San Diego Pools

We hired San Diego Pools for a new residential pool project in our Carlsbad backyard, and we can only say that our experience with this project has deteriorated to the point that it is no longer acceptable. I rarely write a review, but the experience has been so draining and time consuming that I had to share. I have worked with contractors in the past and in backyard and house remodels, so I understand that delays are common and oversight is required by the owner. However, the number of issues, the lack of responsiveness, and the excessive delay (we are on month eleven of a project that per contract is listed as 90 - 120 days). The eleven months doesn’t include the time we waited for the City permit and HOA approval - the process took an additional four to five months (which I totally understand is out of their control). We were able to start using the pool at month eight, but we are still waiting for some pending issues to be finalized. We have pending emails that have not been addressed. Issues continue to arise even after we are told the pool can be used including, gas line not being connected, salt filter pump not being connected, most recently we realized that the pool vacuum pump may not be working. The Good: Our sales pitch was excellent: comfortable, informative, and our sales person was competent and friendly. Our project manager was friendly. We were sold! The Bad: Almost everything else has been extremely disappointing. - Ongoing poor communication between the project manager and crews leading to inaccurate information relayed and the owner having to project manage the start of almost every phase. Some of the mistakes, if not corrected, would have been very expensive (time and money) to correct - No oversight from project manager at the beginning or end of each phase Installation of incorrect material - Broken gas pipe that was neglected and required ongoing follow up and owner intervention (has been since repaired) - Lengthy delays between the various phases - as I said we are on our 11th month of a project, that according to the contract should have taken 3 - 4 months Subcontracting the work to crews leading to subpar work - coping left with sharp edges, deep overhang in the interior of hot tub area, a thin film of mortar left on flagstone that made flagstone look grayish and dull and stained ledger stone, gas line not connected, salt filter pump not connected, etc - Project manager failing to show up as agreed upon and failure to take notes when reviewing job with owners resulting in inaccurate information being relayed to work crews - On going promises that things would be take care of, but little to no follow through Face to face interactions are pleasant, but in between we feel like a forgotten number and an afterthought. I would not recommend San Diego Pools.

New Pool and Spa

.

San Diego Pools is an awesome company. They just completed our pool/spa project. They were professional, trustworthy, easy to work with and excellent communicators. Their price was very competitive and included items in their basic pool cost that were "additional" with other companies. We are thrilled with the finished project. We high recommend them as a pool company!

It went great from start to finish.

We knew what we wanted in a pool. We wanted it to fill most of the back yard with a built in hot tub, swim jets, and a large shallow shelf. Kenny came out and did the initial sales and design work. He was informative, and made sure the pool would have everything we wanted. The crew working on our pool were all polite and professional. I exceptionally liked Mario and his work on our coping and tile. Watching him work it was obvious that he wanted to make sure the job was done right. We had a couple of difficult coping spots because our pre-existing concrete wasn’t poured very level. But Mario took care of it, and I have to say it looks excellent. Corey was the general project manager. He was very accommodating. After seeing the steel frame of our hot tub, I could see that the seat layout wasn’t exactly what I wanted. A few emails later Corey had made the adjustments I requested. Corey also built a custom swim jet system that is much better than the Badu systems I was looking at, for about the same price as the Badu system. After our pool was complete, Enrique showed me the proper way to care for the pool. He also explained what all the equipment was and how it worked. Following the method that Enrique taught me, my pool water looks very clear without it smelling like harsh chemicals. Another thing that I appreciate about San Diego pools is that the equipment they recommended works very well. Out hot tub heats up quickly. Our swim jets are powerful. The large filter makes quick work of the dog hair and other things that fall into the pool. Plus with the three LED lights our pool looks amazing at night. San Diego Pools also took care of all of the required inspection work. They even made the necessary adjustments to my gate to make sure it would pass inspection. The price I was quoted was the final price I paid for the pool. I also knew ahead of time if I was selecting an option that would cost more. This is important to me, I don’t like it when contractors surprise you with hidden costs. Overall, I highly recommend San Diego Pools.

unknown

San Diego Pools has been in business for over 20 years and was one of five pool builders that had met with.  My wife and I met with Ken, who is the owner of San Diego Pools.  Ken was very knowledgeable, courteous and professional during our initial pool consultation.  He answered all our many questions, as we had never built a pool before, and he thoroughly explained everthing concerning building a pool.  Ken was the last of five pool builders we had met with and after meeting with him we both knew we wanted him to build our dream pool.  A short time later, Ken returned to our home and showed us a wonderful design.  We went over the design with Ken, asking questions throughout the meeting.  Ken listened to us and made several suggestions.  Ken would have built us any type of pool we wanted with all the bells and whistles, but he knew we wanted to stay within a certain budget so he explained to us which options he thought were the wisest and most important.  He did not try to upsell us anything and did not encourage us to buy anything we didn't need or want.  What we both admired most about Ken was his honesty and his sencerity.  Ken seems more interested in building a pool that his customers want and will love instead of making money doing it.  His delightful daughter Katie runs the office, sets up your appointments and will happily assist you in any way she can.  Corey, the site supervisor and is Ken's right hand man.  He  oversees the complete construction of your pool from begining to end.  Corey knows everything there is to know about building pools and will be present before and during every phase of building your pool.  Corey made it clear in the begining that he would continuously check on the progress of our pool while ensuring that it was being built properly and professionally.  Corey did exactly what he promised, he was always there checking on the progress and made sure everything went as smooth as possible.  Corey will give you his cell number and responds quickly by phone or in person to any questions or concerns you might have.  Our pool was completed in about 8-10 weeks and it is amazing!   We have a salt water free form pool with an 8 ft spa, Pentair equipment, pebble finish, LED lights and an internet web based control system.  We are so glad we choose San Diego Pools and highly recommend them!

It went extremely well.  It took a bit longer than I thought it would the day we signed the contract, but as construction ensued, I was less concerned about the project finishing by a certain date and more concerned that every detail be executed correctly.  The result we got is actually more than what my wife and I envisioned.  To say we're pleased would be an understatement.

Installed new pool and patio in about 2 months time.  Corey, the Project Manager, was very helpful.  Concrete and stone installers did great work on planters and patio.  Pool looks great and we are very happy with the end result.

I think I said it all above. I highly recommend San Diego Pools. I've built two other pools and this is by far the best experience I've had.

My experience was excellent.  They were top-notch.  They showed up on time and were flexible to changes.  They did not try to sell my anything that I did not need.  I would recommend them to others.

Not only did they do it exactly how we wanted it, they also taught us how to do all of the maintenance. Ken helped us throughout the whole process so we knew what to expect beforehand and during the process Cory ensured us that everything was going smoothly and he backed up everything Ken promised. His knowledge about the equipemnt and workings of the pool was extensive. Cory made a video of how to check everything and what all the parts are and how to service everything.

Even though we're still paying for it, working with them was such a good experience I'd install another pool just to have them around!