Pools of Fun
About us
For 32 years we've been bringing inground pools and above ground pools to backyards in Indianapolis and the surrounding areas including Avon, Bloomington, Brownsburg, Carmel, Fishers, Greenfield, Greenwood, Noblesville, Plainfield and Zionsville. From custom crafted luxury inground pools to our affordable above ground pool options, featuring Doughboy, we offer a wide range of in-ground pool designs to suit backyards and budgets of all sizes. Since breaking ground on our first project in 1981, we've grown from a small family business to Indiana's largest pool company. But we've never outgrown our reputation for quality workmanship and customer support. With over 4,500 inground pool installations to our name, we continue to maintain a customer satisfaction rating of 98.5%. We truly believe that this unflagging commitment to service and the customer experience is what sets us apart in the pool industry, and what earned us the 2011 award for Best Local Pool Builder. Yes. There is a difference with Pools of Fun!
Business highlights
Services we offer
Pool schools, cartridge filter cleaning, drain, inspections, mechanical and technical repairs & cleaning, openings and winterizations, safety cover sales & new pool installation., troubleshooting
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 66% | ||
| 5% | ||
| 7% | ||
| 11% | ||
| 11% |
Now here we are the first full season and the heater does not work. Since it is under warranty, I call and am told they cannot get here to look at it for 3 weeks. So much for timely service. I then call another company they come out next day, and say the heater should have had a vent-stack and now that has had to be ordered. Until the vent stack is installed we cannot heat the pool. The filter pressure gauge, had to be replaced and the worker said, your pool pump is working really hard because we have the upgraded pump with too small of plumbing. Once the pump goes, which they predict will be in 3 years because of how hard it is working, we would want to get a smaller pump. So we paid for the upgraded pump when it wasn't warranted.
I cannot stress what an unprofessional over priced company pools of fun is. I wish we would have never done business with them, and I would NEVER recommend them!!!!
We were the first home in our neighborhood and wanted a pool installed. Pools of Fun was the first estimate we received, and our last (which was a huge mistake by us!!!). Their price was below what we had expected, and we knew they installed a large number of pools in the area, so we felt they would be the best company to install our pool.
During the planning stages, Pools of Fun recommended we place our pool away from the back of our house by about 40-feet due to possible water run off from our neighbors yard. Never once was it mentioned we could possibly have an issue with our pool liner during a rainstorm. They were more interested in making the sale.
A year later, our neighbors installed a pool, and used Pools of Fun. Despite Pools of Fun telling us they needed to place our pool away from the back of their house, they installed our neighbors pool up against their back patio. And, then to help avoid an issue with rain runoff, they built a berm between their pool and our yard to help divert any rain water that could cause a problem.
Within a few months, a heavy rain caused water to accumulate beneath our liner. Much of this was due to Pools of Fun and the berm they built as it backed water up into our backyard. Our pool liner floated, and once the rain water below the pool drained, we developed wrinkles in the bottom of our pool. And with every rain, the wrinkles became worse.
To make matters worse, Pools of Fun also installed another pool in the neighbors yard on the other side of our property. This house sits a bit higher, but because of where their pool was placed, the water runoff from their yard now goes more directly at our pool. Thus, the water below our pool liner continues to cause wrinkles in our liner, and our pool looks pretty awful.
Pools of Fun, to their credit, did try to install and drainage pit on one side of our pool to help alleviate this issue, but they placed the pit on the wrong side of the pool to really help our problem. In addition to this, the neighbors where they installed the berm have the same issues as us. They just installed a new liner in their pool, and within two-weeks they have all ready developed wrinkles.
In the 15-years since we have had our pool, we have had a new liner installed three times. It varies, but in most cases, the liner develops wrinkles within the first month or so.
Now we are trying to sell our home, and the pool has become a major issue with possible home buyers. The pool installed by Pools of Fun has become a major headache to us.
If you have the opportunity, be certain you interview several pool installers and don't always go with the the installer with the lowest price. In our case, saving a few bucks early in the process has cost us much, much more as the years have gone by.
We had a couple minor items with the pool equipment install to address, but they were responsive about getting everything taken care and did. In the end, no complaints at all. I would call them again.
Tyler Herman, our salesman, was top notch from start to finish and incorporated everything we wanted, or better yet steered us towards better choices, when needed.
Chad Peters, our job site supervisor, provided the best customer service that anyone could ever wish for! He kept us informed every step of the way & had stellar communication in all aspects! He also rocked the schedule, always making sure that the next "crew" was in immediately, with nearly zero "no work" days. (The only no-work day was awaiting an inspection, which is Morgan County, not Pools of Fun's, delay.)
Start to finish, our beautiful pool was installed in less then 3 weeks! Every single person from the dig crew, who were beyond speedy, accurate, and impressive ... to the gas man, who ran line into the dark hours, were top notch!
If it's a 10 point scale, I give Pools of Fun a 20! They over exceeded our expectations... and for that, we are grateful!
Once we signed the contract, Mike and Shane (project manager), again came to our house to map out the actual location. This was the first time we were told there would be significant grading required. Even at that time, Mike stated that it would be a three foot high difference from where our yard originally sat and where the edge of the concrete would end up. Imagine our shock when the pool was completed and we then had an eight foot drop off with a 45 degree slope. Shane, as project manager, was not assertive. We discussed several issues during the construction process, and he assured us the items would be taken care of. They were not. For example, one of our existing flower beds was covered with three feet of soil during the process when it was not supposed to be, we had huge amounts of leftover concrete left in our yard for days, and a tree that was supposed to be relocated was actually dug up and later thrown away. After discussing these things several times with Shane, we informed Pools of Fun that no one was allowed on our property until the items were resolved. At that time, we were dealing with the COO, Dave Caswell. After meeting with Dave, he said he would get back to us. He was not timely and when it appeared he was not going to respond, we contacted the President of Pools of Fun, Tim Colon, via email and requested a return email or call. Tim never responded.
Again, we discussed the items at issue with Dave several times. He came to our house. They agreed to compensate us for some of the damage and fix the other items. The check for compensation was supposed to be sent out in mid-December 2013. We did not receive it until the final construction (grading, etc.) resumed in March 2014. At that time, we were assigned Dan Hignight as a new project manager. We have nothing but wonderful things to say about Dan. He was the only thing that saved this entire experience; however, it still does not make up for the issues we had prior to him being assigned to our pool.
Dan was fantastic. He kept us informed, met with us numerous times, and made sure that everything was completed to our satisfaction. There were some delays, but much to his dismay and ours, they were all weather related. Our pool was eventually opened in mid-April 2014. We only have a couple of outstanding items to deal with. First, we are supposed to receive free weekly service due to our issues. Dan informed us that someone from the Plainfield store would be contacting us. It has been a week, and no one has called. We have been proactive and just called the store directly. The store staff had no idea what we were talking about and are "checking into it." Same thing with scheduling the chemical version of "Pool School."
Overall, we would recommend Pools of Fun, but with reservations. We felt pretty good when Dan left our house, but we have had to follow-up already. One of our biggest frustrations is that we felt like we were never given enough information. Mike should have covered some of the things more in-depth during the pre-contract phase - like what the chemicals actually cost, how long the pool has to remain open (we were not told until Dan was there on the last day that it has to be open 4 hours per day once it is up and running), what the heating bill will be (Dan said one customer ended up with a heating bill in the thousands of dollars). This is supposed to be Pools of Fun's area of expertise, and we relied on them to provide us with accurate information. This is especially true considering that they were $5,000 to $10,000 more expensive than other vendors we contacted. For this major type of project and the large expense, we as the consumers should not have been required to daily monitor the construction process to ensure the job was completed as we had discussed. We are very happy with the way the pool looks, but it was definitely an ordeal to get it completed.
2. We were required to go to Pool School and the people were knowledgable but it was a definite sales pitch to get us to buy products at that time.
3. There was a huge lack of communication by the Project Manager. We had to inquire every day asking what was the plan for the next day. Sometimes he would answer us, sometimes he wouldn't.
4. We went 4 working days with absolutely no work done on our pool. NOTE: we only had rain 1 evening during the construction phase.
5. Pools of Fun ordered the wrong vinyl liner and placed the wrong vinyl liner. Needless to say, they had to place an order for the correct vinyl liner and we were promised it would only impact 3 hours of our swim time, which would be the time it would take to empty the pool, replace the liner and fill it back up with water. This wasn't true because now we had to start all over with really cold water.
6. The correct liner came to Pools of Fun on a Tuesday, and they wanted to schedule the new liner installation for the following Monday. It got installed on a Thursday, but only because we had to argue with them and remind them it was their fault and our liner should take precedent.
7. Project Manger gave us a lot of incorrect information, such as when the final inspection would be done. This was a delay as well. He also told us that we were required to fill out an evaluation form and give back to him with the final payment and upon receiving this completed evaluation our warranties would then become effective. This is untrue. We talked to the retail store who told us that was wrong, and suggested we call the Service Department, who confirmed it was incorrect.
8. Pools of Fun told us that a new Marion County Green Space law prohibited us from using the amount of concrete we initially wanted, but could not provide us with any detailed information. Nor could such a law be found on Google. Pools of Fun suggested we put pavers around the pool and that they would work with the paver company regarding timing of construction projects. This did not happen.
9. When the final crew came out to do their final cleaning, they damaged a plant with their hoses. I took a picture and sent it to the Project Manager where I never even received an apology.
10.We have had our pool in operation for 3 weeks and we already have problems with the vinyl liner. It is wrinkling on the deep end. Service Crew came out and looked at it (very nice service employees) and said they were not sure why the liner is wrinkling so badly but would have to drain the pool and fix the liner. I had taken pictures of the wrinkles in the liner and the service crew asked if I would text them to the Project Manager and they would contact him to retrieve the pictures. I did. And, as I suspected, not a single response from the Project Manager. No apology, no acknowledgment, nothing.
11. On a bright side, the retail staff at the Greenwood store has always been kind and very helpful.
12. Could I honestly recommend Pools of Fun to my family or friends.......NO!
The project manager(Dan) was very professional and made sure we always knew the schedule and what to expect during construction. Dan made sure he communicated with us daily during the construction process. Any concerns during construction were immediately addressed.
Pools of Fun engineers do not have the knowledge to properly install a fixed spa and size the pumps accordingly. This was a disaster. They installed the in ground SPA, we poured the concrete decking around the spa and they could never make it function properly. Their basic problem was that they did not know how to properly calculate flow dynamics and install the proper pumps. In the end they recognized their issues, removed the spa, repaired the decking and fully refunded my money. All at no expense to me. In the end while the Spa issue was extremely frustrating, they owned up to their failure and made sure they put things right. Very commendable!
I give Pools of Fun an A+ on pool installation.
I give Pools of Fun an F on Spa installation
I Give Pools of Fun an A+ on being accountable and making sure that they correct their mistakes in a fair and equitable fashion.
Licensing
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