Diagnosis
I was cold-called by J&G, who said they found my details on a database and offered a free “health check” of my solar system. As my original installer went bust, I agreed. Several companies have done similar checks before, so I thought it was worth a look.
A man named Gino visited, had a quick chat, then went into the loft. We looked at the Shine app connected to my system, and I explained I was concerned about high energy use over winter. He told me something was wrong — that my system should be producing more, and that the battery wasn’t charging properly. He then called his colleague Wayne, put him on speaker, and together they diagnosed the issue as a faulty "string" saying I had two strings of solar panels, and one wasn’t working.
They showed me the app and claimed only one string was delivering data. Gino told me he’d need to get on the roof and reconnect the faulty string, quoting £1,000 (after a quick bit of "mental arithmetic") and even throwing in a panel clean. He scribbled down bank details and asked for advance payment. No invoice. No mention of a guarantee. Something didn’t sit right.
I decided to get a second opinion and found a company with an incredibly knowledgeable receptionist. For £250, she offered to send an engineer that same day to do a full shutdown, reset, and health check.
The engineer arrived and immediately spotted the issue: there *was only ever one string*. Not two. All 12 panels were wired correctly to the inverter and working just fine. He explained that if a panel was faulty, the entire string would go down, but mine was generating and charging as expected. The problem Gino claimed existed simply wasn’t real.
With the engineer beside me, I rang Gino and confronted him. He backtracked, blamed Wayne, and said *he* wasn’t really an engineer. I asked why he was diagnosing faults and giving quotes if that was the case. I then asked his about his company certification and he admitted that he had no MCS or HEIS certification, only his engineers did.
He then had the nerve to tell me that he was pleased for me because I had saved money! WTF?! I didn’t “save money,” I decided not to use him, as he had lied to me.
The truth is, Gino lied to my face. Any competent solar engineer would’ve known straight away that my system only runs on one string, the very thing he said was “faulty”. He tried to con me into paying £1,000 for a non-existent issue, and even tried to upsell me on a £1,500 maintenance plan.
Gino is not qualified, not honest, and should not be diagnosing or quoting on solar systems. J&G operate by cold-calling people and scamming people by fabricating faults and trying to sell extortionate maintenance plans. I strongly advise avoiding him and J&G altogether. I had a lucky escape — others might not.
1 juillet 2025
Avis spontané