Mr Carlos Pools

Stay away from this company. I had a truly terrible experience with them, encountering numerous issues and frustrating delays throughout the entire process. It's evident that they overpromise and underdeliver on their commitments. One of the most distressing aspects was the damage they caused to my fence. Instead of taking responsibility, they simply pointed fingers at the contractor they hired, absolving themselves of any accountability. As a homeowner, hiring a pool company is meant to alleviate the burden of managing each individual involved, but this company failed to guide me through the job as promised. Additionally, their billing practices were highly questionable. They attempted to charge me for unspecified extra items without providing a clear breakdown of these charges. It's unacceptable to surprise customers with unexplained fees. If I hadn't taken care of extensive preparation work myself, the pool installation would have easily taken one year or more. Even with my efforts, it still took an excessive seven months to complete. To make matters worse, once the project reached its supposed "finish point," the company vanished. They demanded full payment despite unresolved issues that were still present. This lack of accountability and follow-up is highly unprofessional and unacceptable. Overall, I strongly advise against hiring this company. Their lack of transparency, poor communication, and failure to deliver on promises have left me extremely disappointed. I sincerely regret my decision to work with them and caution others to avoid the same experience.

Contract signed end of August 2020. No permits yet by January 2021 even though we paid for expediting. We finally corrected problem ourselves-Mr Carlos entered the wrong address so DWP showed there was a power line on our property (there isn't). Permits issued- but no work has begun three months later. We finally paid our own contractors to have the pool excavated ourselves. Mr Carlos charged us for excavation because their contract (which is not legal under California Contractor's LAW) charges by percentages-not actual work performed. ONE YEAR LATER-rebar was finally done but incorrectly. It was 8 inches higher than our patio and doors. We told them about it but they never sent out someone from their team. So they had plumbing installed. Inspection did not pass. BOTH rebar and plumbing had to be redone. Mr Carlos upcharged us for their mistake. For over two months we asked for our coping and tile options, no response. My husband was told that if we wanted our pool finished, then we should just do the coping ourselves. So we did. Still no tile options even though I asked for a simple 2x2 in grey, I was told we could only get a 6x6 in white. So we purchased our own tile. One year 3 months later, still no pool because Mr Carlos scheduled plaster before hooking up electrical and installing pool and jacuzzi light. So we did not pass inspection. They scheduled the light to be installed in two weeks. No date for plaster, start up and completion yet. It look like this pool won't be completed until 2022. One year and 6 months later. It is a small pool, rectangular, on a flat (no hillside) lot. Mr Carlos is unresponsive, unprofessional and dismissive. BEWARE.

If you want a pool built, I would seriously stay away from this company. I should have realized when they started 2 months later than what they said. Our plans were to have a small landing up top for a seating area. I noticed they weren't digging out for it, but only digging for the pool. I called to voice concern that I didn't think they were following the plans. I was told, they have the plans and they do this for a living, they will get it done. A few days later, they are done digging, and they didn't dig out for the landing. I called and spoke to the office manager again, she said something to the nature of, it looks like they didn't dig it out correct (yeah no kidding, I told you that days prior) so we will have to figure something out. 1 to 2 weeks later, they come with a new plan to build the pool and wall as 1, and tried to convince me it would look way better. Well you can't fix your mistake, so I had to do it. They then had to draw new engineering plans and submit them to the county for approval. This took another few weeks. They then had the nerve to tell me it would cost me more money because it was going to require more rebar and gunite. (Remember, if you sign a contract, and the contractor messes up and cost them more money, you are not obligated to pay for their mistakes). I laughed and said, "I called and tried to tell you they were doing it wrong, and you told me they knew what they were doing. I'm not paying for your mistake." That was now strike 2. Everything starts moving along. Now they start to lay the rebar for the waterfall and waterslide. Now as they formed the rebar, I noticed the opening for the slide say almost 4' above the water line. I again called to voice my concerns. This time, they sent the Foreman to look (by the way, Rick the Foreman is hardly ever out to inspect, and is not there at every new step). He stopped by my house, and he proceeded to tell me how they do slides like this all the time. I went an every site and page I can where they had built a pool and NEVER saw a slide that high. That should have been strike 3. But he said it was fine. So they continue on building. Things start moving and they finally get the pool built, and get water in it. Of course my family is excited to try it. We go down the water slide, and guess what happens? Yep the slide is too high, you hit the bottom of the pool when coming off the slide, and a family member broke their ankle from hitting the bottom. I called, I am now very upset because I told them I was concerned about the height. Well they came and "fixed" the slide by lowering it a little, but now the slide had a ledge of about 10" to 14". I did not like that because what if a chunk of cement broke off and hit someone. They didn't bat an eye and said it would be safe. Fast forward 5 months later, and the county comes to do a final inspection. I asked him about the slide, and them redoing it, and the concern I had. He looked at me, and I can tell he was mad. They didn't go through they county for the repairs, and probably because they didn't want to have to pay for new plan submittal. They inspector looked at me and said, "you know I'm going to have to redtag your pool right"? I laughed and said, "yes I do". I didn't feel safe with the way they half-assed the repairs, and I knew they only way they would do it correctly is if the county told them they had too. The county then had Mr. Carlos Pools send out Rick, the worthless Foreman out to speak with him and I. Rick proceeds to lie straight through his teeth saying things like, " we never worked on the slide after it was approved. This is how it has always been blah blah blah". I'm sitting back smiling the entire time because I took video and pictures along the entire build. Once he got done, I looked Rick in the eyes and asked him, "are you done lying, I'll show you all the pictures and videos I have". His face had the "oh ****" look instantly. Not to mention, the guy that built the slide came to my front door to talk to me about it. I also had the video where he admitted the slide was too high, and he knew it.The inspector looks at Rick and says, "so do you want to stick to your story?" Rick just stood there in silence, it was beautiful. They had to tear down there repair, submit plans, and redo it once again and the county now had them under a watchful eye. They finally got the pool built, mind you, we are now 1 1/2 years since they started. Its now February 2020, and I have never received a final inspection. So in March 2020, it finally got signed off. 2 years from when they started. Now fast forward to March 2021, the pool light went out and I called about warranty. Online, Jandy says 3 years. JJ the office manager. She tells me it only a 2 year warranty and that it starts when they install it. That's not the case. I called Jandy, and warranties start from final sign off. I gave Jandy my serial numbers and am good until March 2023. They all lie, and Gary the owner is a joke.

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. HIGHLY ADVISE TO LOOK ELSEWHERE If you are looking for the worst pool company to work with then look no further. Mr. Carlos pools proved themselves to be incompetent and unprofessional every step of the day. Disaster from Day 1. Highly advise to use another company. They only use sub contractors so no one from Mr. Carlos pools staff will rarely if ever be on your properly. Their project manager is a joke. There are plenty of other pool contractors to use that: 1) will not ask you to wear a low cut shirt and perfume for the inspector 2) will not nickel and dime you the entire process 3) never come to your house to see build site 4) give 100 personal reasons as to why your pool install did not happen correctly. 5) Will not make sure your choices of tile and pebble are premium colors....taht will add to your projects cost. First, we started off with tons of excuses. Someone's dads surgery and someone else's kids baseball game. Then we did not get our permit as planned...but yet suddenly after letting them know we are going to cancel or delay our pool project, they were able to get our permit with a small expediting fee of $450. We should have canceled at this point. Every step with our pool had issues...usually that would have additional costs too. Also, every step of our install had to be undone and redone. Plumbing in. plumbing out. Coping in. Coping out. Thank god for the inspectors. Kept them in line and made sure things were done correctly Gary, who masquerades as the owner, will even ask you to wear a low cut shirt and perfume for the inspector....which is not necessary if you are a reputable builder. Their schedulers are the worst. Excuses the whole time. They will not schedule the next step of your pool until the step prior is completed so you will; usually only have one step done a week...waiting. They next week they have to fix all the issues their subs messed up. The only reason my pool is finished is because I rode her and told her when everything needed to be scheduled. Also, they forgot to install simple items in our pool that were add on's we paid for such as a pool auto fill and pool tablet chlorinator. Basic items that I had to point out were missing. As I mentioned, worlds worst experience.

Mr. Carlos Pools did a wonderful job for us.....we LOVE our sparkling
and beautiful new pool.  Andrew was our project manager, and he was so
professional, responsive, helpful and informative, really a true
pleasure to work with. I cannot say enough wonderful things about
Andrew, he was just an awesome project manager.  Gary, the owner, took
great care of our project, and we really appreciated the personal
attention we received.  Each crew that came out at each phase of the
pool build were all so professional, and their workmanship was top
notch. This experience surpassed our expectations.  We highly recommend
Mr. Carlos Pools!

Mr. Carlos pools did a fantastic job on building our pool. It's a big investment and I am very pleased with the final result!

We were extremely pleased with the whole process of building our pool from
the design to the completion. Gary was very helpful in answering any
questions we had. All of Mr Carlos' staff and subcontractors were kind
and courteous during the eight weeks of building our pool. The price
was fair and they helped us ease our fears as well..
Sean

He did an excellent job. I have been very happy with his pool service since.