Apollo Energy appears to have closed its Northwest Arkansas location and is not providing the services it promised.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – 5NEWS received several messages from viewers after a Northwest Arkansas solar panel company could not be reached and failed to deliver what was promised to customers.
“It’s embarrassing, but you know you think it’s all lined up,” Yolanda told Olivera.
It all started in May when someone from Apollo Energy knocked on the door of Yolanda Olivera’s Springdale home to sell them solar panels. After calling the electricity provider, he felt comfortable going forward.
“We made the loan agreement over the phone. So it was all done with a Zoom meeting that took place that day. From there, they set up an appointment to see when the home permits were actually done. So they can start installing the panels.”
In September, he had 11 solar panels installed on his home, but when the power company came out to make sure the solar panels were producing electricity, he found out they weren’t working. After no one heard from Apollo, he called the company his loan company, stopped paying, and filed suit.
“I haven’t lost any money so far. But I know there are other people, I know my sister has overpayments and her solar panels don’t work. “I personally can’t pay for something that doesn’t work,” he said.
They didn’t want to go on camera, but we also spoke to people who worked at 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 have been abandoned. Neighboring businesses said they had not seen anyone in that office for about a month. They also have a warehouse space in Springdale, but no one was there. We also called the number listed online and no one answered and there was no option to leave a voicemail.
Apollo Energy applied for accreditation in April 2022 and has been operating since 2021, according to the Better Business Bureau. Director of Communications Cara Carlin says they ran background checks, had their licenses checked and had no complaints, but that all changed this month.
“Our first complaint was received on December 1 this year and since then we’ve received a total of six complaints and still no response from the business,” Carlin said.
As the BBB begins to receive new complaints, it says businesses still have time to respond, but it’s highly unusual to receive six complaints about a company in 14 days, so they’re trying to launch an active investigation.
“It’s a very unique situation, but it happens. So the documents and everything should be in place. It’s unfortunate, but you don’t usually have this problem when someone is on the up and up. That’s why it’s strange,” he said.
The Arkansas Attorney General’s Office said it has received nine complaints about Apollo Energy.
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