Valley Pools

"Member Comments: Prompt and detailed during the estimate process. Very responsive to phone calls and answering questions. After a few months of enjoying our new pool, water began to accumulate under the liner. Placed a call to the owner and someone came out and pumped the water. A few weeks later it happened again. Now to the point where the liner corner was floating on the surface of the pool. I requested a meeting with the owner to come out and see what was happening. He came out and stated this was normal. He had someone come out and pump the water again. A few weeks later I received a bill for $100. Water continued to accumulate under the liner that spring and summer. Now phone calls would go unanswered or messages not get returned. I now have to pump water from under my liner once a week in the spring and summer. Do not believe this is "normal". I recently noticed a crack in the bottom/side of my pool. I've called and left messages with the receptionist but no one returns my calls. Very frustrated in dealing with Valley Pools especially with such a large investment. I did not belong to Angie's List when I had my pool installed but given my recent and past experience thought it was worthy of a review. Valley Pools Response: In reference to the water accumulating under the pool liner: In Spring, 2013, Valley Pools owner, Ronny Hughes, visited [member name removed]'s home on several occasions after being contacted about the water continuing to accumulate under the pool liner. After numerous inspections, Mr. Hughes offered his expert opinion on what could be the cause(s) of the water to continue to accumulate. He told Mr. Young that the cause could be a defective sprinkler system (not installed by Valley Pools), could be poor landscape drainage or un-perkable soil. Mr Hughes suggested that [member name removed] contact the contractor that installed the sprinkler system to ensure the sprinkler system was functioning properly. He also suggested that [member name removed] follow up with his landscape designer to determine if there was an issue with proper surface drainage. MR. HUGHES REQUESTED THAT [member name removed] NOTIFY HIM AFTER THE CONSULTATION WITH BOTH CONTRACTORS AND PROVIDED HIS PERSONAL CELL PHONE NUMBER. MR. HUGHES DID NOT RECEIVE A FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE FROM [member name removed] to inform him of the results of the consultation with the contractors. Mr. Hughes assumed the issue had been resolved due to alternate landscaping or sprinkler system repair since he did not hear from [member name removed] again. In regards to [member name removed]'s comments supposedly made by Mr. Hughes stating that the water accumulating under the liner was "Normal": [member name removed]'s comments are misleading. What Mr. Hughes actually said was, 'due to the excessive ground water, it is not unusual for a pool liner to float'. He stated the Valley Pools routinely receives calls regarding liners floating due to excessive rain and /or improper landscape design. It should be noted that the issues [member name removed] experienced are not items that are under a normal pool installation warranty. Valley Pools installation of [member name removed]'s pool was performed in accordance with all manufacturers' recommendations and National Swimming Pool Institute (NSPI) standards. There had never been an issue with the construction or installation of the swimming pools. [member name removed]'s issues are related to excessive surface water related to improper drainage, faulty sprinkler system, excessive rain and /or un-perkable soil. These are not items that are the responsibility of the swimming pool installation company (Valley Pools) Final Comments: Valley Pools has completed all contractual obligations entered into with [member name removed]. Valley Pools takes no responsibility for the issues customer is experiencing with excessive water accumulation."

"Subject: Rebuttal of [member name removed] negative review of Valley Pools service and repair (Review date June 27, 2014) Let us first state that Valley Pools highly regards customer reviews and is particularly concerned with reviews listed on Angie's List. Our priority is always Customer Satisfaction and to never leave any issues unresolved. However, a careful review of our customer call records does not indicate that any employee of Valley Pools ever spoke with [member name removed]. While we regret that she contacted another pool company for her pool liner repair, we do not feel that the negative review on Angie's List is warranted."

"After reviewing our records and asked our employees about this customer. There is not record of a call or an appointment to meet with this customer. Customer supposedly asked for a quote in April 2013 but waited until December 2013 to file a complaint. Valley Pools would have promptly given him a quote on a liner if we had received the call."

"Let us first state that Valley Pools sincerely regrets that this first-time customer felt that she was treated unfairly. It is our desire to never complete a job leaving a dissatisfied customer or any unresolved issues.However, we would like to clarify a couple of points that [member name removed] made. First, we want to address the customer's claim that she "paid to much" for the service call and repair of the leak. It should be noted that [member name removed] pool had not been installed by Valley Pools or it may possible have still been under warranty. The total cost that was initially charged was $210. That included an initial service call charge of $95 to assess that problem which is a reasonable charge for any type pf service call. The remaining charge of $115 was the charge for parts and labor to repair the leaking pipe. While this is also a resonable charge for the amount of time and labor required to complete the job, Valley Pools took the initiative to create "good will" with a new customer and offered to refund $115 of the total cost in in-store credit when [member name removed] complained about the charge. When [member name removed] accepted the in-store credit we were completely unaware that she still felt dissatisfied. Regarding [member name removed] additional claim that Valley Pools did not return her phone calls-- one must understand the colume of calls that Valley Pools receives during the peak pool season (June through August). We try our best to never let any call or opportunity for service slip through, and have even hired an additional customer service representative for the sole purpose of answering the phones and relaying messages to the various departments. Additionally, [member name removed] negative comment about "what surprises came up during the course of the work" she indicated that "the guy did not know what he was doing and showed up without callin" is contridictory. Valley Pools retains on staff only qualified, experienced service men and the leak was repaired. [member name removed] complaint was not that the leaking pipe was not fixed. Additionally, she stated in her "Member Comments" that our service repairman indicated that he would "return on Friday" which he did. To our knowledge, the service repairman was not instructed by [member name removed] to call before he was to return as scheduled on Friday. Considereing the refund (in-store credit) that was given to this customer, we actually took a loss on this repair job but that pales in comparison to the potential loss of Valley Pools "good name". While we do apologize for any inconvenience this transaction may have caused [member name removed], we strongly feel that every effort was made to satisfy this customer and retain our excellent record on Angie's List."