how much have you paid and how much $$ worth of work and equipment do you think you have completed?
Building our first pool
- Thread starter sadpoolguy
- Start date
you should contact the PB and his father and tell him that if he writes you a check for $20k (or whatever amount you think they owe you) that you will not seek criminal or civil charges - see if you can get anything out of him - sounds like he was running a pool ponzi scam.
So unfortunate for you. Based on your last posted pictures, you have gunite and decking in place. Did they deliver the pool equipment or create the equipment pad? Regardless of what you have given the bad PB, you will need to work a deal with a new PB to finish the work. You may need to reduce the new PB warranty that he would normally give for him to take on the work. Obviously, the new PB will look to see where he will make profit so you will need to be prepared for higher prices.
You will need to get a lawyer to sort out the bad PB and hopefully you can get some money back.
So sorry to read about this and hopefully your efforts and others that have had to go through this will stop the PB from hurting others.
This is reminiscent of our pool builder and what we found out when things started to go south. For whoever is reading, in addition to the long list of things to check when selecting a PB, find out who owns the company and do a background check, or at least a google search. We found out PB was convicted of credit card fraud in Florida before setting up shop in North Carolina. It really is a ponzi scheme the way some of these companies operate. No assets and all a facade, easily THE worst decisions we've ever made. This is not like buying a car or a home, there is very little consumer protection so caveat emptor!
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The sheriff's office has issued arrest warrants for the PB and his son. 65 Customers so far and this is by word of mouth and FB only. Local news station to air the story next week. We expect the number of victims to grow after the airing. So far no pool builder has given me a price to fix this mess. One said they wouldn't touch it no matter how much.
i would call the news producer on the story and see if they can help coordinate with a pool builder that would commit to helping out the victims as part of the story - would be great exposure for that pool builder, would be great for you and would be great for the news story
Just curious. Did you pick your USER name before all of the issues with your PB and was this an omen of what would happen?
PB & Son arrested....Son bonded out on $235,000 bond. Dad still in jail. We have moved on to PB 2.0 This new guy has worked for 8 people I know, and they all sing his praises. He starts in two weeks. Said we should be swimming in 4 weeks and he should be completely gone by September 7th. I'll keep you all posted!!
Well, PB 1.0 was arrested AGAIN! More charges pending. He has warrants out in several Cities along I-20 for contractor fraud and mis-application of payment. He was denied a bail reduction. YEA!!
On to PB 2.0. He started yesterday. Possibly plaster this weekend. Oh yea!!
$27,000 over and above the 105% I have already paid for the pool to BP 1.0. This is an estimate by PO 2.0, it could go higher depending what develops along the way. Wish us luck!!
On to PB 2.0. He started yesterday. Possibly plaster this weekend. Oh yea!!
$27,000 over and above the 105% I have already paid for the pool to BP 1.0. This is an estimate by PO 2.0, it could go higher depending what develops along the way. Wish us luck!!
On the bright side - a completed pool that is functional is better than a cement pond.
Pool Builder #2 did a great job and we are on our way!!! The electrician is scheduled for Friday.
Currently we are working on stopping the mechanical liens from being filed against our house. PB #1 paid cash to subs, so it's hard to prove if subs were paid or not.
This saga never ends....Electrician ran power to the pool area yesterday. Panel is set, pumps have power, salt cell has power, two three way actuators are done. Now we have to do lights, laminar jets and three 2 way actuators. Start pumps and the issues begin. PB #1 kicks me in the privates from Jail. Looks like 5 gallons of mud packed into the lines dump in to a clean pool. Pump is VERY undersized and needs to be replaced. And lets not forget about the leaks. PB #1 glued all the 3 way valves on the suction side close to the fittings. On one of the fittings, there is 1/4" of pipe stuck into the next fitting. Not enough to seal. Another connection by another 3 way is slowly leaking water. Now I have to replace 2 three way valves and probably 2 hours worth of plumbing work because PB#1 didn't do a good job of gluing pipe. I originally thought, "It's a hole in the ground with concrete. How hard can it be?" Now I think, "It's gluing PVC pipe! Anyone can do that." Apparently, NOT!
Look around on youtube, there are various ways to remove PVC pipe from fittings so you can reuse them.
Well PB 2.0's crew worked Saturday and mostly finished the plumbing. There is a skimmer line that has to be replumbed. You don't realize how much trash that darn skimmer takes care of till it's out of service. Wow. I powered up the 2nd feature pump Saturday by mistake, and though, what the heck, lets see what those sheer decends look like. HUGE MISTAKE. Wife was in the pool (1st time) and 20 gallons of 9 month old stale water and mud splashed into the pool. Wife made it out just in time. The dead frog smell was overwhelming. I'm back to scrubbing the pool for the next two days. It all worked out. Sunday night we swam for 2 hours before the rain and lightning ran us out of the pool. I have to say, the laminar jets look cool, but they are so dang loud, I can't see ever using them.
Well, it's a month later. We are still working on the pool. PB 2.0 has COVID, so all work has stopped again. Looks like most, if not all, of the leaks have been found and corrected. Tried the SPA out finally. I have to admit, I am VERY glad we added it to the project. I watched the 1st quarter of the Arkansas/Texas game in the spa. Pretty cool. When PB 2.0 returns, he has to backfill the piping ditches from the repairs, reset concrete forms for two HUGE retain walls and pour concrete. Hopefully we will be done by mid-October. 14 months on this project from beginning till end (maybe/hopefully). Wow.....