Zest Energy Ltd Reviews 

Long story short. We had a system installed by Zestaround June 2022 and Initally it looked great and was working well.

Then we realised that we were drawing from the grid after our output reached the inverters maximum of around 3.6 kw. Even though our panals were producing way more solar energy than this.

We quickly spotted the issue (my wife is an engineer). Zest had Installed a diffrent inverter than the one we had ordered and agreed with the sales rep, John Pears.

To be fair to John he's a lovely guy and tried to fight our corner saying that it was the 6kw output inverter that we agreed on. The idea being that we would be able to charge an electric vehicle from the solar output.

John is no longer with Zest energy stating that there was a lot of problems and that there after care for customers was poor once they had your money adding, I was not the only customer who was having similar issues.

After a lot of back and fourth Zest agreed to the "mistake" however stated that the 6kw inverter was out of stock and would only become available in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Anyway that date as come and gone and we have recieved no further communication from the company. Which we fully expected.

We had come to the conclusion that we had been scammed and we would never see the inverter that we had actually ordered.

Tonight we were reminded of this when we found one of the plastic cover plates from the panals on the front lawn. Luckily it's summer so the hole in the roof that should be protected by the plate can be replaced before the wetter months start and water ingres has a chance to enter our property.

I noticed that Zest have been responding to other complaints on here so this is my last gasp at any sort of resolution.

We have since drafted a complaint for the financial ombudsman regarding the issue this has been fully suported by John, we have yet to submitt this as we hoped a resolution from Zest may have been forthcoming.

It's a real shame as Zest has the potential to be a great company in its field. However the lack of customer aftercare appears to be really damaging their reputation. When you spend large sums of money customers rightly expect to be looked after and Zest don't seem to care about that.

Do not use this company!
First, salesman lied to us to get the business although we did not find this out till later
Solar panels installed end September 22 and initially all good
Issue arose Jan 23 and despite several calls, all we got was “nothing they can/will do”
Official complaint raised, using their own process, 20/4/23 and, to date, never even been acknowledged
Further chase up calls made which resulted in a voicemail saying nothing they can do
Emailed Derek on 10/5/23 offering what I felt were solutions but again no response to that, or my 3 subsequent attempts to contact them
As a so called innovative company their attempts to find solutions to our problems are nil
Their post sale customer service is zero
The only conclusions we can reach is that if you use them & everything works, then fine. If it doesn’t, then you have literally no chance of a resolution
Their actions remind me of a shoddy double glazing company, say anything, get your cash and be done with you
Don’t risk it!
Response to Zest’s reply:
At our initial meeting with your salesman, we specifically asked about your company’s ability to enable us to get paid for our surplus energy and he assured us your company could do so, he even went as far as to work our costings on surplus energy. He led us to believe that your company could & would enable us to do so. We were naive and took him to his word &, mistakenly, trusted him & the company. Had he told the truth, we would have either gone to another company or waited, but he didn’t
And you still can’t justify your lack of response to emails, complaint or phone calls, all of which resulted in this poor review

Excellent service from the first survey to the finished installation by Zest Energy. I was recommended to use this company over other Solar PV installers and I am glad I followed the advice and chose Zest. The technicians who carried out the work were fast but also made a good tidy job of the solar install and battery install. They explained what would happen throughout the day when they first arrived and this was exactly what happened. Finishing the day with my brand new Solar and battery PV install complete. I will be recommending Zest to anyone who wants to have Solar PV installed!

Was recommended Zest Energy from a friend who used them previously and we found them to be very efficiently run from initial enquiry through to
installation. An engineer came out on a Sunday and explained the process to us in laymans terms. The team completed the full installation in one day, all workers were very pleasant and helpful explaining everything in detail, cleaned up everything behind them and leaving our property as they found it. Would highly recommend their services to anyone considering installation of solar panels.

I contacted Home Renewables Scotland about solar panels and got a phone call from Zest Energy who they work for/with (not sure). After a discussion about what we required and a look at the roof Paul from Zest Energy wanted me to verbally commit to Zest Energy installing the panels. He did not want to email a quote and refused to provide a breakdown of the £30K he said it would cost. Frankly I would say he was rude. Seems like there is something dodgy about the company.

Excellent from first enquiry to installation completion. Sales rep (Richard) was extremely knowledgeable and guided me through the whole process. Highly recommended.

KEEP AWAY.
Very unserious company, I've been waiting for months for the correct panels to be installed but they keep putting it off.
I signed the contract on January 9, 2023, on January 12 the panels had already been assembled (fantastic!), and the same day the company called me in the afternoon and demanded the balance of the payment. I reply that I wish I had time to go home (I was working) to see the finished work.
When I get home it was already dark (6pm on 12 January) I take a look at the panels and they don't seem the right ones, I report the matter via email but the company reassures me that everything is correct and points out that in the contract they claim the immediate payment. Ok.... I paid.
The next day in the sunlight I see that the panels installed are of another brand and model (less performing and with less warranty) and that the power optimizers have not been installed as prescribed by the manufacturer.
Since then I have continued to write to the company to get their error corrected but they have always denied or postponed the interventions.
I tried through associations but I think I'll have to contact a lawyer.
KEEP AWAY.
I advise anyone who has installed a solar system to check the components (just read the adhesive plates on the back of the panels) and compare them with what you have in the quote!
DEFEND OUR CONSUMER RIGHTS!
Update 4 hours after publication:
I leave aside the fact that I must always be the one to ask otherwise you never make yourself heard ..
Now that I write publicly what happened, you are much more responsive...
The JaSolar panel that you have installed and the Dmegc panel that you had quoted are not the same: the first is guaranteed 12 years and the second 15 years...
The JaSolar also have a worse degradation curve (25 ws 30y). These data are conclusive and can be obtained from the datasheet.
By making the necessary calculations, a considerable difference accumulates over the years.
Regarding your offer to install the dm415 I was sent only now, after I wrote this review...
I will be happy to update the review hoping for a positive outcome.
Sincerely.

Zest Energy have fitted solar panels and battery storage at two properties for me and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

They are reliable, the installers are friendly and helpful and the quality of product and workmanship is spot on.

I’d have no hesitation using Zest Energy again or recommending them.

First class service from the team at Zest from start to finish. They tackled a challenging job (i.e. installation and commissioning of storage heaters in a top-floor tenement flat) with absolute professionalism. The job was satisfactorily completed within the projected time and all debris removed from the premises. I am delighted with the outcome and would not hesitate in recommending Zest to anyone who requires a similar service.

The information, support and service from the start to the end of the process. I was advised and chose a high quality system that met my needs. The installation was on time and the workmen were very professional. I’ve had a really good experience of this family run company.

Excellent service from start to finish. We received lots of information about what we wanted to purchase and for us to choose exactly what we needed for our home. Installation and goods were of a very high standard and all work was done at times scheduled. There was an issue, which was rectified straight away by the installation team. I have recommended zest to friends and neighbours since too - great service and aftercare too.

We bought solar panels from zest, great service from start to finish, the installers were very professional and the installation was completed in one day, with minimal disruption. They took the time to make sure we understood how everything worked and talked us through how to use the app in a way we could understand! The saving we are making on our electricity bill is very substantial.

I Can’t recommend Zest highly enough!

Thanks again guys!

I have to admit the sales rep that came round was very good and explained alot of things to me. I then went and contacted other companies and got them to give me quotes,
They were not the cheapest but when i looked up the products that they were installing into my house i was happy to go with them,
My instalation date was arranged and they came and installed it the people that did the installation were very neet and tidy job, they did forget to load 1 pannel but came on the next day to install it and get the system up and running to is full capacity.
The system for me so far is working as well as expected but the main tell for me will be after 1 year to see if it is working as good as predicted but happy with it so far.
My only complaint was that as the company new i was getting a grant to help pay for the upfront cost of the installation and that i had to wait until it was fully installed before i would recieve the payment.
As soon as the people were finished the istalation i had someone on the phone demanding to pay the oitstanding balance and was not happy with the explanation that was given. Then i had another person on the phone from the company saying that i should have applied for a 60% up front cost of istalation and could i not pay them some more money and wait for the grant people to reimburse me. I told them no as that was the deal i had set up with the sales people and that i couldnt afford any more money.
Then i recieved a call from the team saying the grant money had been paid into my account and when would i be setteling the outstanding balance. I was not happy about the way that this was conducted. I did become abrasive as well on the phone as i like to talk to people the way they talk to me, the person soon backed down when he knew he was not going to get anywhere with me, the following day i had recieved the funds from the grant into my account and i settled the ballance. They did then give me a invoice payed reciept which was good.
Over all i might be harsh with a 3 and not giving them a 4 or 5 but i did not like the way that i was talked to for the payment, hopefully that person will have some manners the next time he calls people asking for them to settle the balance.

Having a townhouse lent for what we thought would be a very complicated installation. However from beginning to end the teams at Zest Energy fitted everything seamlessly. From needing scaffolding to dealing with our Scottish weather. Nothing was an issue at all. Everything was fitted over 2 days. The staff were lovely, clean, tidy, nice and friendly not only to ourselves but our neighbours also.
Not only would we recommend them highly, we have been and intend to do so. Excellent service all round.

I've personally received an excellent service from Zest Energy sales, engineering all the way through to the senior leadership team. I first met with Zest Energy in November last year. They quickly helped specify and propose a complete hybrid solar PV and battery storage solution. Delivery, price and payment terms all best in class having received numerous other quotations for the same system. It's been in operation for two months now and the performance of the system is exceeding expectation. Zest Energy leadership have been open to listening to my constructive feedback relating to their products and services and will be returning this week for an after sales visit to ensure my needs and expectations as a customer have been met. This was a big step for me, but it has been made a more pleasant experience working with the Zest Energy team.

Updated 5th March 2023 - Updated to 5 Stars based on the ongoing leadership, support and optimisation of the system. Outstanding!

All problems have been resolved and the company has installed the Solar Pannels and batteries successfully!

This is a review of our Zest sales experience relating to PV installation. The other aspects of the company might be great but I wouldn't go near a company willing to use the sales tactics we experienced.

The sales rep came and over 2hrs wasted our time with stories about how we must "take the offer today because we only have 6 units left"; refused to provide a written quote of what was being offered; showed us an out of date insurance certificate; gave very little information about what was being installed; showed us videos of people coerced into saying they liked their installation; quoted £500 more for 2 panels less than another more reputable company offered; made us feel rather uncomfortable. I would hope the salesman concerned is trained in a more honourable approach unless his approach does indeed match the company's.

Info requested by Zest 20 Feb: salesman was Paul and date as already indicated was 28 Oct.