BETTCHER'S REPAIR

For the past two years, I have been filling our above ground pool with well water from our hose. It takes a long time, and because of where we live, it's filled with rust. I spend tons of money and time each year adding chemicals, filtering the water, and cleaning the pool and fixtures to remove as much rust as I can. It really cuts our swimming season to a few short months. This year, I called several pool supply/installation stores to find out where they get their water when needing to fill newly installed swimming pools. Each time I was referred to Bettchers. The first call I made to them was on Wednesday, May 23rd. I spoke with a very friendly lady, explaining that I wanted a quote to have 7,500 gallons of water delivered and pumped into our pool (remember that number, it comes into play later on). She was very accomodating to our situation and asked for the regular information you'd expect, name, address, and phone number. She told me she would call back with a quote later that afternoon. I did not receive a call back. I called a second time on Thursday morning, May 24th. I spoke with the lady again. I reminded her that I had called the day before for a quote for 7,500 gallons of water delivered for my pool. I also reminded her that she had told me she was going to call me back yesterday afternoon, but that I never got that call. She apologized, pulled my "paperwork" and promised she would call me within the hour, then revised this time table and said it would be later that afternoon. Again, I did not receive a call back. I called her a third time on Friday morning, May 25th. I again reminded her of my need to get my pool filled and of the promise she had made to call me back Thursday afternoon with a quote. She said they were just very busy this time of year and she hadn't gotten to it. She promised once again to call back. Finally, she called me back late Friday afternoon with the quote of $295.00 to have the water delivered to my pool. It seemed like a lot, but I didn't want to mess with rusty water again. I agreed to the price and was told they would make a delivery on Tuesday, May 29. Tuesday came, and by the afternoon, there was still no delivery. My wife stayed home all day waiting for the truck to arrive. I called Bettchers again and was told there was a problem at another job they were delivering to, but was assured several times "it wasn't our fault, we didn't cause the problem, and we did everything right." The massive reassurances seemed a little over the top. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" kept going through my head. I was assured they would deliver my water "first thing" Wednesday morning. When I asked, "first thing" to Bettchers means "9ish". The water was finally delivered around 10 am Wednesday morning, but I wasn't expecting the call I got from my wife. She told me the driver was putting away his equipment but had not filled the pool all the way. I asked her to put him on the phone. He explained to me that his truck only holds 6,500 gallons of water and that he had put everything he had in the pool. I can totally understand this, that's not his fault. But when I asked when I was going to get the other 1,000 gallons (remeber, I asked for and was quoted for 7,500 gallons), he told me he had no orders to make a second delivery. Confused, but not exactly surprised, I called Bettchers once more. The lady explained (for the first time, I might add) that each delivery costing $295 is only for 6,500 gallons of water. When I reminded her that I had told her that I needed 7,500 gallons, her reply was, "I just figured you would fill the rest up from a hose, hun." She insisted that I only paid for 6,500 gallons while I insisted she never informed me of that. The ONLY capacity that had ever been discussed was 7,500. Bettchers refused to send me the last 1,000 gallons without paying for it even though the driver told my wife he would be coming back through our area later in the day with a partially full tank left over from another job. The lady at Bettchers said she would call me back with a solution for a reduced price or some other soultion. I have not received a call back, and frankly, I don't expect to. Now I'm stuck a partially full pool of beautiffully clear water that doesn't even reach the skimmer pump. I can't add more water to the pool to top it off without contaminating the crystal clear water with rust, thus defeating the whole purpose of calling Bettchers in the first place. I'm out $295. If I had known UP FRONT that it would cost me nearly $600 to PROPERLY fill my pool, I would have declined and done what I've had to do the last two years and deal with the rusty water. They're the only company in the area that delivers pool water. Their water is great, but their service and responses are absolutely unacceptable.