Action: Pool resurfacing didn't go smoothly

We were looking forward to a relaxing summer around the pool this year, so we decided to have it resurfaced before pool services were in great demand from other consumers. The owner of Swim Temp, also known as Pool Solutions, has given us a very difficult time completing the work.

This nightmare started in September. According to our written contract, Pool Solutions was paid $3,689 to resurface our pool with a Renaissance Pool Finish in the color of Coral Sea. Pool Solutions completed the work Oct. 25; however, it used the wrong color. When notified of this, Pool Solutions agreed that the wrong pool finish was used and said it would correct the error within one week.

A reasonable period of time passed without Pool Solutions contacting us as agreed. We called again and Mark Langley, the owner, informed us that he canceled the order for the refinishing.

Then, in a letter dated Nov. 15, he said he had made the decision to refinish our pool with Teal Sea instead of Coral Sea because the latter had brown specs in it that look like algae. Upon learning this, he said he assumed we wouldn't want it and so elected to use the popular Teal Sea.

In our written response Nov. 20, we said we found it odd that he would make an "executive decision" regarding something of such magnitude. We wanted a brown finish to add to the antique look we were hoping to achieve, not the blue-green we got. Mark Langley had offered us a $500 credit and a pool purifier, saying he wanted us, his very unhappy customers, to become happy customers. We had already made arrangements to purchase the latter elsewhere but said we were happy to learn that he wanted us to be happy and that we therefore wanted to have our pool redone in White Krystal.

On Dec. 5, we wrote to the company financing this work to ask it to intervene and force Pool Solutions to honor our contract or refund us the money we had already paid. Pool Solutions finally came out, although it did not bother to let us know when it was going to do so, and we had to learn from our neighbors that the company's workers were on our premises.

On May 9, we again wrote to Pool Solutions regarding an unsightly stain in our pool it had unsuccessfully attempted to remove with chemicals. The company's vice president had assured us the next step would be to drain the pool and promptly acid wash it, the only sure method to remove the stain.

We called the company many times to get it to begin the work but our calls were never returned. In addition, the company had removed a fountain from our pool five months earlier and not returned it.

Dealing with Pool Solutions has been a very unpleasant experience and we just want to awake from this ungodly dream, go outside and enjoy our pool without looking at the huge, brown, hideous stain in the bottom of it. Monica Gibbs

Response: Pam Langley, co-owner and president of Pool Solutions, said her company was contracted to resurface your pool with Coral Sea. Instead, it was resurfaced with Blue Sea as the coral specs make the pool look like it has algae in it. She said making that judgment call was a mistake -- if you want your pool to look like it has algae in it, so be it.

You then chose to resurface the pool in White Krystal, which was not what you contracted for. Langley said the company chose to make you happy rather than making you stick to the Coral Sea color.

When the company's vice president tried to take your 30-year-old fountain out of your pool to do the resurfacing, it broke in his hand. The pool cannot be resurfaced with the fountain in it. Unfortunately, the fountain was so old it is no longer manufactured. Langley said the company has tried to repair it, to no avail. In good faith, she said Pool Solutions might be willing to put a different model fountain in for you; however, it will not be "custom made."

She also said you have not maintained your pool at all. Upon refinishing, customers are instructed to brush the pool daily with a wire brush for two to four weeks while the pool is curing. This was not done, she said, nor were the chemicals maintained. The company has gone over twice since the refinishing as a courtesy to your and your husband.

In good faith, she said the company was prepared to use a no-drain, acid wash on your pool, after which the pool would become 100 percent your responsibility. You will be required to sign off that you will maintain your pool as instructed, since Pool Solutions is not responsible for customer negligence.

As for your allegations that the company does not return your phone calls, Langley said you do not return theirs. In the future, she said Pool Solutions will not set foot on your property until you are fully aware of your responsibility for your pool.

-- Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

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We may require additional information or prefer to reply by mail; therefore, readers must provide a full mailing address, including ZIP code. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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