AFFORDABLE POOL SOLUTIONS

I found a leak in my pool's chlorinator at 4 pm on a Saturday afternoon in January. I started calling around trying to find someone that could help me as the leak had been substantial enough that I needed help before Monday. First I called the company that made my pool and is still servicing its warranty. I could only reach their sales department and they said that the service department would be in Monday to call me back (with no weekend help). I called a few other companies I found on Angie's list, with Affordable Pool Care Solutions being the only one that I was able to get ahold of. Kirk was able to walk me through the problem and spent a considerable amount of time understanding what was going on, the set up of my pool and working out a tolerable solution to get things stable until he could come out and fix it Monday. He was able to fix the leak and was professional and responsive. His costs were comparable to the two other quotes I received once the other companies eventually called me back. I felt that it was almost impossible to find someone that would do any weekend emergency work on pools, especially in January, and because of his willingness to at least call me back and talk things through, I of course gave him our business, even over the pool company that built our pool. I plan to call him again as needs arise and would recommend him when asked for a pool repairman. Thanks Kirk!

They did a great job and we will use them again this fall to close the pool.

Very well!

Great service. Any issue attended to promptly. We hired again for this season.

They did a great job.

It went very well. We agreed that a new one was far better than trying to fix the old one.

Excellent customer service. Have already scheduled future services

unknown

unknown

Our pump went out in the middle of July and Kirk was able to come out and install a new one same day. Very responsive and professional and we will be recommending him to others.

unknown

The individual I spoke did not seem interested in opening my pool because he was swamped with business. He told me he would do it if I wanted but it would cost ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,000)! Then it would be an additional cost to clean and balance the water chemicals. The individual was arrogant and uncaring.

unknown

We used Kirk (Affordable Pool Solutions) from a referral from Fox Pools. We have been extremely satisfied. Our pool was pristine all season long last year. Despite a hole in our pool cover, this year the pool was ready to go in only a couple of days...not that we have been in it yet as the temperature is a bit chilly. There has never been a problem with our pool cleaners with our dogs. They put up with them well. Have never seen any mistreatment by the guys towards our dogs which tend to want to get in their faces when they are bending over. Kirk explained the operation of the pool and pump when he first came out as when Fox Pools opened the pool they were in and out before we knew it. This is our first pool that we have owned. It was inspected by our home inspector before the home purchase. While we were EXTREMELY satisfied with the home inspector, we should have had a pool person inspect the pool as we didn't get information like the age of the pump and filter system. (Kirk and his crew had nothing to do about this.) I had no idea that the pump and filter were original equipment going on about 25 years old. It will need to be replaced this year but Kirk has gone above and beyond to keep it going for the summer. My only complaint is that sometimes when you call and talk to Kirk, he answers the phone when he is busy doing something and is short/wants to get off the phone abruptly. He really needs to learn that he should let the call go to voice mail and call back. As a still novice pool owner I might have question about what he has told me during the call but his manner is so abrupt that I usually forget the question. He also seemed like I should have known how old the pump and filter were instead of being surprised by it age and need for replacement.

really explained the "how to" and "when" on cleaning the pool, testing water, running equipment

He's good to work with. He's reliable. He's cost is usually fair. He's really knowledgeable and he knows what he's doing.

I had to shock my pool heavily this spring, leaving a lot of dead algae for the filters to clear. However, because I had cartridge filters, I found myself washing them out night after night. I didn't know what to do, or how to get my pool clean without dozens of hours of manual labor. So I looked for pool cleaning services on Angie's List. I called APS on Friday 6/27. Kirk Flowers (owner) answered on his cell, and after I described my problem he thoroughly walked through the various options. He carefully explained how I might acid wash the filters, or how we could install a bypass valve so that I could vacuum to waste. He also suggested that a sand filter would likely be better in an environment filled with dirt and trees. He spent about 10 minutes just giving me ideas and advice, not selling me anything, but just trying to help me solve my problem. And he didn't even know who I was! That made a great impression on me. Most pool people are so tired of us "ignorant" pool owners that it's hard to get them to listen, much less offer multiple alternatives from their experience. Many others are eager to just sell you the next batch of 6 chemicals. Kirk acted more like an adviser and partner; that's what I was looking for. After further research, I decided that a sand filter would be the lowest maintenance option in the long term. So I called Kirk back and asked when he would be available. Considering it was 7 days before July 4th I expected that I would have to wait at least 2 weeks. However, Kirk offered to come in just 2-3 business days. He replaced the filter and cleaned the pool on Tuesday 7/1 - only a 5 day turnaround from our first conversation. APS's prices were also reasonable. I compared their quote on a new sand filter (without installation) to 2 other local stores. The next cheapest store still charged 40% more for the filter. I would recommend APS because they treated the pool as though it were their own. Kirk not only did good work, but was very forthcoming with expertise and ideas. For example, he walked us through the different settings on the multiport valve and explained how each setting worked. He also identified a black algae spot (since the pool was recently cleared) and left me with good instructions on how to get rid of it.

In the beginning of our professional relationship with APS Pools it was owner operated. Kirk the owner performed the regular cleaning and maintenance. During that time I can honestly say we never had an issue and all work was performed exceptionally. All encounters with Kirk were friendly and professional. He often times tried to save money for you with his services. All of this was true until he moved into a more administrative role and hired staff to take over the day-to-day duties. Once this transition happened, we had issues almost immediately. The service quality went down and professionalism was at an all-time low. It all culminated with damage to the plaster in our 2-year-old pool. (we had just moved from our prior home with a pool to a new one the prior year.) At this point the tides turned swiftly. First, the new staff member kicked at our chocolate lab and caused himself to get bit. We confirmed this from another worker who was part of a renovation project at our house. Basically, the new guy got scared when he saw the dog come near him and reacted. Let me back-up and say that we had a prior protocol with Kirk to avoid the dogs getting out of the yard. We would kennel them within the yard on days that the cleaning was supposed to take place. If we forgot, Kirk would knock on the door or text us so that we could put them away. It wasn't because the dogs were vicious, which if anyone reading this has had a lab before then no further explanation is needed on that subject. Regardless, of the worker's role, I called Kirk and asked him that day about the worker. He stated he was fine, which we confirmed when he was back the next week. I spoke to him and he showed me the would which had not even punctured the skin. It was a scratch at best, but nevertheless I informed the worker and Kirk the dog was up on shots and would have offered to pay medical expenses had any come up. I was told not to worry about it by the worker. As a side note, from that point on protocol was again followed. From what the worker stated to me, he had not been informed by Kirk of the presence of dogs in the backyard. Continuing on about the decline in service: the new guy would continually empty skimmer baskets in the yard, which would cause them to blow right back into the pool, he also would add chlorine tablets to both our skimmers, because he was not sure how to keep the levels proper on an ozonated pool system. When approached they would both make excuses that the ozonators did not really work; however, oddly enough Kirk never once added the tablets to the pool skimmers for the entire season before. (later on a more competent service provider would show me they had the device turned off and not functioning appropriately, but I digress.) When we complained about this we started noticing chlorine tablets left at random places in the yard where our dogs could get them.) I addressed this too with Kirk, but the issues kept arising. His staff would also leave chemical trash in the yard. Again, addressing it only served to make things worse, even though Kirk seemed apologetic on the phone. Finally, the scratches were noticed by me when we started swimming again that year. (They cleaned the pool year round) When I first approached Kirk about this he went through a whole slew of deceptions. First, it was because we had dark plaster and the striations happened naturally, so it wasn't their fault. Well I noticed they had not taken natural line patterns, so I asked the pool builder to look at it. He assured me those lines were not occurring naturally. So back to Kirk, which then prompted him to say that it was caused by our Polaris cleaner. He said he was confident this time that this was the problem. He stated it must have gotten a rock or stick caught in the wheels and caused the scratches. Said he'd seen it before and knew that to be the cause. However, his experience only factored in once his first deception was debunked. Later, I noticed the scratches appearing in our spa, which is built into the side of the pool, but is not cleaned by the Polaris cleaner. When I approached Kirk yet again he stated at that point it must be a chemical residue on the pool net that is leaving those marks. (his second excuse now proven false) He stated they would get into the pool and get the residue off. He later would say they tried everything, and those were not coming out. At this point I was starting to doubt the honesty of Kirk as he seemed to avoid the issue time and time again after that last conversation. It was at that point I brought in 4 separate pool repair companies and the pool builder to look at the issue and tell me definitively what happened. They all came to the exact same conclusion without even the slightest hint of consulting the others. It simply was caused by the net/pole used to clean the pool, and they new this right off because the pattern followed how a pool cleaner would clean the pool. (I later confirmed this by watching the cleaner clean the pool, and the lines matched his pattern of cleaning perfectly. I also recorded this in case I needed to prove it.) Deliberate or not it was caused by the actions of the pool cleaner's tools, namely his pole. The pool experts also seem to agree that Kirk probably has enough experience to know that as well. So they quasi confirmed what I had feared, which was that dishonesty was more than likely afoot. They all gave me bids to fix the pool, which most believed would have to be replastered at a cost of around $5,000 or, at the very least acid treated to pop the original color back at a cost of around $1,000. Even though I had more than likely lied to by Kirk 3 or 4 times to this point, I approached him with civility, laid out my case and evidence, offered an installment scenario or barter services to get it fixed. Kirk at that point turned ugly and unprofessional in a way he had never been before. He told me what he thought of those accusations and proceeded to tell me he wasn't doing anything about it regardless of my proof. I then told him my next step would be a lawsuit for damages and that I wasn't going to eat the cost of these repairs. At that time he threatened to 'in his own words' counter sue me for what I have using the dog bite incident as his leverage. (this incident had occurred more than 6 months prior with no mention of it until now) Being an attorney myself I tried to politely ignore his venom and explain that his threat was baseless and without merit, not as opinion but as a fact. He instead remained 'dug in' on his ignorant position. I explained that we needed not go any further with the conversation and that I would proceed accordingly. Fortunately, for me the less costly measure of the two mentioned above was needed to fix the pool. Further, because Kirk was behind in collecting monthly dues for our pool cleaning I refused payment and used those funds to offset the cost of fixing the pool, which just about evened out. It was a lucky scenario for both parties, but in the end this show of unethical behavior on the part of this business owner ought to serve as a great warning to any customers who now use APS Pools or plan to in the future.