Get matched with top pool and spa technicians in Early Branch, SC

"Your responses are very professional & politically correct, nice for all those who are viewing, unlike the real experiences those people above as well as my husband & I have with your business. We contacted Tad Pools to put up a 18"X33"X54" oval above ground pool, that we purchased. My husband & I & some friends put the original one up many years ago and after Hurricane Helene damaged it, we decided to hire someone to put it up. We promply paid the deposit. It was scheduled to be installed 7/12/25. We gave Brennan (Lead hand who broke a foot & was in a boot)& his help Caleb, the manual, which by the way, was emailed to Tad Pools on two occasions, well in advance to review, just incase they hadn't put up this model before & left them alone to do their job. They left 6pm. Returned the next morning as this is not a 4-6 hour job as Shelby had told them. I was outside when they began to put the pool wall up. It was folding over developing creases as two people are not enough to put up a pool with a wall this size. My husband & I along with a neighbor rushed out to hold the wall as it was going up. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to do damage control. It was then that we started to notice that the base was not installed correctly, the skimmer and return hole was not in the correct position as per the instruction manual. We pointed this out and together, took the wall down to reposition it, The guys were trying to get the wall into the base with the track filled with sand so my husband brought out his air compressor & my job was to blow out the sand as they tried to insert the wall edge. It was all last minute, to try to save the installation of our pool. Once they left, We took a closer look at the work & agreed that this installation has a lot of structural problems. The base was not secured, the pool was not square, where the two edges came together needed to be behind an upright, I could go on. The next day, I called Shelby to let him know that this pool has to come down once again and they need to start over and it was clear to us that they have not put up a pool like this before because if they did, there wouldn't be so many issues & know that a pool this size requires more people. As I was sharing facts, he began yelling and telling me that I was talking to him as if he were a child. I was telling you the facts Shelby, your responses were a 'child-like tantrum'. Hearing you through the phone, my husband took it from me to tell you the same things I told you. They were given another opportunity to make it right and improve their reputation (nothing there to save from what I have come to learn). We recognized that if we continue with this company, my husband will have to take more time off work & we would have to be present to monitor, review & assist with the installation to minimize the problems. We were given dates, for your return waiting half a day at times, for your guys' arrival with no communication, only for you to cancel. This occurred several times. They finally showed up on a Wed. 7/23/25 with a third person to take the pool down and reinstall. When taking it down they broke 3 parts. We asked Brennan to ask Shelby when they can return so we can have the broken replacements here. Overnighting the parts was a pointless expense if they couldn't come out the next day. We were given the following Wed.7/30/25 as their return date. My husband paid to ensure we got them Tues. Tues.7/29/25, my husband let Brennan know we had the parts in hand. That was when Brennan told him that they were not going to be able to come out on Wed. as was agreed. Maybe Thurs. or Fri. of that week. Fri. Brennan showed up to tell us that he cannot get people to show up for work. HE also noticed that the pool has to come down again as there were parts forgotten, Shelby (owner) insisted weren't important. Meanwhile, he has been working with Shelby on other pools. . We finally had enough. We did EVERYTHING we could to work with this company, paying them to put up a pool they knew nothing about, paying them for us to oversee and help with. And to boot, it cost us a pretty penny to ship broken replacement parts. This company (Shelby) wants your money and cares nothing about the work they do. There is no integrity, no pride in doing what is right. The only thing Shelby is good at doing is postponing, making false promises and jerking you around. We requested our deposit back. He had no intention to return the deposit which was the majority of the payment for this s*** show. Once my husband told him that we knew where the courthouse was located (a road we discussed we would go down if needed), Shelby agreed to return most of it. It was agreed that they keep $500 for Brennan and Caleb's labor. My husband and I felt that those boys worked hard and tried their best to make it happen, but if you don't know what you are doing it is wasted energy. Since Hurricane Helene, we have dealt with many contractors who run their customers through the assembly line without a care in the world taking their money, leaving them holding the bag and some cases (2 occasions for us) in worse shape then we started. Even when you do your homework to vet contractors you still are left disappointed. This is what I have learned. Every time you hire a contractor, make notes of dates, worked, canceled, time they arrive and leave, TAKE PICTURES of everything. Should things go south, you have documentation to move to small claims court. Don't threaten it unless you are willing to go down that road. Also, many contractors are bonded. Ask for who they are bonded with when you go to hire them. You can reach out to the bonding company for assistance in getting the work done right if there are problems down the road. Contractors-word of mouth-your best chances of a positive outcome. Write reviews. Both positive and negative experiences. I know this sounds contradicting but I feel that a lot of companies have trumped up reviews. Tad Pools was rated 5 stars on Angie's List where I found them. Reviews can be helpful but not always reliable. Tread careful my friends and good luck."

"I can't say enough good things about Elkin Ortiz, owner of 911 Pool Rescue. He came to evaluate our green pool when he said he would. He returned on a Saturday and got our pool sparkling clean by changing the sand, cleaning the filter and using the right chemicals. He returned on Sunday to vacuum the dead algae from the bottom of the pool. He is honest, and his rates are fair. We were so impressed with him, that he is now going to provide weekly pool maintenance for us. I highly recommend him!"

"They were 3 months late in completing my total renovation. The finished product is acceptable EXCEPT the new skimmer they installed has leaked from the beginning. I finally after months of calling I got someone to come and fix...HOWERVER, it is still leaking and I can no get anyone to return my calls."

"It took forever. It’s still not done. The guy I have to deal with is unprofessional. The steps installed leave a lip or will have a mound these are my choices on a pool that was flush. I was never told this was how the pool was going to be and now I’m told to accept it even though I’m unsatisfied. I paid 75% of the money upfront and he has left more than that unfinished and states he will just write it off"