Not going to the pool store anymore....

Jump to latest Follow Reply
D

dannyboy

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jul 31, 2008
98
Denver, Colorado
Been a while since I posted on here, but as summer is (well better be) right around the corner, thought I'd start waffling about pool ownership experiences...

I decided yesterday to take a nice drive down to my local store to say hello for the summer, ask how business is and get them to make me feel all powerful that BBB is working and I have a grasp on the simplicity of this....

Two guys in there are always pleasant and know me by name as they inspected the pool prior to me buying the house but some lady always gives me attitude about using bleach. There were several customers in there waiting to get water checked and buying hundreds of dollars of 'necarsary' items for their back yard retreats and she always tries to make me feel stupid in front of the people using off the shelf chems. "well, it's your pool funeral" I got this time from a smirking face so I asked if she wanted to check my water or should I just leave? Hesitantly, she produced the results and said nothing is too bad:
CL:5
Free:5
Ph:7.8
TA:130
CH:160
CYA: 50-60
Phosphates: 300-500

She than mentioned I needed phosphate remover asap before levels got out of control and I woke up to a green pool..
I almost felt obliged to purchase this $40 product from them for testing the water which I could've done in a relaxed environment behind a nice Negra Modelo. But I told her, I'd buy some next time I come in. (had never heard of this 'lethal' problem in my pool before and wanted to check on here first arf arf!)
She got all ***** and moved onto the next customer. This was a bit silly as I was going to buy a new pool vac head (at $40 which is a joke). So, I decided to walk out, thank the guys for all their help in the past and see you around...

Question being - do others on here experience the same situation when visiting the mom and pop stores?
I will now buy everything from Walmart or online (saving myself a tonne in the process) rather than give money to these people that complain so much about the state of the economy and how the Walmarts of the world are hurting their business...

I could have taken her attitude, told everyone in the store that the stuff they are buying is not needed and pointed them in this direction. But, I felt like being the bigger person and not losing it at an elderly lady. The guys in the store are cool and know that it's pointless trying to sell me stuff when I know about this method, but this woman is just a peenarse...

So - I've fired them and will now truly be 'going it alone'

Sorry - just wanted to vent, my pool is heating and it will be officially open tomorrow so i thought I'd write on here to hurry the time up@! :party: :party: :party:
Thanks again for showing me this method!
dannyboy
 
Good job on the walkout - they sometimes try to make you feel guilty for not buying what they want you to buy, but it's your money and you don't have to buy anything you don't want to.

So to answer your question, yes - this happens a lot.
 
Yes, many, many people on here have similar stories and experiences. The deal is that you know better, they know it, and they don't like it because no matter what they throw at you, it is very unlikely that you will ever pay their light bill with your purchases from them. And with unknowing customers standing at the counter, ready to plunk down five bills for their "opening", it's downright scary to have a BBB'er standing there who can potentially vaporize those profits before their very eyes.
 
I had a brief over the phone convo when I called just to ask if they had cya and it became this big battle. She ended it very angry telling me I was gonna ruin my pool for months! I am now a walmart online person myself as I am no longer calling or going there!
 
That was what I was trying to get at in my rambling post. I actually don't mind paying a little more for stuff to have a good relationship with folks that I WILL need in the future..
I think it's sad and the lads that work there should be on my side and looking at the larger picture that I will need stuff from them outside of using my initiative...
Now I will take my business elsewhere or buy online and have a crack myself....it doesn't appear to be too difficult if you have the time, patience and TFP!! :party: :party: :party:
 
I try and always make it a point to thank my local pool store for carrying 12.5% chlorinating liquid with a good turnover (so it's always fresh) and at fairly reasonable pricing (the prices actually dropped down this year, now at $3 per gallon) and for reusing the bottles. They sell a lot of such chlorine and also do pool service with a large fleet of trucks and many personnel. So they are able to make money and be profitable servicing the two largest markets -- BBB with chlorinating liquid and those that want to pay for someone else to take care of the pool (i.e. a pool service). They do sell everything else as well, but they aren't dependent on just selling extra chemicals in the retail store.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I value the relationship I've built with my pool store. They carry the chlorinating liquid I use, Taylor reagents, O-rings and gaskets, and they test my water—for free—for those components which the TF-100 can't handle: copper, for instance, or salt.

My grocery store carries soft drinks. Lots of people buy them. I don't use them and so I don't buy them. That doesn't mean I disparage my grocery store or the customers who purchase soft drinks.
 
It's good that some have access to pool stores that are willing to work with their BBB customers rather than resent them for their choices. I believe this to be an exception, rather than the rule though.
 
Yeah it would be a dream if my pool store were even close to civil with me, but alas it's just not meant to be, but congrats to those that are lucky enough to have a good working relationship with theirs, certainly I am jealous! :mrgreen:
 
In some areas the regulations on selling liquid chlorine are restrictive enough that most stores choose not to cary it. In Maryland, it is quite difficult to find liquid chlorine (above 8%) because of the regulatory hoops the stores need to jump through. I find that kind of strange, because cal-hypo is far more dangerous, and all the stores carry cal-hypo. But that is the way of government regulation, it doesn't always make sense.
 
whoozer said:
Yeah it would be a dream if my pool store were even close to civil with me, but alas it's just not meant to be, but congrats to those that are lucky enough to have a good working relationship with theirs, certainly I am jealous! :mrgreen:
Click to expand...



It's not so much luck as it is my appreciation for the items the store carries that I do use and need. I worked at establishing the relationship by not dismissing their recommendations of chemicals. I thank them for the advice and suggestions; if a salesperson gets a little insistent I may decline by telling him I have the required amount of whatever on hand and don't need to restock just yet. I don't react, I do not act superior to them in my knowledge, I don't proselytize or try to convert. I'm polite and always grateful that they keep stocking carboys of LC.

Now, I'll admit to being appalled at how way off their test results sometimes are, and it's scary to know that other customers base their purchases on the suggestions made by these experts—thoroughly ruining their pool water in the process. The tools to pool maintenance with as few chemicals as possible are available to everyone, if not via the Internet then from libraries. Even pool stores sell pamphlets about water chemistry.

Not everyone wants to be informed. It takes some initiative and personal responsibility to care enough about feeding and maintenance of a pool to seek out information sources other than the pool store staff. It is not my place to condemn pool stores for selling their products to willing buyers. Caveat emptor.
 
I don't even tell them what method I use, I just ask for what I need. I went by the other day and asked for some cyanuric acid and the sales person had the deer in the headlights look to which I responded "Stabilizer". He said "Oh we have that"? On the way out the door I glance down at the label that said 100% cyanuric acid. This was not some high school boy it was the owner of the company? It's great to be well informed.
 
I've never told them the method I use I usually call ahead to see what they have and asked nicely about pricing. Which usually leads to a bunch of immediate sarcastic questions about them not selling anything until I bring a water sample. Even when I'm super polite and say I have enough of this and don't need anymore etc......it doesn't matter.
I'm not bashing the fact that there is a store for those that choose to use it. I'm merely pointing out not all of us no matter how nicely we approach it have the luxury of being well received. Again ANNAK if you do, that's great, more power to you, but I do believe many of us have approached it the same way you have with different results. That's all I have to say on this subject!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply