The true measure of a pool company is NOT when everything goes right; it is how they face adversity and take care of their customers when things go wrong. I had my pool put in October 2010. It has been nothing short of a nightmare since that time. They were great selling the product. Once they had my money, Customer Service stopped. They sub-contract a lot of the work. They have you sign paperwork saying they are not responsible for the sub-contractor, yet you have to use the ones they choose. Their "Supervisors” don’t supervise. They show up for 15 minutes, get them working, and leave for the day. my tiles were put in incorrectly and had to be redone. They dumped a bunch of concrete into the pool staining the sides. Gary wanted them to fix the staining and sand the walls down after the pool was emptied. I told them I wanted a supervisor on site the entire time, because they were concrete guys and knew nothing about pools and fiberglass.
Mike showed up with the concrete guys to start emptying the pool and then left for a "dental emergency”. Next thing I know, my wife is calling me at work and describing how the concrete guys are jumping up and down on the partially emptied pool, because we have water underneath the pool. It was like a trampoline. Their jumping caused two large cracks in the fiberglass. This was exactly why I wanted a "supervisor” there all day. I then tell Gary his buffoon concrete guys are no longer allowed on my property. We then went round and round about who would fix the cracks, the concrete guys or his company. He finally relented and sent a "fiberglass expert” who ended up drilling three holes to drain the water and fixed the two cracks. The repairs did not match the color of the pool and were very obvious to all. I also now had bulging walls due to shifting sand. They said sand was always used as a filler around the pool, but when I contacted Viking Pools they said small rock/pebbles should be used for expansive soil.
I met with Gary and wanted a large part of my money back. I paid for a new pool and received a badly stained pool with five obvious defects. He said the best he could do was give me a "Lifetime Warranty on the Fiberglass shell” and five year parts and labor. They said they could not get the stain out so I ended up doing it myself. It took a year. Some pool company, right? They literally left me with a stained pool, bulging walls, and five obvious defects. They felt that was acceptable and did nothing to try and rectify it. I have since had one of the cracks reopen five times. After weeks of delays, they would finally come out and temporarily repaired them twice with two-part epoxy. I ended up having to repair it twice myself, when I couldn’t get them to come out after two weeks and losing thousands of gallons of water. The fifth time, I finally demanded a permanent fix to the crack. I temporarily fixed it again (third time) but insisted they permanenty fix it and HONOR the Lifetime Warranty I was given. I contacted them in July 2017 about needing the crack permanently repaired. It is now May 2018 and I have been delayed once again. This is common with them. Delay after delay. At one point, they said they were coming over to fix it and wanted me to sign a document stating that "This repair would constitute a release of contractual obligation between the two parties”. Basically, they would have no further responsibility to me or the pool they put in.
So much for their lifetime warranty! I did not sign the release. So, the delays started again. Oh, you cannot sue them either. They have you sign a form stating all complaints will go through arbitration. I have hundreds of emails and photos showing the stain and defects. I will be going to arbitration if there is one more delay. I know, most of you will think I am an idiot for allowing this to go on as long as it has. That’s OK. I agree with you! I wish you luck if you do use this company. My experience has been one I would not want any family to go through.
Gary's Pool and Patio Reviews
The true measure of a pool company is NOT when everything goes right; it is how they face adversity and take care of their customers when things go wrong. I had my pool put in October 2010. It has been nothing short of a nightmare since that time. They were great selling the product. Once they had my money, Customer Service stopped. They sub-contract a lot of the work. They have you sign paperwork saying they are not responsible for the sub-contractor, yet you have to use the ones they choose. Their "Supervisors” don’t supervise. They show up for 15 minutes, get them working, and leave for the day. my tiles were put in incorrectly and had to be redone. They dumped a bunch of concrete into the pool staining the sides. Gary wanted them to fix the staining and sand the walls down after the pool was emptied. I told them I wanted a supervisor on site the entire time, because they were concrete guys and knew nothing about pools and fiberglass.
Mike showed up with the concrete guys to start emptying the pool and then left for a "dental emergency”. Next thing I know, my wife is calling me at work and describing how the concrete guys are jumping up and down on the partially emptied pool, because we have water underneath the pool. It was like a trampoline. Their jumping caused two large cracks in the fiberglass. This was exactly why I wanted a "supervisor” there all day. I then tell Gary his buffoon concrete guys are no longer allowed on my property. We then went round and round about who would fix the cracks, the concrete guys or his company. He finally relented and sent a "fiberglass expert” who ended up drilling three holes to drain the water and fixed the two cracks. The repairs did not match the color of the pool and were very obvious to all. I also now had bulging walls due to shifting sand. They said sand was always used as a filler around the pool, but when I contacted Viking Pools they said small rock/pebbles should be used for expansive soil.
I met with Gary and wanted a large part of my money back. I paid for a new pool and received a badly stained pool with five obvious defects. He said the best he could do was give me a "Lifetime Warranty on the Fiberglass shell” and five year parts and labor. They said they could not get the stain out so I ended up doing it myself. It took a year. Some pool company, right? They literally left me with a stained pool, bulging walls, and five obvious defects. They felt that was acceptable and did nothing to try and rectify it. I have since had one of the cracks reopen five times. After weeks of delays, they would finally come out and temporarily repaired them twice with two-part epoxy. I ended up having to repair it twice myself, when I couldn’t get them to come out after two weeks and losing thousands of gallons of water. The fifth time, I finally demanded a permanent fix to the crack. I temporarily fixed it again (third time) but insisted they permanenty fix it and HONOR the Lifetime Warranty I was given. I contacted them in July 2017 about needing the crack permanently repaired. It is now May 2018 and I have been delayed once again. This is common with them. Delay after delay. At one point, they said they were coming over to fix it and wanted me to sign a document stating that "This repair would constitute a release of contractual obligation between the two parties”. Basically, they would have no further responsibility to me or the pool they put in.
So much for their lifetime warranty! I did not sign the release. So, the delays started again. Oh, you cannot sue them either. They have you sign a form stating all complaints will go through arbitration. I have hundreds of emails and photos showing the stain and defects. I will be going to arbitration if there is one more delay. I know, most of you will think I am an idiot for allowing this to go on as long as it has. That’s OK. I agree with you! I wish you luck if you do use this company. My experience has been one I would not want any family to go through.