I knew I was Pool Stored when...

[fresh]

I've always known pool stores are a scam / black hole of sucking you in for way overpriced products which aren't really needed, well since properly managing my own pool for the first time recently, my experience of 'wow i would be poolstored if i didn't already know what i was doing by now' was going to a random pool shop just to get an alternative reading to try to see how accurate my own testing kits were, he took my sample and sloppily rushed around, sloshing around the stuff like a mad scientist, except not - more a bad scientist, because his test results for alkalinity and pH were way off (like alk 40 ppm lower than mine as well as another pool guy's test from the day before), and he was so confident about it too. My AT HOME checkers (about $400 worth of stuff) were clearly better than his junk...he didn't even know what borates or lanthanum chloride was...nuff said. Granted I think this was a particularly shoddy pool store, I've been to better ones before and since, but I still am finding the average pool store employee to know hardly anything about what they sell which is really weird why would they even work there? Anyway this guy probably would have got me to put so much bicarb in it would have made the pH go sky high.

 

[Brad_C]

I've been really lucky. We've had pools since I was born (50 years ago) and I've had the same pool store for 25 years. Prior to discovering TFP the worst I've had has been the acid/bicarb shuffle. Their tests are always pretty close to mine (I get him to test the water if I'm there for more than $50 in chemicals). I pay more for acid, salt, stabiliser and calcium to buy from them, but then I know the chemicals are good (unlike our local big hardware store that had a batch of salt full of iron) and when I need a new sand filter on Christmas eve, I know he has it on the shelf.

I support my local pool store, because even though it costs me a bit more they have what I need, when I need it, 7 days a week. That might be a par for the course in the US, but in suburban Western Australia it's not so common (and becoming less so as the local pool stores fold under the pressure of cheap imports by the nationwide big box hardware provider).

Now, would I trust the average Australian pool store to balance my water? Umm.. no.

 

[Chuckiechan]

I've been really lucky. We've had pools since I was born (50 years ago) and I've had the same pool store for 25 years. Prior to discovering TFP the worst I've had has been the acid/bicarb shuffle. Their tests are always pretty close to mine (I get him to test the water if I'm there for more than $50 in chemicals). I pay more for acid, salt, stabiliser and calcium to buy from them, but then I know the chemicals are good (unlike our local big hardware store that had a batch of salt full of iron) and when I need a new sand filter on Christmas eve, I know he has it on the shelf.

I support my local pool store, because even though it costs me a bit more they have what I need, when I need it, 7 days a week. That might be a par for the course in the US, but in suburban Western Australia it's not so common (and becoming less so as the local pool stores fold under the pressure of cheap imports by the nationwide big box hardware provider).

Now, would I trust the average Australian pool store to balance my water? Umm.. no.

I agree.
They are in business to make a living. I use them to test my pool water for salt mainly, but I compare the rest to my own tests. They are open all year. That is expensive. I find something to buy every year, just because they test my salt for free.
I have yet to hear of someone kidnapped and forced to buy stabilizer a crate of chlorine - or else. (gulp!)
I once got a Group-On gift of a one pool service. The guy showed up with stained and holey clothes - i.e. "I am a chemical slob with a pool brush". I digress.
When testing the water he took a short cut and dripped the drops from the drip bottle into the pool water itself. When he called for a follow up service, I simply said "No thanks, I need the exercise." Moral: the choice was mine to make, not his.

 

[Newdude]

I have yet to hear of someone kidnapped and forced to buy stabilizer a crate of chlorine

They are well trained into making you think you chose to buy what they suggested. Or the marketing gets ya.

I find something to buy every year, just because they test my salt for free.

So is it really free ? Each test costs whatever you were guilted into spending.

I left my own store empty handed many times, but it was spread out with different employees. If anyone went everyday like they should be testing, the pool store would tire quickly of the customer not purchasing anything, and either refuse to keep testing, or test for an upfront fee.

+1 That i like my store for any small parts when I want to fix something and don't want the pool out of service until Amazon can come. I don't care whatever it was cost $13 more at that point.

Sometimes they even have good sales on bigger items/equipment, or good deals on chemicals, so long as they are pure and not 5 in 1 or such.

But the only way they are touching my water is if they come over to swim in it.

 

[Chuckiechan]

So is it really free ? Each test costs whatever you were guilted into spending.
I did not think In had to explain that I knew it was not free.
"Guilted" attributes a motive you chose to apply to me without evidence.
I was simply saying good service should be rewarded not scorned, and certainly not ridiculed for feeling that way.

 

[Newdude]

I was simply saying good service should be rewarded not scorned, and certainly not ridiculed for feeling that way.

I wasn't ridiculing, I promise. But that statement of 'free test........ cost $xx' gets repeated over and over. One way or another, it's a $xx test. It's marketing genius.

To put it in another context, it's like the 47 point free inspection at Spiffy Lube. Maybe this time you decide to let them change your oil, maybe next time it's another fluid top off and a lube. But the free test exists to start a sales discussion. There is nothing altruistic about it.

 

[Dirk]

To put it in another context, it's like the 47 point free inspection at Spiffy Lube. Maybe this time you decide to let them change your oil, maybe next time it's another fluid top off and a lube. But the free test exists to start a sales discussion. There is nothing altruistic about it.

A raw chicken at my local supermarket is about $11. Roasted to perfection with tasty spices is only $9. When is the last time you walked into your local store and bought only a roasted chicken? They're not trying to help you with your food budget...

It's called a "loss leader" and the marketing/sales strategy is as old as stores.

 

[Lake Placid]

A raw chicken at my local supermarket is about $11. Roasted to perfection with tasty spices is only $9. When is the last time you walked into your local store and bought only a roasted chicken? They're not try to help you with your food budget...

It's called a "loss leader" and the marketing/sales strategy is as old as stores.

My personal experience yes I can and do buy only the loss leader chicken……but my lady…well they’ve got her hook, line, sinker, pole, and tackle box….

ETA…and she was in professional marketing/sales for years and knows the game…but still buys because “the deal”. Bwaaahhhhhhaaaa

 

[Mdragger88]

I agree.
They are in business to make a living. I use them to test my pool water for salt mainly, but I compare the rest to my own tests. They are open all year. That is expensive. I find something to buy every year, just because they test my salt for free.
I have yet to hear of someone kidnapped and forced to buy stabilizer a crate of chlorine - or else. (gulp!)
I once got a Group-On gift of a one pool service. The guy showed up with stained and holey clothes - i.e. "I am a chemical slob with a pool brush". I digress.
When testing the water he took a short cut and dripped the drops from the drip bottle into the pool water itself. When he called for a follow up service, I simply said "No thanks, I need the exercise." Moral: the choice was mine to make, not his.

I have a local mom & pop that I support by buying my liquid chlorine from- they are a great resource I hope stays in business - i too only have ever used them to test my salt (before I got a k1766).
I definitely don’t prescribe to their other “practices” or indulge in them. To them I am just the crazy bleach lady I’m sure

 

[an1vrsy]

I miss having local mom & pop pool stores nearby. Since moving to Las Vegas, it seems like there are more Leslie’s per capita than possibly anywhere else. The closest non Leslie’s is 20 miles away in Henderson. Funny thing, there is a Leslie’s directly across the street from this mom & pop pool store. I am not driving that far for chlorine in the winter months when the SWG is offline. So the big box stores and Walmart in the early spring are my go to locations.

 

[dereksanders]

The closest Leslie’s to me is 2 hours away. There’s more than enough pool stores in the local area, though. I use them for parts and pieces.

I wish I had a mom and pop store. Our local Ace just sold out not too long ago and is no longer local. Sigh.

 

[Mdragger88]

We are lucky to have quite a few independent stores in the area. Most are pool builders so I imagine that is the bulk of their business. The one I use for bulk liquid chlorine also runs a pool service so thats why they have it & just happen to make it available for customers to purchase at a decent price. All the others in my area only stock dry stuff.

 

[Chuckiechan]

My personal experience yes I can and do buy only the loss leader chicken……but my lady…well they’ve got her hook, line, sinker, pole, and tackle box….

ETA…and she was in professional marketing/sales for years and knows the game…but still buys because “the deal”. Bwaaahhhhhhaaaa

I guess at heart I try not to squeeze a quarter until the eagle craps.

 

[TishTash]

I just discovered this thread, but my experience pretty much tracks with everyone else’s:

• Paying too much for a pool service that was at best inconsistent with appointments and practices,
• Being confronted with a green pool resulting in a mess of proprietary mystery chemicals,
• Realizing that chasing poolstore test values and chem strips did little to nothing to solve anything.

My epiphany came from one simple discovery on TFP:

Alkalinity Up @Leslie’s: $16 for 2lb, $25 for 5lb, $40 for 10lb.
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda @BJ’s: $9 for 13lb.
Both pure sodium bicarbonate. I mean, what the heck.

Later, after gaining a lot of confidence from everyone here, I asked innocently why the horrendous markup? The guy kind of looked at his shuffling feet and informed me that the Alkalinity Up dissolved faster.

P.S. I’m all for trying to help small businesses. I still use my local poolstore for the odd hardware here and there, and for opening and closing the Loop-Loc cover — but never chemicals if I can help it. To their credit, they’re very candid about the uselessness of CYA-reducers, sell DE for a fantastic price, and refuse to carry Frog System chlorinators. But they also sell pH Down for “saltwater pools only!,” and that deflates me a little the few times I walk in their door.

 

[Woody007]

I guess I've been Pool Stored but in a good way. There is a local pool shop very nearby. I used them when I needed education about pools when I bought a house with one. They came over for a couple of hours and showed me what's what.
Since then, I take a sample to their shop every week. Very seldom do I need to add anything, after I get going in the spring. Maybe some salt or adjust the SWG run time. A bag of DE last me a season and that's about all I have in the way of chemicals. (if that even counts)
Maybe the free test is their loss leader and it's working on me. I'll be getting a new pump in the spring and I without a doubt will be using the local shop for purchase and install.
They have been very helpful to me and I'm very fortunate to have them nearby.