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HERRIMAN — It is just not the right time for Phil Smeath to go solar.
"I'm not sure I'm going to be staying in this house long term," he said.
Here's the problem: Smeath signed up with a door-to-door salesman selling solar panels and when he decided solar wasn't for him, he was outside the three-day cancellation window that the contract allows. Still, it seems he was allowed to cancel based on a text from the salesman.
"And he said, 'No worries, man. I totally understand,'" Smeath said of the message.
But apparently that salesman did not pass along the message to his bosses at Sandy-based Freedom Forever Solar. A few weeks later, the company texted Smeath asking about getting approval for the install.
"I responded and said, 'I canceled this with my salesman a while ago. Did this not get passed on?' And they responded and said, 'Goodness, it certainly has not, I'll get a ticket going for you.'"
That is twice he said Smeath wanted out of the deal and was led to believe he would be. But now, he is being told he still has to pay.
Smeath got an email from Freedom Forever's lender saying, "We have received a response to your cancellation request from Freedom Forever Solar. They have informed us that your project will continue." The lender wrote that it was "closing this cancellation and continuing with the loan."
"I'm on the hook for monthly payments for something I didn't receive," Smeath said.
Frustrated, he decided it was time to call KSL-TV. So, this time KSL Investigators reached out to Freedom Forever on Smeath's behalf asking, "Why is the twice-canceled project continuing?"
And just like that, it no longer is.
In an email, Freedom Forever's director of customer operations wrote, "his project and loan have been canceled."
And, sure enough, Smeath said he heard from the lender letting him know he is off the hook.
Under Utah law, if a door-to-door salesman convinces you to sign up for something, you have three days to cancel. After that, your right to cancel comes down to whatever is spelled out in the contract.
