Waters Edge Pools Inc.

Review: Half way through the job Water's Edge Pools stopped showing up for work, stopped responding to our phone calls and left the job unfinished. Well into the pool season we finally got another company to complete the job, by that time some of the cosmetic finishes completed by Water's Edge Pools were damaged, as necessary care was not provided. These finishes still require costly repair.Desired Settlement: Provide repair for the damaged pool finish.

Review: A year ago, on the advice of my landscape architect, [redacted], I met with a pool construction man, Mike W[redacted] of Water's Edge Swimming Pools, to ask him if he would be interested in bidding for a contract on placing a pool on our property. Given that it was he who had put the pool in the home of our landscape architect, my wife and I thought that it made sense to hire him for the project.

He came by the house last summer, showed us lots of pictures and sounded enthusiastic about the whole affair. At the same time [redacted] had suggested to us that W[redacted] could also do the hard landscaping around the pool. The plan was to wait for the Spring to start the project and the proceed with the landscaping and then placement of the pool. In the meantime he offered to get the paperwork in order for thje permit for the pool. This Spring arrived and after speaking with Mike W[redacted] it became apparent that there was not a permit. He sounded confused and claimed to have not understood that it was he who was to do that. However he promised to immediately put in the application and stated to us "Don't worry doctor, you will have your pool by the summer".

In March he put in an application for a permit. In the meantime I signed a "Swimming Pool Agreement" contract and forwarded a check to him in the amount of $21,750, representing 25% of the total amount, namely $87,000. This was deposited into his account on April 6th. Expecting to move forward within a week or two, we subsequently requested to meet with him to iron out the details of the rough landscaping as this did not require a pool permit. He only responded weeks later after multiple calls, texts and emails. Finally a proposal for the masonry came by email dated April 19th that failed to show a breakdown of the pricing. I asked for clarification, but only weeks later, on May 13th, received an amended proposal that made no sense. After repeatedly requesting to meet with him he came to our property on Thursday, May 21st. Given that it was over two months since he put in the application, I asked how it could take so long given that all the [redacted] papers prepared by [redacted] with the drainage plans were in his possession as well as [redacted]'s plans. I also asked why he had not already started building the walls given that he had parked an excavator on the site a month previously. He responded lamely that the appication was taking more time than he had predicted, but assured us that we would have it "in a week, 10 days max". Furthermore he promised that I would have an amended proposal for the landscaping that same evening "or tomorrow by the latest".

When we received nothing I called him and left messages, I emailed him and texted him, all to no avail. Finally, this past Thursday, May 28th, I phoned the City of [redacted] and spoke to [redacted] and discovered that not only was the application incomplete (he had omitted to put in his license number), but that he had never presented himself to the [redacted] or [redacted], two necessary steps before going to zoning. Realizing that it was shear fantasy to suggest that we would have had a pool permit in a week to ten days as he had attempted to reassure us, I wrote him an email instructing him to return the deposit. Needless to say he has not replied and the deposit has not been returned.

Since that time I have discovered that I am not alone. It appears from speaking with other pool companies that there have been many individuals who have been mistreated by this individual. My purpose in filing this complaint is to see to it that others will not have to endure what my wife and I experienced in the hands of this unscrupulous miscreant, not just in recuperating our deposit.Desired Settlement: As explained above