Clayton Co. woman says salesman tricked her into getting costly solar panels for her home

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Blanche Wise, 72, who’s disabled and recovering from a knee replacement, said she was taken advantage of by a solar panel salesman with the Arizona-based company Titan Solar.

“That’s not right for them to take advantage of elder people like that,” Wise told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln.

Last year, she said the salesman was doing door-to-door sales, but because of the high price tag she told him she couldn’t afford it.

“I said I would never sign no contract for no $48,000. That’s too much. I couldn’t afford that,” she said.

Wise told Lincoln she admits being none the wiser when she handed her phone to the salesman, who she said was pressuring her for her personal information.

“I didn’t know that he had used my phone to program my phone for me to get this,” Wise said.

Wise said she suspects he forged her electronic signature on the contract agreement for solar panels.

“I didn’t sign this contract,” she said.

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Channel 2 Action News sent multiple emails to Titan Solar, no one has responded.

James Marlow with the Southface Institute, a solar energy nonprofit, told Lincoln that most legit companies do not do door-to-door sales techniques.

“Every industry has bad actors,” Marlow said.

Marlow said because solar is relatively new in Georgia, with just over 12,000 installations in the state, there are a lot of red flags Georgia consumers are just unaware about.

Marlow said homeowners should avoid out of state companies, get three estimates before locking into a contract and avoid marketing gimmicks.

“Solar is a new technology that most people are not familiar with. Seniors should be especially careful,” Marlow said.

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