American Backyards, Inc.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Being a member of the Revdex.com, I find it hard to believe that it took [redacted] several weeks to respond to the original complaint filed. [redacted]'s lack of response also held true for the cracking issues and the meetings we have had regarding the original issue started back in June. We had a family event here at our new home and wanted to have the pool done by the end of March 2014. They did hold true to their schedule and all subcontractors showed up promptly and did their portion of work in which American Back Yards hired them to do. Upon our first arrival in March when everything was first completed, it looked beautiful. However, upon our return trip in June for a neighbor's birthday, we noticed several cracks and many separations between the pool deck and the pool itself. At that time, you could see that the cracks were not superficial like [redacted] claimed they were, and went entirely thru the deck which is evident, by all the photos we have, see just one picture attached. At that time, [redacted] said sometimes this happens and repairs are necessary and he will take care of it. Someone did come out later to make the repairs, by grinding the surface patching and applying new cool deck on the surface. The cracks came back within a month and the cool deck didn't match the original. Rather than paint a new line of cool deck over the cracked area, one would think they would take cool deck from expansion joint to the next expansion joint to make it less noticeable. Cracking of the deck is not the only problem, pieces are falling off from the underlip area into the pool... The hot tub is also solid concrete, which I believe they refer to as shotcrete, and there are hairline cracks on that deck area too. After this time period and his revisit, [redacted] then made up excuses that we did not do a upgrade or re-bar on the deck. This was never offered to us, believe me, if there was any option for any upgrade I would have had it done. Another excuse [redacted] was regarding the neighbors back yard being eight feet lower which is actually only  two feet lower than ours. The back yard of this residence has not been touched since it was originally built in 2004. They had to use jack hammers to break up the ground, and the excavators even commented on the hardness of our soil. This can all be seen from the video footage I have regarding the complete process, from the original dig to filling the pool. I own and operate a security company and have hi-definition closed circuit surveillance around my home, as I wanted to watch this from Minnesota, due to the fact that I could only be here for the first week during construction. We also had a problem with our ultra violet sanitizer not working, which his grandson came out to repair. He opened up the top of the unit and some wires came loose, which he reconnected and it began to work. At that time, he also noticed that our ClearO3 ozone device power light was not coming on and that the flow ball in the gauge was sticking. He said that was under warranty, and they will have it replaced. We have been waiting for that since November 11, 2014 as well... I have a video and audio clip discussing all of this and the concrete issues with him too and he said this isn't right and should be replaced...My last discussion with [redacted] was to replace the concrete, because patch on patch again will not fix the problem. He even brought along the person who installed the decking. They both said "even our decks are cracked" and this cracking sometimes happens. I'd personally like to see their pool deck, as I'm quite sure this would not be acceptable to them in their own back yard, especially being a pool builder. At that time, he said that there would be another crew out to again make repairs. My response was that my father in law will be staying here for the next three months and gave him his cell phone number to coordinate a time and date. [redacted], my father in law, is still waiting for that phone call.In reiteration, I own and operate a security company in Minneapolis, Minnesota and would never treat my clientele in such a manner. A lot of our correspondence was via email to his son Gary who no longer works for him. [redacted]'s wife, responds to the emails, as phone calls are not returned promptly by [redacted]. My personal cell phone records can and will verify this. All emails are readily available for your perusal along with several still photos of the cracking and separation, not to mention the camera surveillance video I have from the original dig. I'm quite sure that his liability insurance is readily available for this type of workmanship or a bad concrete product. One would assume that he is using licensed, bonded and insured sub contractors so the claim could be made against them as well.Unfortunately patching something that has already been patched, will not permanently be a solution to the reoccurring problem of cracking...  I spent over thirty four thousand dollars and want quality work that I paid for..Sincerely,[redacted]

[redacted]I called Art W[redacted] and left a message but have not received a return call. I am willing to make a settlement offer. As for a reply to this same complaint, my response hasn't changed. Something (Acid I think) was dumped into the pool and settled on the bottom giving a slightly different color that at certain times of day is visible. As I previously replied, plaster color is not covered by warranty as it occurs from misuse of chemicals or local water conditions. Still this pool is beautiful.If I bought a new car and then drove it into a telephone pole, the New Car Dealer would not cover it under warranty. At this point if I complained to the Revdex.com you would not or should not lower their rating when they refused to repair it. That is the same scenario as my situation. Still I am willing to offer a further settlement if the Owner will call me. Thank You American Backyards Inc.

I have reviewed the reply to my reply from [redacted]. Without reiterating everything I previously stated, the bottom line is that we are willing the correct all their pool problems immediately  but the [redacted] do not want their decking to be repaired  but to be ripped out and replaced. I have conversed with the [redacted] and their reply was that I am responsible to repair any cracks over 3/16's inch wide. I am not expected to rip out and reinstall a deck for minor repairs.Mr. [redacted] also feels that if steel was installed into the decking when we poured it, then.he would have had no cracking. This is not so. Steel in the concrete keeps concrete from separating when there is pressure. It will still crack but it will not separate: The [redacted]' decking is not separating so steel would have made no difference. They would still have had the same cracks.They have a subsurface soil problem that I did not cause. The pieces of his decking that is falling into his pool are only small pieces of the edge of the kool deck topping that is easily repaired. If the [redacted]'s change their mind and will allow us, we will immediately come out and do all repairs needed.Thank YouAmerican Backyards Inc

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Being a member of the Revdex.com, I find it hard to believe that it took [redacted] several weeks to respond to the original complaint filed. [redacted]'s lack of response also held true for the cracking issues and the meetings we have had regarding the original issue started back in June. We had a family event here at our new home and wanted to have the pool done by the end of March 2014. They did hold true to their schedule and all subcontractors showed up promptly and did their portion of work in which American Back Yards hired them to do. Upon our first arrival in March when everything was first completed, it looked beautiful. However, upon our return trip in June for a neighbor's birthday, we noticed several cracks and many separations between the pool deck and the pool itself. At that time, you could see that the cracks were not superficial like [redacted] claimed they were, and went entirely thru the deck which is evident, by all the photos we have, see just one picture attached. At that time, [redacted] said sometimes this happens and repairs are necessary and he will take care of it. Someone did come out later to make the repairs, by grinding the surface patching and applying new cool deck on the surface. The cracks came back within a month and the cool deck didn't match the original. Rather than paint a new line of cool deck over the cracked area, one would think they would take cool deck from expansion joint to the next expansion joint to make it less noticeable. Cracking of the deck is not the only problem, pieces are falling off from the underlip area into the pool... The hot tub is also solid concrete, which I believe they refer to as shotcrete, and there are hairline cracks on that deck area too. After this time period and his revisit, [redacted] then made up excuses that we did not do a upgrade or re-bar on the deck. This was never offered to us, believe me, if there was any option for any upgrade I would have had it done. Another excuse [redacted] was regarding the neighbors back yard being eight feet lower which is actually only  two feet lower than ours. The back yard of this residence has not been touched since it was originally built in 2004. They had to use jack hammers to break up the ground, and the excavators even commented on the hardness of our soil. This can all be seen from the video footage I have regarding the complete process, from the original dig to filling the pool. I own and operate a security company and have hi-definition closed circuit surveillance around my home, as I wanted to watch this from Minnesota, due to the fact that I could only be here for the first week during construction. We also had a problem with our ultra violet sanitizer not working, which his grandson came out to repair. He opened up the top of the unit and some wires came loose, which he reconnected and it began to work. At that time, he also noticed that our ClearO3 ozone device power light was not coming on and that the flow ball in the gauge was sticking. He said that was under warranty, and they will have it replaced. We have been waiting for that since November 11, 2014 as well... I have a video and audio clip discussing all of this and the concrete issues with him too and he said this isn't right and should be replaced...My last discussion with [redacted] was to replace the concrete, because patch on patch again will not fix the problem. He even brought along the person who installed the decking. They both said "even our decks are cracked" and this cracking sometimes happens. I'd personally like to see their pool deck, as I'm quite sure this would not be acceptable to them in their own back yard, especially being a pool builder. At that time, he said that there would be another crew out to again make repairs. My response was that my father in law will be staying here for the next three months and gave him his cell phone number to coordinate a time and date. [redacted], my father in law, is still waiting for that phone call.In reiteration, I own and operate a security company in Minneapolis, Minnesota and would never treat my clientele in such a manner. A lot of our correspondence was via email to his son Gary who no longer works for him. [redacted], [redacted]'s wife, responds to the emails, as phone calls are not returned promptly by [redacted]. My personal cell phone records can and will verify this. All emails are readily available for your perusal along with several still photos of the cracking and separation, not to mention the camera surveillance video I have from the original dig. I'm quite sure that his liability insurance is readily available for this type of workmanship or a bad concrete product. One would assume that he is using licensed, bonded and insured sub contractors so the claim could be made against them as well.Unfortunately patching something that has already been patched, will not permanently be a solution to the reoccurring problem of cracking...  I spent over thirty four thousand dollars and want quality work that I paid for..Sincerely,[redacted]

[redacted][A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to...

complaint ID 11088280, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

[redacted]I called Art W[redacted] and left a message but have not received a return call. I am willing to make a settlement offer. As for a reply to this same complaint, my response hasn't changed. Something (Acid I think) was dumped into the pool and settled on the bottom giving a slightly different color that at certain times of day is visible. As I previously replied, plaster color is not covered by warranty as it occurs from misuse of chemicals or local water conditions. Still this pool is beautiful.If I bought a new car and then drove it into a telephone pole, the New Car Dealer would not cover it under warranty. At this point if I complained to the Revdex.com you would not or should not lower their rating when they refused to repair it. That is the same scenario as my situation. Still I am willing to offer a further settlement if the Owner will call me. Thank You American Backyards Inc.

I am not saying they did not repair the chunk that fell off. My complaint is that the pool finish looks like crap from the day they finished it. I told them that and they kept putting me off until it was too late for the [redacted] to do something about it. Chuck told me he would be in touch to possibly redo the finish after the [redacted] was here but he has never called about having the finish redone. Lousy service on American Backyards part.

We spoke to Mr. Simonson and he told us that he sent a request to have the complaint he filed removed because there was a misunderstanding about his warranty.  We met with Mr. Simonson and he agreed that everything is fine with his pool.
 
Thank you,
 

I met with the [redacted]' and designed then built a beautiful pool for them. A few months later I received a phone call and upon inspection saw some minor cracking in a couple of spots on their decking. I then immediately sent a crew of men and repaired the deck. Later I received a...

call from [redacted] that the cracks had returned. I went to their house and upon careful inspection I noticed the rear neighbors yard is 8' lower than the [redacted]' backyard. Their backyards is the fill portion of a cut and fill lot, and the backyard was obviously not compacted enough resulting in the weight of the pool and the water to cause the pool to settle slightly. Although this is not anything we had control over, it is easier for the Homeowner to blame us than it is to fight with the Home Builder. Still we agreed to repair the relatively minor problems with the decking. At this point the Homeowner stated he did not want his deck repaired and wanted us to remove and replace all the decking. He stated that the problems may come back. We assured him that if they did we will come back as long as required until the pool quits settling. If the pool looked terrible then I could see their extreme demands. But their backyard is beautiful. We have a minor repair problem that will be easy to fix. To rip out and then replace the deck, repair tiles broken in the process and repair any damage to the plaster during this process would be a tremendous cost. And upon doing all this, we might still have the same problems happening again when we are done. We are ready to immediately repair their problems and make their Pool like new and if ever need be to, continuing to do so if any future problems arise. By coincidence, the only other Complaint I have had is for decking that cracked and that pool was in their same area. We repaired the pool and never heard from the people again.

To: The Revdex.comRe: Art W[redacted]Complaint # [redacted]This complaint is a reiteration of a prior complaint which was closed.Reading this complaint it sounds as if this was a terrible construction piece of junk. The reality is that it is a beautiful pool to this day.A reference was made...

that a chunk of decking fell off. Upon being notified of this small piece of the Kool Decking falling off, the deck was immediately repaired.So why was this fact not relayed to you. The Owner makes it sound like the deck is still like that.Regarding the pool finish.In our Contract we specifically stipulate that " Plaster is not warranted against discoloration or staining since such plaster defects generally result from local water conditions, improper use of chemicals or lack of or improper chemicals, or lack of or improper cleaning of the pool".This Pool is beautiful except when you look at the bottom at a certain time of day, you can see a slight discoloration on the bottom.This is probably a result of pool acid being dumped at one spot and not being dispersed carefully around the pool.These are the reasons why we cannot warranty pool finish coloring.Still this is a beautifully built pool.Thank YouChuck H[redacted]American Backyards Inc.###-###-####

From the moment the hole was dug this pool has been and continues to be a disaster. A huge 5' pile if dirt was left in our yard. After complaining about it it was distributed to multiple smaller piles of dirt and we were told they were done fixing it and it was normal. Leaving us to grade it back into the yard. Days of hauling and raking were done by US to complete THEIR job. The "pebble sheen" finish is horrible. Probably due to the fact that it is a knock off brand and not even true pebble sheen. It's rough and streaky. We were told it was going to stay like that. Spots of finish are dished enough it can be seen. The kool deck is anything but! Again a horrible finish and it's falling off into the pool. The whole side of the patio has sunk at least a 1/4". We lose more than a half an inch of water in the winter. That and the ring of moisture around the pool after it runs leads us to think there is a leak. But of course they say there is not. Our equipment has malfunctioned and stopped working. There a 1/4" gap between the pool and the patio that has yet to be fixed (or covered up). We call almost every other day and are pawned off on subcontractors. Nothing has ever been done by this company to FIX any issues we have, only cover them up. This is one of the most unprofessional companies we have ever dealt with.

After getting quotes and pool designs by three very well known pool companies, I found American Backyards and I am so glad that I did. They designed and built a beautiful pool (bigger than designed by the other companies and with five time more kool decking, four therapy spa jets, and a Wild Ride Slide) at a cost below the other pool companies. American Backyards always did what they said they would do and in the time fame that they said they would do it. I am very happy with American Backyards, it's owner, all of it's staff, and all of the workers who worked on the pool. Thank you American Backyards.

Pool was finished in a timely matter. Pool finish is horrible. They tell me it is the way it's going to be. Splochy finish. They refuse to fix it. Cool deck is hotter than concrete surface. Should be called hot deck. Cool deck finish chips all the time. Will not give me the $200 [redacted] rebate. Ignores phone calls on this matter.

Review: On 12/26/15 I found our spa portion of the pool/spa had completely drained. I called the company and after instructions over the phone, they had said it was a valve that needed to be replaced. They said I was lucky, because I was 1 day away from my 2 year warranty expiring. As I was gone for a trip, which the company was informed about, they came out to fix when we were not there. When I came home, I found the spa was still draining, called company and they said it was a different valve. They sent another person out to replace this valve. After this, even though the problem has partially been fixed, the spa is still draining out. When I called back, I was told that a manual valve was not set correct, so I did what was recommended over phone. The spa is still partially draining, so I just called back and they informed me it was plumbing issue and we are now out of warranty. I believe we should still be under warranty as the issue was initiated before our warranty expired. They have said it will be 150 charge to just come out and diagnose. They suggested it may be a user error, which we have not changed settings. All we have adjusted is the hot tub temperature.Desired Settlement: Find what is actually wrong and repair it under warranty since the process was initiated under warranty.

Consumer

Response:

[redacted][A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 11088280, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Business

Response:

We spoke to Mr. Simonson and he told us that he sent a request to have the complaint he filed removed because there was a misunderstanding about his warranty. We met with Mr. Simonson and he agreed that everything is fine with his pool. Thank you, [redacted]

American Backyard is a top notch organization. From our original meeting when [redacted] drew the layout as we planned to the final touches. We are new pool owners and they have walked us through every step. Great quality for the price. We love our new backyard. Cant wait to dive into our crystal blue water when the warm weather arrives.

Review: After the installation within two months the decking around the pool started to crack and separate away from the pool. Chunks of the decking are falling off into the pool and the deck is separating away from the shotcrete leaving a gap of 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch. I have made several attempts contacting them regarding issues and the only thing they have done is try and patch the concrete one time. It is cracked completely through and patching did nothing. All cracks came back and even more are present to this date.Desired Settlement: To completely remove the decking around the pool and pour a new deck then have the cool decking installed like it was originally done. I have since looked online and they had other complaints regarding the same issue during the time frame we have experienced our issues. They either have used inferior sub contractors or have used a concrete distributor who has an inferior product. They need to stand behind their workmanship and this is a phrase from their mission statement:

"American Backyards Inc, is truly a family owned and operated business providing the highest quality in the industry. We take pride in knowing that we build our pools with our customers ultimate satisfaction in mind."

NOT TRUE

Business

Response:

I met with the [redacted]' and designed then built a beautiful pool for them. A few months later I received a phone call and upon inspection saw some minor cracking in a couple of spots on their decking. I then immediately sent a crew of men and repaired the deck. Later I received a call from [redacted] that the cracks had returned. I went to their house and upon careful inspection I noticed the rear neighbors yard is 8' lower than the [redacted]' backyard. Their backyards is the fill portion of a cut and fill lot, and the backyard was obviously not compacted enough resulting in the weight of the pool and the water to cause the pool to settle slightly. Although this is not anything we had control over, it is easier for the Homeowner to blame us than it is to fight with the Home Builder. Still we agreed to repair the relatively minor problems with the decking. At this point the Homeowner stated he did not want his deck repaired and wanted us to remove and replace all the decking. He stated that the problems may come back. We assured him that if they did we will come back as long as required until the pool quits settling. If the pool looked terrible then I could see their extreme demands. But their backyard is beautiful. We have a minor repair problem that will be easy to fix. To rip out and then replace the deck, repair tiles broken in the process and repair any damage to the plaster during this process would be a tremendous cost. And upon doing all this, we might still have the same problems happening again when we are done. We are ready to immediately repair their problems and make their Pool like new and if ever need be to, continuing to do so if any future problems arise. By coincidence, the only other Complaint I have had is for decking that cracked and that pool was in their same area. We repaired the pool and never heard from the people again.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Being a member of the Revdex.com, I find it hard to believe that it took [redacted] several weeks to respond to the original complaint filed. [redacted]'s lack of response also held true for the cracking issues and the meetings we have had regarding the original issue started back in June. We had a family event here at our new home and wanted to have the pool done by the end of March 2014. They did hold true to their schedule and all subcontractors showed up promptly and did their portion of work in which American Back Yards hired them to do. Upon our first arrival in March when everything was first completed, it looked beautiful. However, upon our return trip in June for a neighbor's birthday, we noticed several cracks and many separations between the pool deck and the pool itself. At that time, you could see that the cracks were not superficial like [redacted] claimed they were, and went entirely thru the deck which is evident, by all the photos we have, see just one picture attached. At that time, [redacted] said sometimes this happens and repairs are necessary and he will take care of it. Someone did come out later to make the repairs, by grinding the surface patching and applying new cool deck on the surface. The cracks came back within a month and the cool deck didn't match the original. Rather than paint a new line of cool deck over the cracked area, one would think they would take cool deck from expansion joint to the next expansion joint to make it less noticeable. Cracking of the deck is not the only problem, pieces are falling off from the underlip area into the pool... The hot tub is also solid concrete, which I believe they refer to as shotcrete, and there are hairline cracks on that deck area too. After this time period and his revisit, [redacted] then made up excuses that we did not do a upgrade or re-bar on the deck. This was never offered to us, believe me, if there was any option for any upgrade I would have had it done. Another excuse [redacted] was regarding the neighbors back yard being eight feet lower which is actually only two feet lower than ours. The back yard of this residence has not been touched since it was originally built in 2004. They had to use jack hammers to break up the ground, and the excavators even commented on the hardness of our soil. This can all be seen from the video footage I have regarding the complete process, from the original dig to filling the pool. I own and operate a security company and have hi-definition closed circuit surveillance around my home, as I wanted to watch this from Minnesota, due to the fact that I could only be here for the first week during construction. We also had a problem with our ultra violet sanitizer not working, which his grandson came out to repair. He opened up the top of the unit and some wires came loose, which he reconnected and it began to work. At that time, he also noticed that our ClearO3 ozone device power light was not coming on and that the flow ball in the gauge was sticking. He said that was under warranty, and they will have it replaced. We have been waiting for that since November 11, 2014 as well... I have a video and audio clip discussing all of this and the concrete issues with him too and he said this isn't right and should be replaced...My last discussion with [redacted] was to replace the concrete, because patch on patch again will not fix the problem. He even brought along the person who installed the decking. They both said "even our decks are cracked" and this cracking sometimes happens. I'd personally like to see their pool deck, as I'm quite sure this would not be acceptable to them in their own back yard, especially being a pool builder. At that time, he said that there would be another crew out to again make repairs. My response was that my father in law will be staying here for the next three months and gave him his cell phone number to coordinate a time and date. [redacted], my father in law, is still waiting for that phone call.In reiteration, I own and operate a security company in Minneapolis, Minnesota and would never treat my clientele in such a manner. A lot of our correspondence was via email to his son Gary who no longer works for him. [redacted], [redacted]'s wife, responds to the emails, as phone calls are not returned promptly by [redacted]. My personal cell phone records can and will verify this. All emails are readily available for your perusal along with several still photos of the cracking and separation, not to mention the camera surveillance video I have from the original dig. I'm quite sure that his liability insurance is readily available for this type of workmanship or a bad concrete product. One would assume that he is using licensed, bonded and insured sub contractors so the claim could be made against them as well.Unfortunately patching something that has already been patched, will not permanently be a solution to the reoccurring problem of cracking... I spent over thirty four thousand dollars and want quality work that I paid for..Sincerely,[redacted]

Business

Response:

I have reviewed the reply to my reply from [redacted]. Without reiterating everything I previously stated, the bottom line is that we are willing the correct all their pool problems immediately but the [redacted] do not want their decking to be repaired but to be ripped out and replaced. I have conversed with the [redacted] and their reply was that I am responsible to repair any cracks over 3/16's inch wide. I am not expected to rip out and reinstall a deck for minor repairs.Mr. [redacted] also feels that if steel was installed into the decking when we poured it, then.he would have had no cracking. This is not so. Steel in the concrete keeps concrete from separating when there is pressure. It will still crack but it will not separate: The [redacted]' decking is not separating so steel would have made no difference. They would still have had the same cracks.They have a subsurface soil problem that I did not cause. The pieces of his decking that is falling into his pool are only small pieces of the edge of the kool deck topping that is easily repaired. If the [redacted]'s change their mind and will allow us, we will immediately come out and do all repairs needed.Thank YouAmerican Backyards Inc

After meeting with several other pool companies, it was a nice to have a salesman ([redacted]) actually listen to what we were looking for and pay attention to our budget. All the other companies wowed us with computer renderings of what they think we should have and way over budget. Customer service at its best...listen to the customer. While pool was under construction, talked with many of the trades and all we very happy with them, which isn't always the case and just solidified our choice. Pool looks as good as it did when finished and have had 2 small issues that were resolved very quickly. Would recommend to anyone looking for a pool to give them a shot.

Mr. [redacted] in Queen Creek

American Backyards did a beautiful job on my pool and my landscaping. [redacted] and his family are the best to work with! I would recommend American Backyards to anyone that wants a beautiful pool! The work was all done in the time frame that was given to me. I was very impressed by the quality and speed at which my backyard was done!

Once I posted my original review American Backyards did complete all of the issues. Nice pool, but it was a rough build.