I wanted to share my month long experience with Maytronics incase it helps others. I realize my pool is not the standard design so I tried to validate as much as I could before making a purchase. Our pool has a beach entrance and the pool builder included a Pentair Prowler 930 with the build. After our first month of curing we began using the robot. We immediately noticed two issues. The robot would drive out of the pool and it would try to climb the wall of the shallow section causing it to get stuck. Pentair was no help and just told us to shorten the cable so the robot cannot access any of those areas. With out pool design that would eliminate more then 50% of the pool and defeat the purpose of having a robot IMO. Since the Dolphin name is on the Pentair I contact there support. The informed me that the Prowler 930 is based on an older Dolphin design and although they could not support that they did not feel it was the right fit for a beach entry pool. I sent them pictures, measurements and an explanation of the issues I encountered with the Prowler and asked them what they would recommend. The came back and suggested the M600 or Active 60 stating that they both had technology in them built to handle a beach entry pool. I then reached back to my installer and asked about getting a Dolphin instead. He bought the Prowler back from me and ordered me an M600 for $1,500.
A few days later the M600 arrived. I set it up and turned it on. Within 20 min it tried to climb the side in the shallow area and got stuck. I restarted the cleaning cycle several times. Each time it either got stuck trying to climb the wall in the shallow area or drove out of the water and did not drive back in. It never ran more than 20 min before getting stuck. S the same issues I had with the Prowler. I contacted support and they told me the M600 is not designed for beach entry pools. I shared the email from my initial discussion before making the purchased and told me they will do some research and get back. They ended up sending me a link to a web form that asks questions and then recommends a model robot. I went through the form and "beach entry" was an option I selected. It then gave me a list of models and the M600 was on that list. Support then stopped responding to me. I called in and got a new person. they told me it would work with my pool and maybe I just need to raise the water level or limit the cord so it cannot access the beach. I pushed back again and they asked me to upload pictures and videos of the problems along with measurements of my pool and overall pool design so engineering could review. Again days go by with no response to my requests for updates. I call in again and get a 3rd person on the phone. They say it should work and I need to send the robot in for testing. They send me a label and I ship it in. I made sure to type out mown description of the problem and ask the technician to call me once he gets the unit to discuss. A week later I get an email that they tested the robot and it is working correctly and that it should work in my pool. They included the technicians email so I could contact him with any questions. I send an email asking why it is not working if it tests fine and should work in my pool. No response from the technician. I let a couple days go by and call in again. This time the person that answers says that my hardware is OK but they are waiting for a software update. I asked for more details and they said I need to reply to the email I got about the testing and the appropriate person will get notified and get back to me. I do and a couple more days go by with no response. I call in again and this person tells me they are waiting for a part to fix my robot. At this point I ask for a supervisor. I speak to the supervisor and he seems very understanding of all I have been through. He explains that he understands supports confusion with the notes in the system and asks for some time to research. He does call me back later that day and explains that my robot tests out correctly and that sometimes the robot may not work in all applications. I explain that IMO a beach entry pool has two features that make it different then other pools. One is that the water level goes to 0 and that there is a shallow area where the robot may try to climb the wall. Since it is failing in those two features how is it designed with a beach entry in mind. He carefully avoids the question and suggest I try to return the robot. I explained that I have now been working with there support for over 30days and they still have my robot so not sure I can return it. He agrees to send it back and sends me a email from their system. He tells me to respond to that email if I cannot return it and they will see what Maytronics can do. It has now been 5 days since I first sent him a message and I sent a follow up yesterday with no response as my installer will not take the robot back. In addition they shipped it back to me in a generic box, when I sent it in the original box with all the original packaging.
So now I have a $1,500 paperweight with about 4hrs on it. I purchased a $50 pole vacuum to now clean my pool.
A few days later the M600 arrived. I set it up and turned it on. Within 20 min it tried to climb the side in the shallow area and got stuck. I restarted the cleaning cycle several times. Each time it either got stuck trying to climb the wall in the shallow area or drove out of the water and did not drive back in. It never ran more than 20 min before getting stuck. S the same issues I had with the Prowler. I contacted support and they told me the M600 is not designed for beach entry pools. I shared the email from my initial discussion before making the purchased and told me they will do some research and get back. They ended up sending me a link to a web form that asks questions and then recommends a model robot. I went through the form and "beach entry" was an option I selected. It then gave me a list of models and the M600 was on that list. Support then stopped responding to me. I called in and got a new person. they told me it would work with my pool and maybe I just need to raise the water level or limit the cord so it cannot access the beach. I pushed back again and they asked me to upload pictures and videos of the problems along with measurements of my pool and overall pool design so engineering could review. Again days go by with no response to my requests for updates. I call in again and get a 3rd person on the phone. They say it should work and I need to send the robot in for testing. They send me a label and I ship it in. I made sure to type out mown description of the problem and ask the technician to call me once he gets the unit to discuss. A week later I get an email that they tested the robot and it is working correctly and that it should work in my pool. They included the technicians email so I could contact him with any questions. I send an email asking why it is not working if it tests fine and should work in my pool. No response from the technician. I let a couple days go by and call in again. This time the person that answers says that my hardware is OK but they are waiting for a software update. I asked for more details and they said I need to reply to the email I got about the testing and the appropriate person will get notified and get back to me. I do and a couple more days go by with no response. I call in again and this person tells me they are waiting for a part to fix my robot. At this point I ask for a supervisor. I speak to the supervisor and he seems very understanding of all I have been through. He explains that he understands supports confusion with the notes in the system and asks for some time to research. He does call me back later that day and explains that my robot tests out correctly and that sometimes the robot may not work in all applications. I explain that IMO a beach entry pool has two features that make it different then other pools. One is that the water level goes to 0 and that there is a shallow area where the robot may try to climb the wall. Since it is failing in those two features how is it designed with a beach entry in mind. He carefully avoids the question and suggest I try to return the robot. I explained that I have now been working with there support for over 30days and they still have my robot so not sure I can return it. He agrees to send it back and sends me a email from their system. He tells me to respond to that email if I cannot return it and they will see what Maytronics can do. It has now been 5 days since I first sent him a message and I sent a follow up yesterday with no response as my installer will not take the robot back. In addition they shipped it back to me in a generic box, when I sent it in the original box with all the original packaging.
So now I have a $1,500 paperweight with about 4hrs on it. I purchased a $50 pole vacuum to now clean my pool.
