Complete Pool & Spa Restoration

Robert did work for me in 2018. Every time we use the pool I regret that. I thought I'd picked a good one... I really did. This is the first time I've ever had an issue with a contractor, and it was a doozy. I don't Yelp often, but you can check out my other reviews and see that I'm usually singing the praises of talented, honest people. I should have paid attention to the red flags early on (my spouse tried to steer me to safety, but I was stubborn). Robert talks a good game -- he reminded me of my dad, and I genuinely trusted him. Everything might have been fine if there hadn't been mistakes. The work that was done according to the contract is fine. I don't even mind honest mistakes as long as they're dealt with, but that's not how CPR operated. Sub-contractors handled nearly everything; the one day Robert actually came to the house, he made a mistake and refused to admit it. (Five bones says he replies to this review and repeats his excuse for the umpteenth time: he pestered my spouse to make a new decision on the spot, instead of following the contract with MY name on it.) Our final contract was clear, but he claims it wasn't -- he either didn't read it or brought a draft (unapproved) contract with him that day. There's now a dark circle in the bottom of our pool, because Robert installed a "fake drain" instead of plastering the bottom smooth. The contract stated to plaster over the old drain -- a decision I agonized over and finally made during a 30-minute conversation with Jan. The pool bottom was retroactively plastered over, but looks awful. Small claims court agreed he screwed up... but that's little consolation, as my costs to fix his mistake (which is unfixable, in reality) have far exceeded the settlement. To add insult to injury... Robert said start-up would include a guy coming "for 5-6 days, brushing every day, and taking care of the chemicals." $600 extra got us two 10-minute visits and one brushing. On the second visit, the guy swiped my chemicals instead of using his own(!), then left the water unbalanced (zero ppm chlorine... maybe he meant to use our chlorine instead of our muriatic acid?). I texted the subcontractor directly to see what the deal was, and he showed up at our door to apologize... but Robert insisted that nothing was wrong with that service. The sub-contractors that demo'd the plaster uncovered a lot of rebar and actually went down to the dirt in one area. That was disconcerting, as were the rust stains that began showing up in the plaster ~6 months on. A third party ID'd these as rebar stains. Communication was abysmal. Emails would generally be ignored for days to weeks, unless it was time for payment (when we'd receive a few emails and phone calls in one day). Our record wait for a reply was one month, during which we'd finally assumed they didn't want our business anymore. I wish we'd walked away at that point. There are weird personality things with both Robert and Jan. Jan seemed super nice, but gossiped negatively about other customers. And Robert, upon meeting me outside the courtroom, started telling me my spouse had said nasty things about me... really creepy. (Maybe their relationship is bad enough that he thinks that tactic would hurt a marriage? I don't know.) They don't seem like they want to be running a business, and they seem afraid to acknowledge what they say verbally in writing (ie. the start-up debacle described above). I do not know if they are super shifty or simply incompetent. This was the lowest quote we got. I remember being shocked, as Robert seemed so trustworthy... but everything eventually came around to make sense. Still, this was a $14,000+ project that CPR didn't seem to care about doing to the best of their ability. What a bad feeling, as a homeowner. In short, if you expect excellence and integrity, enter into a contract here at your own risk (and after searching the Better Business Bureau, which I failed to do). Maybe you'll get lucky -- as I said, if no mistakes are made, you could get a decent job. If I had it to do again, I'd look elsewhere.

I hired Complete Pool and Spa and dealt with Robert and Jan. The experience was a disaster. Robert put a lien on my property. After a long battle and costing me thousands of dollars we went to arbitration. I won the arbitration. Robert did not pay as he was supposed to. I had to reach out to the CSLB again! I am not surprised to see that CSLB has REVOKED his license! In addition, I believe the majority of his yelp reviews are fake. Anyone considering this company should read the bad reviews. They are the real ones. And then they should contact the person that wrote the bad review and get details on their actual experience. While this license is REVOKED this company is not allowed to work in CA!

They kept their word, finished on time, and the work was good. I would recommend them.

They ended up doing our entire backyard (pool and pavers) and it came out amazing. The pool is the center obviously. Took out the set of plastic stairs, bricked it in, added a Baja bench and put the stairs inside the pool. It is such a dramatic difference from the vinyl liner pool it is hard to believe it is the same pool. They also installed new pool equipment and provided the docs to get the variable speed pump rebate. Had some minor issues with tiles after it was all done and they came right out and fixed it. Good experience

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There was no effort to sell me something I didn't need, and Robert gave me the lowdown on what was needed and what was not. Finding vendors with integrity can be a challenge in Los Angeles, but this is a guy you can trust. Thanks Robert!

Did not call ahead of time or while at the appointment.  Service provider came and saw the spa but did not bother to contact me during his visit or afterwards -- I didn't even know he had shown up.  I left several voice messages and heard back after several days that they could not work on the existing spa.  I have been asking for 10 days to speak with the person who saw the spa so I can discuss what can be done, e.g. can the existing spa be replaced?  can the existing hole be used?  can the existing equipment be reused?  what do they recommend to refurbish the spa and how much would it cost?   10 days later I am still waiting to hear back. 

We've owned our home for 28 years and over the years have re-plastered the pool a number of times. It was time again. We got 3 quotes and considered alternatives to doing plaster. We decided to go with fiberglass and chose Complete Pool and Spa based upon their price being more competitive, the reviews we found and how Robert communicated with us.
We had a lot of work going on in the backyard as well as dogs to deal with. Robert's crew were great and kept the backyard as clean as possible during the process. What we were told to expect on various days matched perfectly with what actually happened. And we couldn't be happier with the finished product. The pool has never looked so good. Robert followed up with us to insure that we were happy.
We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Complete Pool and Spa or to use them in the future. Two thumbs up.
Next on the list will be a salt water conversion.

Robert is incredible - he was able to replace the spa light in our pool after we had three other companies come out and tell us it could not be done because they couldn't locate the junction box. Robert not only found the box but replaced the light same day. We also had a leak in one of our fountains and he managed to work out where it was and fix it.

Robert Lansing, the contractor, who works with fiberglass as well as plaster pools, came out the same day at the appointed time. He advised that the cracks be epoxied and did so right away. He suggested that if that didn't work, he could gel-coat the skimmers. He did not push us on the more expensive (and unsightly) alternative of replacing the skimmers. The repair was successful. After two weeks we see that the it is no longer losing water and just topped it off a bit..
He also educated us on the upkeep of a fiberglass pool. After 25 years, some of the finish had come off of the spa exposing the brown shell--we thought it was stained. And the pool itself has some bubbles and the coating is beginning to flake off the sides and both would benefit from a resurfacing with gel-coat. We plan to do this in the Spring so I will leave another reivew.
We wish to commend this contractor for his knowledgeabilityh, willingness to accommodate and honesty.