SAN ANTONIO — Isabel Hernandez signed an agreement for a solar panel system in early 2022. A contractor named “Alternative Solar” approached her with the idea, and she said the arguments were persuasive.
“In the long run it was gonna save me money,” Hernandez said. “My understanding was: I pass the application, they were going to come and install everything and I was going to have services in six months.”
Still, there was a catch. Alternative Solar wasn't actually paying for the system and asked her to apply for a loan with another company, called GoodLeap, for $63,095.34. The price wasn't cheap, but Hernandez said the contractor promised she would eventually made money back.
"I’m retired and I only have one income so I thought it would be good," Hernandez said.
But Hernandez didn't make money back. Instead, the contractor only got part of the system into the ground before disappearing in December of 2022 and later declaring bankruptcy. GoodLeap, the loan company, was out thousands of dollars and still expected Hernandez to pay back their loan. Meanwhile, Hernandez was paying more than $100 a month for a system that did nothing.
"The idea behind all this was that I was going to save money, but add another bill," Hernandez said. "They (GoodLeap) started calling me saying I still have to pay. I said 'but I don't have any service and I don't want to pay for something... where I'm just wasting money."
Hernadez said GoodLeap did attempt to find another contractor for the job but the next contractor also fell through. At the same time, she would get other company representatives calling to "see how her service was" which made her feel company representatives were not on the same page.
Hernandez continued to pay GoodLeap though all of 2023 but no one came out to actually work on the system. Finally, in January of 2024, Hernandez had enough.
"I saw KENS was interviewing a man about his solar project so I took the number down and called you guys," Hernandez said.
KENS 5 reached out to GoodLeap multiple times and eventually contacted Communications Officer Jesse Comart. Comart escalated Hernandez's customer service issue on his end and representatives quickly reached out to Hernandez about the issue.
After several days, GoodLeap offered Hernandez a written agreement in which the company agreed to take $2000 off the loan, finish the project with a licensed contractor, and pay for any additional costs necessary to finish the project. Additionally, the agreement said Hernandez would not need to make any additional payments to GoodLeap until the project was complete.
Comart also provided KENS 5 a timeline which showed GoodLeap had been attempting to complete the project since the first contractor fell though. GoodLeap had also offered to pause Hernandez's payments previously but Hernandez, already frustrated, had been hesitant to agree to anything over the phone.
Hernandez said her interaction with the company had been significantly different since KENS 5 got involved and GoodLeap's new contractor had already been out to her home.
"It makes me feel good that they are trying and that they are doing something," Hendandez said. "This time they said 'we are coming and we are going to do something.'"
GoodLeap provided the following statement on Hernandez's situation:
GoodLeap knows how frustrated Ms. Hernandez has been as her original contractor went out of business and it has taken considerable time to find a new contractor who can complete the work. GoodLeap has spoken to Ms. Hernandez continuously throughout the process and made sure she understood the reason for the delays, including delays in finding the right contractor and waiting for approvals from the county and other third parties. To help support Ms. Hernandez, GoodLeap has offered to defer all payments and interest on her loan until the project is completed, and GoodLeap is spending more than $10,000 to complete the project. We estimate the construction will take 4-8 weeks from today to complete. None of this extra effort on our part is based on the contract, we’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do for Ms. Hernandez. Based on recent conversations with Ms. Hernandez, she’s pleased with the outcome and appreciative of GoodLeap’s help.
Hernandez said she also appreciated KENS 5.
"Right away you guys started working and I appreciate it very much. In know for a fact that I would still be in the same situation and it would be dragging on if you guys hadn't have stepped in," Hernandez said.
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