My daughter went to work at that pool store!

[SCon36]

So my daughter needed a summer job and that one pool store was hiring. She applied and got an interview. I told her, whatever you do, DON’T let them know how we manage our pool. You won’t get the job. She didn’t tell and she got the job. On her first day of work, her manager says to her, can you believe some people use bleach to chlorinate their pools? I don’t get it. She just shrugged and went on with her business. I got a huge kick out of it when she told me about it.

The last few years, I’ve been buying my bleach at the local hardware store. They carry 12.5% and I’m their best customer. The owner even contacts me on Facebook when a sale is about to start. They also carry muriatic acid and baking soda. Great place for a very small town. I was checking out the other day and the girl at the register said “can you believe some people think this is just for shocking their pool?” She’s on board with me. She uses it for regular chlorine too.

 

[jblizzle]

OMG!!! TFP has infiltrated the pool store!! We have an insider

I am not sure I could work that job and give customers bad information everyday.

 

[Neemer]

You’re going to have to arrange witsec for her once her cover is blown.

 

[mepot101]

Maybe she can teach the people at the pool store a thing or two!!!

 

[kimkats]

How is she going to handle it when she sees them loading up some poor person with un-needed stuff??

 

[markayash]

Sounds like pool stores are like tire stores. Goal is sell extra stuff regardless. Ours test your water and without asking starts stacking stuff on the counter.

 

[justinc]

Please post updates! This should be entertaining!

 

[Arizonarob]

can you believe some people use bleach to chlorinate their pools?

And yet they probably sell liquid chlorine in reusable gallon jugs. ?

 

[kimkats]

Now ROB...........you KNOW chlorine is not the same WORD as bleach so there is the problem

 

[Arizonarob]

Now ROB...........you KNOW chlorine is not the same WORD as bleach so there is the problem

Ohhhhhhhh, that’s right to, my bad.

 

[markayash]

I had a friend argue with a pool store about why he needed TA increase instead of baking soda..They told him Baking soda isn't 100% pure even though the label says 100%..Of coarse their solution was $35 compared to $7 at walmart

 

[P00L_newb]

So I just got into a argument yesterday about this. A pool company owner was saying never use household bleach. it has additives. Now prior to this I specifically stated not to use anything but plain jane bleach.. no splash, no scents, no special technology. just plain ole bleach. I was told, that the liquid chlorine was "specifically formulated" for pools and bleach was not. I went on about it is the same thing except in this case one is 10% vs 6%. They once again said something about additives. I said well looking at the bottles one is 6% and 94% other ingredients (Walmart great value) yet the LC was 10% and 90% other ingredients (Walmart Pool Essentials) so I guess I should not use that either then??. The best part.. someone agreed with him saying they were told not to use bleach. "I mean look what is does to your clothes" lol.. yet the almost twice as strong "Specially Formulated" version is somehow not going to do that?!?! It was a losing battle. ????

 

[RonsPlc]

Do what I do when people ask how I keep my pool so nice ALL YEAR ... I tell them that I use sodium hypoclorite.
Then they have to go research just WHAT it is!

 

[LoneWolfArcher]

Was talking to a pool owner yesterday and asked him how he chlorinated his pool. He said he uses trichlor pucks. I asked him if he ever tests for CYA (I had to explain it is stabilizer), or drain and refill. He said no. He's used pucks for 17 years without any issues.

I dropped it at that point. But I do not believe.

 

[koht]

One thing I miss is the interaction with the pool store. I actually enjoyed it even though I never bought anything unless it was an emergency. Growing up our house had a 10 foot deep cistern. To sanitize the water we poured a cup of bleach in every month. It was the best water I ever drank. Once I found tfp and they preached just chlorine it made sense. Anyway I hope your daughter enjoys it. My youngest daughter is on the job hunt this summer.

 

[Rich D]

Now ROB...........you KNOW chlorine is not the same WORD as bleach so there is the problem

In can't be the same thing because bleach = $2.99 and "Chlorine" = $5.99

 

[P00L_newb]

My FIL used nothing but pucks, and knew nothing about CYA. Here is my non scientific take on it. I think the temps were higher earlier in the pools seasons here then the past couple of years. With us getting in sooner and more frequent, there was a lot more water replacement getting rid of just enough CYA to keep it in check, plus with the backwashings and such. Last it finally caught up tho. This year I took over and have TFP on my side *Internet high-five*

 

[tim5055]

Pool store methods can work for a long time and many are oblivious to what is happening in their pool. If you are in an area where your pool is drained down a lot each winter and winter snow/rains fill an overflow the pool each spring you are starting with a blank canvas, chemically speaking.

Are there good pool stores out there, yes! But, most of them are in the "sun" states where a family can own a small store and operate it 12 months a year, give good service and make a profit.

In the rest of the country you mainly have a high school/college kid who has about an hour training testing your water and telling you what to buy to add to your water. I guess that's like going into a carpet store and asking if you need to buy new carpet.

Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. Go in to the store and tell them your TA is low and they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????

What the pool industry does not understand is that the internet is changing the industry around them. My favorite story is about my pool light. When I bought the house with the pool along with high CYA my pool light was not working. I could get a new bulb from Amazon for $19, but heck I'm part of that immediate gratification society as much as the next guy. I went down to the local pool store and there was the same bulb, $39. I talked with the manager. I didn't want them to match the price, they have to keep the lights on - just be a little more reasonable. The manager gave me two choices, take it or leave it.

TFP didn't create the methods we use, but we have fine tuned them to make them as "Trouble Free" as possible.

 

[markayash]

I won a bet with my sister when they were having water shortages..I said I have 20k of drinkable water...She insisted it had too much chlorine and you couldn't drink it..
.So I tested county water, levels were through the roof..Then tested my pool and it was about 4ppm.

On pool stores, if I need a new pump for example I can pay them $899 or buy it online for $699..
I bought my new hayward filter off ebay 5 years ago..hayward heater off amazon and pump from Inyo and have installed everything my self!

 

[IceShadow]

Pool store methods can work for a long time and many are oblivious to what is happening in their pool. If you are in an area where your pool is drained down a lot each winter and winter snow/rains fill an overflow the pool each spring you are starting with a blank canvas, chemically speaking.

Are there good pool stores out there, yes! But, most of them are in the "sun" states where a family can own a small store and operate it 12 months a year, give good service and make a profit.

In the rest of the country you mainly have a high school/college kid who has about an hour training testing your water and telling you what to buy to add to your water. I guess that's like going into a carpet store and asking if you need to buy new carpet.

Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. Go in to the store and tell them your TA is low and they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????

What the pool industry does not understand is that the internet is changing the industry around them. My favorite story is about my pool light. When I bought the house with the pool along with high CYA my pool light was not working. I could get a new bulb from Amazon for $19, but heck I'm part of that immediate gratification society as much as the next guy. I went down to the local pool store and there was the same bulb, $39. I talked with the manager. I didn't want them to match the price, they have to keep the lights on - just be a little more reasonable. The manager gave me two choices, take it or leave it.

TFP didn't create the methods we use, but we have fine tuned them to make them as "Trouble Free" as possible.

I don’t want to start a politics debate or anything, but big retailers do have leverages that small retailers don’t, either through mass volume sales, aggressively negotiating prices with suppliers, or cutting out distributors and using their own distribution. The reason small stores often have the same goods as large big-box retailers for twice the cost isn’t necessarily greed on the part of the small retailers.