R&R Pools and Construction Inc

The quality of the work was excellent. However, the process to get to the finished project was terrible. We cut a check for the down payment on March 28 2016. The project was completed on August 10th 2016. Roughly 4 1/2 months. We called and/or emailed over 15 times over that stretch, but couldn't secure a date until late July. R & R never initiated a call to us. We were told the wet weather was the reason for delay. This made sense during April, May and early June. However late June and July was an extremely dry month. We are very discouraged because we were hoping to use the steps for the better part of the late spring and summer, but that wasn't the case. Interestingly we received a certified letter requesting the $350 balance a mere 10 days after completion of the project. If only they were that proactive on the front end I wouldn't have to write such a review.

I called R&R to schedule my pool opening SPECIFICALLY because I knew the filter needed repair and I wanted to start out the season with everything working correctly. I actually discussed this with Ralph Jr. in the fall when I had them close the pool. I asked them to let me know when they were coming so I could leave the stuff outside for them. On Friday May 27 I received a voicemail from Ralph Sr saying he was at my house but none of the stuff was out so they couldn't complete the pool opening. They took the cover off and left it folded on the patio. They left the automatic cover only slightly closed. It was only extended about 3 feet. I was never told they were coming. I called the office and was told they could come back out on Monday. When I asked them why they didn't tell me they were coming I was told people call for a pool opening and then just leave everything out for them. I had originally called on May 16. I didn't want to leave a large tote with no lid, full of my pool equipment out in the rain for an unspecified amount of time. They just shrugged and said that's what people do. So I left the stuff out so they could get the job done. Ralph Sr. and another guy showed up to finish the job. A while after arriving I was called by Ralph Sr. to flip on the breaker. When I tried to ask a question he cut me off and said, "Just turn on the breaker" and hung up. I was struck at how rude that was. I flipped the breaker on and went out to reiterate that a fitting needed to be fixed. Ralph Sr. then proceeded to argue with me that the fitting wasn't what was causing the problem. I said, "ok what was causing the problem?" He said the screws and that he tightened them. I had to argue and insist that he show me which screws in case I needed to deal with the same problem in the future. I also mentioned again that the fitting was also leaking so still needed to be replaced. I also reiterated at that time that I wanted them to make certain the filter system was working correctly and that was the main reason I wanted them to open the pool. He said, Ok. I then asked Ralph Sr. why the automatic cover wasn't working. He said because I broke it. I'm sorry but they were the first ones to attempt to use it and managed to get it to move 3 feet before it stopped. I did attempt to close the cover but when it only moved an inch I stopped. He proceeded to blame me and berate me for doing anything with the cover and that it was MY fault that the ropes are all tangled up. There are several feet of rope tangled on the motor. I fail to see how it moving one inch for me could cause several FEET of rope to get tangled. As he was telling me about the tangled rope he started using demeaning terms like "honey" and "sweetie." That kind of language tells me that he doesn't respect my intelligence and doesn't respect me as a person. I found being talked down to like that highly offensive. I was also very angry for being yelled at for trying to close the cover when they NEVER told me it was broken in the first place. How was I supposed to know to leave it alone? After discovering that the filter motor was dead they said they would have to order a new one and come back. They came back with the new filter motor and got it installed and running. They replaced the fitting that was leaking. In this process the chlorinator was never reattached to the new fitting. He mumbled something about not having a drill and said they would be back to deal with the cover and left. I was then sent a bill for $1056.78. This implied to me that he had no intention of coming back to put the chlorinator on. I remind you, the MAIN purpose I wanted them to come out was to make certain the filter system was running correctly. I waited a week to see if he was going to fix it then I called. I was told I would get a call back. 24 hours later nobody had called me so I called again. This time I said I would NOT pay the bill until the filter was working correctly. I received a very angry phone call from Ralph Sr. where he mentioned fixing the chlorinator wasn't on the bill. I said it shouldn't be since it was part of replacing that fitting. He said he would come on Monday and attach the chlorinator and he would be taking his payment check at that time. On Monday Ralph Sr. arrived, attached the chlorinator and then handed me a bill with an ADDITIONAL $150 for attaching the chlorinator THAT HE REMOVED IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! My husband and I were livid but we just wanted Ralph Sr to go away and never come back so we paid the bill. Now, about the "pool opening." All they did was remove the winter cover, removed the gizmos, removed the outflow plugs, add 4 bags of shock, and 1 bottle of algaecide. They didn't balance chemicals, clean the water line and skimmers, vacuum the bottom, brush the sides or ANYTHING else associated with pool opening. They charged $350 to do those five things! Absolutely ridiculous! I couldn't be more disappointed in a job if I tried. I hired this company because Ralph Jr. did a project for me last year that turned out beautifully. I even contracted the company to replace a retaining wall in my front yard because I was so pleased with the care and attention they put into the one near the pool. I would wager that my biggest problem with this job was the condescension and blatant rudeness from Ralph Sr. and the enormous lack of help with the opening of the pool. I will never hire them again for this and I will absolutely NEVER recommend them.

The team was very professional and took great care to do high quality work. I was particularly impressed with the attention to detail they showed installing the Versa Lock wall. They took their time to do it right. I plan to have them replace the retaining wall in our front yard next year. The colored, stamped concrete is beautiful. They covered the edge of the pool with masking tape to keep the concrete from sticking to it. After the concrete set, R&R sent a couple of guys to come remove the tape and sand any concrete residue off the edge of the pool. Ralph was not happy with the job the guys did and he sent them back to do more, completely unprompted by me. They took great care installing the Cover Star Pool cover. They were prompt at helping us work out the glitches we experienced at first with the cover. It has been working perfectly since and I couldn't be happier.

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I had some questions regarding pool installation and costs. Ralph was professional, knowledge, and polite. He answered all of my questions directly and honestly. Unfortunately, he lives in Pennsylvania, and we are out of his service area in southwestern Ohio. Based on our phone conversation, I would certainly use him to install our pool.

It didn't, I never received a response back.

Rand R installed our fiberglass pool and salt system 3 years ago and did a phenomenal job. Never had any issues. Love the pool, love the design of the pavers, love it all. We had a power surge on our street yesterday and it completely fried our chlorine generator (salt cell) and breaker. We wrote them an email last night and followed up with a phone call early this morning. They made two trips to my house TODAY and completely replaced our system. I am blown away by the customer service. They were always great, but I thought this was above and beyond. They are kind, honest, KNOWLEDGEABLE and hard working. Our pool was a huge investment for us and we were hesitant to spend so much money on an in-ground pool in a state where you can only swim 4-5 months out of the year (if we're lucky). They helped make this investment the best money we have ever spent. We love our pool.

I needed a new pool liner installed. They showed up to take measurements and give me an estimate. Within two weeks the liner was installed and the job finished. There was one small problem with the liner coming loose at an edge when water was being pumped in. I called immediately and they were out promptly the very next work day to fix the problem. They were very professional and handled everything to my satisfaction.

They did a great job. They worked with us on the price and were very hard working people.

We are working with the contractor named Ralph Suarev. We are having a plumbing pool installed in our backyard and he has been phenomenal. He is also doing a patio for us. On his truck it just says he does fiber glass pools and concrete pavers. It doesn't say construction but he does pool construction and I don't believe he does any other construction. He is a straight shooter. He is fairly priced. He is reliable; he comes when he says he is going to come, which hasn't happened in my experience with contractors. He is very courteous, and I am just happy with him. He is a great family man, not that I have seen him interact with his family, but I have seen him interact with my children. He seems like a nice person and a great business man. In fact I ended up having some water issues once the pool was installed, so he just did a drain for us and did not charge me. He said just for his peace of mind, he wanted to make sure there is no problem. He just did the right thing. He is an honest business man. He is at my house right now, and he is going to be finishing next Friday with the patio. I don't know what the standard price is but for the concrete it was $8 per square foot. And for fiber glass pools, I think the price was very fair. Last year we had an estimate on a fiber glass pool for $78,000 from a different contractor. We called Suarev, and it was basically half, a little more than half the price. The estimate was $44,000 for a medium sized pool. He has been right on target. The fiber glass is already installed. The fiber glass pools are popular down south, it is the material that they use at the gas station they hold the gas in fiber glass tanks, same material is being used for the pool. The pool is installed but he is still working on the patio, so far he is a perfectionist, he does the right thing and we are just tickled. I would recommend him. I hope he gets good business, because he deserves that, I only took him because he is such a straight shooter and was tired of the tackling. We really shopped around and we knew immediately that he was the guy when we talked to him. He said this is what it is.