FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — 5NEWS has received several messages from viewers after a Northwest Arkansas solar panel company can’t be reached and hasn’t provided what they promised customers.
“It’s embarrassing, but you know, you think you have everything kind of lined up,” said Yolanda Olivera.
It all started in May when someone from Apollo Energy knocked on the door of Yolanda Olivera’s Springdale home wanting to sell them solar panels. After calling her electric provider she felt comfortable going ahead.
“We did the loan agreement over the phone. So, everything was done through that Zoom meeting that took place that day. From there, they actually did set up an appointment to come and take a look when the house permits were done. So, they could start installing the panels,” she said.
11 solar panels were installed on her home in September, but when the electric company came out to make sure that electricity was being produced with the solar panels, she found out they weren’t working. After not getting ahold of anyone from Apollo, she called the company her loan company, stopped the payment, and filed a claim.
“As of now, I haven't lost any money. But I do know that other people have, I know my sister has already been making payments and her solar panels aren't working. I personally can't pay for something that's not working,” she said.
They didn’t want to go on camera, but we also spoke with people who worked for Appolo Energy and were never paid for several weeks of work.
Apollo Energy has an office on Garland Avenue in Fayetteville. 5NEWS went there Wednesday, Dec. 14 and it appears to be abandoned. Neighboring businesses said they haven’t seen anyone at that office in about a month. They also have a warehouse space in Springdale but there was also no one there. We also called the number listed online and no one ever answered and there was no option to leave a voicemail.
The Better Business Bureau says Apollo Energy applied for its accreditation in April 2022 and has been in business since 2021. Director of Communications, Cara Carlin says they did a background check, their license was verified and there were no complaints, but this month that all changed.
“Our first complaint was received on December 1 of this year, and since then we have received six total with no response from the business yet,” said Carlin.
Since the BBB just started receiving complaints, she says the business still has time to respond, but receiving six complaints in 14 days about a single company is something she says is very unusual, so they are looking to open an active investigation.
“This is a very unique situation, but it does happen. That's why you have to have your documents and everything in place. It's unfortunate, but usually when someone's on the up and up like that you don't run into this issue. So it's strange,” she said.
The Arkansas Attorney General’s office says they have received nine complaints about Apollo Energy.
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