Presidential Pools & Spas, LLC

Presidential Pools Fraud Alert!! I bought a New Pool pump from Presidential Pools and they sold me a used broken poorly repaired pool pump. They used JB weld to reset the screw in the seal plate. The plate over time leaked causing corrosion and reducing the life of the pump. Buyer beware of these Fraudster!

They have not completed the job yet but my experience has been nothing but bad. It took 3 tries to get the pool laid out correctly. They excavated the pool and a pile of dirt and roots in my front yard that is "my issue to deal with". After 3 tries I think they may get the electrical layout correct. The communication could not be worse. There has not been a day since they came on my property that I have not regretted my choice of Presidential Pools. Very disappointing so far.

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There were some issues as we went through; cement cracking, cement not being level and some staining on the actual interior.

Spent a lot of time on design which they were very understanding and helpful with. Once the design was done helped us find financing and the pool was built basically on schedule. Some permit issues took a little time. The pool is great, the quality and professionalism were awesome. They worked with our landscaping installers who were working around the same time.

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In short, the pool remodel company (Pool Renovation Pros) does a great job and is very responsive.  The landscape contractor (Flo Patio) is very disorganized and hard to work with.  The end result was good, but basically had to project manage the work myself.  I had to constantly follow up on incomplete work and issues.  I do not recommend them.

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Unless you are willing to stay at home full time and manage the project, I would stay far away from Presidential.  It took 5 months start to finish and I will say that the end product is awesome, but no thanks to them but rather to our staying on top of them every single day, day in and day out, month after month.  We rarely saw our project manager. Everything had to be redone once, twice and sometimes three times.  Most of the time, it was us who found the mistakes.  The level of frustration we experienced was undeniable.  There were days when people would appear in our yard in the morning before dark completely unexpected.  Imagine our surprise!  Then, on days we were told to expect workers, nobody would show up, sometimes for days.    It is fair to say that communication is non-existent with this company.  Lastly, once we gave the project manager the final check (with one more minor correction to be completed) we never saw or heard from him again.  After spending over $30,000 you would think they would do a final run through and at least say thank you.  Didn't happen.

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They don’t send a project manager to make sure that their sub-contractors are doing the job right. I will go and try other pool companies.

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The personnel at Presidential were very easy to work with and very responsive to my concerns.  The sub-contractors arrived on time as promised to perform their individual duties.  My only complaint, which is very minor, is that some of the subs didn't do a very good job of cleaning up after themselves.  Other that, they seemed very knowledgable of their trade.  The end product came out very nice and we're very happy of the end product.

We went to Presidential Pools because they had built a pool for us in the past and we had a great result. When asked if they did remodeling they said yes. The sales representative came out and did measurements on April 10, 2014. At this time he said their remodeling division went by the name Pool Renovation Pros, and that Presidential stood behind their work. The sales representative had business cards printed with his name on them for both Presidential and Pool Renovation Pros.
My husband and I went to the Presidential Pools Gilbert showroom to choose tile and finishes. The sales representative said he would get things ordered and the remodel would move forward quickly. While in another pool store I came across our tiles, but with a better color selection and asked the sales representative to change our tile color to a new one. He got samples of the two tile colors so that we could compare them around our pool. This is when we became aware that the color on our work order was not correct. We knew this with certainty because my husband had photographed our choices while we were at the showroom. We changed to the new color. This was the end of April.
Two words to describe our experience with Presidential/Pool Renovation Pros would be Excuses and Delays. The remodel started off with delay after delay, with the field supervisor making promises continuously and not fulfilling them. We got to the point that we did not trust anything he said. Our remodel should have taken 4 weeks. It took over 8 weeks. All during prime swimming time. It would have taken even longer but our sales representative at Presidential put us in touch with the lead supervisor. The sales representatives usually don't get involved with the remodels after they begin, but fortunately for us, ours did.
We don't have an issue with the quality of work, except when the fellows putting the cool decking around the pool somehow chipped and damaged the new tile job on the spillway from the spa. The tile man then had to come back out and tear apart the work he had already done and redo it.
The pool looks nice now that it is done. The jets on our spa still are not regulated properly making it hard to sit in the spa without getting a fountain effect behind you. We were told we should be doing something that we were already doing to fix it, so this was obviously not the fix. Most likely this will be something my husband fixes or that we hire someone else to fix. We had a similar experience with the pool timer. When we said that it wasn't working correctly, we were told that we must be doing something wrong and the field supervisor came out and explained how it should work to my husband. It still didn't work. My husband took the timer off, took it apart and cleaned it, and put it back on. It still doesn't work. We were told everything would be checked with the start up after the remodel. Unfortunately, the supervisors presume anything that doesn't work is homeowner error, and so far we have found the opposite to be true. The supervisors also told us that our wiring was all messed up and that they would fix it, but I cannot verify anything related to this "problem" as we had no reason before the remodel to suspect there was anything wrong in the wiring. We have an electrician we have hired to come out to take a look at the wiring as the pool timer still does not work. Before they did the remodel, the timer worked just fine.
This company takes on more jobs than it can handle. They use the "delay" and "excuse" tactics to manage their workload. This remodel required constant supervision and decision making as a homeowner. This remodel left us somewhat disappointed in Presidential/Pool Renovation Pros. Had my husband not been working from home during this remodel we cannot imagine how this remodel would ever have been finished or properly done.

Our salesman Marc was professional and always on time for our meetings. Marc returned our calls within a reasonable time. Marc provided sound advice each step of the pool design. Dave, our project manager was awesome. Terrific communication skills. Dave always kept us up to date on the phases of construction and made himself available whenever we had a question or wanted him to drop by to review the job. Dave went out of his way to make sure we were satisfied with how the construction was progressing. The online construction tracking system was a great way to view the construction schedule and when payments were due. The pool construction was completed 10 days ahead of schedule. A key to the shorter duration was prompt payment each time a draw was due. Nice job. We are thrilled with the results.

We loved the pool services division . Our pool contractor was easy to reach and quick to address questions or concerns. The landscape division was terrible with communication and workmanship. At times the work was not being done per plan. The people at the home doing the install never spoke English so we were unable to communicate. The office communication was terrible. The landscape project manager was rude when confronted with multiple concerns. They have been back at least three times to perform repairs due to poor workman ship. Several planted trees have died it's only a few months later. Bottom line they are great with pools/skip the rest!

They had a whole crew come out and it took maybe a few weeks to get everything put in, and everything went fine.

They are cheaper and we like the materials that they have better. So far so good. We did not have any issues. They have been punctual. They gave a schedule and they were able to keep it. They come and inspect their work. They collect money according to the process when it was getting done. We are able to have contact with them and I had no issues. The final inspection will be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We approached a couple large volume and highly rated pool companies to get a quotes. We had a good idea of what we wanted the pool to look like including features and set up appointments where representatives of the pool companies visited our home. We decided to go with Presidential Pools and are happy with our decision. They built a quality pool and from design to installation they were great to work with. Our sales associate Mike was knowledgeable and friendly assisting with information along the way. The project manager Nick was always responsive throughout the entire build and Homer with the start up and orientation staff were knowledgeable and willing to help and answer any question we had. Upon completion we are very happy with the end product particularly how easily we can control our pool (cleaning schedule, features including lights, waterfalls, misting system, and spa) from our computer and iPhone - this is really really cool! The in floor cleaning system works like a charm! We love it!
The pool from design to install to start-up took about 10 weeks.
Why I gave the overall a score of A and the quality a B? I don't want to unnecessarily scare anyone off when they read this, the final product is an A however getting there was a B. I explain why below.
Building a pool consists of a bunch of subcontractors including layout, excavation, plumbing, electrical, shotcrete, stone masons and plaster.  The B score for quality is driven exclusively by a couple of the subcontractors. The excavators, plumbers, electricians, shotcrete/plasterers were A+ excellent and so is the end product.
1. Trenching Subcontractor:
Our pool required a long gas and electrical line run over 150' through existing landscape. Our project manager noted they make no guarantee about damage to existing landscaping but if marked they would hand dig marked areas when trenching. We marked all existing underground irrigation for the subcontractor and met with them to explain the marking of existing lines and they acknowledged they would hand dig these areas. They ignored the markings and shredded all but one irrigation line and only hand dug around the existing fire pit gas line. The worst part was that they told me they would repair the damage the next day but never heard from them again. I had to hire a irrigation contractor to come fix the 4 lines they ripped through and I almost lost my lawn because of it. I personally would have fixed them myself however I was physically unable to do so because of a recent surgery.
2. Stone Masons:
The pool included Marbella (looks like travertine) coping and ledge stone. The issue here is how sloppy they were when installing these materials. Mortar mix was left on a lot of the ledge stone and some choices for the corner pieces were not the best as they protrude a lot from the actual step (safety issue catching your foot). The Marbella installation included a lot of mortar slopped and now hardened on the tile in the spa spillways. We are waiting to see if they can remedy these issues.
3. Clean up Crew:
Building a pool is seriously messy with forms, rebar, PVC, shotcrete and other materials being strewn about your yard. You know you are in the home stretch when the cleaning crew shows up. Two words to describe their work - low quality. Their job is to remove all the pool forms, debris and staking and clean out the pool shell. I was home when they were working and I noticed they did not bother to pull away the wood forms from the pool nor the staking. Seems like no problem right? Well two things to consider, termites like wet wood to eat (no food not termites right?) second the pool deck we picked were pavers and not poured concrete and pavers require a nice level surface and both the staking and forms made our landscape contractors work more difficult. Worse I pointed it out to them immediately, the told me they would remove the forms and staking. Then they proceeded to cover it all up with dirt ignoring my request. They left rebar staking around the pool for my landscape contractor to deal with and failed to remove the excess dirt piles from the plumbing excavation. Lastly, they swept a broken bag of mortar mix in my front yard rip rap dry river bed. If if rained or got wet I'd have a sold mass of mortar and rip rap. They had to come back after I called to complain about the issues but Presidential had them out to fix it ASAP.
I am pointing all of this out because I want to convey that from my perspective it's important to keep an eye on the progress of the pool and if you have special circumstances like we did with the gas line trench I would recommend getting certain requirements agreed to when signing the pool construction contract. I wish we had this level of forethought when executing the contract.
The last parts about my experience and some advice for those thinking about a pool:
1. I was a little bit surprised that buying the pool somewhat mirrored purchasing a car. In the end there is an opportunity to wheel and deal if you have a couple quotes. I was not expecting this pressure - you may use this to your advantage.
2. The second part was that the other pool company sales rep who we met with sent me a unprofessional e-mail when they were told we picked Presidential. Ironically this other company is highly rated on Angie's List and recently won a BBB ethics award. This was the biggest shocker of all but it was consistent line with some other reviews I have read on Angie's List of  valley pool builders.
3. Budget for a hard dig!
4. If the pool is being installed in an existing home with landscaping you need to also budget for other items such as securing doors and yard access per your cities codes. This costs money too.
5. Budget for landscaping following the pool installation and think about where you need irrigation before they start digging for gas, electrical lines etc?.
6. Know what you want for your pool - We used a variety of websites including other pool company website galleries to gather pictures of likes and dislikes to show the designer. Also inventory what you want your pool panel to control. We installed a misting / fogging system from another contractor but the pool panel controls the misting which is very very nice but you need to think about it in advance so you can have misting line, water source, adequate electrical at the panel and you purchase the right panel - Presidential sells a 4 and 8 Pentair EasyTouch pool panel. The pool pump, water feature, spa and pool lights use 4 switches, you need to buy the 8 if you want it to also control landscaping lights, misting etc?..
7. Through our research we found that that salt systems are not friendly to concrete and travertine coping and decking. We used a product called Marbella which resists the corrosive nature of the salt system and the Marbella is less slippery and much cooler than travertine or concrete decking with an acrylic topping. Marbella is not much more expensive than travertine so we think it's worth it.
8. Voice concerns you see ASAP to the project manager and they will fix the problem ASAP but if you don't voice your concerns or pay attention to what's going on you have nobody to blame but yourself as what is important to each person is different.
9. READ the contract you are signing - their responsibility and duties are spelled out clearly - I have read reviews with people complaining about warranty service etc? It's written in the contract so if you don't read it then it's on you ( see my comment above, Had I though about it more I would have written in language or acknowledgment that the trenching sub should be held responsible for destroying accurately marked irrigation lines. I should have thought about that so it's on me but now that you have read this I hope you can benefit from our experience.

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