GOLD MEDAL POOLS & OUTDOOR LIVING, INC

I hate leaving bad reviews.. I actually left them a 5 star review a few years ago and will be deleting that shortly. We hired gold metal to level our concrete base and pool equipment. After WEEKS of attempted phone calls to get them out here they finally came. They had us approve the quote they provided BEFORE service therefore being charged whether we approved the work upon completion or not. We were told by the installer we would have a 6month warranty on the slab itself and that there should be no problems should something come up. We called after the job was supposedly done and said that we did not think it was level. That phone call went out the window and we were never contacted to fix the job. They had already gotten our money so they did not care. When we finally got ahold of the boss he informed us that they do not cover pretty much anything due to the ground movement in Texas. HA! This statement is comical because you could say that about any work they could potentially do and not cover under any warranty. Great loop hole for them. So we are out about $1500 and still have unlevel pool equipment that Im sure will have to be redone by another company. This has been the worst customer experience and the worst workmanship from their technicians. If you want to pay thousands of dollars just to be screwed over by them be my guest. They did not try to make anything right and genuinely do not care about anything but charging out the *** for poor quality work. Never have I had more of a headache from a company and I hope this saves at least one person from making the same mistake we did by trusting them with our pool.

I was going to write a long drawn out review about my experience but no one reads those, so I’ll keep it somewhat short. Hopefully this saves people the years of headaches I’ve endured. Gold Medal built my pool in 2017. And they did one heck of a job. Customer service was great, the design was great, the pool came out just like the rendering. Unfortunately, it was short lived. After only about a year, the pool became unleveled. Started out with only 1/4 inch. And every year it got worse. They blame it on soil movement and have said they are not responsible. I hired a structural engineer, who confirms that GMP should have done soil injections due to the soils around my property but never did (to cut costs). I’m now sitting at 5 inches of unlevel. One of the skimmers barely gets any water. You can visibly see the pool is crooked and guess what, I have to spend around $20,000 to have it fixed. The pool is also leaking but surprise, they say they aren’t responsible for the rocks around the coping or the slide they installed. You’re probably asking yourself: why doesn’t this guy get an attorney and go through the legal process? Well I did try that, the contract they make you sign will protect them at all costs. No jury trial and must do mediation first. Two attorneys I’ve spoken to say the attorney fees won’t be worth it. This review was 5 years in the making. I hope this saves someone from making a disaster of a decision I made in 2017.

Based on my experience, I would discourage using Gold Medal for building a new pool. The construction process was problematic, and the project manager showed little concern for workmanship and lacked knowledge in delivering a clean finished product. They often hire subcontractors who are not skilled enough to keep up with their workload. Although my pool was completed in November 2022, I started experiencing problems with wet ground and surroundings shortly after it was filled with water. The leak was so severe that my neighbors complained about their wet yards late at night. Despite it being five months since the construction was completed, the leak has not been resolved, and my communication with Gold Medal has been unsatisfactory. After spending over $250k, I am left with a leaky pool, unhappy neighbors, sleepless nights, loss of usage, and a significant waste of time trying to communicate with them. Therefore, I urge you to conduct proper research before working with this pool company.

If I could give less than one star I would. I called to postpone my service for the winter season. They didn’t execute and still kept coming then tried to tell me I owed for all of the service. They bill also, which is insane to bill for service you haven’t performed. When they called trying to get me to pay, I told them I called and postponed. They said I saw them still coming out and I should’ve called back in to cancel again. It was my responsibility. They asked what day I called and whom I spoke to. I told them I wasn’t sure and didn’t they have notes in the file as most customer service companies keep. They said they only take notes if it’s a “complicated situation”. They said that they had no proof that I called and that if I didn’t pay the invoices would go to collections. So when I got off the phone I went into my call log with my cellular company and found the 13 minute call I made to them on 1/7. I called back to update the terrible (like worst I’ve seen) customer service supervisor. She didn’t apologize just said she would take my card off file and clear out the invoices. I told her that even though they had no proof I did. She didn’t even apologize for their terrible service and accusations. She even had the nerve to ask if I called that day to cancel. No, dumb a#$ I called to experience your excellent customer service for 13 minutes. I also asked if she wanted me to send the documentation that I had found and she said that she didn’t. Of course, since they don’t keep records I went ahead and sent an email to the company with the proof so when they try to come back later and say that I owe this money I will be able to look up my email. They are not the only game in town and there are so many terrible reviews about them for a reason. Find another company if you’re considering them. Runaway as fast as you can!

Joe Ray is great although completely overworked. Kimberley is not great. Record every conversation or things will get dropped. I understand supply chain issues and shortages, but our pool was supposed to be completed Sept-Oct of 2021 not in 2022. We have a working pool and we love it, but we don't quite have a finished outdoor kitchen. We're missing a rock wall (to mount TV), wrapped pine around the posts, paint, and finished ceiling. Apparently they forgot to charge us for some of these items and won't continue until we pay them even more money. I'm looking at reviews and everything is 5 stars 5-6 years ago, so it seems like very bad management at the highest level. The team is overextended and company continues to take on as many projects as possible while the market is hot. Currently they have absolutely zero happy customers. They should either hire more people or take on less work. Even if the end result is amazing... the journey is almost not worth it.

By Far the WORST customer service!! Save yourselves!!! If you have any issue with workmanship or poor quality and you decide to call or text Josh & his wife, Eric or Kim your texts and calls go unanswered. They simply IGNORE you. I have texts which I can show anyone as PROOF that Josh doesn't care about his clients concerns when there's an issue. Not once did he EVER call me. They are always on time to collect payment. They built the wrong patio extension and I thought that it would be easier to just move forward by having them Repaint it so they can finish our project faster, well it took them almost 2 months TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE and fix it (paint it). They have you scheduled and it's a no show. They squeezed a model and other new build home pools in front of us. We all know model homes pay a premium to get them built faster and since new homes cannot close until the pool is finished, guess who was shoved to the side? Everytime they installed something whether it be tile or something else it was always in bits and pieces or done wrong. God forbid you ask them to fix it, it will just take forever ( another 2 months ). We have failed so many inspections too, nothing is ever done right. A project manager is NOT always on site to make sure everything is done right. I have so many neighbors in our WSR community who are LIVID and currently still having issues. It's a nightmare!! They got greedy and took on way too many jobs and they are a mess, it's a circus. They wanted to blame everything on covid... Ayfk?? Lol So doing sloppy work and not doing it right is c19 fault? Smh We signed our contract back in December 2020 and we're still not done. Btw let me not forget to mention that when I first met with one of their sales guys this man was belching on our zoom call, yep! not once but three times. I asked to change our sales guy otherwise I was walking away. Shoukd have known what I was dealing with. Oh I have more stories, feel free to contact me! Did I ever mention that a Home Depot started getting built way after our project started, well Hope Depot is now open and running and guess what they still can't plaster our pool or install our firebowls this is a joke ( which could have been installed MONTHS AGO. Still have no gutters and other items. Our Promised finished date was end of MAY ?? SAVE YOURSELVES!!!

This company, Gold Medal Pools, is COMPLETELY AWFUL!!! My pool was built 2 years ago. We started getting decking cracks after about 3 months. They said it was normal. They sent someone to repair it after badgering them. He sprinkled silt on top of SOME of them (about 3 out of the 10+) but it didn't do a thing. Cracks are more now and a whole lot worse since then. The Eco finish got drag lines and chunks removed. They came out and said it was because of our "horribly cheap" pool cleaner. THEY supplied it to us with our pool purchase. Along with the visit to refinish our eco, they were repairing ONE cracked tile, again, their shoddy work. They emptied the pool, took the drain off, broke and removed about 3 tiles all while taking chunks out of the pool shell, and attempted to "fix" the dilapidated caulking (yet again, shoddy work on their part). After numerous request about the horrid job they did, they sent another guy out. He "fixed" our caulking, (still looks horrible!). He was in my pool for about 6 hours. Where did he use the restroom? They broke my light. The drain was broken and leaking water. They sent someone out to do a temporary fix on the drain. We couldn't do a permanent repair because we were having a graduation swim party. The guy said it would hold for years. We have to fill our pool up every few days now because they refuse to answer our emails and calls. There's a whole lot more but, this is enough to let you know that they suck!! IF YOU USE THIS COMPANY, you will waste thousands!!! Run far away!!!!

The overall installation was acceptable. We selected a stamped colored/dyed concrete deck. The concrete contractor poured the concrete for the deck when it was freezing and raining- the first or 2nd week of February, 2019. I asked them to postpone the pour, but they held me hostage and said it would delay my project indefinitely, and that they pour in this weather all the time and assured me it would be fine. They poured and now I have over 15 cracks and 3 are what I would consider major with the surface flaking off. I called my GMP project manager, Joe Ray and explained my concerns and he contacted the concrete contractor, Matt. They came out to inspect the cracks on the decking on 7/9/2019, and to see why we were still tracking in release/dye when we walked from the deck onto the hardwood floors in the house. They acknowledged the issues, and both promised me that if the cracks worsened that they would "make it right" even if that required removing the deck and re-pouring. I told them I was concerned as the contract states that there is no warranty on the deck and I didn't want to get stuck with a bad pour due to weather and it was already cracking extensively. Again, both gave me their words they would stand by the product and make any repairs or replacement as required. They both also committed that the concrete dye/release would stop tracking after a few more rains/cleanings. So, now we are in May, 2020, a full year later and the cracks are worsening and the tracking in of the dye/release is still a major problem after having acid washed the deck twice, and cleaned/scrubbed the deck 5/6 times, as well as many rain events. I called GMP's and they connected me with Tyler McFarlin, their Renovations and Warranty Director, and he contacted Matt, the concrete contractor and came out to inspect my deck on 5/14/2020. Now that it has been a year since the pour, Matt now went back on his word and is claiming "no structural issues", and that concrete cracks in North Texas. Keep in mind 15 cracks around the deck, with 3 major cracks in which the surface is flaking away, now ruining the aesthetics of the deck. Not only that, they state that the tracking is dust and not dye/release, which it is. We have provided many photos of our hardwood floors with beige foot prints after use of the pool/deck area. I explained to Tyler and Matt that when we decided on the decking type that we had installed, I questioned Jenny Greico, GMP's Senior Design Consultant that sold us the pool as to the need for a sealant to be put on the deck as we didn't want any issues. Jenny stated that GMP's doesn't seal decks anymore and that there wouldn't be a need to as the new concrete decks didn't have issues. Again, had Jenny/GMP's been up front regarding the tracking issue, I would've chosen a different surface or paid to have the deck sealed in the original agreement. The need to clean your hardwood floors every time you want to enjoy your pool or backyard deck takes away the enjoyment of having the pool/deck installed. Tyler has completely disregarded all issues/responsibilities from GMP's and stated that decks crack, and retain dust. Both Matt and Tyler have washed their hands of their responsibilities since they claimed no warranty on the deck which is in the contract. It doesn't matter "what is right", only their bottom line. I went back to them with what I felt was a reasonable, cost efficient solution in that they should be responsible and come out and seal the deck which would prevent further damage to the existing cracks, and would alleviate the tracking in of the dye/release. Tyler sent me a quote from Matt the concrete contractor of $1526.70 for me to pay to have the deck sealed! Again, neither Matt nor Tyler would own up to mis-information on the deck tracking issue given by the GMP's Senior Design Consultant Jenny, poor judgment on pouring concrete in freezing/raining weather, or the resulting damage from an inordinate amount of cracking with a deck only a year old- not to mention Matt and Joe Ray giving their words they would make things right! Tyler also stated he would send me photos of crack repair options, and before and after photos of sealed decks. He has yet to fulfill this simple commitment! I do not recommend that anyone do business with this company as they do not inform you of potential issues, even when questioned, nor stand behind their commitments to the customer to "Make Things Right", rather they stall making promises until after a year- then backtrack claiming no warranty! I would be happy to discuss GMP's with anyone considering a pool, deck, or arbor and provide pictures of our ongoing problems. So far the pool and arbor seem to be problem free, but if a problem happens, I don't expect any support from GMP's to honor their commitments. Definitely no service after they get their money!

Adding a pool to your home isn't an easy decision, it's even worse if you've never owned or maintained one. The fear of not knowing what you're getting yourself into only adds to the paranoia of hiring the wrong crew and handing over thousands of your hard earned dollars. My wife and I spoke to three different companies in the Frisco area, Gold Medal Pools being one of them. We pretty much knew right away who we wanted to build our pool. During one of our "interviews" we felt rushed, almost as if our project wasn't lucrative enough for them and they were simply doing us a favor based on our "mutual friend". The second just seemed too new to the market and was unable to answer some of our most basic questions. Then came Justin Antwiler, this man was quick to draw up a plan, schedule a web conference to show us from across the country what our new pool could look like. He genuinely seemed to appreciate our business, but most importantly he showed that he cared for our wants and concerns. Justin walked us through the entire process and not once tried to up-sell us to make additional money. One of Gold Medal Pools' selling points is they don't use contractors, honestly I'm not sure of this. There seemed to be a few different crews doing some of the work, but frankly I didn't care if they did use some extra help because throughout the entire span of the Project our PM Keith Gant was there to make sure things were done right. He was always a phone call or text away (Keith if you're reading this sorry for bugging you so much!) I'd be lying if I said the project went flawless, there were a few minor incident that were quickly resolved. The worst of it all was a mistake on both our parts, I wasn't told how messy the spraying of the Gunite would be and I didn't think to move my truck from the driveway... you could only guess how I felt when I saw my most favorite procession splattered throughout. Needless to say, Keith apologized and had it immediately taken care of. A local carwash was able to manually clean the residue and stains leaving my truck back in it's original condition. This aside our project was delayed a few weeks due to bad and unforeseen weather, but now that it's complete I can't express in writing how much we love our pool and spa. Gold Medal Pools' is a solid company with honest and reliable team members. It is my pleasure to fully endorse them and refer them to anyone looking for a new pool. -E. Salazar

Frankly, because it had been so long ago I expected this was going to be a difficult process to resolve. Now, I'm not going to say it was fast resolution as it did take time. First, they wanted me to pay for a leak test @ $600. I was pretty clear where the leak was coming from as it only leaked when the pump was on. That told me it was a plumbing issue....not a structure issue. We skipped the technology method and did a bucket test to prove the fountain was not leaking. Finally, they sent a guy out to start working on it. He started tracing back from where water was exiting to the plumbing...where I was sure the leak was coming from. First picture shows what he took apart. Anyway, I go back out and find the situation what the second picture is showing. Take a guess... no, the plumbing is in the back of the feature. So, now we've taken apart about 40% of the feature and they advise it will be about $2400 to fix it back up. Obviously I wasn't happy about that discussion. In the end this team took care of the issue... finally fixing all the leaks! More importantly, they completed this as it should have been more than three years ago. Here more than a month later... I have a beautiful water feature that is functioning properly! Thank you Gold Medal Pools!

When we started down this road and wanted to get a pool, we interviewed 6 very well known pool companies that serviced Wylie. As we worked to narrow down the list, we finally opted to go with GMP. The biggest reason for us is they never tried to over-sell us or pull a "used car" salesman tactic. The other pool builders seemed to cut down their competition, slow to respond to our interest and missed the mark on our design. From the first initial meeting, GMP never took that type of approach - they were responsive to our requests, asked us our "wish list" and worked it into the design. Our sales consultant, Justin Antwiler, listened to our wants, gave us options on equipment and designs, and after a few meetings we were able to finalize the plans to get to contract stage. Throughout our entire interaction with Justin, he was extremely professional and welcomed all design changes that we kept presenting to him (which was a lot). He was very patience with us! =) Once we got through the contract phase, the pool construction began. Our Project Manager was Joe Ray Garcia. We cannot express enough how lucky we were to get him on our project. He kept us informed the ENTIRE 3 months/during the construction phase of what was taking place next, what was on the agenda and when it was going to take place. It was the first experience we ever had that a contractor actually showed up when promised and informed us ahead of time so we were not "wondering" what was next. It was pleasantly surprising. My advice, if you are considering a new pool - do your research/homework, interview multiple PB's, have a design in mind and suggestions of your wish list on paper -- and put GMP on your list to interview. You will not be disappointed!

My experience was fantastic and people like John Kirby (Sales), Joe Ray Garcia (project manager), and all of the construction teams made it that way! We were building a home and adding this pool to our home. We had construction delays, weather delays, and issues during the home building process, but Gold Medal delivered as they agreed to. Gold Medal showed up two days after closing on the house and built the pool, decking, Big Green Egg pedestal, and arbor which all look fantastic.

It went great. We started the process by meeting with John Kirby, our sales associate. He talked with us at length about what we wanted and cost. He then had a beautiful design drawn for us. Keith Robinson, our project manager, worked very hard and was on site most every day to make sure that everything got done the way we wanted. Michelle Lloyd helped me choose beautiful tile and stone for the pool. Everyone who came to the site was friendly and hardworking. I really can't imagine the process going any better. Once the pool was up and running, Micah and Welcome and Eddie were very helpful in explaining the equipment and what to do to maintain the pool.

Having previously built a pool at my home in 2005, I was prepared for another few months of frustration and disappointment during the pool building process.  I was determined not have the same experience again this time.  For several months, I did a ton of research and receive referrals from friends to find the "very best" pool builder.  We were looking for a company that could build a quality pool, provide excellent service during construction and after completion. We wanted to be sure to find a pool builder who would work with us and listen to our ideas and concerns. We talked to several pool builders, before selecting Gold Medal Pools for the following reasons: 1) John Kirby, our salesman.  He will work with you from your first initial contact to final completion of your pool. He listens to what you want and then custom designs the pool to fit your needs. This is a great advantage as it eliminates any confusion that may occur from salesperson to pool construction manager. John is dependable, conscientious, patient and trustworthy.  2) Gold Medal Pools uses quality products and uses very few subcontractors.  Gold Medal Pools leans heavily on work done by its own employees, not subcontractors.  The company is up to date on the latest technology in the pool industry and competitively priced. 3) Our pool construction builder/manager, Keith Robinson. He is there each step of the way to make sure that you are happy with your pool. He makes you feel comfortable when asking questions. Keith takes great pride in his work. He is very detailed oriented and was respectful of our property. He responds in a timely fashion to your phone calls. We are extremely proud of our new pool and spa. We happily recommend Gold Medal Pools without any hesitations!

We recently built a pool using Gold Medal Pools in Frisco,
TX.  We were referred to them from a
friend and from the first step in their showroom through the finished product
and attending Pool School, we had a great experience.  This is the first pool we have built so we
did not know anything going into the process. 
Sales/Finance:
John, in the sales department, took his time to explain the
entire process to us, including various options we had in the financing
space.  We worked with their finance broker,
Craig, who again took the time to answer all of our questions and was able to
refer us to a lender for a second mortgage that fit our needs.  John came out to view our space and discuss
what we were looking to get.  He was very
thorough and, based on our budget, drew up some plans and presented us with a
great 3D example on the computer, showed us materials and examples in the
showroom (inside and outside), and talked through the quality of the materials
and building standards that we would be getting with Gold Medal.  We really appreciated that he stuck to our
budget and was able to include some better quality finishes. Throughout the
construction and even after completion, John would always reply quickly if I
had any questions or concerns and coordinate efforts with other
personnel/departments if necessary.
 Next was the financing portion (which was completely
separate from Gold Medal) and it was the longest part in the whole experience! 
Construction: 
Once we had the financing all settled, we were quickly
scheduled for our ?dig day?.  We were
assigned a Project Manager, Matt, who kept in contact with us throughout the
entire process and was on-site for all of the major steps along the way.  From ?dig day? until completion, our pool
only took 30 days (we built in the wintertime and did not have any city
inspections to contend with).  All of the
different crews were very professional and exhibited extreme care and skill in
everything they did.  If we had any
questions, Matt was always very responsive and took the time to talk through
our questions and/or concerns.
 
Service/Maintenance:
Once the pool was finished, the service department came to
get everything running.  The service
person, Welcome, was also very thorough in checking everything, labeling all of
the equipment, and walked me through some basic information.  We then went to Pool School and learned all
of the details we needed in order to start maintaining our pool. 
 
We could not be happier with our gorgeous pool and the
entire experience with Gold Medal. 
Everyone was very professional and very patient, attentive, and
responsive which we appreciated even more since we were going through a new
experience as first-time pool owners.  The
quality of workmanship and materials is very obvious when you look at the
pool.  We have even had landscaping and
fencing company owners comment on how they can tell the quality work put into
our pool.

Gold Medal Pools did a tremendous job on our backyard project from start to finish. They took on the challenge of removing 1000 sf of old deck in less than one day and installed the in ground pool, new deck, and attached arbor in about eight weeks. Every concern we had was addressed. Keith, the project manager, worked hard to make sure the work was quality from day one. All weather delays were minimal. We can't thank them enough.

I contacted Mary Sandler for building a new pool and spa. My previous home owners had a schematic done from them, but never built a pool. Mary was very prompt and courteous. She visited our home, measured out the yard and came up with a custom schematic for the pool and spa which she went over with me and my wife at their showroom [which is very impressive]. We did multiple adjustments to suit our taste and Mary was good about explaining the various constraints imposed by the city of frisco, utility easements on our property and showed us the best way to accommodate the pool around our existing backyard fixtures [barbecue grill and wood-fired pizza oven]. 
She then came up with a quote which we felt was on the higher side - but I had heard good reviews about them from our friends and it was important for me to get the job done right, especially since I am on the road quite a bit. So we decided to go with them.
Once we signed up, we paid $500 for them to get the required permits from the city and the HOA. She had promised a 8 week schedule if the weather held out. We started the dig on Aug 21, 2015. Steve called me up a day before to let me know that the job would start. 
The whole experience from start to finish was as painless as it could be [the backyard was obviously like a war zone while the work was going on], but on the whole, everything was very professionally done, with multiple crews being scheduled and orchestrated by our capable project manager, Keith Gant.
Our pool was commissioned Oct 20th. I could NOT be happier. They have delivered to my expectations, in a professional painless way. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a quality build.

I can always rely on Gold Medal Pool for any of my pool related service needs. Everyone there are always quick to respond, professional, knowledgable, and courteous. I recently had an outdoor kitchen built by Josh and Mary's team. We had a wonderful experience and an impeccable outdoor kitchen my family frequently enjoys. Gold Medal also now offers a great pool cleaning service. Going with a 40 year old family business, how can you go wrong.

They're a little bit pricey but they're pretty good. They come out a couple times and they've been prompt and courteous and it was very educational. I love them but they could've been more cost-effective.

We had GMP complete our pool back in the fall of 2010 and most recently, a complete outdoor renovation with everything from a roof extension down to the in ceiling patio heaters - - and the service was fantastic and everything looks great! In addition to these two projects, GMP and their employees have always been prompt and courteous in getting small repairs done and ensuring that everything was taken care of. We would highly recommend, and have to many friends in our area, to check out everyone else and then choose GMP.

When we were building our new home, I asked 5 pool companies to submit designs for our new pool. I did a lot of research and in the end we hadGold Medal design and build our pool and outdoor kitchen. We decided to do a simultaneous build with the construction of our new home, though our builder was convinced this would be a problem and would delay our
moving in. During construction, Gold Medal communicated very well with our builder, kept the site extremely tidy, and there was never a problem. The pool was complete before the house was finished and our builder said that Gold Medal was the best pool builder he had ever worked with. That is certainly true for us.
From design through construction we were very pleased. We love the design. After the pool was finished we mentioned a piece of stone that seemed to be flaking and within a couple of days the entire piece was replaced. When we had a minor problem with a Green Egg they installed. Some ribs were not able to cook properly when I tried to use it. Gold Medal showed up to fix it the day after I called and brought wood for the smoker and a gift certificate for a local butcher--now that's what I call customer service!
Since we built several of our neighbors have also built with Gold Medal and are happy with the choice. We've watched another company we had considered show up, dig holes, and vanish for weeks at a time. We were swimming before neighbors who had started construction earlier but were at the plastering stage!
Gold Medal designed a great pool, were incredibly responsive, and have been great with follow up. We can highly recommend Gold Medal.

First of all, building a pool is not for the faint of heart. We knew that going in to the process so were very diligent in getting quotes from multiple companies and spending time with each of them. We had a rough design of what we wanted and key features that were important so we used that to evaluate companies. We evaluated 7 different pool companies and got proposals from them all:
1) Gold Medal: was in the middle on price, but have a great showroom and sales person (Erik Gieger) was very professional
2) Robertson Pools: Long standing reputation and did a good job of explain what things were and how the process works. Liked them. Fair pricing.
3)Riverbend Sandler: really good people, almost went with them. Probably should have. Fair pricing, professional and good showroom.
4) Summerhill Pools:fairly responsive and reasonable pricing.
5) McGee Pools: Owner came out to meet us, never heard from him again. No response to emails or calls
6) Puryear Custom Pools: very nice people, fair pricing and professional. Came close to using.
7) Another small company that I can't remember the name of.
We evaluated all the quotes and visited each of their showrooms (something I encourage you to do). We had them explain their building process to us and timelines. Erik was very professional and GM had a very impressive showroom that demonstrated what they could do in building our pools. Their first price to us was over 20% higher than any other company (which should have deterred us). We told them that their pricing was not competitive so they came back on price and were now roughly 10% higher. We went back and forth a few times and honestly we were considering Riverbend (which we probably should have used), but my wife liked Erik and their showroom is very impressive. They also had so many references, should have called them ;-)
My wife is an attorney so she modified the contract, which was set up on a draw system that gives them % of the money during different checkpoints during the building. The one thing that saved us was that she set up their final draw to be ONLY AFTER the punchlist was completed. The other key lessons for us here were to make sure exactly which equipment they were using (They are horrible about substituting cheaper stuff), agree exactly how much decking you want (they charge a fortune to add so estimate high and give back if you don't need), make sure you know your sewer and gas lines are nowhere near your pool or include moving in the price and pick exactly the stone/tile/finish you want as costs increase exponentially after contract is signed. They final piece was that they estimated completion to be around 2 months...wow, that was wrong! They had given us a complete planning book that showed how each step was supposed to work, it turned out to be a joke.
They showed up to sketch out the pool and we met our foreman (Gene Hunnicutt nice guy, completely incompetent and they source of many of our problems so if you really are going to use them you don't want him on your project). They marked out the pool and the next day the digging crew came. This part was actually very painless, sadly this is where the good experience ends. They finished in two days with a huge hole in the yard and our fence open, this would remain this way for the next FIVE months...in the digging process, they stacked all the dirt up against our side fence and also ran over the fence them removed from the back (shattering it).
They next step was to come and put in the rebar that frame the polo and spray in the gunite for the pool. This is where started seeing the real mistakes. When they designed our spa, they promised us a Captain's Chair (which is basically more jets in one area that helps you back), but unfortunately the foreman missed it on the plans and it wasn't put in. They also designed our tanning ledge too small so that you couldn't even lay on it without falling into the deep water. We called their attention these two mistakes (the foreman didn't notice they forgot the captain's chair). They literally stopped work on our pool and vanished for over four weeks. Our backyard looked like a warzone with trenches all over the place and trash literally everywhere in our yard. Made for a nice Christmas dinner to look out at that. I've enclosed pictures. We had to keep the doors locked so that none of the kids would go our there as one kid actually hurt himself by falling over the trash.
They finally came back in January and admitted they messed up on the captains chair, but were not willing to add it as required them to remove some of the gunite and relay the pipes. We finally agreed they would give us a bit of a discount on the firepit we were thinking of adding and moved on. It was fairly contentious and they were not willing to work with us (they knew we had a hole in our yard). They extended the tanning ledge, but charged us for it (even though it was their mistake). Through out the process, they would tell us, we come next week and it was a crapshoot whether they did or not. it became a running joke in the house (we work next week).
The next phase was supposed to be the decking, which they had told us during the selling process that they come out and mark with us using spray paint so we get it right. Unfortunately, like everything else they told us, it didn't happen that way, they came out and put rebar in for the deck and completely got it wrong. It was not designed according to the drawings (one area had less than 1' around the pool and the firepit was against the fence). We called them that night and told them what happened (the foreman was MIA again) and they told us that it was already in and if we wanted to change it was going to be $15per ft, which was a 100% premium from what they had charged us in the original proposal (they kill you with change orders). The discussion got very hostile and the owner, Josh Sandler, got involved. He was a complete jerk, he told my wife that he was a big company and we could either deal with it or they would walk off the project. We ended up having to pay part of the difference (for their mistake) and the foreman came out to mark the changes with spray paint. He still did it wrong and was trying to short us on deck (surprising how every mistake was in THEIR favor), fortunately I checked it and went out remarked it giving us what we paid for (I knew their lack of attention to detail would help me) and they never noticed and did the deck as it should have been done all along (yet costing me another $1K). Sadly they had grossly miscalculated the size of the deck needed for our BBQ area so we have a bar that you can't sit at half of it because it was so close to the edge of the deck that you would fall off the deck and down the hill the created. We had to pay another $1K for someone to come and fix later (they would never come back and fix this). Pictures attached.
Finally in March (5 months after start), they put the plaster in the pool itself and as usual had no focus on quality, they sprayed it all over house so we had to have someone come out and clear it off our stucco. They put in our LED lights, but of course, cheated us again and put in smaller SEVI lights even thought the contract said full LED. Two of them were broken and didn't get replaced for another three weeks. Our pool didn't get filled with water until mid April, a full six months after we started. We literally had our backyard full of trash for more than 5 months!! The only that saved us and got them to finish the project was that we had changed their contract to say the final payment would not happen until AFTER the punchlist was complete so it forced them to give us our pool remote (which they tried to avoid), remove trash (which was literally all over yard), fix broken stones around the pool, correct improperly installed equipment and put our fence back up (which they tried to put up the broken one).
Overall, what I can say is they are the two different companies in how they treat you, the selling part is excel

We shopped and talked with several pool re-modelers to update our in-ground pool after it was diagnosed with a pool leak which was fixed, but we knew our 1998 pool was due for a remodel job. Both my wife and I are more analytically inclined as such, we knew we needed someone to help us pick out a current design package. We worked with Mark Bratcher on the design, and we are very happy.
Their price for the work was very competitive and given the fact that they really helped us design the remodel, we were very pleased.
From signing the initial contract to us being back in our pool took longer than anyone expected, due to the rains which delayed multiple jobs. The crews, demolition, copping and plastering did a very good job of cleaning up at the end of each day and phase.
Mark was very responsive to our calls and contrary to other posts, we never experienced any service issues or phone calls that were not returned. We will recommend Gold Medal to our friends.

Gold Medal Pools was recommended by a friend, realtor Coleen Donovan, who has first-hand experience with builders and families building swimming pools. After our first meeting with Mary Sandler, the wife of owner, Josh Sandler, the outdoor space we had envisioned in our minds was fine-tuned and re-imagined in a way that took advantage of the sight lines inside and outside of the home. (3 other pool companies showed very little imagination and design thought.) We knew we wanted travertine coping and decking. We wanted a grill station and asked if she would work with a company (Equinox) that built metal shade structures with moveable louvers. No problem.
We started at the end of May with the excavation and gunite (shotcrete actually). It was beautifully laid out and dug with super straight walls and precision measurements - everything was level, straight, and plumb. All the piping and lines were planned and installed without any crazy bends and all with the understanding that a natural gas line and electricity lines and shade structure poles needed their space in the already crowded yard. The infrastructure was of primo importance to Gold Medal - all the things no one sees but them - but things that are super important in making a pool a pool.
They installed an in-ground pool cleaner (PV-2000), 4 deck jets, and two bubblers. (You should see this stuff in action!) Everything was installed with pressure testing and great care and always referring to the build plan. If it wasn't on the architectural plan, then we had to have a change order before it was approved. Gene was our supervisor and he managed the Gold Medal guys and sub-contractors on a daily basis. He is extremely knowledgeable and has made more pools than most anyone in town - he often took my incoherent Friday night ramblings about this-or-that and tried to make sense of them and by Monday he was able to talk some sense into me. Yes, it's true - the client is not always right!
Gold Medal allowed us to pick the water tile, the color and type of travertine coping and decking, the color of the Stonescapes (a Pebbletec type of flooring), and all the fixture colors and types. We picked all the grill equipment and Mary was able to show us pictures of grill stations they had built and we were able to tell her, yes, this is fabulous. In fact, the grill station came out beautifully - although it did take 3 weeks to build - the artisan took 10 - 15 minutes almost on sculpting each stone! It is really way more incredible than we dreamed of.
The building of the travertine deck though was the best investment we made. All the other pool companies wanted us to do some sort of concrete - stamped, cool deck stuff, or some crazy man-made attempt at creating a stone look alike. Not GMP. They thought that travertine was the way to go, Josh and Mary gave us a great price, and when they installed the pavers (Versailles pattern), it was amazing. They put down like 6 - 9 inches of crushed granite base, 2 inches of sand and using old school leveling techniques (string and 2x4's) they were able to (again) properly install these gorgeous travertine pavers in almost the entire backyard. The big and medium-sized pavers weigh a ton and all the workers lined up and swung them in unison to the guy next to them until every stone was properly aligned and fit. They topped the deck off with a polymer sand to fill in the joints and provide additional strength. Remember: if a stone cracks, it can be easily replaced, if your monolithic cement pour cracks, who knows what you have to do to fix it or even replace it.
OK, so what went wrong? Nobody is perfect. I will say this: building a pool is not for the weak of heart. There is a lot of waiting and a lot of scheduling problems that creep up - some are avoidable, some are not. Compound that with the fact that Plano has maybe 2 inspectors running around passing and/or failing the pool contractors' work. Those guys are a pain to work with and instead of making the pool building process easy and efficient, they make it slow, inefficient, and infuriating. I was there on many pass/fail visits and if there was just a modicum of communication with the PC or supervisor, many wasted days would have been eliminated. Here is what went wrong: I ordered a used Teppanyaki grill that I should have ordered new (I am still waiting on replacement parts) and we installed an umbrella sleeve into the deck that didn't really work. The grill is great now and GMP took out the sleeve and replaced the two stones in two minutes! They bent over backwards to fix any water tile problem (two or three tiles needed replacement), deck coping (workers chipped one tile and two tiles were elevated because of a skimmer piece), and three deck tiles had settled by the back door. Everything was fixed to perfection.
So is it completed? How is customer support now? I can tell you that every detail was addressed - right down to a missing bumper on one of the cabinet doors for the grill station. They have a guy, Joe Ray, that puts on a pool school right at the house and teaches you how to take care of your investment. He was very knowledgeable and with his help, I am able to clean out the skimmers, brush the pool, put chlorine tablets in the automatic dispenser, and I'm able to fix the pool chemistry by using the little strips. He showed me how to backwash the pool, too, but I may have to have him come out when I tackle that job!
My wife, my family, my extended family, our parents, everyone who has seen the pool has commented on how pretty it is and how modern it looks. We love not having the Polaris cleaner all twisted around the pool and the PV-2000 cleaner is really all we need. The Stonescapes rock for the pool finish is really nice and doesn't hurt your feet. The color of the French Gray is perfect for us - a nice muted blue color that seems elegant, modern and old-world at the same time.
Gold Medal Pool will build you a beautiful pool - but don't sit back and wait for it all to happen. I believe the best projects happen when there is a collaborative effort. On this project, we were all (the designer, the supervisor, and my wife and I) able to discuss daily events - successes and problems in a even-keeled fashion and suggested changes were not always met with an absolute yes or no, but included a thoughtful and educated response. These guys can build a pool in their sleep.
What I envision to make Gold Medal Pools the best pool builder in Texas is a web portal that would improve the project management and really improve the level of two and oftentimes three-way communication that is necessary in today's fast-paced world. And of course I would write this because I am an IT Manager who loves technology.
To sum it all up: get three or four pool bids when you are building a pool; have a general idea of what you want, but let the pool designer give you some suggestions and let their ideas percolate with yours - so together, the design is iteratively developed to a richer place. If we took our first bid without looking around, we would have a 9 x 24 pool ( 10,000 gal) with a structure to match the roof with shingles and skylights. We would have had a concrete deck and then at only half the size - and a grill station without a grill - just the shell! All this for $94,000. Instead, we were able to get a thoughtfully designed outdoor space with a 15x30, 18,000 gallon pool with travertine coping, a large travertine deck with a Granbury stone grille station with appliances! (The Equinox structure was perfectly designed for us - it spans the pool at 29 feet so there are no posts in the way, but that is a different review.)
Gold Medal Pools - seriously consider having them build your pool - get involved in every aspect, expect unforeseeable delays and minor annoyances, and when it is all done, celebrate with the biggest party you can afford because it will be awesome! Then stop by with some steaks - we will throw them on the grill and I will congratulate you on doing your research and for building the best

We received multiple bids on this project in which we had a basic vision. This company took our vision from basic elements and built in their ideas a styles. They were not the cheapest but they clearly seemed to understand our objectives. Our salesperson was Kevin Domenico who was fantatsic to work with during the project. Craig Kooda was the project manager but he played more of a background role working with the crew during initial construction. Kevin was our go to guy up to a point. When problems came up and resolution became an issue it was clear Kevin became increasingly frustrated with the responsiveness of his team. He remained professional but you could read the nuances of his frustration in his calls to me. In late MARCH (!!) the whole process was handed off to Craig. This is where responsivness, punctuality really began to fall off. Understand, the professionalism score is related to responsiveness as I see those going hand in hand. The other thing to understand is this description covers a span from November 2012 to the middle of July 2013!!
Once contracted, the work began promptly. Every step of the way we were comfortable with the direction we were headed. We did point out some potential issues a couple of times and they responded and adjusted to these simple requests. No hassles and no change order required. I also noted they changed the original pump configuration for the water feature. They advised as they re-calculated flow that two pumps was overkill. They promptly and without request had reduced the final price. Clearly integrity is not an issue with these folks.
All was great in ending the project. They came out and started up and trained us on the use of the water feature and then did a final inspection on the work. They collected their final check and we were done. So we all thought. I later went out to walk around and admire what we had built and noted water leaking onto the patio from the water feature! Aaaaaaaacccccccccckkkkkk.
I immediately called Kevin and advised what I was seeing. They were here the next day and did find an issue with a leak at the top of one of the stone scuppers. They sealed it all back up and we thought we were good to go. After a couple of days we recognized that didn't solve the issue. It seemed like we had some leaks in the grout of the porcelain as we were losing water level. They found the solution for that issue and the water leaks were mostly gone! Key word, mostly. This thing continued to leak and the process of finding the problem largely wouldn't have happened had I not engaged the process on a daily basis as they fumbled looking for solutions.
We finally discovered that the other two scupper pipes were leaking. During this ID process it was divulged that the stone workers did the final plumb in job... obviously not their expertise! With that issue fixed we were finally closer to resolution of the problem. It simply took too long to fix these issues... at this point it was late MARCH! If you contract with these folks understand they subcontract many functions of the project and simply do not control their contractors time. It has now been two months since the major issues were fixed with the water feature. Since then we have been in the clean up of what I would consider minor isses and they are fumbling that ball as well. As I write today (7-13-2013), they still need to replace a pressure guage that went bad during the process and re-clean the water feature since they had to grind some stone to fix a flow issue over the falls. I'm also still not 100% happy with the aesthetics of the flow out of one scupper but I do not want them to tear it up again to fix this perception problem....thus the B in quality.
In retrospect, they should have been a little quicker in finding and fixing these issues. Their responsiveness is rated low because many calls and emails went unanswered for days..especially after Kevin handed off the problem resolution to Craig. While Kevin remained as professional as he could be... it was clear he was frustrated with the responsiveness of his team. Punctuality was an issue as when they did communicate when something was going to happen...it often didn't. These facts impacted the overall professionalism score.
My perception: Responsiveness and punctuality was great until they collected their final check. Had they not received that final check before the issues started the water feature issues would have been resolved in a much shorter period of time....certainly not six months!!

Now, in their defense I would also say this team seems thouroughly committed to:
1) getting everything right in the end!
2) our vision and product selections.
We are mostly very satisfied with the final outcome of the project. However, it shouldn't take 8 months! I have to be honest that everything wasn't perfect in communication and problem resolution. They had complete control of the negative grades and frankly blew it there. The water feature issues and resolution keeps my review from stating and quot;excellentand quot; or an and quot;Aand quot;. The overhead structure, concrete, fence and garden borders are awesome. On the fence, a contractor came by and wanted to stain it for us. We advised that was being done by our contractor. He shared that this was one of the best constructed fences he has seen in a while.
If you do business with these folks negotiate an agreement that final payment will be made within 72 hours of completion so you can evaluate whether everything is working correctly or not. Keeping their financial skin in the game was important in my case.

May 31, 2013 Update: It appears everything is finally done today. Slow and frustrating with these folks but.... we got what we wanted in the end.

June 13, 2013 Update: Well, everything is NOT OK. We are leaking again in the back and the side of the water feature. and quot;Give me a fews days to get someone out there.and quot; A few days? What's a few days when it's been SIX months since original and quot;completionand quot; of the project. Had requested a call from the owner but that hasn't happened at all. Water is back on the patio destroying the finish on the stained concrete....so they'll need to fix that again as well. Adjusted ratings based on new experience.

July 14, 2013 Update: Well, here we are almost 8 months after project started and a problem with the water feature still exists. They have determined that the tile was installed improperly and the current tile needs to be removed and replaced. Magically, this tile is still on the market! We were told months ago that the style of tile was no longer manufactured. On June 27th they said the tile had been re-ordered. I asked for an update on 7/10, got a and quot;They are tracking it.and quot; message. Yes, that was all that was in the e-mail from them. So, here I sit knowing nothing. Yesterday I shot off this message to Craig Kooda @ Gold Medal Pools: and lt;Start Snipand gt;

Craig,

I asked for info on Tuesday… you replied with nothing on Wednesday AM. I’m sorry but this had gotten past ridiculous. I now regret a couple of things.

1) I selected Gold Medal.
2) I’ve been too d*** patient.

That is now over. We are almost eight months into this and you guys have not delivered. I paid a lot of money to have something FUNCTIONAL in my backyard and this is not cutting it. I should NOT have to chase anyone for a solution.

I need an answer Monday as to:

1) When the tile will be in Frisco
2) When the work to SOLVE my problem will begin.
3) And finally…. for the fourth time I am going to request a