Complaint Review: Solartek Energy Scam DBA Brant Ira Patton Scam 843-324-4173 "Franchise Fraud" 843-324-4173

My name is Dale Prine, I am the Director of Dealer Development for SolarTEK Energy. Wanted to update my phone number, it is 321-696-3640, should anyone wish to contact me. As you can see, this complaint was filed over two years ago and Mr. Coad would never engage us when asked to enter into arbitration. The reason is clear, he had no where to go with it. 

He chose to handle matters the way he did, which was not to pay as dictated in the terms of his agreement and we declined any further service until he did. He never paid and we never offered him any more services.

All customers who were involved with Mr. Coad were taken care of even after he was out of the picture. It is a shame that anyone can place any remarks online they please and even after it is proven, who was in the wrong, no action is taken.

I do hope at some time in the future, you will take this post off of your site. As you can see, the length of time that has passed and no others have come forward. 

Your site should be used to point out who the real Ripoffs are and don't hide behind the first amendment. We have built our reputation one satisfied customer at a time as we will continue to do.

Respectfully,

Dale Prine

To whom it may concern,

I have worked with Brant Patton, the owner of SolarTEK Energy since August, 1993. Brant has always treated me with dignity and respect, he has always done exactly what he said, when he said, he has always paid me on time and NEVER has a check bounced or has there been any slackness on his part to fulfill his obligations as an employer.

My position with SolarTEK is to help establish the new dealers for Brant. I was not in that position when AZ was purchased. If there was someone who was attempting to purchase this territory, it would have to go through me, and NO ONE has attempted to purchase the territory.

He is alone in this CRUSADE, there are no others out there like him because in essence he is the problem. I was not personally involved in the AZ territory, but I do know that we followed standard procedures to launch the office. We have a system that, when followed, is highly effective. Unfortunately, AZ did not follow our system once we went through the initial launch.

As a person who has known both Brant since 1993 and Chris since 1994, I vouch for both of them. They have always done what they said they would do. I work with both of them closely and I am personally offended at AZ's approach.

As Brant mentioned, lets go to arbitration and let someone who is unbiased take look at the FACTS.

You can call me if you have any questions or comments.

Dale Prine  843.518.3143  

I am the Office Administrator for the Corporate Office of SolarTEK Energy, and I can attest to the validity of Mr. Patton's statements. Many telephone calls have come in from customers that Jared Coad contracted with, took thousands from and after months of waiting had nothing. The calls I witnessed were frantic in nature with " Jared Coad is scamming customers here in Arizona" being a common remark.

Jared Coad apparently simply starts up new companies, like Refined Solar, when things get too heated for him. I have learned that he registered his company(ies) with the National Futures Association, a watchdog association for, among other services, investment fraud. When complaints about his business dealings were filed with the NFA, he refused any cooperation and compliance with them. You can see the NFA's case document here: http://www.nfa.futures.org/basicnet/CaseDocument.aspx?seqnum=2106.

Our company worked diligently with the Arizona dissatisfied customers to bring about resolution. I think Mr. Patton's decision to terminate Jared's license was the only response any good business person would make. Frankly, Jared Coads contention that Mr. Patton is a scam artist is ludicrous. I mean really, if you had a legitimate claim, neither you or I would hesitate to submit to binding arbitration. Especially since it was agreed to in advance as a condition of his license agreement. There is not doubt in my mind who the scam artist is here, its Jared Coad! Buyer Beware!

Jared didn't receive the remaining two weeks of training because he never reimbursed the second week of training expenses. (I presented the bill to him in person for the airfare, rental car and hotel for week two of his office set up.) Although it was obvious that he considered himself a marketing guru, he wasn't going to execute the SolarTEK Energy marketing plan being used by the other locations.

He also ripped Terry Crawford (one of our sales guys) off by not paying him any commission on over $30, 000 in sales he made while out there working with his new sales guy. Then we received three calls to corporate that they feared being scammed by Jared as they had each given thousands in deposits last year. No work was done and they were being lied to about the causes of the delays.

At that point I sent Jared a 30 day notice to terminate his SolarTEK license and let him know he could file for arbitration under the terms of the agreement. Chris was the point man on the Arizona customers (We have all their information and old emails. They are all thankful we assisted them over several months to get their jobs installed.) For whatever reason Jared didnt want to go to arbitration, guess he figured he had no case. I told Jared he was owed zero of his money back, he is the one that defaulted on the agreement. However, I offered to meet him halfway and refund half his fee. Or, we both simply commit to binding arbitration and he will get back whatever the arbitrator feels he is entitled to. He refused to present his story, whatever that is, to the arbitrator. So I've terminated his license.

All of the above is documented and being forwarded to our attorney to pursue a libel case. Brant Patton, CEO