This service was a disaster!!! We hired this company to take over for a
smaller company that wasn't able to help us well with all of our needs. We
decided to hire NV to do our pool closing just to make sure that whoever
shut us down in the fall was the one that would open us up in the spring.
We thought that was a wise move. Wrong. Using them cause a problem that
will cost us well over $2,000.00 to fix. Here is what happened:
On the very day we hired them to do the work I *specifically* asked Mike at NV
Pools to have the techs to do a full system check (equipment AND levels)
when they came out. This was because we were leaving our old company and
wanted to make absolutely sure everything was good to go prior to closing
for the first time with NV. (These requests were agreed to and were
documented in my notes in Outlook. They were date stamped and also emailed to
my husband on the day that the service was scheduled, PRIOR to the
service being done. So, these requests were very well documented and verifiable.)
Mike told us that we needed to make sure that the pool was balanced prior to closing.
When the old company we worked with came out for the last scheduled visit
(only 8 days prior to closure with NV) they checked our levels. I also
re-checked levels only about 5 days prior to closure with NV, which was the day
I scheduled the closure with Mike and when he told me to verify we were
balanced. Check. Levels were good. As stated, NV was also asked to verify
themselves levels were good when they were to come out, as well, and they
agreed to do so. NV then came out on Oct 30 to close us down.
On the NV website, it states that NV will add "owner’s chemicals" at time
of closing. So, new, unopened chemicals for closing were left out with pool
cover and other winterizing pool items for the service techs to use when closing
us down. (We bought new chemicals to be ready for NV. Our old company
always included them in the opening and closings. As a result we had to provide
new ones here for NV, which, frankly... I think is a stupid policy for a pool
service company. They should be included with the service and provided by the
pool company, maybe for an additional fee, which we have always been fine
with.) We complied and provided everything needed and left it all poolside for
their use.
Sadly, when they came to open us up at the start of the next season (this year)
it was revealed that we have an AWFUL case of scale! I mean really AWFUL case
of scale. A drain your pool, acid wash and scrape down the whole pool kind of
case of scale! They said it was because our pool levels were off at time
of closing, but I had asked THEM to verify our levels to be sure we
were good to go and they agreed. Didn't they??! Why in the world wouldn't
they, especially after being specifically asked to do so?! Additionally, as I
mentioned, both I and our previous company had also checked those
levels only days prior to NV closing and they were all within normal ranges. So, how
in the world could this damage happen? Confused by what could have really
gone wrong, we checked the box of what we thought were ‘left over’
chemicals that we had put away the after the closing was done and
found all the stuff still there, and unopened! They just drained a bit out of
the pool, cleared the pipes, took off the jet heads and slapped the cover
on.... for almost $500 bucks. They didn’t add any of the necessary chemicals as
I specifically requested and as they state they will on their own website. The
damage that was done as a result of not adding the necessary closing chemicals,
(including the very important anti-scaling agent) caused us to end up
with a scale problem that requires a HUGE and costly repair. They didn't even
offer to repair it at cost or even just a reduced rate… or try to make things
right for us in any way, whatsoever. They refused to even apologize for
the problem… saying it was our fault, not theirs. They just blamed us for a job
that we specifically hired them to do. Then, they tried to get us to pay an arm
and a leg to get this repair done through them at full price! Red flag, anyone?
We now do not trust NV’s word, workmanship, or ethics and would like to caution
other pool owners who don’t have money to just burn, like we don’t. As a result
of our poor choice to trust our pool to NV pools last fall, we must now pay about
$1500 to have our pool emptied, acid washed and sanded down to remove all the
scale and the surface smoothed, not to mention about $600 to $800 for water
to refill the pool again and more chemicals to balance the pool again. And they
couldn’t even say “sorry”. Nice.
Long story short... I trusted NV and I feel like a total fool for it now. I can
only offer these words of caution to people looking for a good company. In my
humble opinion… it may be wise to continue looking for another company and not
take the risk with NV. Just my opinion…. Good luck, fellow pool owners. Be
careful.