DOLPHIN POOL & SPA

We contracted with Dolphin Pool and Spa folks to replace a liner on a pool of a new house we purchased. The install was shoddy. They left rocks, debris and a lot of wrinkles throughout the pool. The worst area being the steps to the pool with horrible wrinkles and the liner pulling away for the pool wall. They had to come out multiple times but only after having a difficult conversation or text exchange. They also ripped our pool cover while removing it to perform replacing the liner. We ended up having to map each and every area there was debris under the liner prove to the company there was indeed debris under the liner. Over 30 items of debris. We also discovered during the pool floor inspection that they had not repaired issues with the pool concrete which was part of their proposal and cost. The next larger issue was regarding the warranty of the liner and the liner itself. I asked the company repeatedly for warranty documentation and was given a link to only the terms of the warranty coverage and a statement that their company covers the warranty and registers the liner for us. Called the company that made the liner and they have no record for 'our' liner, the company registering a liner or us. So, I then asked for the serial number for our liner. And here's where everything started to fit into place as to why the company did not want to provide us with the serial number or actual warranty information.... You see we selected this contractor because of a promotional upgrade on the liner. It was an upgrade from a 20mil liner to 28mil. We even informed and confirmed with the contractor that the liner we selected through him qualified for the promotion upgrade and because of that, we approved their proposal. We wouldn't have ever selected them without this promotional upgrade. I had the contractor confirm that they had installed 28mil pool liner, the contractor confirmed that they had installed a 28mil pool liner, so I then called the manufacturer with the serial number to confirm warranty and liner specs. It turned out the contractor didn't install a 28mil pool liner, they installed a 20mil liner. Reached out again to the contractor, the response was not good. Definitely one of the worst contractor experiences I have ever had. I would suggest looking elsewhere for your pool and spa needs.

Quick response and job completed promptly with little disruption.

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The provider installed a pool liner in 2013. One month after install, the pattern on the liner rubbed off on my skin. After several visits from Dolphin staff, we reached an agreement that Dolphin would replace the liner in the spring of 2014. I have this in writing. However, between then and May 2014, the company changed hands. Despite numerous phone calls on which the new owner stated he would make it right, with each subsequent call he said he dropped the ball and forgot. In fact, he asked me who I was on more than one occasion. He had a completely different answer every time I talked to him, he forgot, he was waiting on the liner manufacturer, he was going to send me something, he was going to call - never did he follow through. After more than three months of calls and frustration, I finally asked if I needed to find a lawyer to resolve the situation. He asked for one more shot to "make it right". Instead, what he did was call me and tell me that my pool cover caused the damage and they couldn't do anything. The offending pool cover was purchased nine months AFTER I reported the damage so there is NO possible way his statement is true. Take your business elsewhere! The new owner is dishonest and unethical and apparently has issues with memory loss.

I asked the service department to fix a part on my spa that I had not purchased at Dolphin. A service person came out, charged a couple hundred dollars and we spent the next day in their shop trying to pick out a new spa because we were told our tub was shot. When we found a second opinion from someone who knew our brand of spa we found out that all we had needed was a $20 part. Since the Dolphin person had messed up the inside of the tub, however, we had to cover an additional $200 cost to that company. The Dolphin manager did refund the money we had spent with his service person, but did not reimburse us for the increased cost that resulted from his incompetent service person.

Full review to come after completion of Wright County court hearing with Dolphin. However, in a nutshell, we've been loyal Dolphin customers since they built our pool 10 years ago. The pool was built very well and I have few complaints, other than the fact that at the time of purchase, we were oversold a ton of equipment we didn't need. However, buyer beware and I blame myself for that. At the time, we trusted Dolphin to tell us what we needed and we should have done more research before the actual pool purchase. The crew that has closed our pool the past 10 years has been great. However, due to the events of this past spring, we will not be using them anymore. Dolphin has lost yet another customer. When it came time this year to replace our liner, purchase a new heater and get to the bottom of our pool cover motor problems, we had the unfortunate experience of working directly with Tom Paun, the owner. After a several inflated charges and half truths we fired them. They had already replaced the liner ($5500, paid in full; poured a concrete pad $1,900, $950 has been paid and the remaining $950 is being disputed in court; and messed with the pool cover motor with no success). After trying to negotiate the final payment for the concrete pad which was never graded to completion with wiring left exposed to the elements, Dolphin is taking us to court for the final $950. We have attempted to settle this dispute by offering to pay up to $600 of the final $950 but Mr. Paun will not budge. The numbers and the costs we have incurred out of pocket to correct the mistakes they made speak for themselves. We look forward to having this resolved. If Mr. Paun treats all customers, and not just those that have been exclusive Dolphin customers for 10 years, the way he has treated us, I would not take a chance on using Dolphin. I had to be fair in the Quality and Responsiveness categories, for the guys that have serviced our pool have been great. The owner, however is not a guy I'd recommend working with. UPDATE 11/30/12: We completed our court proceeding with Dolphin. Tom Paun refused to settle with us, forcing us to take two full days off of work to attend first Carver County court (where he filed the suit initially and incorrectly in the wrong county and then in Wright County, where it was completed. Numerous hours were spent preparing for court). Mr. Paun, however, never showed up in court himself, sending an employee instead. Between the two court dates, Mr. Paun actually increased the amount of money he was requesting from us for no apparent reason. On the day of the court hearing, Mr. Paun, through his employee JT, told us he would accept our last offer of payment IF we would provide him with the invoice from the new pool company. The invoice was part of the proceedings and he already had access to it so we agreed. Mr. Paun called the new pool company in a fit of rage and has told the owner he plans to now sue them. What his claim is, I do not know. The new pool company is, understandably, upset. Tom Paun is a bully. He treats his customers and others badly. Sadly, his work crew and other Dolphin employees always did a good job for us in the ten years we were their customer. However because of this owner and his unethical treatment of others and the way he runs his business, My initial review grade of "F" stands.

Ben with Dolphin Pool directed me to a friend with a used pool computer for sale and led me to believe he was going to help install same unit for a couple hundred dollars. I had absolutely no issues with this chain of occurrences. Instead he blew me off several times (he was too busy) and then passed me on to another pool company where they ended up charging me over $ 600 to install the pool control system.

Ever since they came to change the sand, my pool hasn't run correctly since. I've made calls to Tom, the owner, expressing my confusion about how my pump now suddenly has developed a chronic problem of air in my system, and a difficulty in holding a prime. I wanted him to send someone, since I had people coming over on the weekend, to see why my pump could no longer hold prime. He was belligerent, accused me of berating his staff (I did not), and told me that "I was 100% wrong and I had no idea what I was talking about". I won't argue with that. I may not know what I'm talking about when it comes to pools and pool equipment. What I do know is that I contracted with Dolphin to perform a service, and my pool has not run correctly since. He didn't offer to send anyone out. He was not apologetic, sympathetic to this issue, nor did he make a point to say I'll have someone there as soon as I can to figure out what the problem is. This guy will NOT get anymore of my money. I brought another pool company out to look at my system to see if they could tell the problem. When they pulled to top off my sand filter and dug around, they told me I needed to change my sand. I told them I just had Dolphin do it two weeks ago. Now I question whether Dolphin even performed the service (I was not home at the time). I have no proof that they did or did not change the sand, but to have another professional (with 30+ years of experience) look at it and tell me it needed changing has me wondering.I didn't have a good experience with this company. Actually, that's not entirely correct. The single person I didn't have a good experience with was the owner himself. Kinda surprising to me

They did a really professional job. Their service has always been really good. They give excellent results. It?s the same with the equipment that is now 25 years old. Last year we had one of the multivalves replaced and the fan filter changed. I really like the people in the new Dolphin store. They are very knowledgeable and know what to prescribe for any kind of problems. I have been getting chemicals from them and advice on how to take care of the pool. That?s where I have been going lately. It?s a little bit closer for us. I think their prices are still about 30 percent higher when compared to online chemicals. However, online chemical companies don?t have service. I found their services to be very competitive.

There were professional and very responsive. Any issues that came up, they were very responsive. They handled everything very well. I recommend them highly. They are very accomodating. They will be our pool company from here out.

Our sales representative - Lon - was extremely responsive, intelligent, timely and helpful. He was able to provide good education as well as professional insight. He also answered our questions without 'bashing' the competition. When it came down to Dolphin vs. the company, we ultimately choose he remained competitive without being hard sell. We had an excellent experience with Dolphin and would not hesitate to recommend to anyone to consider them when seeking bids.

FYI - Dolphin do not seem interested in pool service work (i.e., doing ''house calls'' that inevitably go with the territory of being in the pool business) -- our experience has been that Dolphin would rather sell chemicals and leave the service work to other companies. We are now using other local companies for all pool service work, who seem happy to have the business and are much more responsive.

TWO SERVICE MEN: OLDER PERSON WAS VERY EXPERIENCED AND TOLD WHAT THEY WERE DOING AND WHY; ALSO GAVE A LIST OF THINGS TO WATCH FOR AND CHECK BEFORE SPRING START-UP.

FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, THEIR SERVICE WAS GOOD. AT THE END OF LAST SEASON, WE BEGAN PLANNING REPAIRS WITH THEM FOR THIS SEASON. THERE WAS A PRETTY CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORK REQUIRED. THIS YEAR, THEY DIDN'T SHOW UP WHEN THEY SHOULD HAVE. WHEN THEY DID SHOW UP, THEY DIDN'T BRING THE PROPER EQUIPMENT. THEIR MANNER WAS LESS THAN PROFESSIONAL. WHEN I ASKED BEN, THE SERVICE MANAGER, TO HOLD WHILE I PUT MY HUSBAND ON SPEAKER PHONE, HIS REPLY WAS ''IS THERE A REASON YOU CAN'T TELL HIM WHAT I'VE SAID?'' HIS ANSWER TO EVERYTHING WAS THAT ''HE COULDN'T GUARANTEE ANYTHING'' AS OPPOSED TO ''WE'LL SEE WHAT WE CAN DO.'' IN THE END, THEY WOULD ONLY PERFORM THE WORK IF WE CLEANED THE POOL PRIOR TO THEIR WORK. THEY SAID THE POOL WAS TOO DIRTY TO DO THE REPAIRS. THEY MAINTAINED THE POOL ALL LAST SEASON & CLOSED THE POOL. IF IT WAS TOO DIRTY, IT WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR WORK. THEY REFUSED TO CLEAN THE POOL (WHICH WE WOULD HAVE PAID FOR) IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE REPAIRS.

I WOULD RECOMMEND THEM. TOM PAUN IS A VERY NICE PERSON AND HE HAS A VERY NICE PLACE OF BUSINESS. THEY DID A VERY NICE JOB.