Dolphin Tubs & Pools

My pool, built by Dolphin Pools and Spas, is two seasons old. During the entire first season I assumed something that wasn?t correct. Our water felt different than pool water I?d known before. I chalked this feel of what I can best describe as a silky, thicker-feeling water to the fact that I was swimming in a saltwater pool. But knowing what I know now, I believe the sensor that regulates chlorine production was faulty from the start. Without fail I took water samples to Dolphin for testing that first summer and was told the entire swim season that things were either "fine" or that I should add salt or a chemical. I followed Dolphin's directions exactly and trusted what they told me. However, beginning almost from the time Dolphin opened my pool for the 2010 summer season, my pool water was a problem. It quickly turned a lime-green color. My daughter took a jar of water to Dolphin and in the small sample the green color wasn't visible, unlike when you looked at the pool where it was more than obvious. Dolphin tested the water sample and pronounced the water right on target. At that point, my daughter produced a picture of the pool. Hmmm . . .return home, they said, and turn up the 'boost' for two days. That, they said, would fix what they now admitted was clearly NOT normal-looking pool water! We did as instructed and the result was not lime-green water, but water so dark, green and thick the pool bottom could not be seen even in the shallow end of the pool. Fixing the problem was far beyond anything we had the knowledge to deal with by adding salt or chemicals to the pool. We called Dolphin. Dolphin employees added a product to the pool, which after approximately 48 hours, caused the gunk in the water to bind together and sink to the bottom. After this took place Dolphin sent a man out who vacuumed the pool bottom for several hours. The water at that point was no longer green. It was then that he discovered the large filter inside our filtering tank was clogged. We had been told, by one of the owners, only days before that the filter would not need to be cleaned this year, but next year it was something they would check when they opened the pool, meaning spring of 2011. Now, however, the filter was thoroughly clogged ahead of the expected date. So, after vacuuming the bottom of the pool, Dophin's man took the large filter to the driveway where for more than an hour he flushed the filter with water from our hose. None of this was free. The total cost, not including any chemicals we had already purchased to fix the problems, was several hundred dollars. At this point we thought that surely our problems were behind us. WRONG! We were never able to balance our water no matter what they told us to do or what we added to the pool per Dolphin?s instructions. After several frustrating weeks attempting to ?fix? the problems we were told that our sensor was bad and that they would need to order a new one for our filtering equipment. We also learned at that point that ?we?ve got sensors going bad left and right.? Obviously, with as much trouble as we were having, one would think this should have been a question for Dolphin all along where our system was concerned. But only after weeks and weeks of struggling with the problem, to say nothing of the cost, did they admit to having not just a problem with our pool, but with many pools. Next we waited. And we waited. And we waited. No sensor! No fix to our problems. Finally we were told that so many sensors were bad that our sensor was on back order. It was good to at least have this information but while we waited it was ch-ching, ch-ching, ch-ching. And please note here that I fully understand that if the factory was shipping new sensors as fast as they could manufacture them that Dolphin couldn?t pull one out of thin air for us. However, our relationship was slipping by this point. As the weeks passed it was ?you?ll need to add this or that to fix your water.? They did nothing to let us know they cared about us. We never once heard so much as an indication that they?d not forgotten us, or that they were sorry we were having so much trouble. I grew so frustrated that I wanted to know what we could do, even if it meant draining the pool. ?No, no, no,? their head maintenance man said. ?You don?t want to do that.? He then gave us chemicals that day and told us that until the sensor arrived we needed only to come in and get what we needed without charge. Nice, right? We left their store feeling slightly better. But the next time we went in the clerk attempted to charge us. It was explained that their own employee had told us chemicals would cost us nothing until they could get the part and repair our system. ?Call Stuart and he?ll okay it,? my daughter said. And she left with, I believe, a total of $28.00 worth of chemicals. And by the way, one of the owner?s daughters was witness to the day we were given chemicals and told Dolphin would provide them until they could fix the system. Within minutes, before my daughter and I could get home, one of the owners was on the phone SCREAMING at my husband who was completely in the dark. The owner threatened the police. This over $28.00 when several times work had been done for us and we?d been billed $100, $200 or more. At this point we gave up on Dolphin. We took our next water sample to Aloha Pools & Spas of Jackson (Tennessee), where we found far more sophisticated water-testing equipment and better help and instructions for balancing our water. Within 36 hours, even without our equipment making chlorine the way it should have been, we were able to balance our water. I intended to immediately sever all contact with Dolphin Pools but before I had an opportunity to do that, Dolphin to my amazement, showed up with a sensor for our equipment. And, at long last our saltwater system functioned as it should have all along. And at this point every member of our family noticed a difference in the water. For the first time, it no longer had the thicker, silky feel but felt the way water in swimming pools have felt to us in chlorine pools. There are two more things I need to say before I end this story. First, our system was under WARRANTY. The sensor, in fact, has a five-year factory warranty. Dolphin?s owners emphatically objected to providing chemicals at no charge saying the equipment was under warranty but they were under no obligation to provide their customers with chemicals even though the salt system should have been making the chemicals we had no choice but to purchase. Perhaps they are within their rights on this question but the reason one goes the extra distance (dollars!) for a salt system is twofold: except for an occasional , inexpensive bag of salt, the system is designed to make chlorine; and for the convenience of not having to constantly add (and pay for) chemicals. I want also to add one other point , which I am sure Dolphin might well point a finger back in my direction. This past spring Jackson, TN, had an enormous amount of rain over several days and our pool filled to over-flowing. No doubt the water did suffer a dose of fertilizer from water running over the lawn, but again, I sincerely believe that had our system been working properly the rainwater should have been corrected by the system In closing, I cannot recommend Dolphin primarily for two reasons: 1. We had a history without blemish for paying in a prompt and timely manner. We were good customers and had recommended the company to others in the past. The owners of Dolphin evidently felt good customers don?t object to abuse. I believe, if they truly cared about their customers they would have done more to keep a good customer on their side. 2. Having switched to Aloha Pools when my water needs testing, I am convinced that Dolphin does an extremely poor job of testing water. The equipment at Aloha is head and shoulders above Dolphin in that department and the people doing the testing seem far more knowledgeable.