Brimma Solar High pressure sales to sign contract with 10% declination fee Seattle Washington

 I found the Brimma Solar representatives at a Home Show in Seattle. They later contacted me and setup an in-home consultation. The consultamt was a high pressure salesman with lots of tricks up his sleeve. When it came down to the pitch it was $35,000 for a 12 panel system, they dropped it down to 33k for the home show special. They wanted a large downpayment and would finance for 7% interest. We finally agreed on some terms (5% interest for 10 years). I gave them $1000 downpayment and was expected to come up with another $7000 over the next 2 months, and that they could not begin installation without it. Over the next 2 months I had trouble scratching together the remaining $7000 I did get them an additional $3000 but was not sure where I would find the final $4000 to finish the down payment. I told them that I would probably have to cancel because I could not afford it. This is when they told me that I would have to pay them 30% of the contract value to cancel the contract! What? Yes they had a 30% cancellation fee if you do not cancel within 3 days of signing the contract. So, they make $10,000 just for getting me to sign, no equipment, no installation, just pure profit. sign this contract and you owe them 30% of the sales price (which is about the same amount as the tax credit!). I went ahead and borrowed money to finish the down payment and get the system installed. The installation was professional and clean, but I am still smarting from the price gouging. To make matters worse, when I looked into the matter further they are more than Double the cost of the competitors! Double!. At the time of our installation, using top of the line panels built in Washington state, with converters built in Washington state, an installed system should cost about $5000 per kilowatt of energy (about 4 panels). My 12 panel system should have cost about $16,000. Brimma charged me $33,000, and would not let me cancel unless I paid them 30% of the contract ($10,000). Furthermore, the salesperson calculated that we would make about $2500 per year in credits from the local power company for energy we sell back to them, with that and the tax credit and the savings on our annual electricity we would pay off our system in about 7 years. Well, that aint true. The system only generates enough electricity to pay about $1600/year (they were off by $900/yr), and the savings is only about $40/month. We may never have the system pay for itself in full. I later did the math and I would have saved money to pay them the $10,000 cancellation fee and purchase my system from a more reputable company. The other solar installation companies in the Seattle area that I later talked with do not have contracts with cancellation fees, and their warranty on installation is for 5 years, not 2 years like Brimma Solar. WTF? Yes, good, responsible, professional companies do not need tricky contracts, and they stand behind their work, not like Brimma Solar! I am now stuck making payments on a $25,000 loan at 5% interest for a system that should have cost half as much! I wish I had done the smart thing and asked for 3 bids before signing any contract. This company leaves a bitter after taste.