Name and Shame UK
We expose the dirty deedsters
The only energy used here is taking your money ...
... and in return you get nothing!!
Our correspondent warns ...
If you are looking for a company to provide solar energy, please avoid a company called Ultimate Energy PLC of Poole, Dorset. They are totally untrustworthy.
We paid a deposit of £2,300 to this company but we never received any further contact from them. Each time we contacted them, they had a new excuse for not getting in touch with us. After weeks and months of these delays, we decided there was definitely something untoward happening and we cancelled the contract.
Ultimate Energy PLC agreed that we were entitled to a full refund but it never worked out that way.
- First, they claimed they could not reimburse our credit card.
- Then they sent a cheque (which arrived one week after they claimed to have sent it by first class post).
- Finally, the cheque was returned by our bank with 'PAYMENT STOPPED' printed across it.
I have attempted to contact the company many times to find out what is happening but my calls go unanswered.
I am looking to add this company to some kind of 'on-line blacklist register' so that other people can be alerted to this problem. Does such a thing exist? JV, Ipswich
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Important Disclaimer |
| We have been asked to point out that Ultimate Energy PLC (the subjects of this article) have no connection with a
company called Ultimate Energy Services of Evesham who specialise in underfloor heating.
We are happy to make this distinction as all the complaints we received related to the company in Poole. |
Editorial comment:
They may already be on a blacklist as they were investigated by the Office of Fair Trading in 2007.
On 29th October 2007, Floyd Lewis and June Lewis, the directors of Ultimate Energy PLC and Solar Technik Ltd, gave personal undertakings that they would not:
- give the misleading impression or make misrepresentations that products will: provide heating (including background heating) if they will not; reduce a person's fuel, energy, gas, electricity or oil bills or level of usage if they will not; or that people will save money equal to or more than the cost of a product.
- supply goods which are not of satisfactory quality, reasonably fit for purpose or do not correspond with their description, or fail to repair or replace goods (where appropriate) within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience
- fail to carry out a service with reasonable care and skill, or
- fail to inform consumers, where required, of their cancellation rights.
Solar Technik Ltd was put into liquidation in March 2007 but Ultimate Energy PLC continues to trade. Their website - http://www.ultimateenergyplc.com - made extravagant claims about their core values, business ethics, professionalism and caring service - this is not exactly the experience of our correspondent!
So, be warned ... Ultimate Energy PLC looks like a decidedly dodgy company.
Footnote:
Happily in this case, our correspondents did get eventually their deposit back but the story has a quirky ending.
After Ultimate Energy PLC were threatened with legal action, Floyd Lewis contacted the customer to ask for details of their contract. When they told him they couldn't supply the details as all the paperwork had gone to their solicitor, the deposit was credited back to their account within hours!
The moral here, as we so often find, is that you must fight for your rights. If you don't, conmen will continue to fleece potential customers and they will make a lot of money by doing nothing!
Visitors' Comments
I had a system installed by Ultimate Energy, some 18 months ago. Last summer, after experiencing a problem of noise from the system when the sun is full on the solar panels, I made 3 appointments for a technician to attend, none was kept and no reason was given in the course of several phone calls. I have heard nothing further until this week, when I received a letter from Advanced Solar Energy offering to 'honour' the original 3 year warrantee - on payment of £2299 inc VAT. I shall not be taking up this offer as I believe that Advanced Solar Servicing is a Phoenix company under the ownership of Floyd Lewis. Is there any way to stop this man from re-inventing himself and conning folk out of their hard earned money?
G M Lamb, Broadstairs, KENT
We have today received a letter from a company called Advanced Solar servicing. It claims to be in agreement with the administrators and offering a service to cover the three year warranty on the system at a cost of £299 plus VAT for a two year service. When we have checked this company, it was only formed on 25 Nov 2008 - is this ultimate energy trying to set up again to rip us off? They do not name the administrators and the letter is in a very similar format to the Ultimate Energy ones. The contact number is 0845 230 6451. We will avoid this one but want others to be wary too!
Cheryl Combellack, Carterton
Ultimate Energy have gone into receivership and are now trading as Advanced Solar. Both my son and his friend worked for them as fitters and have not been paid a total of £3,000 for work they have done over the last 3 months despite being given wage slips confirming their wage.
Avoid this company like the plague, it is run by unscrupulous people, Floyd Lewis being one of them, who have no interest in anything other than lining their own pockets at other people's expense.
Be warned - don't employ their services or be employed by them.
Bev Borgonovo, Bournemouth
With hindsight I believe the system was misrepresented to us and is highly overpriced. The system for domestic hot water heating is excellent;
quality of materials and workmanship was very good. BUT communication with the company is very bad, if not impossible, and appointments and
promises are constantly broken.
Do not go anywhere near this company if you want to get good value and stay sane. Their core values are brilliant but don't believe a word of
them.
JD Varley, Peterborough
I have had a system installed and so far am satisfied with the performance. However, the firm took and cashed a cheque for £3,000 and charged
the same £3,000 to my Credit Card. Although I tried very hard to get this refunded with several letters, e-mails and telephone calls, I had no
luck. In the end the Credit Card Company refunded the £3,000 plus penalties.
Perhaps the technical side is OK but the office management side leaves so much to be desired that I would not recommend them to anybody else.
PS I am hoping that the system does not break down!!!
Douglas Lock, Ferndown
We had an Ultimate Energy System installed last September which is working perfectly and has not given us a moment's trouble. We can now afford
to heat our whole house to a temperature of 21°C day and night.
DO, Camberley
My experience has been similar to that of JV of Ipswich, except that we have still not had our deposit returned. My credit card company has not
had any success either and I now intend to seek redress through the Small Claims Court.
Prof CL, Hertford
Our experience is exactly as described. The salesman from Ultimate Energy, Steve Connick, has broken the promises given by Mr Lewis. He said
the domestic water heating system would cut our oil bill by 40% and if we went for the more complicated system, which also provided heating, 60%.
We foolishly signed on the dotted line in October 2007 and.... NOTHING. I have today given notice of cancellation to Mr Lewis, taken legal advice
and started proceedings to recover my deposit.
Avoid this company as they are conmen. The only disappointing thing is finding this info out having personally parted with money. I can't believe
with the prior failure of Solar Technik, the tax man after Mr Lewis for unpaid taxes and a thick file of unhappy customers that there is nothing
the OFT, Taxman, Government seem prepared to do to protect the consumer.
LR, London
The salesman's response - 28 Jan 2009
I would like to clear my name! I used to work, on a freelance basis, for a company called Ultimate Energy based in Poole. My name is mentioned on your web site as 'the salesman' who 'broke promises' but I was unaware of the unscrupulous activities of Floyd Lewis when I joined HIS company. I have never been a partner, director, share holder, conman or even employee of Ultimate Energy or any other company associated with Floyd Lewis. I, like many of his customers, am owed money by Mr Lewis.
I refused to work for him once it became evident that he was untrustworthy. I represented his company in good faith and believed that what I told HIS customers was actually fact. I was unaware until today that 'LR of London' had not had his order fulfilled or his deposit returned. I would ask you to remove the slanderous comment on your website as it is unfounded and totally untrue. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
Editorial Comment: In good faith, we have accepted Mr Connick's explanation and have removed the offending comment from our correspondent's letter. However, if a salesman represents a company in any capacity and is making claims for a product that cannot be substantiated, and are possibly false, he, as the public-facing representative of the company, is the person who is actually misleading the potential customer and he must be prepared to accept some of the blame when customers discover they have been conned.
I'm going through the same process to get my deposit back but only a month into it. I cancelled the contract within 24 hours of signing after
taking some gas readings and calculating we would only save about £70 a year against an expenditure of £7000. Just about to go thru the small
claims process and have raised an issue with the OFT.
MW, Winchester
Update:
I failed to get the money back via the Small Claims process. Doesn't seem much use with companies like these since they ignore everything. At the
court hearing they didn't turn up and we were at the end of a long list of creditors. Now in the hands of the credit card company. They have
reincarnated as Advanced Solar at http://www.advancedsolar.co.uk.
14th December 2008: We have just received this further information from Martin West:
Ultimate Energy was declared insolvent on 2nd December 2008. Creditors should contact
D Meany of Rogers Evans on 023 8033 588 as soon as possible.
This is a response I received from Companies House in respect of Advanced Solar ...
I refer to your email received yesterday. The above company is a limited company and its number is 6722915. Its director is named as Floyd Lewis. I have contacted the company about the lack of information on their website. However, we cannot act for the other matter in that you suspect that Solar Technic might be reincarnated as the above company. There is the Phoenix Company Helpline on 0845 601 3546. They should be able to discuss the matter with you. I will contact you again when the company has amended its website. feel free to add what you think fit to the blog.
Editorial Comment: A Phoenix company is usually formed from the remnants of a failed company and often trades in the same line of business. Sounds like Floyd Lewis may have become a Phoenix company specialist.
We have had a Ultimate Energy system for 6 months. It is so good that we got our friends to buy one and they reckon they are spending 60% less
on energy than they were. I have found them to be very helpful and would use them again.
MG, Ipswich
We had an Ultimate Energy system installed over a year ago. It broke down back in April and we contacted the company. What followed were 13 appointments made by various people in the company, including it's managing director, that were never honoured.
The guarantee with this company's product is worth nothing and after daily phone calls to the company we have now had to repair the system at
our own expense. If we knew a way to get them closed down to protect others then we would!
CC, Carterton
I joined Ultimate Energy in September as a plumber and sneakily got made redundant when I took a week's holiday abroad. The company still have not paid me my last pay packet!
The company and its services are a joke and Mr Lewis is a conman. I have recently learned that he has now changed the company name to
ADVANCED SOLAR so beware ... it is still the same company disguised by a new name.
AF, Bournemouth
I have recently been contacted by a company called "Advanced Solar Energy" who have offered to service my solar water heater for £299. I smell a rat here because I don't know how they knew I had such a system, and how they got hold of my phone number.
The system was originally installed by Spectrum Energy who were incredibly reluctant to repair it under the guarantee and only showed up after
a letter from my solicitor. Are all these solar companies dodgy?
Peter Franks, Devizes
Editorial Comment: It would appear from other correspondence that Ultimate Energy PLC have merely rebranded as Advanced Solar. To all intents and purposes it's the same company which explains how they knew your telephone number.
The original website - http://www.ultimateenergyplc.com - no longer exists and registration has passed to a company called Ravine Solutions Ltd who appear to do web design and are also based in Poole, Dorset. The .net and .co.uk variants of the domain name are also registered to the same company.
The new Advanced Solar website was registered on 14th October 2008 to a person called Michael Roberts who, as a 'non-trading' UK individual, has opted to withhold his address from the registration database. A link to Advanced Solar from an online directory leads to another website called advancedenergy.co.uk which is registered to yet another 'non-trading' UK individual called John Ross. Advanced Solar Limited was registered at Companies House on 14th October 2008. We already know Mr Lewis is a director of the new company but any associations with other companies are certainly not a transparent arrangement.
The fact remains that Floyd Lewis is a conman and should be avoided at all costs. If you still need convincing, take a look at these reports
-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/02_february/21/solar.shtml.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2007/sep/01/moneysupplement.consumeraffairs
http://www.welcomehome.co.uk/News/Eco-Section/The-South-Coast-Solar-Panel-Scam.aspx
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2008/12/sun-sets-on-ultimate-energy.html
http://www.tenbees.co.uk/article/microgeneration/20071029155415/Solar-Water-Heating-Companies-in-Hot-Water.htm
Editorial Comment: Our advice? Steer well clear of Floyd Lewis and any company he's involved with.
We also picked up an advertisement on Gumtree showing that Advance Solar were recruiting door-to-door canvassers in November 2008 so BEWARE! They may come knocking on your door.
Five leaks and a new pump, the last leak being of all the glycol. 140 days to get one of their engineers to come. I was promised £800 compensation from Floyd Lewis. An utter con man.
D Owen, Torpoint
Having looked at the Advanced Solar Limited website I was amazed to find the registered office (Sterte Avenue West, Poole, Dorset) is EXACTLY
the same as Ultimate Energy PLC.
And aside from being the registered address this is the physical office location for both businesses. Not very bright given the poor publicity for
Solar Technik, Ultimate Energy and now Advanced Solar?
The connection between the companies cannot be in any doubt.
But how on earth are people like the Lewis' allowed to continually rip people off, keep the money and just start up under a new name?
My advice? Don't touch this company with a bargepole.
DCO, East Sussex
This information is most interesting. We became members of the Solar Initiative about 5 years ago and in doing so joined the crowd who have been conned by Solar Technik. When the system failed to work there was no response to our calls or letters ... now I know why.
We have also been contacted by a company who have access to the database of Solar TechniK offering to make good and service the system - at a cost of course. Trouble is I have lost all confidence in dealing with any Solar Heating companies. Would anyone be prepared to recommend a trustworthy firm of specialists in Solar Heating?
Edwina White, Crowborough
We have had similar problems with another Solar power company 'Solar Home Energy Limited' based in Bournemouth which went into administration in late March.
We are still trying to get Solar home energy to fix the solar system set up at our home which has already been paid for. If anyone can suggest a trustworthy company that can help to sort out problems with Solar systems we would like to hear about them.
Are all Solar companies corrupt and suspect????
Chris & Karen Chuter, Newark-on-Trent
Editorial Comment: In answer to your question, it certainly seems that several solar companies in the Bournemouth area have earned thermselves very dodgy reputations.
Deposit of £2,260 paid in Jan. 08. Installers arrived a few days later but declined to start due to complications. Mr Lewis stated that deposit would be returned but this never happened. Small Claims of no use as they did not send warrant to Poole in time. Company went into Administration and have been advised by Mr Meany that he will get paid for selling the Company back to Mr Lewis for peanuts and I will get nothing back. Is that justice?
L J Jennings, Plymouth
Editorial Comment: It's rapidly becoming a very unjust world where crooks seem to be the only ones who prosper, always at the expense of innocent victims who are given very little protection by the law.
I would like to complain about Smart Energy. I have had nothing but trouble from my installation which was done last year. Their customer service is non-existent and, after complaint after complaint, I still get no satisfaction. I have found out since that they vastly overcharge for their systems and, from further investigations, I have found out that they have been on BBC Watchdog for exactly the same reasons.
I cannot and will not recommend this company. Stay clear and save yourself the stress.
Steven, Bath
I would like to add that I have been waiting 6 weeks to get my system repaired. The problem is that they do not seem to have any dedicated service engineers. The installation guys have to fit it in. Plus they say that they will do it when in the area which is not good enough.
I am waiting for a fitter to go on the roof to replace a valve which they say takes 5 minutes. However the normal fitters can't go on roofs even though they carry roof ladders etc on the van!!!!!!. Once this valve is replaced I then have to wait till another chap comes to fill up the system. Keep away from SMART ENERGY - their after-sales service is, in my opinion, appalling.
D Goodwin, Ringwood
The worst company in the land to work for!
FACT: very overpriced but most of all they work their men to the bone and have no aftersales whatsoever - trust me!!! I was a roofer on their books for years and I can tell you they can't even look after their workers let alone customers. I must have seen 50 people leave there due to high work demand and lack of manpower.
Distraught ex-employee, Essex
Ultimate Energy supplied and fitted our system. We had 1 joint failure which they repaired straight away. They promised to pay for the water damage but never did. Also 3 way motorised valve they fitted to boiler system never worked correctly so I had a new one fitted correctly which they never reimbursed me for. So when Ultimate Energy went under they still owed me £189.
Then, just this week, a company called Advanced Solar contacted me by phone, and a man calling himself James (Floyd Lewis really) said they had bought the database list of Ultimate Energy and that for £250 they would check, drain, service and refill my system and guarantee it for at least 15 years. I pondered for 5 days and when they turned up today, after reading the info on this website, I met them at my gate and asked if Floyd Lewis was their employer. They answered yes. I said sorry but I am not willing to deal with anyone associated with Floyd Lewis as he still owes me money from before. I also said make sure you get paid your wages as a lot of people haven't been.
Surely in this day and age Trading Standards MUST be able to prosecute and imprison this continual fraudelent behaviour. Hopefully I have hit him in his pocket.
Adrian Short, Rushden, Northants
I have only have one thing to say and that is Floyd Lewis and his wife should be locked away or made to do continual community service for us all. They are crooks of the first degree.
James Webster, Happisburgh
I recently received from Advanced Solar Servicing an undated letter advising me Ultimate Energy Plc was placed in administration on the 2nd December 2008 and offering me a service of my hot water solar system for £299 inc vat which, as the system is still under its 3 year warranty, would include parts and labour. This has now been followed up by a telephone call from Mr James Mortimer, Customer Relations Manager, asking me if I would like to book a service. When I asked what I was getting for my money I was informed the system would be drained down and new chemicals put into the system and that would last me for 10 to 15 years. As the system is only two and a half years old I naturally queried why it has to be serviced now. Needless to say, Mr Mortimer didn't really supply a constructive answer! I have however requested that he provides me with a breakdown of what the service actually includes i.e. what works will be physically undertaken. He has told me he will "cobble" something together and send it to me! Let's wait and see if it arrives. In the meantime I am keeping my £299 inc vat in my own bank account.
Peter Such, Broadstairs
In my earlier comment I referred to Floyd Lewis and his wife. Floyd Lewis telephoned (a first since the abortion of an installation in March 2008) to inform me that he was not married. I apologised but maintain he should still be locked away, including June Lewis, whoever that is.
James Webster, Happisburgh
I have received a letter from Vantis, Administrators of Smart Energy UK which was declared insolvent on 17th July
2009. A warranty for the solar panels Smart installed is now worthless. Vantis have sent me a leaflet (full of spelling mistakes) from a company called Advanced Solar which offers a 'special' offer of a service for £250. In
the light of blogs on your site I will avoid them like the plague!
H James, Warminster
I am sorry to say that I worked for Floyd Lewis and his mother at SolarTecknik and at Ultimate Energy PLC and only have one thing to say about them. They are, and will always be, conning people out of their money to make their bank accounts bigger. They are conning people all the time and go into receivership so that they don't have to pay the suppliers or staff what they are owed.
Advanced Solar is run by the same people so my best advice is to stay as far away as possible from them and keep your money safe. Floyd Lewis will always be a conman; always looking for a fast buck. Maybe now, Floyd, people will see you for what you really are.
JP, Bournemouth
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