Well instead of rehashing everything I will send you what I have documented and sent to the Better Business Bureau - at least the parts since I last posted.
Week of May 13, 2019
At this point, with no indication of a new installation date, I reached out to a number of other local pool companies to see if anyone else was installing pools given the weather conditions, and if so, I could potentially find a new installer given my dissatisfaction with with installer. I could not find another company who would install a pool that I had not purchased from them.
May 28, 2019
I followed up with the installer again and they gave me a new installation date – the end of the first week of June.
June 3, 2019
I reached out to the installer again and they said the pool would be installed on Saturday, June 8.
June 4, 2019
I reached out to the installer again, stating:
I see that there is rain in the forecast for tomorrow night and later on Friday so I am covering up the hole with the tarp again. If you plan on canceling the pool installation scheduled for Saturday please let me know as soon as you know so I can adjust my plans accordingly. I planned on going to Vermont for a family reunion on Saturday-Sunday but I will cancel that trip if the pool will be installed on Saturday. Thank you.
His response was:
we are going to try to get you done tomorrow before the rain.
We will be out between 11&1 (meaning Wednesday June 5)
June 5, 2019
The installer came out, poured gravel in the hole and compacted it. He told me he could not install the pool because the ground was too wet. He told me to send him photos of the hole in the coming days.
June 6, 2019
I sent a photo of the hole with the following email to the installer
We seem to have dodged that rainstorm and the dirt is drier than it was previously. Do you want me to send you an update tomorrow at the end of the day since it is going to be sunny and hot all day again?
There was no response.
June 8, 2019
I sent another email with another photo, stating:
Hi XXXX,
Here is another photo of the hole as of this morning. It seems pretty dry to me – I’m walking around on it and it’s certainly not muddy and squishy like it was when you were here last.
Looks like we have rain coming in on Monday so not sure what you want or can do at this point. Just please keep the communication open so I can plan accordingly.
Thank you,
Kara
No response.
So I left for my family party in Vermont that morning, which I told the installer about in my June 4 email. When I arrived in Vermont his’s wife called me and said he was at my house to install the pool. I explained I wasn't there and asked why they hadn’t responded to my emails over the past two day – and why they hadn’t told me they were going to install the pool that day? She apologized and said she forgot to call me. I gave her permission for him to do the installation in my absence, and paid over the phone for the water delivery required for the pool.
June 9, 2019
I arrived home from Vermont – the pool was assembled with water in it, and around it a large trench.
I sent this message to the installer and pool company.
Hello -
I just returned from Vermont. What are the next steps on the pool?
Installer - when will you be back to use some of that dirt to backfill against the pool? Are you arranging for the concrete delivery?
Pool Company - when will your team be out to install the filter and heat pump? Should I contact the electrician?
Thank you,
Kara
The installer’s response was:
Hi Kara,
He will be getting a Concrete truck out there ASAP. As soon as we have a time frame I will call you.
The pool company will need to get the pump, filter and heater out there for the electrician to hook those up and bond them when he does the pool
we will back fill after that
June 12, 2019
I was on a business trip in Philadelphia. My mom was at my house watching the kids. I received this message from the installer.
Hello Kara
We will be there between 330 and 430 today to pour the cement collar around the pool.
When I came back from my trip on June 13, I saw there was concrete around the pool.
June 15, 2019
Having heard nothing further from the installer I sent this message:
Hi,
What are the next steps on the pool? Will you be having more concrete poured? If so, when do you think that will occur?
Since I have a pool full of water but no filter is there anything I should be doing to maintain its current state? Chemicals?
Thank you,
Kara
June 16, 2019
I received this response from the installer
Kara,
Thank you for all of your questions.
If you could please pay for the concrete and stone as we paid the Concrete truck as you were not home. We had to put Stone-down to prep the site we sent you a invoice # 257 for the concrete and the balance for invoice #246 for the install of the pool you can pay those on line. Also when will you be home for us to come out and finish the backfill / dig trench so that we can also get paid for trench. We could possibly finish our end today, but we need to see those invoices paid first.
Thank you
Obviously I had no choice but to pay the balance before the work was completed – otherwise he wouldn't come back to finish the job. So I paid the bills online via credit card. He arrived around 11 a.m. to backfill the pool area and dig a trench for the electrical.
When he was done he asked me to come outside. He proceeded to verbally attack me while my children (ages 11 and 8) watched and listened from the window. Telling me how he knew I had looked for a new installer back in May and how that “left a bad taste in his mouth.” I responded by saying he did not set appropriate expectations from the beginning – having given me an April 24 installation and not telling me the pool installation could be delayed due to weather. I also said his communication had been poor over the past 50+ days while I waited for the installation happen/be completed. He got even more angry and said he warned me up front that the installation could be delayed due to weather and that was in the contract (it was not). I told him that I was not going to argue with him any further and asked him to leave.