Aqua-Land Pools, Inc.

Aqualand owner seemed very friendly, honest, and stated this job would not be complete until we were satisfied. Asked us to delay start of job 1 month so could better fit his crew's schedule. Assured us our job would go faster if we waited. Job started August 2011. Over the weeks the site manager failed to consistently supervise site. Subcontractors arrived, performed work, departed with no supervision. Avoidable errors delayed job. The homeowner had to intervene twice to stop construction problems caused by subcontractors. Homeowner requested, did not receive, calls to notify when work crew would be absent, which happened so often the job extended into October. The salt pool was closed without the salt being added, without the filter working, plus Aqualand wanted to charge us for the closing. Calls to the Aqualand owner assured us they would fix everything in Spring 2012 and pool technician would have it up and running. Aqualand never scheduled the spring opening themselves, and homeowner was seemingly unknown when called Aqualand in the spring to open the pool. Opening was set for May 22. The Aqualand crew arrived a day early, unannounced, when the homeowner was out of town; they removed the cover only. When homeowner returned home on May 22, Aqualand was called and homeowner was told the crew was coming out that day to open the pool. Aqualand sent homeowner a Past Due bill for the Spring opening. Homeowner refused to pay for a pool that was not in working order. Calls to the owner informed us it was a "busy" time, someone would come out. Two weeks after the opening, no one came out to check the progress of the water quality and algae was growing. Calls had to be made; no one in the office seemed to know of the problem. The Aqualand Pentair tech finally came out. The salt ionizer was found to be defective and the new ColorLogic lights were shorting out. One week has gone by with no calls to the homeowner on whether a new ionizer has been ordered or when a service tech will come out at all. It is now mid-June 2012, almost one year since this inground pool renovation was started in August 2011. No one person at Aqualand wants to assume responsibility for our pool not working. We suspect that litigation may be the only way to resolve this contract problem. Update: Repair tech came out, unannounced with sdsalt ionizer replacement. Told homeowner the Hayward ColorLogic spa light was shorting out and was not sure when a replacment could be installed. Became argumentative with homeowner, saying he did not understand why there were complaints about the pool. Was not aware the spa light's installation had been overlooked by the electrician during the renovation in 2011. The electrician had installed the deep end pool light, but since the site manager was absent that day, the electrician overlooked the spa light installation and departed. The spa light was left laying in the spa the entire time subcontractors were working on the spa renovation. So, this problem in Spring 2012 dates back to the lack of supervision of the entire renovation job. Still waiting for the spa light replacement. Still convinced no one at Aqualand takes responsibility for this renovation and customer satisfaction. Contract stated this pool would be in working order, and, as of June 2012, it is not.

Aqualand dug the hole for the pool and had the liner in place by April 8, 2011. We waited NINE more weeks for them to finish. We had to hire an attorney to get them to speak to us. Gary, the former owner and salesman, does seem like a nice man. I do not think that he has any knowledge of the day-to-day running of his former company anymore. He is really just a salesman. Whomever installed the pool did not sink it deep enough, consequently there was about a foot drop-off between the old pool and the existing yard. It is here that our problem occurred. Gary told us that we would have to pay additional money to have a retaining wall built. Please look out for the retaining wall scam. Many pool companies claim the need for one and charge a lot of money to install it. We told Gary that we would not pay any additional money and that the difference in the grading of our yard before pool installation and after pool installation was Aqualand's responsibility. This is when they stopped talking to us. I hired an attorney. Gary finally started paying attention to us, but acted as if he was completely unaware of what had transpired in my yard. He had my attorney's letter in his hand and was reading from it as he walked his workers through what was necessary to do-advice we got from my town's engineer. It took Aqualand about two hours to raise my shed, take away some soil and install a recharge pit. TWO hours! We waited nine weeks for two hours worth of work. I will never use Aqualand again. I do not trust them. Tom, the guy who walks you through how to clean the pool, is very nice and helpful. We paid Aqualand a lot of money and then they refused to honor their contract until we hired a lawyer. Gary told my attorney, "I'm a good guy. I've been in business for over 40 years!" My response to Gary is that "good guys" do not require attorneys to have them do the right thing

FAIR

It was a great experience. They were great at helping to manage all of the permits. They are fun to work with. For the cost and skill, they were very competitive.