Platinum Pools

Started off well - dig went smoothly, the gunite and tile were done earlier than anticipated. We received weekly phone calls for 6 months before we even had a dig date. I thought we had lucked out with Platinum Pools. Then after construction and the final check was cashed, communication was non existent. We were told to fill our pool before the city approved it. It has been filled for two months and has not passed final inspection. During "pool school" our instructor was surprised that the heater was not working. I send a daily email to ask about status and all I am told is they are "working hard to find a date." It failed its most recent inspection. Our spa is not functioning because their plumber is too busy.

We had a great experience with Mark and Chris at Platinum pools. They responded when we sent texts and we are very happy with the way the pool looks and functions.

13 years later and $60K on a pool once again we have 5 cracks, a deck that is falling behind the spa, no working pool lights for over 10 years and another summer with a deep unusable hole in the ground. Don't use Platinum, run as fast as you can away!! Additional bonus, the lights that have been shorted out 10+ years and we were originally charged 1635.00 for them to get them fixed is now over $5K. Also owner Scott Waldo has never reached out, what a coward.

Our experience with Platinum pools was lousy. On site supervision was minimal to not at all, tile work was awful, we have replaced the pump twice because it was undersized. We have replaced the tile in the spa because it rotted out in a short time. When problems came up, the salesman and owner were no where to be found and would not return call. This is worst contractor I ever dealt with in over 40 years!!

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Terrible

I didn't think they were professional in the way they were providing me with a quote.  It took way too much time and it seemed like the sales person that they sent to assess what kind of pool I was building was only with the company for less than a year.  That person by themselves that told me that they had 20 years experience in design.  It took a few days and then I called them and asked what was happening with the design and the way they were working they said that the person that they sent to me first draws on the paper and then they pass it to somebody in the office and that was like a middle person and then the person in the office is going to do a computer sketch and I just thought that was really complicated because a lot of things could get lost.

Salesman was nice, that was the only good thing in this terrible ordeal.
They put the pool in way past the lead time they said which is not the bad part.They dug the pool with my neighbors driveway access. They promised to clean his driveway when they were done. They left an inch of mud in his driveway and left.
The pool was dug in the wrong place. The tile was installed out of level and uneven, they came back to fix it and it was still very sub par. The flagstone coping was installed over a 1/4" uneven in height and at the interior edge of the pool. I caught them in the middle of this and had them fix it although it was still a 2nd class job. The guys pouring the decking could not lay out a circle for our table, I had to do it for them. They pored the decking 3 days after they dug a 3 foot deep trench to reroute the sewer line. I told them they needed to wait until the ground settled but they assured me it would be fine. One week after they poured the decking, there was a 4" void under it where the ground settled. I had to make them come out to blow gunite in the void. We had rusty rebar sticking out of the gunite before the plaster was installed. I heard on the owner of Platinum's radio show that that could bleed over time through the plaster so I call Scott the owner. He proceeded to tell me I didn't know how to F**** build and pool and he cussed me out. I couldn't believe it! The salesman did have it repaired later before the plaster went in. My pool is now old, but the lack of a good job is still evident.

Had the pool installed..Work began Oct.2013... Filled pool Dec 2013... Had some plaster issues showing up aprox 3 mos later..got worse... First Platinum told us it was our fault...as we werent watching calcium levels, etc.  After going back and forth with Platinum for months.. they did in fact make it right.  I would have said terrible things about them had they not.  But they have truly come thru for us and I have nothing but nice things to say about Scott Waldo and his staff.  Wanda Terrell especially  has been nothing but responsive,  she has been there for us every step of the way.    He has some great people at this time representing his company.  They were not the cheapest... but of all the pool co's we inquired with..they seemed the most professional and responsive. They listened to what we wanted and did not try to push anything on us we didn't ask for.  I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to build a pool.   

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It took them forever, they started in April, we did not get what we thought we were gonna get and the sales man just basically, we went in, we take that all of our stuff and we wanted the stack stone and were not cool people so when he designed it, we signed up on the design and we found out once everything is poured, there's no going back, oh you can't do the stack stone, it has to be a straight wall and he did a slot on the lading curve to that wall so we could not have what we wanted. Contractors that came out were sloppy and messy and didn't clean up after themselves, they didn't clean up any of their stuff, i would not recommend them again. They weren't the highest but they weren't the lowest either, we were buying what we want the pool is going to look like, the workers did not clean up themselves like when they laid the tile, they did not clean up any of the boxes, they left everything in the yard, they tramped mud totally over the patio so over the months they were working, every time you go outside, there was mud everywhere including having to come up to the back door to use the plug there not the ones closest to them. Its hard to give them a good rating if you didn't get what you paid for,good thing, the supervisor, his name is John, he tried his best, he even came over helped my husband pick up boxes and clean up.

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I couldn't have been more pleased with the experience! Everyone I dealt with at Platinum was attentive to detail and to my needs! A+ on communication as well! Phones calls and emails were responded to in a very timely manner and often times, a team member contacted me first just to see how things were going! I had heard horror stories about the use of subcontractors but the ones I got were fantastic! Very personable...excellent in working with me when I needed to let the dogs out for potty breaks!...and the clean-up was a breeze! Many thanks to my team....Shaun Smith, Shawn Buckley, Erica Clark, Wanda Terrell, and everyone else who worked on this project! Now, I have my own personal paradise in my own backyard!

As of today's date we have a pool that is full of water, but we can't use our heater because it was never hooked up. Even though the plumbers put in the gas line a month ago, and no one from Platinum bothered to let us know that we might need an upgraded meter, that is until Friday of last week. This is one of the many errors and miscommunication on the part of either Platinum Pools or their subcontractors.
I began the process of this pool build on July 24. Our pool designer walked up through the steps and helped us design something that would fit in our smaller yard and retain some of the yard for our dogs. At this beginning point everything was fine, and for months this would be the nicest part of our experience with Platinum Pools. I wont' try to tell you everything sequentially, but if you would like more details I kept a blog journal on the building of my pool that I plan on keeping update throughout this process. To read this very detailed journal and see pics of my pool you may click on the following link: http://houdiniandholly.blogspot.com/.
Pool Designer and Sales - There are a lot of promises and a lot of inactivity in my opinion. A part of their job is to contact you once a week and see if everything was going okay with your pool build. Most of the time, in my build something was not going okay and he would say he would find out what was going on or see if he could help out in some way and generally that is the last I would here from him until he calls again Friday afternoon for the weekly, and quot;Is everything going okay,and quot; call. This is a very annoying habit unless you actually do plan on doing something for your customers. The worst thing about my particular designer was that he missed something on the HOA application form that caused our pool to be delayed one month.
Pool Construction Supervisors - I've had three during this entire process. One guy who wasn't around long enough for me to remember his name on that he came unannounced to my home and into my back yard where my very unhappy dog greeted him. Then I get the second Supervisor who lets me know he will be coming, but gets there before we get home and so he jumps my brand new security gate (that had just been set in concrete the day before) to take a look at the yard. There was no harm done to my gate, but I think that is pretty unprofessional. This supervisor came one more time to lay out the pool, but it was raining pretty hard to not a lot accomplished. Then I get a call from someone who tells me they are coming to re layout the pool, and lo and behold I find I have yet another construction supervisor. No one actually tells me this I actually call the Platinum Office to find this out.
Pool sub Contractors - Generally did quality work and fixed mistakes as needed. Many mistakes could have been avoided by better communication with Platinum.
General Manager - Mid way through the process I wrote a letter to the general manger explaining our frustration, especially with regards to communication and received a form letter in return apologizing and promising things would get better. (They have not.)
My biggest complaint with this company if that they do not communicate well. You will have one employee tell you one thing and the another something else. My journal tells of all the miscommunications that are too numerous to list, but let me say this I started this process 125 day ago and still do not have a pool I can swim in. This is a luxury item and my husband and I have worked hard and saved for this and they do not value anything about you or your hard work. They are a large pile of excuses, broken promises, missed dates and lazy intentions. So sorry I chose this company, but in the end hopefully I will have a quality product.
I will update this when they are completely finished, but that may be awhile as they have to drain the hot tub (at my expense?) after Thanksgiving to re plaster because they put the wrong plaster in the hot tub.

Update December 12. The pool is for the most part complete. They have to add a couple of jets to the hot tub because the didn't have the ones we wanted. They also left the off some cosmetic stuff around our skimmer basket and cleaning system. Will hopefully be finished with everything next Tuesday. That is when the gas company will hook up the new meter.

The sales/pool design process was lovely. Our salesman, Shaun Smith, really seems to know his stuff and has been very helpful...

Most of the subs are AWFUL and completely unreliable! We went days and days (at one point it was weeks!) without any work being done. I would contact our scheduler everytime one of her subs does not show, and she then will tell me and quot;they will be out next weekand quot; or what ever it takes to shut me up. I'm not sure if it's the pool company being completely overboked or they just really use terrible subs.

I wish I would have waited on this pool installationAt this rate, we will have a pool that we can not use for 6 months.


Update (mid Nov)
Our pool was completed mid. October (enough to swim in one time), but a major mistake was spotted (by my husband), and the company only responded to him a month later. It turned out that the mistake caused us to have to drain the pool and complete replaster. I truly believe that the company would have ignored the problem if my husband had not been persistent. In the end, it is being repaired at Platinums expense (hopefully water and chemical expenses as well), but I would use this review as a warning that the company may try to ignore issues if not forced....

Really well except the plaster job.We started having problems with it after 4 years. Big chunks are missing. When we called about it they tried to blame the use of chemicals for the corrosion of the plaster. We will have to re-plaster in the next year or so. I don't know if that is normal but I know several people who have had pools for years and never had to re-plaster. A friend that used Platinum had a similar problem with her plaster. I would check with other people to see if they had the same problem and how Platinum responded. I was not happy but since they said it was out of warranty there was nothing they could do...

My experience with them was excellent. I never had a pool before, but they were really good. Their professionalism, timeliness, service, and punctuality was good. The quality of the pool was excellent. They gave us the best deal out of all of them.

They are hard to get hold off that is one of the dislikes, but overall they did a good quality work. I would use them again.

Platinum is currently installing a pool in our back yard. We started the
process back in October or November with the design of the pool, which
was a lot of fun. We sent our pool designer, Brandon, a and quot;platand quot;, or scale
drawing including easements of our property. My husband and I had
already spent a lot of time talking with each other about what we wanted
and how we wanted it to look, so we were able to give Brandon a clear
idea of our desires and our budget. Brandon spent a couple of weeks
designing a pool and arrived at our home with a beautiful color
rendering in a hard copy, and a full-motion rendering in his computer.
He took a couple of hours in the back yard confirming all of his
measurements and then we sat at the kitchen table and discussed the
designs, tweaking things as we went along, and discussing the budget.
When he left he had an even better idea of what we wanted, and he spent
another couple of weeks tweaking his design and sending us updated .pdfs
in email for our approval. When we were satisfied with the design, we
signed a contract, and Platinum applied to the city for the permits
while we applied to our HOA for approval.
HOA approval came near
Christmas, so we went back to the showroom (which is smaller than we
thought it would be, but still gorgeous and filled with so many
choices!) and chose tiles, coping, and color schemes.
They broke ground near the end of December, and the pool was completed around the middle of March. We went overschedule, mostly due to weather, but also because of a couple of minor changes my husband and I requested. The process went fairly smoothly, no major problems were encountered, and the pool now looks blue, sparkling, and inviting.
The only uh-oh we've encountered has been during the landscaping phase (another company is taking care of that for us.) We've found a slight leak in the plumbing and have been waiting for a little while for Platinum to schedule a stress test. Hopefully, that will be dealt with quickly and repairs can be made soon.

The process went okay. I also think we typically had some problems, they made a pretty big mistake but they came out and they did everything they were supposed to do to fix it and it works right now. They are not the cheapest but I think their craftsmanship is one of the best.

We used Platinum pools to build a smallish rectangular shaped pool in our backyard. Our home is in the Heights so we don't have a big backyard. Our designer Brandon H. was very professional and always very patient with us thru the entire process. He was accommodating and supported our changes in our plans and size and location of our pool. Dave, the main contractor supervisor was awesome. He was always available by phone and put out all and any fires that came up. We did have an issue with one of their subcontractors--Rainbow Construction-- that tore up one of our french drains and not only did not fix the problem but LIED to my wife that it even happened. If it wasn't for Dave and Platinum stepping up to fix the problem, this review would be very different in tone.
Platinum did solve the french drain issue professionally and to our satisfaction. They also addressed issues such as staining caused by the new tiles in the pool and a malfunction in the filter system of the pool. All problems were fixed within reasonable time and without us having to make a big fuss to get it done.
Overall the pool was done on time and all the issues that WILL come up with having a big hole in your backyard were resolved timely and properly. The work was all done right and with skill.
Now we have a beautiful pool for our 7 year old to enjoy!

As they have just started, I will give them a B grade all-round.

Our entire experience after signing the contract was unpleasant. Our sales person told us that he was required by platinum pools to call us every week to check on the project. This was never done.
When choosing materials, we chose a coping that had a square edge, when the pool was installed the coping had a rounded edge. When picking color for our pebble finish, we chose a blue color that had green undertones. When the pool was installed the color was not correct. I called and asked about it and was old the color we chose was the color that was installed. I asked what color did we chose? Again, I was told, the color installed was the color you chose. I had to dig up the paper work myself in order to get the name of the color. I again called and asked to speak to someone regarding the color of the pebble, I was told that the color would change once the pool was filled; this was not the case either. I took it upon myself to visit the showroom and once again look at the samples. When I arrived I took it upon myself to borrow the sample we selected and took it home to drop it in my pool and compare. It was not until I took a photo of the sample inside my pool showing the colors next to each other that I was able to get anyone at platinum pools to give me any response other than the color installed is the color you chose.
At that point I was told a representative from the manufacturer of the pebble would come out to inspect. He called me after to explain that the color installed is the color that we chose, but that he could see the color difference between what was installed and the sample. He stated that the issue was the fountain in the showroom that was used to keep the samples wet. That there was copper inside that fountain that gave the sample the green undertones we saw when choosing a color and that there would be no way to match the color completely.
I explained that this is platinum pools problem not ours. That we chose the color based on a sample that they provided and whether or not the color we chose was the color installed was irrelevant to us. If platinum’s samples do not match the actual product that that is their problem and extremely misleading, unprofessional, and negligent. He agreed and stated I should take that up with platinum as it was their fountain, and their samples.
After almost four weeks of fighting I finally got platinum to replace the pebble in my pool but I had to fight endlessly and take my own time and effort to prove my case to them. Had I not done so platinum would have continued to tell me that the color we chose was the color installed and left it at that. If I’m paying you substantially to build a pool, we deserve more respect and consideration. Platinum was disrespectful, dishonest, and mean about the entire thing.
Our Supervisor situation was almost as bad. We had three different supervisors over the course of the project. Never were we informed of a change. We found out each time when the cell phone we called to speak to our supervisor had been handed off to someone else. Each time, the new person was completely unaware of our situation and concerns. There was no knowledge transfer from one supervisor to the other, no notification to us that supervisor were changing, etc.
Our final supervisor was a very nice guy, however it was pretty clear he did not know a lot about pools and had not been in the industry long. He did his best, truly, but I do not blame him. If he were inexperienced, he should have been trained by someone. I was never given a full operational overview of my pool. I was never shown how to drain my pool, etc.
Platinum killed a magnolia tree in my front yard during the construction of the pool. It was explained to us while signing the contract that this could happen, that platinum was not liable, etc. However, the trees roots that were continuously run over by the back hoe could have been easily avoided by taking a slightly less direct route than the straight path they chose. I would still have my tree.
All communication was inefficient and unprofessional. For example when I send an e-mail with 5 questions, each listed separately as bullet points, all five questions should be answered in the response. What occurred was the first response with maybe two questions answered. Then we would respond asking for answers to the remaining three questions, we might get one answer in the second response. This occurred throughout the entire experience.
Conduct yourselves with some professionalism. If I ask five questions, I expect five answers the first time. Getting straight answers and information from your company should not be like pulling teeth. It should not be my job to make sure your employees are doing their job, to fight with them for the information I deserve as a paying customer. It is your job as a business owner to make sure your employees understand basic correspondence, how to respect your customers, how to address customer concerns without condescension and without being flippant.
There were more issues throughout the process; these are some of the major issues I can still remember. It has taken me this long to respond so that I could do so without my feedback being filled with angst and four letter words. Nothing about the experience was pleasant. It could have been had we received proper attention, our issues addressed properly, we had been treated with respect, etc.

They did a wonderful job. The pool is absolutely gorgeous and we're very happy with their work. I would recommend them to anybody!