Porta-Vac Pool Services Inc.

We hired Porta-Vac Pool Services specifically because the vacuum port on our pool was not functioning correctly, and they were the only company in the area who offered portable vacuum services for pool cleaning. So we were fine with paying a premium for weekly pool cleaning service through this company than we were previously paying through our long-time cleaning service. It didn't last long. A few weeks into our regular service, the technician came one morning and left without cleaning the pool, saying he'd be back a bit later. We later found out this was because the porta-vac had "broken" and he had not returned. Then we received a card in the mail notifying us that Porta-Vac was essentially firing us as clients, citing that our pool was too hard to clean due to the excess amount of leaves from nearby trees, which apparently caused the porta-vac?s breaking.
The thing is, it was NOVEMBER when our service started, so OF COURSE there would be leaves. It?s called ?fall? for a reason. And every pool cleaning service we?ve ever had skims for large debris first before running a vacuum, so the leaves should not have been an issue. And even if they were, only temporarily. Porta-Vac came and surveyed our property and knew the trees were there when they gave us a service quote AND knew we were hiring them because we could not use an in-pool automatic vacuum due to our lack of skimmer port suction.
In addition, the company attempted to perform a blow-out of the skimmer port (even after we let them know that did not work previously) with no notification of doing so, and then billed us extra for the service even though it was futile. As well, when we received the ?sorry, we?re breaking up? card, the note said we would be receiving a check refunding the portion of the last month that we pre-paid for. We never did receive that check.

Gary came out the same day I called him. He told me that unfortunately because I lived so far out that it wouldn't benefit me to hire them. He did tell me that my pool would be very easy to maintain and convinced me that I could do it myself to save money. He explained step by step what I would have to do every week, month and year if I were to do it. He also gave me his number and told me to call him anytime with any questions I had. Believe me I did. I called him once or twice a week for the first month. He answered or called me right back EVERY time. I am so happy that I ran into this company, I have saved so much money over the past few months.

My pool was a disaster. Air in the system. Filled with algae that no amount of chemicals seemed kill. After several weeks of trying to do it myself, I finally threw in the towel and called the professionals after finding them on Angie's List. I'm so glad I did. I initially called them after hours and left them a "Help!" Message. They called the next day and after hearing my sob story they came right over. Gary is extremely knowleable, and professional. They took their time diagnosed the problem and came out the next day to fix my pool. They came out everyday four days in a row to monitor the chemical levels in the water. I was so impressed that I know have a weekly pool service with them. There are so many people out there that buy a nett and some chemicals, put them in the back of a truck and call themselves a pool,service. These guys however are the real deal.

Gary was punctual and professional. With the refill, he did an acid wash to remove the stains on my pool.Gary tried to remove them but he couldn't. He did warn me several times before hand that they may not come out. I would definitely use them again. They seemed a little pricey but his puntuality and professionalism is worth it.

The service is excellent. I fired an older pool service that we used as I found they were doing nothing. This company came in and they were able to access that new filters were needed and we did acid washing through him and tile resurfacing through a referral from him. He is on time and he does a thorough job. You can call him anytime and he will come out to do anything needed. He has been more than helpful and he does a great job.

They have done a nice job maintaining the pool and the follow up of returning calls has been great. I can call them and they will call quickly. They are very knowledgeable about the service. Gary has been great, he is very responsive, and I would recommend him to anyone.

The service has been excellent. He is the kind of person that is in the business more to make sure the equipment is running properly than to make money. He is very proactive and he will let you know what is happening and give you time to make a decision. If he does not feel that he would be the best for the repair, he will recommend a different service provider. This has been the case for electrical work.

They have provided good service and I have no complaints. Gary is my contact and we had a filter that cracked and it flooded our yard. Our home warranty company was not good to work with and Gary was very responsive and I felt he gave us the best options to take care of the issue. He gave us options on the filter and he had the work done within less than 48 hours.

These guys have been amazing in taking care of our pool.  They were honest about how we needed to change our landscaping in the back to help keep the pool clean.  They come out every week and our pool always looks pristine.

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It was really a great experience and I have never felt so comfortable with our pool!

We were referred to this company through another Angie's list company who did a great job of starting up our pool after it had been sitting for going on 2 years. This person doesn't service our area so, since he did a great job, we were willing to try his referral. I contacted Gary and he promptly got back to me. He was very informative and seemed to give me the honest low-down on how he operates and how service quality and products used could vary depending on the company you hire. We are willing to give his service a chance. We cannot give details on it yet as we haven't received our first service call yet. Will try to update after service has been in place for a while.

We were referred to them by someone from Angie's list.

I called Gary on a Saturday a.m. to talk about possibly using his service. Within 20 minutes, he was at the house, explaining in great detail what was going on with the pool, and what it was going to take to bring it up to a satisfactory condition. Additionally, there was a problem that he subcontracted out to a repair company. As I was going out of town, Gary volunteered to contact the other company, come to the house when the company was here and even paid for part of the service in advance for me.Gary takes great pride in his work, and in the two months that he has serviced my pool, it looks fabulous. He is trustworthy, knowledgeable and very fair and honest. I have contacted him several times, and he has always responded promptly and gone out of his way to assist me. 

They were very polite and good. They also did an acid washing and I would highly suggest them.