CJadamec
TFP Expert
Re: Why so much hate on pool store's water test?
I don't see it as greed or fraud. I do see it as people behind the counter with a genuine lack of understanding of the problems they are charged with solving. There is no way for the person behind the counter to know each individual pool they test nor the conditions that the pool or equipment is in. The person bringing in the water is for the most part just as at fault for perpetuating the cycle of the "pool $tore" experience.
The general public wants nothing to do with FC CYA pH TA or CH let alone a csi number. They want the thing they can throw in the pool and have instant gratification. The guy at the pool store is faced with making these uninformed masses happy day in and day out with countess people. So out they churn their mediocre test results and give people the printout and a generic recommendation to move on to the next person.
This cycle repeats over and over most of the time resulting in mostly clear to clear water for a season with one or two algae problems but hey that's just part of owning a pool right and there is a magic pill at the pool store that makes that better.
Then there's the type of people who find their way here. Regardless of the history that brought them here they have come here for knowledge and what they are hoping will be a better way to manage their pool. For those who have woken up from the lemming like cycle of the "pool $tore" they can't believe how easy it can be and suddenly they realize just how poor the recommendations and advise from the guy behind the counter really was. That kind of sudden wool being pulled from your eyes experience will breed the kind of discontent you see here towards the poor college kid behind that test counter.
I ask people I know with pools how they are doing and listen to them go on about nightmare openings and wonderful pool store potions. They say how easy it is to feed the pool pucks all summer and bring a sample in for testing once or twice a month. I then mention how I just use liquid chlorine and never have anything but crystal clear water and just see their eyes glaze over. The people here are the vast minority of pool users and when the majority pool user is faced with information that isnt what the pool store "experts" tell them they just look at you like you are nuts.
So this nut job is going to step off my soap box and take a dip in my crystal clear, silky soft, sparkly, warm, lack of any bad chlorine smell Trouble Free Pool.
I don't see it as greed or fraud. I do see it as people behind the counter with a genuine lack of understanding of the problems they are charged with solving. There is no way for the person behind the counter to know each individual pool they test nor the conditions that the pool or equipment is in. The person bringing in the water is for the most part just as at fault for perpetuating the cycle of the "pool $tore" experience.
The general public wants nothing to do with FC CYA pH TA or CH let alone a csi number. They want the thing they can throw in the pool and have instant gratification. The guy at the pool store is faced with making these uninformed masses happy day in and day out with countess people. So out they churn their mediocre test results and give people the printout and a generic recommendation to move on to the next person.
This cycle repeats over and over most of the time resulting in mostly clear to clear water for a season with one or two algae problems but hey that's just part of owning a pool right and there is a magic pill at the pool store that makes that better.
Then there's the type of people who find their way here. Regardless of the history that brought them here they have come here for knowledge and what they are hoping will be a better way to manage their pool. For those who have woken up from the lemming like cycle of the "pool $tore" they can't believe how easy it can be and suddenly they realize just how poor the recommendations and advise from the guy behind the counter really was. That kind of sudden wool being pulled from your eyes experience will breed the kind of discontent you see here towards the poor college kid behind that test counter.
I ask people I know with pools how they are doing and listen to them go on about nightmare openings and wonderful pool store potions. They say how easy it is to feed the pool pucks all summer and bring a sample in for testing once or twice a month. I then mention how I just use liquid chlorine and never have anything but crystal clear water and just see their eyes glaze over. The people here are the vast minority of pool users and when the majority pool user is faced with information that isnt what the pool store "experts" tell them they just look at you like you are nuts.
So this nut job is going to step off my soap box and take a dip in my crystal clear, silky soft, sparkly, warm, lack of any bad chlorine smell Trouble Free Pool.