Cool Pools

Review: I paid for pool service and a sweep $205 in July. He worked 2 weeks and took the sweep. He will not refund the $100 for the sweep.

In May 2013 I hired [redacted] to service my pool. He stated that it needed to be drained and refilled. He charged $400 for that service and included in that price was the balancing of chemicals. In June I paid an additional $205 for one month of service and a used pool sweep. [redacted] missed a week of maintenance, and in 3 weeks my pool had algae again. After paying $400 to correct this issue I told [redacted] that I was not pleased with his work. He got angry and left saying he would no longer service my pool. When the sweep broke the next week, I asked for a refund. Cool Pools refused. The following month [redacted] emailed to say he had changed his mind about the refund and he came and got the sweep. Now he states I owe him money. I feel that he stole my sweep, and he owes me $100 for that sweep. He also owes $52 for the 2 weeks of July that he did not service my pool.Desired Settlement: I am only asking $100 refund for the sweep. I am willing to forgive the $52 for service I did not receive in an effort to resolve this issue.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

We did clean-up Ms. [redacted] pool and performed other services as well. We also sold her a used pool sweep for $100. We never missed any scheduled services. We had tried repeatedly to explain to her that the amount of time she was running the pool was not sufficient and was contributing to algae growth. The last service visit that was made, [redacted] tried to speak with her again. She was rude and disrespectful. No one needs to subject themselves to that behaviour and therefore she was told she could find another service. He completed that day, left and never returned. ALL services that were billed for were delivered. At the time Ms. [redacted] requesed the pool sweep be returned she was originally told no as we were under no obligation to take the sweep back and it did function properly. Upon further consideration (since we sell used/rebuilt sweeps regularly for $200/ea) and she had an outstanding bill owed to us, we figured that we would take the sweep back to minimize our exposure. She was told that her account would be credited accordingly which it was. When she realized that not only was she not getting $100 back, but that she also had an outstanding balance, she was not happy and threatened to report us to Revdex.com. She did create a false user name on Yelp (she says her name is [redacted] and mistated information and gave a bad rating to us. We did offer to not pursue her remaining balance due, if this all came to an end, no Revdex.com, no further Yelp issues etc. However, if she opted to continue, we would pursue full collection because we would not waive the amount she owes and then after to spend resoursces and time to fight this. We have an entire email trail as well as the invoicing and statements which we will forward.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

The person who responded is not [redacted], the person involved, so the response is third-hand information. [redacted] did my pool cleanup in May. He did miss at least 2 scheduled services that I know of. He is lying about that. Also, last year when I hired him he told me that I needed to run my pool longer. I was running it 4 hours per day. He told me I needed to run it at least 6 hours per day. I IMMEDIATELY switched to 6 hours per day and still have it running for that time. Since I have been tending to the pool myself, I have had no algae in my pool. I adjust the chlorine and acid, and sweep about once per month. It is obvious that although I paid [redacted] for full service which includes sweeping the pool, he was not delivering full service or I would not have had algae in my pool one month after paying $400 for a complete cleaning. I was not rude and disrespectful, this person responding was not there. I simply voiced my displeasure with having paid for full service and a complete pool draining and re-filling and still having algae in my pool. I had already paid a total of over $600 to get rid of the algae! Unhappy clients are what you get when your work is inadequate. He acted in a very childish manner, and was very unprofessional as well. And I was not told I could find another service, instead [redacted] left me a note; again very childish and unprofessional.

They are correct, they were under no obligation to take back the sweep, but it was the best thing for them to do given the fact that it only worked for one month. When they finally decided to take it back, they were well aware that I expected to receive a repayment of $100 since I called and asked when I would receive a refund. Instead they used language stating that 'I would be credited' to hide the fact that they had no intention of refunding my money, and that they wanted to steal the sweep back. The invoices that you see are not disputed, it is the lack of work behind the charges that is in dispute, and again, whoever wrote this response WAS NOT THERE.

I did not create a false user name on Yelp, [redacted] is my husband, and I didn't know it was on there until I wrote that complaint. I have since changed it to my name and will be happy to file a second complaint on yelp in my own name.

[redacted] is not only unprofessional, but charges for work he does not do.

Final Business Response

While I ([redacted]) am writing the response, [redacted] contributed directly to the content. Both of us were involved in this issue. He is in the field and I am in the office, so I am writing the formal replies. This is NOT to be considered third-hand information. Again, [redacted] did NOT miss two scheduled visits. [redacted] is forgetting that we get the six major holidays paid, which there was one. The only other time [redacted] was not there at his typical time, was the day he went to our son's Army Swearing In Ceremony and he was there 2-3 hours later than usual, but was there and did service. He is NOT lying. A number of factors contributed to the condition of the pool which were discussed with [redacted] inclusive of run time and filters needing to be replaced etc. If a customer will not implement recommendations, we can not control results. It is only in our best interest to perform the services agreed upon or we pay the price in the long run through the need for additional chemicals etc. [redacted] performed all services that are part of the Full Service. [redacted] reiterated that she was rude, belligerent and yelling. He is extremely professional and customer service is of the highest concern, however, a service provider does NOT need to subject themselves to verbal abuse and disrespect. Obviously [redacted] had been happy with our service previously as we were hired back. Last year, we even loaned her a pool sweep. She stated she would shortly authorize the purchase of new sweep, but never did. After 6 months of loaning her our equipment, we had to pull it to sell to another customer. [redacted] did not quit in a note. He told her face-to-face he would no longer service the pool after that day and she could find another service. He finished the service for that day and left. He did not leave a service card because he had spoken with her and did not return for another visit, so there was no other card left. All services and products billed for were delivered. Her account was credited accordingly for the return of the sweep. The sweep works perfectly fine by the way, there was an acorn stuck in the sweep.

As for YELP and the Third-Party references in our response to this complaint, it is rather interesting, because the YELP comment was written in the first person, yet her Ex or To-Be Ex husband as she referred to him when speaking with [redacted], was never there, never been met nor spoken with.

We are a family owned business that is very professional, considerate, experienced, etc. We have a long standing client base and have survived these difficult economic times when so many businesses are folding. This is a testament to us a individuals and as a company. Our customers and their satisfaction is extremely important to us and is our number one priority. However, you can not make everyone happy.