Calypso Pools Inc

I wonder if I can keep this short... I've run across others who were left with a hole in the ground, and no Steven Cunningham to be found. One poor soul describes how she blocked his equipment in hoping to corner Steve into doing the job that was agreed to, but the equipment was all rented, and the rental company called the police who made her allow them to get their abandoned equipment back. I'm thankful that my pool got mostly finished, but it's been a tough experience, and frankly we have a hard time enjoying our backyard now because of the frustration of being screwed, so we are going to be selling our home soon, in part so that we can live at peace and leave this situation behind. As others have clearly said, Steve talks a good talk - that's his strength, his only strength, and I guess that's all you need in this unregulated world of swimming pool building. Steve communicated so well, was kind and patient when we changed our minds a few times about he size and layout of the pool, as I'm sure many do, when spending $50,000+ on their swimming pool. That made me feel really good. But it didn't take long before the process began to drag on, and we were blamed at every juncture, for the delays. When it was all said and "done" (although it didn't get done by Steve Cunningham), we had an uneven pool deck, deck drains and two deck jets that were never plumbed in at all, no lights installed or wiring run, no chlorinator, no electronics to control the pool, cruddy valves that had to be replaced immediately, and an extension cord plugged into the wall for the pump - no breakers, no hard wiring, nothing. Further, the tile was already cracking and grout was missing. The edge of the pool deck was uneven and sagging over the skimmer where it wasn't supported properly when it was poured. Now a year later, part of the deck has dropped an inch, the pool leaks and looses water from who knows where, and we've learned that my size pool should have more than one skimmer (too late), and a two stage pump... oh, and the pool was poured nearly a foot too shallow in the deep end, and 6 inches too shallow in the shallow end... not sure how to fix that. It stinks. Call me if you have had trouble with Steven Cunningham, and lets end this guys scams. 8039312019

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In the beginning of the job Steve placed a small pump in our pool, plugged it in and took off never to be seen again. His first problem was he left his pump running without any instruction to turn it off, unplug it or remove it to waste our electricity. Weeks of no communication goes by and we start trying to call him over and over and over due to our concern about the possibility of the walls of our pool caving in because he drained the water. Steve finally returns one of our phone calls only because he didn't know the name or number that was trying to reach him. Steve gave the pathetic excuse that he had not called because was sick and he had just returned to work that same day. (I am a business owner myself, and NEVER have I taken someones money and AVOIDED THEM at ALL costs). Steve gave reassurance that the liner was to be shipped the following week and that he would call us to update us. Another week goes by and Steve has not called. I start to research Steve and review his prior endeavors via online reviews. I went so far as to locate all of his businesses and locations around Cunningham Dr. on Boiling Springs Rd. in Lexington and his Harmon Creek Dr. address. This is when i learned of the true Steve Cunningham who scams innocent people out of their money. Usually more than a few at a time so he can spend their money on other projects leaving him unable to do the individuals work for long periods of time and sometimes unable to refund their money without legal action. We were quickly learning of this blasphemous man with our own story to tell. Steve does finally return our calls again leaving us with another story of how his mother is in the hospital. (We are sorry to hear that Steve, but how old are you two? do you need mommy to pick the phone up for you and dial our number so you can keep us informed so we don't worry about our hard earned money?) After talking with Steve we catch another of his lies. Apparently the liner was never ordered because he starts telling us we need to pick another one (quick Steve make up a lie to justify this in every ones eyes.) We decided we wanted our money back and to get the pool fixed by someone else. Steve agreed that would be best because he did not have the time for us anymore (for lack of a prettier phrase). Steve scheduled to meet with us and guess what? Steve Cunningham is MIA again. Avoiding telephone calls and getting aggressive with messages when he finally starts responding. It literally took us annoying the h*** out of Steve calling him hundreds of times per day, sending hundreds of text messages talking to attorneys and home insurance agents to get Steve to return our money. Yet he wouldn't meet with us to return it. H said "The check will be in your mailbox before you wake up". So I woke as I usually do at 4 AM and checked my mailbox. No check, so i get ready to go open my businesses and leave around 6 AM. Still no check. Finally around 9 AM we get the message that the check is in our mailbox and to stop calling him. WE took it straight to the bank and cashed it knowing that he would cancel the check if we didn't. STEVE, YOU CAN TRY AND JUSTIFY AND DEFEND YOUR ACTIONS ALL YOU WANT! Yes we did aggravate you and want you to communicate with us. YOU WERE STEALING OUR MONEY! Yes Steve I have posted negative reviews on EVERY website about you (but I am not the only one). I did this because you are VERY UNPROFESSIONAL! Other innocent people need not trust you. Yes, you did finally give us a refund. ALMOST TWO MONTHS AFTER WE GAVE YOU OUR $ AND YOU DID NOTHING! Finally Steve, yes this is the man of the house and NO I don't have any contract with you. Like I said before, I don't care about contracts and I REALLY REALLY look forward to bumping into you one day since you and I never got to formally meet.

My wife decided we needed a swimming pool. I called around and met with several pool builders, described what we wanted and obtained estimates. Upon the urging of my wife's co-worker, we called Calypso Pools. The owner came out and listed to what I wanted, described several scenarios for me and gave me an estimate. He sat down and helped draw out our thoughts at the inital meeting. This was great because we now had a visual idea of the layout instead of just the mental one. The estimate was about $8,000.00 less than the next best estimate for what we wanted. Needless to say, what we wanted on day one changed as we got closer to financing approval (and thus contract signing). He came back out, resorted the layout to accomodate the change from our original idea of a gunite pool to a much larger vinyl pool. Contract signing day came and the estimate was right on the money. He was more than pleased to allow me to sub out tree removal and the concrete myself. Constuction started within one week of signing and the pool was dug, and liner install and filled with water within two weeks. Absolutely amazing. The worst part of the process was the 3 weeks of waiting for the compacting of the dirt around the pool. The dirt really has to settle before any concrete can be poured. I do wish they had expressed this more clearly in the beginning that this was not a delay on the behalf of the builder; it is a necessary part of the construction process. This was really, really tough as we got tired of traipsing across the carboard from the porch to the pool. Patience is not one of my strong suits. I read the other review and I am on the opposite side from them. I had great communication with the company. I did experience the voicemail being full twice but that was easy enough to endure as I also emailed him and got an immediate response. I do have to take a point or two off punctuality. In all fairness, it was not the builder who was not punctual (he has always been there when he said he would), it was the subcontractors for tile and for the backfill. I recognize that builders do not employ a large staff to do the work, they hire out specialists to do portions of the job. After one sub failed to show two days in a row, my angry phone call to the builder resulted in an immediate follow-up and the work was done the next day. I can not begin to say how much I hated spending the money but enjoyed working with the builder and absolutely love our new backyard oasis. Photos of the whole process can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/cjyarborough/TheNewPool?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzpgPO57t7DwQE#

In the first 4 days of work, they accomplished a lot (about 1/2 the project). But, then things stalled. Despite many efforts to get Calypso Pools to continue the project, they did nothing for 3 months. The lack of communication was ridiculous. I found out that their only phone number is the main guy's cell phone which he screens using caller ID & voice mail is always full. No reply to numeric pages & a fake fax number that is not even remotely associated with them. The few times I did get a hold of them, I got empty promises. Finally, after over 3 months of no progress, bricks and tile were delivered to our house. In two more weeks, the bricks and tile had been installed and we paid for that portion of the contract. Two days later, the plaster crew installed the plaster and we paid for that portion of the contract. However, the plumbing had not been run to the pump and so we had to "slowly" fill the pool over a 3 day period until they completed the pool pump plumbing. Unfortunately, they re-arranged the pool pump and filter (spun it 90 deg.) and brought the pipes up out of the ground in the middle of the walk way instead of off to the side as it originally was plumbed. Although the pool was semi-functional, the yard consisted of large piles of debris including a solid 1 ton pile of fresh fiber-reinforced concrete dumped over a pile of other debris from the old vinyl pool (liner, metal plates, wood, etc), large mounds of dirt, and several large holes where pool pipes were run. Since I have small children, this environment was a great concern for me. Also, there were cement droppings adhered to the pool deck, the conduit, wiring, and pool light had not been installed, there were bolts sticking out of the deck, and there was a leak in the pool plumbing. Again, the progress ceased and I was unable to get Calypso Pools to respond. After another month, I called from a friends phone to prevent caller ID screening. The guy promptly answered his phone and I spoke to him about the lack of progress, lack of communication, and my concerns about the bad state things were in. He agreed to send his crew 8:00 the next morning to complete the project in a timely manor. Based on his promise, I took a day off of work, but they didn't show up until 11:20. The two workers cut the bolts out and filled holes in the pool deck, dug around the leaking pipe (enough to see that water was leaking from somewhere, but didn't fix it), removed some debris from the front yard (but did not touch the main pile of debris and large chunk of cement in the back yard), and power washed the deck (but did not use any cleaning solution so it accomplished very little). After working for a couple of hours, they promised to be back early the next morning. But, they never showed back up. Continuing attempts to contact Calypso Pools failed. After following through with the Better Business Bureau, sending certified letters, etc. we terminated the contract with Calypso Pools.