Don't knock all stores!

[Gatebyrd]

I am mainly a service guy who occasionally has counter duty. I absolutely love helping people get there pools looking beautiful. I pretty much always go help first time pool owners off the clock. I know I'm not the only one in the industry who just likes to help people. Seems like there's a little store hate on here, sorry moderator.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Don't misunderstand us, some people have the right idea. We have many people in the industry on this forum who are very good at what they do. But there are many people who work in the industry (techs, builders, store clerks, etc) who do not have a good understand of the chemistry and how each product impacts the pool. We see it here thousands of times each season. Then there are the store "products" that are often over-priced and/or sold that simply will not resolve the issue. Again, lack of understanding. But that's why TFP is here.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Griswald]

If you have sold pH Down and pH Up to the same person on the same visit, you are part of the problem.

I've seen that happen.

 

[Mdragger88]

Hate is a strong word- conflicting methods is more the reality.
TFPC methodologies base pool care on regular homeowner testing with an accurate kit more often than once per week & dosing as needed w/ a few simple fairly cheap Basic chemicals (liquid chlorine, baking soda, Muriatic acid, stabilizer, & calcium chloride) that really don’t make pool stores very much $$.
They are a business after all & do need to make $.
Average pool store/service methodologies are based on the test once a week & dose once a week whether u need it or not plan.
Pool Stores generally make most of their $ on expensive forms of chlorine & potions that are simply not recommended here & often cause more harm than good in the long term. Especially when the user has no idea what is actually in the products or their full effects on their water chemistry.
The fact is that alot folks walk in looking for a magic pill & the pool store provides that to them based on the info they have at the time (like a water sample that’s been sitting in the car all day) whether it’s a good long term solution or not & the customer will likely not return for a week. They are just giving the customer what they want in the moment most of the time & it can be a vicious cycle. Unless the store sells plenty of other products/services with a higher profit margin than chemicals this will likely not change.
Outdated industry standards for recommended levels also play a large role in this equation. Things are starting to change but it’s slow going & the end user is caught in the middle, confused, & pays the price
More often than not people will come here after spending hundreds of dollars & doing every thing they were told by the PS only to still have an unswimmable unsanitary pool looking at them every day for an entire season. Many are shocked to learn that the recommended levels they were told to maintain are what got them in trouble in the 1st place.
Things like - a cya of 100 & a fc of 3 are perfect! Or that to lower TA they should add insane amounts of acid & crash their ph potentially damaging equipment, surfaces, & swimmers.
Unfortunately most pool stores (& by default their employees) do not fully recognize the fc/cya relationship as most are trained by the very companies that produce/distribute solid forms of chlorine & magic potions.
Pool stores have their place in tfpc but it’s not reliable/repeatable testing or magic potions.
I try to patronize my locally owned store for things like liquid chlorine, salt, the occasional pool part etc. but as nice as they are I don’t use their testing or ask for their chemistry advice. Until I got my own Taylor salinity kit I would occasionally get my salt level checked there to compare with my salt strips (they use a meter that may or may not be properly calibrated) but it was a level that could stand to be “in the ballpark”.
I know they don’t use/acknowledge tfp Recommended Levels because the 1st couple times I had them test my water they did the full battery of tests & always said my fc was too high & proceded to recommend other chemicals as well even though my water was spot on.
They probably just think I’m the weird liquid chlorine lady because i have a salt pool but I don’t buy their mps.

 

[jark87]

I’m a fan of my local Leslie’s, as they have helped me with several things non-chemistry related, some at no charge. I do, however, go into the store with confidence that I know my own water chemistry (thanks to TFP!) and I don’t rely on their tests. I will have them test my water occasionally, just to compare to my own results, and mostly because I want to see how close their CYA is to my own, since that’s the 1 test I feel is too ambiguous. Yes, I get questioned often about how high my FC is, but most of their recommendations have been accurate - like how much acid to add to bring down pH. No one has ever “pushed” anything on me, although they do strongly believe in phosphate control, which I tend to agree with as insurance. I pay a bit more for salt, MA, conditioner, etc., but do so knowingly because of the convenience.

 

[mknauss]

Never been in a pool store. Unless you are talking about Home Depot, or Walmart.

 

[borjis]

I'm lucky. The local pool co I've used for liner and heater replacements only. They have been great.
No upselling ever. Great service for reasonable price. I'm lucky.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I have a happy Leslie's story.

Once, while putting my Pentair cartridge filter back together after cleaning, I leaned a little too heavily on the clamp & bolt, bending them out of shape. I could no longer assemble the filter. I raced down to my local Leslie's (where I do buy chemicals, toys, & accessories occasionally) to see whether I could buy a new clamp.

The store had no clamps in stock. I'd have to order one and wait. But the store manager had a brilliant idea: he took the clamp off a floor display model filter, looked up the price, and sold it to me. There are some good guys in pool stores.

 

[Gatebyrd]

Hate is a strong word- conflicting methods is more the reality.
TFPC methodologies base pool care on regular homeowner testing with an accurate kit more often than once per week & dosing as needed w/ a few simple fairly cheap Basic chemicals (liquid chlorine, baking soda, Muriatic acid, stabilizer, & calcium chloride) that really don’t make pool stores very much $$.
They are a business after all & do need to make $.
Average pool store/service methodologies are based on the test once a week & dose once a week whether u need it or not plan.
Pool Stores generally make most of their $ on expensive forms of chlorine & potions that are simply not recommended here & often cause more harm than good in the long term. Especially when the user has no idea what is actually in the products or their full effects on their water chemistry.
The fact is that alot folks walk in looking for a magic pill & the pool store provides that to them based on the info they have at the time (like a water sample that’s been sitting in the car all day) whether it’s a good long term solution or not & the customer will likely not return for a week. They are just giving the customer what they want in the moment most of the time & it can be a vicious cycle. Unless the store sells plenty of other products/services with a higher profit margin than chemicals this will likely not change.
Outdated industry standards for recommended levels also play a large role in this equation. Things are starting to change but it’s slow going & the end user is caught in the middle, confused, & pays the price
More often than not people will come here after spending hundreds of dollars & doing every thing they were told by the PS only to still have an unswimmable unsanitary pool looking at them every day for an entire season. Many are shocked to learn that the recommended levels they were told to maintain are what got them in trouble in the 1st place.
Things like - a cya of 100 & a fc of 3 are perfect! Or that to lower TA they should add insane amounts of acid & crash their ph potentially damaging equipment, surfaces, & swimmers.
Unfortunately most pool stores (& by default their employees) do not fully recognize the fc/cya relationship as most are trained by the very companies that produce/distribute solid forms of chlorine & magic potions.
Pool stores have their place in tfpc but it’s not reliable/repeatable testing or magic potions.
I try to patronize my locally owned store for things like liquid chlorine, salt, the occasional pool part etc. but as nice as they are I don’t use their testing or ask for their chemistry advice. Until I got my own Taylor salinity kit I would occasionally get my salt level checked there to compare with my salt strips (they use a meter that may or may not be properly calibrated) but it was a level that could stand to be “in the ballpark”.
I know they don’t use/acknowledge tfp Recommended Levels because the 1st couple times I had them test my water they did the full battery of tests & always said my fc was too high & proceded to recommend other chemicals as well even though my water was spot on.
They probably just think I’m the weird liquid chlorine lady because i have a salt pool but I don’t buy their mps.

I have only been on here for a day now and have already learned a lot. I want to do whatever is best for my customers, luckily I am not stuck in my ways. If there is a better way to do things that will be my new way. Your right too, hate was a strong word, not really how I meant to come off.

 

[Gatebyrd]

Welcome to TFP! Don't misunderstand us, some people have the right idea. We have many people in the industry on this forum who are very good at what they do. But there are many people who work in the industry (techs, builders, store clerks, etc) who do not have a good understand of the chemistry and how each product impacts the pool. We see it here thousands of times each season. Then there are the store "products" that are often over-priced and/or sold that simply will not resolve the issue. Again, lack of understanding. But that's why TFP is here.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks for your response, I read this site's literature for hours last night and I learned a lot. I will definitely be changing.the way I do some things. Happy I found yall when I did.

 

[PoolStored]

@Gatebyrd It will be interesting to see how you square your commercial interests working in the industry, with TFP recommendations.

If a pool store tries to sell liquid chlorine (or SWG), Muriatic Acid, Baking soda and Borax...maybe an aerator. I don't know how you can make it commercially.

I went to one of the more popular pool stores near me today. They will be replacing my liner this fall (no other options). The amount of products they sell that are minerals, flocs, algaecides, ionizers, UV, clarifiers etc. was astounding.

I will be following your progress and see how you "net out."

 

[Gatebyrd]

@Gatebyrd It will be interesting to see how you square your commercial interests working in the industry, with TFP recommendations.

If a pool store tries to sell liquid chlorine (or SWG), Muriatic Acid, Baking soda and Borax...maybe an aerator. I don't know how you can make it commercially.

I went to one of the more popular pool stores near me today. They will be replacing my liner this fall (no other options). The amount of products they sell that are minerals, flocs, algaecides, ionizers, UV, clarifiers etc. was astounding.

I will be following your progress and see how you "net out."

I like everything I have seen on here, ill be happy to document my progress towards this way of doing things as much as I can.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Gatebyrd and Welcome !! While some of the chemistry regs will not jive with how we do things, Pretty much everything else about your day can be found here, or helped with if you ask. A clog for example. Or a leaky pump.

To your point about good pool stores out there, of course there are. Or, more so……. A pool store with one or more good employees. There are even stores out there who still use out Taylor drop tests instead of the machines designed to sell unnecessary chemicals. But. Without someone who knows having already verified and vetted *that* rare store or *that* rare knowledgeable and truely helpful employee………. We simply can’t send anyone to their local store on the overall odds that they will be fleeced.

There are good Jiffy Lubes out there too. Would you walk into one looking confused and ask them to check your levels, so they could tell you what you need ? You could have the honest store with good mechanics. You probably don’t, so I would never recommend that either.

 

[Oly]

My advice is to specialize in cleaning filters on a twice a year contracted schedule with enough prepayed jobs to give you an income base year round. Provide an on demand draining/refilling service, pvc repair, installing SWG systems and pumps too. These will always be in high demand.