SOLARTEK ENERGY: Jared Coad Claims It’s a Franchise Scam
July 3, 2010
Jared Coad claims he is a victim of franchise fraud perpetrated by SolarTEK Energy and SolarTEK CEO Brant Ira Patton.
Jared Coad has vowed that unless his $35,000 investment for the Arizona license rights is returned in full, he will dedicate his life to spreading the word that Solartek Energy is a scam.
June 14, 2010, Jared Coad pasted angry complaints & warnings against SolarTEK Energy on numerous consumer complaint sites, including RipoffReport.com, ComplaintsBoard.com, and WhoScammedYou.com.
Brant Patton & SolarTEK Energy quickly returned fire.
On June 21, 2010, SolarTEK issued a press release announcing that it had terminated the Arizona License of Jared Coad (aka Refined Solar) after he had failed to reply to a 30 day notice prompted by numerous consumer complaints.
On June 24th, Patton & 2 SolarTECH employees posted rebuttal comments on the complaint sites, alleging that Jared Coad is a scam artist, disputing his claims and attesting for the integrity of SolarTEK Energy and its CEO.
What do you think? Share a comment below.
Jared Coad’s Allegations Against SolarTEK Energy
Jared Coad’s warning for prospective licensees of SolarTEK Energy on Rip-off Report includes several allegations:
1) “They have ripped me off for 35,000 for the purchase of a Phoenix franchise”
2) “They have not… trained me and my staff as contracted”
3) “they… have tried to resell the franchise that I bought for 35,000”
4) “Their staff have sent me emails of trying to let them resell and they will do a partial reimbursement, they have said to take this to Arbitration if I have a problem….I paid 35,000 and I want my money back 100% in full.”
The indignant Jared Coad doesn’t hold back on personal attacks:
“They stole my money and they will steal again. Brant Ira Patton is a scam Artist and his Assistant Chris Gray is a Scam Artist. And lets not forget the final Scam Artist of their Pack “Terry Crawford… As for you Brant… You are one Scumbag!”
Jared Coad encourages supporters and other “victims” to contact Brant Patton (he posted Patton’s cell phone # and email address) and to complain to their Attorney General.
SolarTEK Energy’s Allegations Against Jared Coad & Refined Solar
In rebuttal to Jared Coad’s complaints, SolarTEK Energy CEO Brant Patton posted his own allegations:
1) “Jared didn’t receive the remaining two weeks of training because he never reimbursed the second week of training expenses.”
2) “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…”
3) “we received three calls [from Jared Coad's customers] 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.”
4) “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.”
Who’s the scammer: Jared Coad, Refined Solar or Brant Patton, SolarTEK Energy?
Who’s the scammer: Jared Coad, Refined Solar or Brant Patton, SolarTEK Energy?
Which of these two should be avoided in future business dealings, solar or otherwise?
Hopefully UnhappyFranchisee.com readers familiar with these individuals and companies will share some perspective by leaving comments below.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH JARED COAD, BRANT PATTON OR SOLARTEK ENERGY? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT OR INSIGHT BELOW.
Companies or individuals discussed can respond directly below or email us at unhappyfranchisee[at]gmail.com.
I don’t know Jared but I do know SolarTEK and I know they are the worst kind of criminals.
In my area, they charge $14,000-20,000 per system where we charge $7,000. And their systems don’t function.
They install collectors facing the wrong direction.
They start fires on roofs due to their negligence.
Even the solar council head has told me of numerous complaints against them.
I make money fixing their mistakes.
They are truly “snake oil salemen” promising things that they’ll never deliver on.
Avoid SolarTEK at all costs.
Jared, we need to talk!
Jared Coad ripped me off of 8,000 in buying a shelf corporation and promising funding with that corporation, this clown has balls saying people are ripping him off, look all over the internet, this guy steals money, tries to hide behind corporations and then acts like people are taking advantage of him. HE IS A JOKE people!
SolarTEK CEO Brant Patton has sent two angry emails (so far) demanding that if we do not remove this post that SolarTEK will sue us for libel. He claims that he has been successful in bullying a couple complaint sites that included criticism of SolarTEK and personal information (such as his phone number) into removing their posts.
What’s ironic is that Solartek and Solartek’s Office Administrator Lucy Forest first initiated this story by issuing a press release (which we linked to in the story) designed to attract media attention to its dispute with Mr. Coad. The purpose of a press release is to attract sufficient interest in a subject that the media will write stories about the subject of the release. In this case, Solartek was successful in calling attention to the dispute, and UnhappyFranchisee.com simply responded to their news pitch.
If Mr. Patton & SolarTEK didn’t want anyone writing about their dispute with their dealer, perhaps they shouldn’t have issued a press release on an international newswire.
Furthermore, there is nothing untrue in our story. We simply state that there’s a dispute. We do not take sides and we make it very clear that the allegations are just that – unsubstantiated opinions, not facts. We have clearly represented Brant Patton’s response to Mr. Coad’s allegations and his statements that Coad’s allegations are not true. If Mr. Patton looks up some definitions of libel and he’ll see that (in this case) it requires things that aren’t true to be stated as fact. Neither statements that ARE true or statements that are clearly stated as opinions are not libel.
If Mr. Coad’s characterization of SolarTEK and its employees are untrue, we invite Brant Patton, SolarTEK employees, customers, associates, friends and family to exercise their constitutionally protected right of free speech by leaving a comment below. In our experience, bullying and intimidation are not generally the tactics of the innocent. Those with nothing to hide generally do not hesitate to join the conversation and share their views in the bright light of day.
We look forward to any clarifications and rebuttals SolarTEK and Mr. Brant Patton are willing to make.
I just attended a presentation put on by Solar tex Energy.The presenter did a great job on items that they had to offer. However, on the followup today with the presenter it was apparent that the product was severly over priced. The solar blanket was the item being pushed.
I also commented to the presenter that it appeared that older people were being targetted.seniors beware what you sign up for.