Mitch's Pool Service

Mitch quickly figured out the problem and same back as promised with the part needed to fix the swimming pool heater (gas heater from Rheem/Raypak). He found a leak I had not noticed and fixed that and then offered up very good and useful advice on a variety of pool maintenance items. He really, really knows all about pools and is generous in sharing his knowledge. My five year old pool is in better shape then ever now that he's showed me some pointers I didn't get (or may not have remembered) from the original builder. Cost reported includes the cost of the parts needed for the repairs. The charge for his time was about $300 total for the two visits.

I found Mitch on Angie's List and first called him during early May and sent him an email as well. I spoke with him concerning opening my pool. He was personable and seemed knowledgeable. He suggested that I should shock the pool (while the cover was still on) before he could arrive to open the pool, which would have been the following week. I wanted to watch and learn the opening process. The following week came but I did not hear from Mitch. I was able to get ahold of him on the phone. He explained that he was extremely swamped and pushed my opening to another day. This scenario occurred numerous times with the date being pushed to another day -- each time he did NOT show up and did NOT call to say that he couldn't make it. I always ended up calling him. He said that he was working very long days and some people had unexpected problems with pumps, filters, etc ?. I understood this and realized that it was a very busy time of year for pool companies and said that I flexible. Since I worked close to home, I texted him my work number and requested him to call me on my work phone and I could be home quickly to meet him. The last time I called him was on a Satuday when he once again did NOT show up or even call. He said that he would come the following day (Sunday). He had to pass my house to go to Odenton to open a pool and he would stop by then. Once again he did NOT show up or even call! I cannot speak about the quality his work, since he did not actually show up to open my pool (and I was really trying to work with him and be very flexible)! I can however, speak about his responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism. I have given him an 'F' in ALL of these areas. I would suggest that he change the way he runs his business. If not already doing so, he should stop taking calls when he is so swamped!! At a MINIMUM AND AS A GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE . . . . . HE NEEDS TO CALL THE CLIENTS THAT ARE WAITING FOR HIM TO SHOW UP AND TELL THEM THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW WHEN HE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE IT! He needs to realize that his clients are ALSO canceling plans and/or arranging their schedule to stay at home waiting for him to arrive!

He is a one man company and we love him. He is excellent. The problem is he is one person. He does hire and train some technicians to work with him. He probably has more business than he can handle. He actually did much more than service the pool. He helped design and renovate an old pool which is quiet arduous. He is so knowledgeable. He did such a good job of working our way through this, that I wouldn’t use anyone else. He is quiet capable of redesigning and renovating the pool. He hires out subcontractors to do it. He knows who is good and that’s why I am so pleased with him because there are a lot of not so good pool people there. If someone was hiring a big company to do design work and if they wanted a second opinion he would be well worth consulting. I would always ask Mitch first before I will hire anybody to do anything. He does opening and closing of the pool. The only problem is we never did get a bill from him. We had to call him and ask month’s later saying that we owe him some money. He is very good. If you want to know what he is going to charge you, I guess you would have to ask him. He is no more or less than any other pool person. The landscaping company that we used gave us Mitch’s name. It was a word of mouth. He is so busy it’s hard to catch up with him. He is very punctual but it’s just getting an appointment with him because he has got so much business. He is so popular. He will get to me but I have to be patient if I want to use Mitch.