When I had to sue Achieve Renewable Energy LLC for leaving me with a deficient geothermal system they installed in my home, I wondered whether there were other lawsuits involving Achieve Renewable Energy LLC. And indeed, there were. Though this list may not be complete, here are a handful of such lawsuits I found in Massachusetts.
After installing a deficient geothermal system in another customer’s home several years before doing that to me, Achieve Renewable Energy LLC actually sued that customer in Salem District Court. The customer then raised counter-claims against them and won.
That customer was one of the people whom I deposed during my lawsuit against Achieve Renewable Energy LLC. And under oath in his deposition, he had this to say in his answers to questions:
Question: Sure. If you had known the full degree and extent of the problems with your system at the time in 2011, would you have raised additional claims against Achieve Renewable Energy?
Answer: Absolutely.
The customer also expressed embarrassment over having been conciliatory with Lawrence “Larry” Lessard of Achieve Renewable Energy LLC:
Question: Is there anything else you would like to tell me about this lawsuit we haven’t discussed already?
Answer: Well, the last — it is embarrassing to read that closing of that letter that I was both hopeful and trying to be conciliatory that it would have prompted him to improve his service, and from what I understand, it has gotten even worse. I don’t — it just baffles me how he can continue to do the same things over and over and over and not spec out a system properly for fairly basic, you know, some fairly basic installation issues, just remarkable and very dismaying that he is still doing this.
The customer whom Achieve Renewable Energy LLC sued went on to compare that company to other tradespeople he ever had work at his home:
Question: Mr. —-, can you tell me over the years have you had various different types of tradespeople or service providers at your home?
Answer: Have we had?· Yes. Many.
Question: Can you tell me in your own words how ARE’s service levels compares with all the other service providers you have had over the years in your experience?Answer: They easily rank not just worst but most reprehensible.
Also in my experience, Achieve Renewable Energy LLC was the worst and most reprehensible service provider I’ve ever had work at any of my homes in my lifetime.
But the customer went on to describe Lawrence “Larry” Lessard’s behavior during the geothermal system installation project at the customer’s home:
Question: Okay. Did you ever experience any sort of contempt or indifference from Mr. Lessard in relation to the project at your home?
Answer: Throughout. I think many examples there from, you know, explicitly saying we didn’t have a working thermometer and didn’t know what 52 degrees felt like as compared to 68 degrees. You know, from start to finish, there was nothing that was his problem.· It was always our problem that counted for, you know, failure to, you know, the performance failures and, you know, never responded that he wanted to make things right.
Just as Achieve Renewable Energy LLC left me with a deficient geothermal system in my home that would cost me tens of thousands of dollars to fix, this customer had to make $60,000 of alterations to his home after the geothermal system was installed to get the system performing properly. When Achieve Renewable Energy LLC’s attorney Christopher Jefford asked the customer about this in the deposition, these are the answers he got:
Question: I am trying to figure out when were you satisfied with the heating in your home?
Answer: Finally?· You mean when did we finally get it where it should be?
Question: Based on your estimation, sir, yes.
Answer: Last year. Last winter was the first winter it actually performed as geothermal should.
Question: And that is after you had all of this energy work done at your home?
Answer: Correct.· Another, you know, $60,000 later.
The court record for that lawsuit indicates that thought Achieve Renewable Energy LLC sued that customer, the court actually ended up entering judgment for the customer and against Achieve Renewable Energy LLC:
As for other lawsuits involving Achieve Renewable Energy LLC, there were a number of them spread across various counties in MA:
Achieve Renewable Energy LLC sued someone named Gregory Lucini in Plymouth County Superior Court:
They sued Jack Sheehan in Salem District Court:
In Essex Superior Court, Achieve Renewable Energy LLC filed a lawsuit against Watts Water Technologies, Inc.:
A geothermal system installation project customer sued Achieve Renewable Energy LLC in Boston Municipal Court:
Here’s that customer’s statement of their claim on the court’s form:
And here’s another document the court provided from that case, which appears to indicate that mediation was used in which Achieve Renewable Energy LLC agreed to return some of the customer’s money:
Norfolk County Superior Court got its share of action from Achieve Renewable Energy LLC, too: