What would y'all do??? Unhappy with pool service.

[tickingcounter]

As it relates to the contract, I am not sure if you can get out of it or not...
That said, I would still fire the guy, if you "can't" fire him because of the contract, give him (30) days notice insisting he is not to introduce any product into your pool (you are within your rights to insist upon this, contract or not, 30 day notice and all). He makes his profit on the product. If you insist he quit adding chemicals, he isn't going to want to drive over and look at the water knowing he can't dump product even if you are contractually obligated to allow him for the (30) days. He will want to be spending his time at the homes allowing him to blindly dump in product. Yes if his business is slow he will most likely come through for the (30) days and assess a service call charge, but as long as he isn't dumping product you are ahead of the game because you will have control of your water, very economically.

That really may be a good idea for us... I mean, the problem we have is my husband gets out there and in 30 minutes his back hurts. So it's the physical getting it cleaned because we've never got a cover because someone at a pool store told us not to bother with it which I thought was weird and stupid.

I've been testing the water in my mom's fish tanks since I was 10... and I went a few years ago and bought my own master kit (the expensive one) from pet smart so that I could start up my own aquarium. So I'm going to assume it's the same basic principle... just you know testing different things (I know you're not going to test for ammonia in a pool lol).

The pool guy is here right now. Our pool is still cloudy after the flucc which I'm assuming stuff that clumped up has to be vacuumed up still... We'll see what he says though. He doesn't knock on the door and tell me anything (which was okay with me because that's how it was last year when I could trust someone to get the job done) so I think my husband is going to call him afterwards and ask him on the progress of the pool.

 

[tickingcounter]

Update on Pool Service!

I just wanted to let y'all know... pool guy came this morning and just left the invoice and a note in our door. He thanked us for helping and our cooperation (because we had went ahead and bought tablets and had them out there for him to use)...

He said our water looks good chemically except for chlorine. He added more flux to it because of cloudiness and said after he vacuums it Saturday morning it will be ready for use if it's not cloudy. If it's still cloudy we have a filter problem.

Also, did NOT charge for today's service. That's two services we weren't charged for. Just the flucc (which was 25$ each so really that's the price of a service) after my husband's phone call to him.

After this is all over we're going with Pool School no matter what. Since we're stuck in our contract (likely) by the time it's over I ought to be well versed from reading TPS and have a test kit by then.

 

[DKT113]

Smaller bodies of water are so much more difficult to maintain because they are less forgiving. So if you can care for fish-tanks I am sure you can test and maintain your pool.

I can relate to your husband having sore back. It would be no fun running the pool vac. Would it be possible to maybe "hire" someone~ a family member's teen or college student, neighborhood teen, adult neighbor, someone you trust or would be comfortable seeing if you could establish trust to come in and assist. Most everyone would love an opportunity to supplement their income and for the right person taking care of a pool would be an awesome way to earn some extra side bucks.

I would think even with a tender back once it is swept up the rest of the process could be handled by you guys, you might need some help opening and winterizing ~ covers can be heavy, but maintenance you guys should be very easily able to handle. If you keep the levels where they need to be it pretty much runs itself. Now you might have storms and the like that would cause debris to be introduced, if that would happen you could call back your trusted person to sweep or you could set it up they come and sweep the pool once a week during a time when your family isn't using it. As far as opening and closing trusted person could very easily help you cover and uncover. Couple sets of hands is all that is needed.

Just trying to think of ways to get you away from a pool service. The money saved on the products they are dumping in would pay for someone you trust to sweep, open and close several times over. That doesn't even take into consideration the health benefits of taking control of your water knowing without a doubt it is healthy and safe for all to enjoy.

 

[CUTiger78]

Even though "flucc" tickles my funny bone, it’s really “floc,” short for flocculant or flocculation. For your pool water treatment, it’s a process (flocculation) where you add a something (flocculant) to get particles in the water to form larger-size clusters (floc) that can be more easily captured by the filter. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flocculation.

+1 to all the tips you've gotten so far AND you need to be filtering 24/7, backwashing when the filter pressure rises to 25% over clean filter pressure. Besides a good test kit, lots of chlorine, and lots of POP (pool owner patience), it also takes lots of filtration to get your pool clear.

It's "been there, done that" for most of us here and you can do it, too!

Good luck!!

 

[tickingcounter]

Update on Pool Service!

I just wanted to let y'all know... pool guy came this morning and just left the invoice and a note in our door. He thanked us for helping and our cooperation (because we had went ahead and bought tablets and had them out there for him to use)...

He said our water looks good chemically except for chlorine. He added more flux to it because of cloudiness and said after he vacuums it Saturday morning it will be ready for use if it's not cloudy. If it's still cloudy we have a filter problem.

Also, did NOT charge for today's service. That's two services we weren't charged for. Just the flucc (which was 25$ each so really that's the price of a service) after my husband's phone call to him.

After this is all over we're going with Pool School no matter what. Since we're stuck in our contract (likely) by the time it's over I ought to be well versed from reading TPS and have a test kit by then.

 

[tickingcounter]

I knew i was saying it wrong. LOL.

I think that's what we're going to do after this. My mom offered to help with our pool but last year she kept insisting we needed to drain our inground pool... when I kept telling her I don't think you can do that mom... And she has a bad back too... and NO we did NOT drain our pool lol. But I think we will do that. Get someone to do the manual part and we'll be doing the testing and balancing.

All these tips have been really encouraging. Wish I would have found this like 2 or 3 years ago.

 

[DKT113]

Just to make you aware, water that looks good to him, might not be to the same standards as to those who look at results from the testing kits they use here. One of those test kits is the key to the whole operation. He could clear that water as he hopes on Saturday, but we know he is a little bit unsure because he has mentioned "filter problems". As you have a sand filter, provided it is hooked up correctly not too much can go wrong with that. If on Saturday he swings through and tries to sell you on purchasing a filter, please do not do that. The experts will probably see you posts soon enough, and I am no expert, but I can tell you as I said above the test kit is key to all of this, the numbers it gives you after testing will allow you to post on here (until you have learned the process) and folks will be able to tell you because of this reading you need to do "x" / because of that reading you need to do "y". Having him in contract or not you can grab a sample of that water and test it so you can start moving forward in a manner that allows you to clear that water , getting a basic understanding of the testing procedures and that will then allow Pool School to make more sense.

Just wanted to get it out there ~ Please do not buy a new filter on Saturday if he suggests that. Yes people do at times need to replace them, but you have another avenue you need to travel before purchasing a new filter. This one has handled your pool to date, so it is at least minimally the right size, if it would be the laterals, those are easily replaced. If it would be the spider gasket, again very easily fixed. Sand is sand and doesn't need replaced (usually), even if it is channeled you can fix that as well. So if he has you convinced seven ways from Sunday you need a new filter, please hold firm on saying no until you have one of the 2 test kits and have results from testing.

 

[woodyp]

I don't see one in your sig line, so............what kind of pool cleaner/vacuum do you have? I would allow his "contract" to expire based on HIS malfeasance/nonfeasance/ineptitude over that period of time. Noboby here is gonna like me saying this, but............you sure ain't worth taking to court over it!

 

[tickingcounter]

I don't see one in your sig line, so............what kind of pool cleaner/vacuum do you have? I would allow his "contract" to expire based on HIS malfeasance/nonfeasance/ineptitude over that period of time. Noboby here is gonna like me saying this, but............you sure ain't worth taking to court over it!

I'm not really sure what cleaner/vacuum we have. Sorry. I'll find out and add to my sig line. My husband would know. We are just going to wait the contract out. It's for three months. We don't want to have to go to court or anything nor do we want to pay any big fee to break it (I think it's a percentage or something). He's a nice guy otherwise. I don't know if he's just overly busy with other customers or what. Ever since my husband called him... he's gotten the job done... My husband shouldn't have ever had to call him though.

But after this we will be doing this on our own at least with starting the pool up. I'd honestly love to save the money anyways. Saving money is always awesome

 

[harleysilo]

Don't let him sell you new sand for your filter either!

 

[jblizzle]

The most you would have to pay is the 3 month fee and tell him to never come back ... he can not take you to court if you paid the contract off. Or check what the fee is to break it ... it can not be more than the term of the contract.

 

[Charlie_R]

The most you would have to pay is the 3 month fee and tell him to never come back ... he can not take you to court if you paid the contract off. Or check what the fee is to break it ... it can not be more than the term of the contract.

Could it be that is the way he operates? Do a nasty job, then when clients want to fire him, he gets paid for doing nothing......

 

[pool mum]

Just wanted to reiterate the rest...you can totally do this! I'm brand new to pool maintenance (just bought this house), and it's much easier than I thought it would be. I do it all myself; my husband works long hours. Testing and adding chemicals each day takes about 5 minutes, physically cleaning the pool (skimming and vacuuming) takes about 10-15. I don't need to vacuum or skim every day, about every other day is good. As the others said, maybe you can hire a neighborhood kid to come skim and vacuum for you. I've taught my kids (tweens and teens) how to vacuum and now they do it before they swim. I have a manual vacuum (not sure what it's called) but it has a hose and is on the long end of a pole and you push it around the bottom.

Now closing and opening, that's another story. Not sure how to close a pool properly, but I'll tackle that this fall. Pool School can be a little overwhelming at first, just take it one article at a time and read through the forum and you'll get it in no time. I printed some sheets out and read them over and over.

 

[Casey]

How did passing out the Pink Slip go?

Hope you ordered your kit and took control!