SSG Pools

Hired this company for summer 2019 to open/close and clean weekly. In the month we used SSG, the pool was not cleaned properly once. 25 tiles were damaged mysteriously upon open, there were leaves and dirt left in the pool the entire time and we have not been able to use the pool yet. We expressed our disappointment and gave them more than enough chances to rectify things. They didn't. Pictures attached are from our pool and spa today - after the tech "cleaned" and left a bill for over $200. Absolutely horrible. Terminated contract.

Our experience with South Shore Gunite was excellent. A renovation of our pool was needed. All coping stones and tiles were replaced, the bridge between the spa and the pool was rebuilt and the top stair was refinished. A gasket on the pump was replaced and a Vacless Safety Vacuum Releast System was installed. Multiple crews came to our house to work on the pool and everyone was very professional. Communication with Brenda in the office was excellent.

I moved into my current home in late 2016 and discovered that Southshore Gunite built the pool and spa back in 1986 when they were located in Hanover, MA, so I got in touch with them when I needed help with the pool in the summer of 2017. We discussed a pool cover, which I ordered, and resurfacing the pool, which I didn't order right away. While waiting for the cover, I realized that I had a sizeable leak (300 gal/day) in the underground pool plumbing and arranged for SSG to come find the leak and fix it. After they didn't confirm I called and was told that they just had too many pools to close, and they couldn't fix my leak this year. They did eventually come and close the pool and install the cover. The cover seems to work; see attached photo. This spring (2018) I wanted to avoid the pool-opening rush, so I called SSG to see when would be the best time to open the pool and find the leaks. The kind woman who spoke to me got back later that afternoon, having talked to her boss, to tell me that (1) they had not built my pool (according to the building permit, Southshore Gunite did build the pool, but probably before records were computerized) (2) they only closed my pool because they expected me to resurface my pool (I guess the $6500 cover does not make me a valuable customer), and (3) they would neither open my pool this year nor help find and fix the leaks. So, I'm looking on Angie's list for pool services. I can only conclude that SSG really only wants to build new pools or resurface old ones and that anything else is a distraction. I'm guessing that they service pools they build because the owners expect it after spending several 10's of thousands of dollars. I may resurface my pool this year or next, but it won't be done by SSG.

They said they had to evaluate the pool and charged for that. They said it would be a credit on my first cleaning. They did the evaluation - everything worked - took the money and never got back to me. It fely very dishonest.

A big thank you to SSG Pools for the mazing job they did renovating our pool. From start to finish Gary, Reno Mgr, was very responsive answering calls, texts and emails immediately. He did not try to upsell us and was very accommodating, patient, knowledgeable and always followed up. All crews were very hard working, respectful, true craftsmen and always left our property neat and clean. Our project started and ended on time with all schedules met. We are very happy with SSG Pools and our renovation. We would definitely recommend and hire them again.

Quality work and dependable but not very good to deal with on price.

Very well
Putting in a gunite pool is a complicated and expensive project no matter who your pool company is.  SSG did a fantastic job and I am thrilled with the end product.  Quality experience overall with a couple of particular highlights for me.
Communication and project management:  
Excellent communication during the process.  Once the project was started, my project was put in the hands of a project scheduler who did a fantastic job keeping me in the loop on the process, the comings and goings of the various crews and the timing of various steps.  She was the "face" of the company for me during the process and if there was an issue or question, I called her directly and she either had the answers or found the answers.
Expert Crews:
I have complete faith that I have the most technically sound (and very pretty) pool that I could buy.  An excellent project scheduler/ point person is very important because an SSG pool is built by a number of crews - all very specialized and efficient at what they do:  excavation, plumbing, rebar, electrical, gunite, plaster prep, plaster and service/startup etc..  We were impressed by the professionalism of each crew and by how efficiently they all worked while they were on site.  Some of them we only saw for a few others, other crews were here a number of times - all friendly, showed up looking professional and worked hard while they were here.  Excellent experience with the crews.
Responsiveness/ problem solving:  
Not everything in our project went smoothly.  We encountered a number of little challenges along the way - mostly out of anyone's control.  I think it is easy to make a good impression when everything goes according to plan but the way SSG responded when the plan had to be altered highlights their deep experience and their commitment to a high quality product.
Competitive Pricing:
I have not investigated service pricing yet nor did I use SSG for the landscaping or patio/ deck/shed but I can comment on the pricing of the pool was competitive in this marketplace.
Advice:
1) Start the process early so you are not delayed by your town permitting process.  These things take time...
2) Take the time to learn about the different options - there are a lot of things to choose at the beginning - try not to gloss over the details - I focused on total price of the project and should have been more careful in some of the choices I made initially that were the lower cost option but not necessarily the better option from an energy efficiency perspective or fulfilling the functionality that I really wanted.  Examples are:  types of pumps, fencing options, finished product/functionality of landscaping, pool lighting...  I changed course a couple of times during the project to get it right but if I were doing it again, I would be more careful up front.

They do a great job with the pool

Communication throughout process was very good with work efficiently completed.

I purposely waited several months after my experience with them to make sure the feelings that I had in August (when they finished the pool) are still the same feelings now. The pool they built for us was completed on August 9, 2014. Today is February 13, 2015.
First ?let?s start with the good. Our pool is absolutely beautiful! They are excellent craftsmen who make a beautiful swimming pool. We are very happy with the pool they made us (and we?ve received numerous complements from neighbors even asking us who built our pool) and they gave us a great number of options in terms of the pool surface, decking, etc. I was, for the most part, impressed
with the effort of their workers (especially of one of the people whose name escapes me ? I think his name was Keith -- he was responsible for a lot of the grading of the pool area).
Unfortunately that is where the positive part of my review ends.
For starters, a huge issue we had was cleanliness. After some days workers left behind (and on the ground) everything from empty Gatorade/water bottles, cigarette butts, plastic sandwich bags, paper towels and even a peach pit. Not every day but one more than one day I found myself cleaning up after them.
I was not impressed with their salesperson Rich. While things started out well enough initially, our opinion of him soured to the point I will say that if you are looking to get a pool from them, request someone else besides Rich.
There were issues from the very beginning when we were trying to figure out the elevation of the pool in regards to the house. At the same time we had someone building us a retaining wall (we were on vacation out of town at the time) and if it wasn?t for the person building the wall, the elevations would have been incorrect and we would have had to pay for extra masonry work to be up to code. 
The next issue was HUGE. From the very beginning (even before we first met with them) my wife and I wanted a salt water pool system. We rent a house in Cape Cod every year with a salt system and we loved how the pool water felt. When we met with them we said the things we wanted and a salt system was at the top of that list. To emphasize, at no point in time did we ever say we wanted a standard chlorinated system. (I suppose you can see where this is going?)
Fast-forward to the day before they were going to fill the pool with water. Their ?coordinator? reminds me to get plenty of chlorine.
?But we have a salt system. We don?t need chlorine?, I said.
 ?Nope ? you have a chlorinated system!? they responded.
What?
 After several hours, Rich calls me back to say that I was mistaken (not him) ? it says right in HIS notes that we wanted a chlorinated system! He even pointed out how it was in the contract that I signed (he filled it out).
?Where??, I ask.
He points out the page where one word was filled out (in his close-to-illegible chicken scratching) ? ?auto-chlorinator?.
?What would it have said if we ordered the salt system ?, I ask?
?Salt-chlorinator?, he says.
I suppose I would have noticed that if I filled out hundreds of orders before (but I hadn?t). Was it wrong for me to assume that when I asked for a salt system the sales person would have listened? When I signed the contract, I had no idea that an auto-chlorinator wasn?t a salt system.
My wife calls Rich back and he condescendingly says to her that it was in HIS notes and that we are mistaken. ?I wrote it down. It?s in my notes. Why would I have done that? A salt system is more expensive than a chlorine system -- I would have made more money if I sold you a salt system?, he says.
Oh, I don?t know. Maybe because you screwed up? He wouldn?t even ?fess up to making a mistake and kept blaming us for it. Unbelievable. To this day he never said he made a mistake (in my last conversation with him he referred to this as "a misunderstanding" but not a mistake on his part) though this was 100% on him.
But it gets better! The next part is a doozy.
We tell him that we want a salt system and ask how much extra that would cost. The answer was $3950. I researched his breakdown of $750 for installation and $3200 for parts.
 The breakdown was as follows:
     (1) $750 for installation (when we already paid for an incorrect installation of a chlorine system? Really?).
     (2) $1475 for one part (which we found for $854.99 online)
     (3)$1500 for the controller (which was $1012.99 online) and
     (4) $225 for a Zinc Anode (which was $63.99 - $90.99 online).
Those price comparisons are for the exact same parts. I called another local pool company who said they charge $2200 for the same system installed.
They were price gouging us on their mistake even after spending $58,000 with them so far (not including all the other stuff we did)!  I asked if they would match the prices we found and they said that they "don?t do that". In fact, they seemed to feel proud that they cost more than the competition because they think they're worth it. It is one thing if the product/service that they supplied was far superior but this was the exact same items AND they wanted us to pay for installation again. Based on the price quote/breakdown, they weren?t even going to take the price of the auto-chlorinator off!
In their partial defense, they ended up offering a $950 discount off of that $3950. But it was still significantly higher than other price comparisons with that discount. A company that truly wants to appease a customer, that cares about their customer and that made such an egregious error would have met us halfway and taken a small hit because of this major screw up. But they didn't. By this time, we had less than three weeks of summer left to enjoy the pool and just kept the chlorine system for now. Looks like we?ll have to put the salt system in next year.
Lastly is that it seems that the pool took a month longer to complete than was originally stated. Yes ? there were definitely issues that were not their fault (including running into ledge ? that set us back two weeks) but there were definitely times when no one was working on the pool that someone could have been working on the pool. While I understand that they are working on other pools for other people but someone could have been there doing something. In short, a July 1 opening turned into an August 9 opening.
In checking prices for similar pools, South Shore Gunite pools cost an average of 10% to 15% higher in price for a similar pool in my post-purchase price comparison. Should have done my homework?
My overall experience with these guys started OK, went downhill and ended poorly. It wasn't great and definitely not a company I'd recommend based on our experience. I am still livid with the salt system screw up. For the price we paid, they weren't even willing to meet us halfway on a price to correct the error. In fact, they were still trying to make a profit on the error.
Are there good things? Yes -- their "pool educators" (post-sales guys who teach you to use the equipment) are AWESOME and was very impressed by some of their laborers (and our pool is beautiful). There were also other bad things I left out due to time (including a pool cover fiasco that they thankfully took care of) too. After several months of contemplating this review I still feel the bad outweighed the good.
Yes

It went well, Guarino's is very knowledgeable and got the chlorinator set up quickly and efficiently.

unknown

We have had no issues. They always perform the work professionally and thoroughly.

I am working with them on a pool. Their pricing and people were better. They were 10,000$ less than the next bidder. He was very competent.

We used SSG for the second time after interviewing many other pool companies in Mass.  We were lucky enough to get Rick B again as our sales guy.  He delivered everything exactly as promised and ON TIME!  
Sadly with ONE bad division in a company so much good can be undone.  I am revising this review as the companies "service" division was AWFUL. "F" awful.  Rick the salesman was great and the installation went off without a hitch.  
After the first service call my husband and I were left physically shaking and shaking our heads.  
They gave us a package TWICE the cost quoted and when I refused to pay on the spot the "deliverance" type guys threatened to go pull all the plugs out of my pool, in essence, ruining it. I had to threaten to call the police.  After much back and forth the service manager adjusted our bill.  We had a credit with the company and it "somehow" worked out that we owed them $60.  Whoa!!!  
To this day I dispute the $60 but after being threatened with collection agencies, etc. I decided to pay it, move on and never give them my business again.  

Excellent work performed by South Shore Gunite as my pool has never looked or performed better. For pricing if you look around you will find companies that are better priced for the same work but this company can be trusted to do the work right the first time and not have any problems later on. You get what you pay for and if your willing to pay a little extra you will get an excellent job. My only complaint was at he very end for the start up on my pool they rushed it and when they showed me how to test for acid in the pool. I asked what the other readings on the test tubes were and they told me they were not required to show me anything but the acid test. After I just spent $14,000.00 for my pool renovations an extra 15 minutes to show me the other readings would have been a nice gesture as a little kindness goes a long way, but i still would recommend them to anyone in need of renovating their gunite pool.

unknown

Sales
It was a very positive experience when compared to the other pool companies I talked to. Rick was great. He didn't try to sell me more than what I requested or needed. He didn't try to scare me with horror stories if I were to go with a another company.
Install
The installation process went well. We lucked out as the weather cooperated, granted it was tough on the kids to only be able to watch the pool being built vs swimming in it when it was 80 degrees out. The guys were friendly and professional. Everything was very well coordinated. Pam kept me informed who will be coming when to do what.
Maintenance
I have also used their sister 'service' company to close and open the pool. I have no complaints, only wished it was cheaper.

It went as well as I hoped it would, so I was very relieved.  It was a big job, and they did it well.

My original email:
Hello Robert, 
 I want to get in touch with you regarding the recent re-plastering/pebble finish that was done at my house this spring. I am sure you are a very busy man, as I am, so I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to read this email. As the CEO, I would think you would want honest feedback from a customer. On the whole, the experience I had as a consumer was terrible.  I am not sure if you are aware of the issues, but there were many, and they stretched on for many weeks. I recently received an invoice for the remaining 900.00 of the 15,000.00 invoice. To be honest, I was shocked and upset. I could not believe after all the issues, your company was going to try and collect the remaining 900.00. In my opinion based on the stress this caused, the final product,  and loss of weeks of use of my pool, I felt the fair thing would be to refund me a substantial portion of my money in addition to the 900.00. Try to imagine yourself in my position when all the kids were here on a hot memorial day weekend in their swimsuits and I have to tell them they cannot swim. However, to be done with this I just let it go and tried to move on from the horrible experience. I never imagined I would ever receive any request for additional payment from your company.  I want to outline the experience I had and see if you felt the collection of the remaining 900.00 was justified and get your feedback… There were several problems outlined below:
 1.            When I originally requested a quote last summer, I initially requested the work to be done in the fall. I had a specific reason for this – to make sure my house was ready for memorial day as I have a very large cookout with many small kids that want to go swimming. Your company said it would be fine to do it in the spring and there would be no issue with being ready for memorial day – this was my only requirement – be ready my memorial day. It was not.
2.            the quality of the finish – there was a major discoloration along the bottom of the pool. But there were also smaller spots in other places showing the same defect. I decided to just accept those smaller spots as you would only notice if you were looking, but the large one was so distracting anyone could see it.  For the price charged, I would expect nothing but the highest of quality.  They had to put some type of acid into my pool in order to wash off the remaining “dust” that was on the finish in order to get rid of the discoloration( I am sure you are aware of the process). This required two weeks of the pool being unusable. In the end I was still not satisfied with the quality(rather than a light discoloration now, there was a faint darker line where the problem was. Small, but with all the issues still disappointing) but it was only a week away from the cook out and I was just accepting it as it was more important for me to have the pool ready than it to be perfect. Again, I was told that this would be plenty of time to have the pool ready. I want to stress this was the one thing I was emphasizing the whole time this was happening – I need the pool ready for memorial day.
3.            Pool cloudiness. I have owned this house for almost 10 years now. I have paid someone (JCK) to open and close my pool every year and not once have we had an issue with pool cloudiness. But we had significant issues with the pool being cloudy for a LONG time. I had to have southshore come out on several occasions and at one point give me incorrect advice – E.G. Chlorine was low. So they told me to keep shocking it – and at one point your staff was out here at the pool and told me to shock the pool. Well apparently, the water was too cold and was not absorbing the shock. So when I went to brush the pool it clouded up the entire pool and made the cholrine so high we could not swim in the pool for days. I am not a pool expert – I am relying on the people I bring in for service to provide that expertise. They came out a second time…the pool looked clear…they tested and made some changes. As soon as I brushed the pool – cloudiness. And I am not talking slightly cloudy –so cloudy you could not even see the bottom of the shallow end of the pool.  This was a safety hazard as I have small children. I could not even let them near the pool because if they were to fall in  I would not be able to find them. 4.            Staff expectation – one issue that bothered me was the requirement your staff that I   regularly check the status of the pool. They came out sporadically, but most times it was an email to me asking me how it looked. I have two problems with this –1.  I am not the expert – I should not be providing status. 2. It should not be my problem – they should be out here getting status. I am a very busy man and do not have the time to deal with this. I understand they may want my opinion, but that is different. I am paying your company for their expertise and guidance.
5.            Staff follow up. the last communication I received was to check on the cloudiness via email. I explained that the cloudiness was much better but still not resolved. It did resolve itself over time, but there was no follow up after that – other than the afore mentioned invoice.
6.            Invoice – through this entire process, any request for payment was made by your staff via email of which I had no problem. However, I find it disappointing that the last communication from your company is a formal invoice in the mail. And I am certain I know why it was this way – no one wanted to contact me for the final 900.00 on a 15k job that was a disaster.  

 One final note-  I did want to let you know that I was referred to you by Paul Fugere who does some work on my house. I like and respect Paul, but as this was his reference, unfortunately, his reputation has suffered because of this as well and I have let him know. I had several projects (additions to the house modifications etc) that were lined up for him and have subsequently on hold. I know that is not your issue, I just want you to know the far reaching affect this experience has had. I thank you again for taking the time to read this email and I look forward to your response

The Presidnet of South shore Gunite Pool and Spa's response:
I appreciate your feedback regarding the swimming pool, I am very sorry that you feel the way you do and based on the tone of your E-mail it really doesn’t matter what I say so I will tell you like it is.  I am very aware of your job, the process and the trial and tribulations of the process.  Why are you “shocked and upset” we had an issue and worked vigilantly to resolve these issues and now you don’t feel like you should pay because we stood by our product and handled any and all issues.  It is people like you that make some contractors say the h*** with the last payment and any punch list items and walk away.  We performed work on your pool, we had issues, we corrected those issue and now you have a beautiful new pool with tremendous guarantee, that is unless you do not pay your final payment.  Furthermore you want a refund!  Pain, suffering, stress, loss of use of the pool for weeks?  Next your will be telling us you wife left you and your kids started to use drugs because they missed a pool day.  Come on, it rained most of May and was cold after Memorial day, get real.    The pool had the final interior work done on April 21st.  I agree with you that there were streaks in the pool.  These are normal, durin