Island Recreational

Island Recreational (IR) has it all: bait and switch, incompetent surveyors and managers who lie to try to cover up the incompetence. We ordered and paid for a beaded liner just like the existing one in our pool purchased at IR, but they installed an overlap liner. Stay away - FAR AWAY!

Sales people were great , installers that put in pool were great however when they came to install the black and decker pool pump they stripped the fittings and did not say a thing, They added an excessive amount of Teflon take to the fitting which held just long enough for them to do demo and turn pump on low speed for 15 seconds then shut it off. Not even 5 minutes after they left I turned the pump on medium speed and within a minute is started leaking from the threaded part . I immediately called island recreational customer service which I left message several times explained what happened a d never got the courtesy of a call back . I took off of work and took the hose off which is when I noticed all the Teflon tape. I do think it is a manufacturing fake because that hose did look difficult to install without stripping the cheap plastic threading however the installer definitely knew threads got stripped and they not customer service never acknowledged it. I was extremely upset so I used that day off to also go down to Island recreational on Horseblock rd. There I spoke with the manager Kevin. Kevin was the upmost professional and helpful with the situation. He showed me that the hose connection could be used from the inside of the pump ports using an adapter. He hooked me up with the parts and showed me how to do it. I want hone and put the parts on exactly how Kevin had showed me . I needed 2 adapters and new hose with clamps. It worked out thanks to Kevin and Kevin only . Beware if you buy from this company and make sure you watch the installation from start to finish and test the running of pump on its highest speed for at least 5 minutes before letting the installers leave as once they leave , your done . Island Recreational customs service and corporate office will have nothing to do with you once they have your money and installed the pool. Very disappointed In the company and would pay the couple hundred dollars more for a more reputable company.

STEER CLEAR! They sell you a bill of goods making you think that their product and their level of expertise within their employees is stellar. Definitely not the case. The install department was awful. They could care less about you once they get your money. They sent the surveyor to do the measurements in our yard. He spray paints what is supposed to be an accurate footprint of the pool. For us, we needed to cut back some of the existing deck to make room for the pool. It was apparent that the surveyor and his team were in a rush when they came to our home. We noticed afterwards that the spray paint was not done correctly (the line on the dirt didn’t even line up with the spray painted line on the deck). So we called to request that the surveyor return to ensure accuracy of the foot print. They refused! One person from that department told us to just cut the deck back 18 inches from the line (so cut 18” back from a line that wasn’t accurate in the first place?? Hmmm). We weren’t satisfied with that message so we called back again. Then somebody else in that second conversation told us to cut 2 feet back from the spray painted line and he ENSURED us that it would fit just fine. Ok. So now we’re told to cut 2 feet back from a line that wasn’t accurate to begin with. Again, we respectfully requested that a surveyor return and we explained again that we literally need to have an existing deck cut in order to properly fit the footprints of the pool. We were met with further resistance and they promised us that cutting to 2’ back from the line would be perfectly fine. They also made a comment, “you know, you really should put the pool in before you install the deck“. What an ignorant comment. Our deck has been here for years. Our contractor was also very hesitant, but took our word based on what we were directed to do by the install department. Well guess what?? The measurements were incorrect! So we paid our contractor to have the existing deck cut back, only to have to build it back because too much was cut out. We spent a boatload of money to do this!! After this occurred we tried contacting the install department several times. Generally the phone rings and rings and rings. But if you are lucky enough to get through, they give you the runaround. The first time they put us on hold for 45 minutes. The second time they put us on hold for an hour and 10 minutes. The third time we were on hold for one hour. All of this waiting, three separate times, and we never got anybody on the phone. The call disconnected each time! Oh…and the worst part…. When we finally reached someone, a guy named AJ, we were promised that he would discuss the situation with his supervisor to see what he could do for us, and call us back the following day. That was 5 weeks ago. Since then we have tried to contact them AGAIN numerous times. We were lucky enough to get through again and we were told by an associate that AJ was currently on the phone with another customer, but he knew we were holding and said he would get to us within five minutes. We were on hold for almost an hour and then it disconnected AGAIN. AJ knew that we were on the phone waiting to speak with him, he still didn’t care. We actually had to take a LOAN out to cover the construction on the deck. THAT IS LUDICROUS!! They are not taking responsibility for their mistakes. Shame on them! I am going to post this review on any site possible to ward people off. So save yourself the headache even if it means you have to pay a few more dollars at a different pool store. Also worth mentioning… The people who came to build our pool? Rude! The lead guy was frustrated because we had several large pieces of rock/concrete that needed to be moved/leveled. He actually made lewd gestures at us thinking we didn’t see him. Completely unacceptable! I will say this; if you don’t heed my warning and decide to do business with Island Recreational anyway, make sure you ask for Joe in the Massapequa show room. He was the ONLY positive part of our pool experience.

They are liars and they don’t respond. There hung up on us and were very unprofessional. They are very good at taking money and then not responding. They don’t answer phones or emails. Awful people. Listen to this review!!!

BUYER BEWARE!!!! This company sells the cheap low end stuff. We purchased our pool in 2014 and have not had a full problem free summer yet. All starting with the initial install. Installers had to come back 3 times to fix damaged pool in the first month and a half we owned it. In fact we have not been able to use our pool at all for the entire 2016 summer because of a hole somewhere in our now 3rd liner. My biggest concern is what is all these holes in the liners and water seeping through doing to the pool walls. I am going to assume this pool will not last much longer because of all the problems. Not only have we had liner and install problems, but we have had to replace 90% of the products we bought with the pool, like the skimmer, filter, filter pump, vacuum head and winter cover. The float selection the store offers is good, but you'll be lucky to get more than a month of use out of anything they sell. If you do take the risk of buying a pool from these people, the other thing to watch out for is the installers. The group that came to our house tried to jack up the price of the leveling so that they could stick more money in their pockets. We purchased a buttress-less pool where the three center supports get buried under the sand. At the time we were purchasing I asked if burring the buttresses was part of the install or if it was additional cost like the leveling of the yard. I was assured by sales girl that it was all part of the install because it was part of the pool we purchased. Day of install came and the installers tried to charge me and extra $300 for the buttresses install. Spent an hour on the phone with the company while these guys sat around in my back yard getting this fake charge removed off the leveling bill. Needless to say the tip we were going to give stayed in my pocket.

This is for the Island Recreational in Medford -- but it would not come up -- only Massapequa!
First, I'd like to let anyone who will listen, DO NOT GO to Island Rec in Medford.  They tried selling us a pool liner which we specified by name and it was stated that on the receipt -- Portofino.  We are to have it installed this Thursday.  My husband
knew he had to pick it up prior to installation, but never received a call regarding it.  So he went down yesterday (Sunday)
and was told they didn't have the Portofino, but would give us the Integra, stating how much better that one was, etc. 
So someone screwed up.  He took the Integra, but we were annoyed and went down tonight around 5:30 p.m.   
First off, why do they hire so many people to do NOTHING, during the week when it's not busy and as I was watching others,
saw a woman ticked off because not one worker could give her a hand with two boxes she needed to return.  
Then the BS began.  I asked where our Portofino was, and he said there was none.  One should have given us a lousy phone call to let us then decide what to do.  But once again it was stated, how much better the Integra was, so why would we want the other one.   Because that's what we paid and asked for "that's why"!  Then my husband asked if they had it in another store.  He said one is available in the warehouse.  We said are you sure it's Portofino?  After looking again he said it was the Integra. REALLY? And you wonder why people are getting really aggravated.   Then, (a good one) -- I asked what company makes these?  His reply, We do!  I say really Island Rec?  to which another co-worker corrects him and says Swimline is the manufacturer. I ask about another liner and he says he could get that beaded as well.  We're like OK -- until he states it would cost an addtional  ? for installation which was included with my first order.  I believe as they were wrong do begin with  and lies kept coming out, Island Rec should eat the instalation fee so the customer got what they wanted as they screwed up from the get go!  No, Mr. hissy, just said well we can just cancel it then.  He didn't like my attitude or that he actually had to work.
PLEASE PEOPLE GO ELSEWHERE for something major.  It's really not worth the aggravation.

They are supposed to do maintenance but did not do good work.

Their service was fine. They showed up on the day they were supposed to come and they did what they were supposed to do. I don't have any problems with them. Their price was fair.

In March of 2014 I paid about $1100 for Island Rec's too good to be true pump/saltwater/opening package and booked both an opening and installation date.  The opening went smoothly and I was happy with the work.  Then the nightmare started.
Three days before the installation date for our pool pump and saltwater generator I got a call confirming the appointment, then two emails also confirming.  Six hours after, I got a call saying that they couldn't possibly install my pool pump because they didn't have any in stock.  My installation date was pushed out two weeks when they assured me that I would have a unit to install.  I used the two weeks to research Island Rec and found out that this is their MO.  
Two weeks later, the same thing happened.  I received my confirmations, hours later the call came that there are no pumps to be installed.  I asked to speak to a manager, but you can only speak to call center representatives.  They say that their stores only have fax machines and you cannot speak to anyone of any importance.  I was told I would get a call back when a manager was available.  I let this go for 24 hours and then my wife and I called the call center every hour for the entire day with no results.
When we finally went to the Medford location to confront a manager, we were greeted by one who said he would happily refund our money and give us free chemicals because he was quitting over the company's horrible business practices.  He confirmed not only that our pump would never arrive, and that they had people waiting over a year for the same pump, but that it and the saltwater generator were cheap knockoffs and constantly break.
We escaped from this trap having only wasted time and actually got some chemicals and a pool opening for free, however the company has never stopped running the promotion, and from what I've seen on other sites, is still scamming customers.

Received my money back, but went to better business bureau and was ready to go to small claims court.

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Please, if you pull only 1 piece of information from this review--- RUN! and do not look back!! This is by far one of the worst purchasing experiences I've had in my life. Everything from the rudeness of there employees to the shotty workmanship and product, they leave a lot to be desired. To make a long story short, they missed numerous appointments to install the pool (days in which I took off from work). Pool was initially installed improperly. It wasn't level, they didn't grade the sand properly underneath (was very bumpy and not smooth) and the worst of it, it leaked!  They also had me order a yard of sand when in reality, they only used maybe 1 wheelbarrow load at best.  A month later (yes, a month!) after a few more missed appointments another crew showed up and tore the pool down and reinstalled it. This was after I had to put a stop payment on my credit card to finally get them to show. One individual (whom I will not name but do a Google search and you'll find out) who supposedly coordinates the installations team is one of the rudest inconsiderate person I've dealt with form a sales point of view. His rude, snide remarks made my blood boil. He hung up on me several times, called me a liar, and pretended on another occasion that he never heard about my problems when I went to the store. All I wanted was what I paid for, a pool for my kids to enjoy.  I also traveled back and forth to the Medford location at least 12 times in between all this.  Waste of time as all the employees there have no clue what goes on with installations.  I believe they sub the work out to another company. All is ok now. The pool was reinstalled somewhat lopsided (water sits about an inch higher on one side then the other) but at least the kids can swim in it.  I can say with 100% certainty that if I didn't involve Visa and block them from getting my money, nothing would have ever been fixed!
As I've stated, please do yourself a favor and do not even consider this company. Once a decent chain of stores has turned to garbage in the past 6-8 years. Inferior equipment, unknowledgeable staff, and garbage chemicals. Do a Google
search "Island Recreational Complaints" and see for yourself. You'll be glad you did as I should have.

I used them from May to August. They did a weekly cleaning service by putting some chemicals. They were good. They did the job of cleaning the pool well.

Their service is great.

I needed a liner and I chose them.  They had a heavy duty 25-gauge liner for an above ground pool.  I ordered it and when it came in they told me it would be an additional $1300 due to the type of fencing around the pool.  I had a little bit of a problem last year, because it was creasing at the bottom.  They said that it was okay, it was just the way the liner is made.  I opened the pool in April and the pool is collapsing at the bottom.  I had five different pool companies out and they said it was their error.  The only thing holding the pool together is the deck.  When I call them, I talked to one person and then they passed me off to someone else, just like they could care less.  Now I'm stuck with an empty six-year-old pool.

Purchased a 15 x 30 above ground pool in 2007 from Island Recreational which included installation. They did not provide any guidance regarding the necessity of pool permits, etc, but that is just an aside. They sold us an ozone device which was supposed to replace the need for chlorine. When the device stopped functioning during the first season they said they did not support it and were totally not helpful in getting the device repaired. At the end of the first season we noticed the pool wall beginning to rust. I took pictures of the area and brought the pictures to the attention of customer service in Massapequa where we bought the pool. They said they could not do anything until the rust made a hole through the wall. Last year the rust area grew and the pool wall began chipping on several areas. Again we brought this to their attention and they were unresponsive. This year we needed to replace the liner because of a hole. We paid Island Recreation to install the liner. When the liner installers came I showed them the rust and chipped areas because I did not want to install a liner only to have to replace the wall in the near future. I asked the liner installers to write their findings on the paperwork which I then brought to Island Recreation. To make a long story short, begrudgingly after several weeks of limbo, Island Recreational agreed to pro rate the pool wall. By the time they nickeled and dimed me, charging me for installation of the "new wall", the pro rated cost of the wall, delivery of the pool wall, etc. My exchange cost me $1,000+. To say they are rude, uncaring, unprofessional is an understatement. I've come to find out that they have numerous complaints with consumer affairs and customer blogs all citing the same or similar experiences as mine. They were supposed to finally install my new wall on June 30th. I just received a call saying one of their installers had a family emergency so my pool will not be installed until July 10th. When I complained that I also paid for a maintenance plan which I am not using because my pool is not functioning they could care less. I am taking the time to write this because I do not want anyone else to go through this experience. For 25 years I had a pool purchased from another pool company. I NEVER experienced the poor product quality, poor service, and poor customer service. STAY AWAY from Island Recreational. Do your research and check with consumer affairs and the customer blogs if you are even tempted to purchase anything from them.