Should Pentair send me a new cleaner at this point?

[DiverGirl1972]

At the end of April, I purchased a brand new Pentair Warrior SE from Marina Pools and Spas. The cleaner never worked correctly from the beginning and then about 5 weeks after buying it, it stopped working completely.

Pentair opened a warranty claim/work order and coordinated with a local shop to do the repairs. I dropped it off at the pool shop nearly 4 months ago. They diagnosed it as needing a new motor and a new cord. They claimed they ordered the parts in July and that they were on backorder. When I called the shop back at the end of the August for an update, they said that the parts were still on backorder.

After more weeks of waiting, I finally called Pentair to see what they could tell me. They claimed that the parts had just been ordered on 8/26 (incidentally, the day I sent an email to the local pool company asking for an update). I was pretty ticked off that the pool company lied to me about ordering the parts earlier than they did, but haven't gone nuclear with them because I really don't want to do anything to delay this process further. I can do a review later...

I am incredibly frustrated to have had to go the entire summer without a pool cleaner after spending $699 on a brand new one. I've got some questions for anyone who might know.... Is this cleaner being phased out? Is anyone else having issues getting replacement parts for their Pentair Warrior SE cleaners? Am I unreasonable to think Pentair should just give me a replacement cleaner at this point?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I hate to say it but to me its more the pool store's fault that they failed to order the parts when you first brought it in. What that gets you, I dunno? I would feel as angry as you for sure though.

Maddie

 

[gingrbredman]

I am going to go with Pentair warranty support stinks, and the information they give you, as well as the "partners" they use for repairs is suspect.

My Pentair Prowler went out in June of this year. They contacted a local "mechanical" company to handle the repairs. this company had no clue what they were doing, and the communication between them and Pentair was really bad, also had the story "we ordered parts" or "they ordered parts" but the dates were always changing depending on who told you the story.

When I filed the claim by phone at first, I was assigned someone to help with the process, but honestly, she was really bad. No follow up, no calls back, and a lot of lies were told. Tried to get her supervisor, got the same treatment. I started sending messages through the Pentair website for warranty support, hoping I could find someone who had the authority or willingness to help with the situation. Finally landed on the, supervisors supervisor, and finally after 2 months, they authorized sending me a new robot. The position I kept taking was, "I have a dead piece of Pentair equipment, you tried to fix it in the field, this has failed, the next step has to be replacement. The robot is under warranty, lets get that part working in my pool, just like if it was a pump or filter, or heater. They did sent me a RMA for the broken one, so I did send it back on their dime, but the new one took over three weeks to come in. Finally, after three months, which is a huge chuck of my swim season here, I had a replacement robot.

I have shared this story a couple times this season here, and had more than a few in the same boat. The Pentair warranty team is either just swamped, doesn't care, or is just bad at what they do. Maybe a big pool company or pool store who has some pull could get better results, but a single homeowner is at the mercy of their process. I am really glad it was just the robot and not a more critical piece of pool equipment.

Good luck with the process. I know parts are hard to come by these day, and with the end of a swim season coming, you may get some relief before the beginning of next years season.

 

[DiverGirl1972]

I am going to go with Pentair warranty support stinks, and the information they give you, as well as the "partners" they use for repairs is suspect.

My Pentair Prowler went out in June of this year. They contacted a local "mechanical" company to handle the repairs. this company had no clue what they were doing, and the communication between them and Pentair was really bad, also had the story "we ordered parts" or "they ordered parts" but the dates were always changing depending on who told you the story.

When I filed the claim by phone at first, I was assigned someone to help with the process, but honestly, she was really bad. No follow up, no calls back, and a lot of lies were told. Tried to get her supervisor, got the same treatment. I started sending messages through the Pentair website for warranty support, hoping I could find someone who had the authority or willingness to help with the situation. Finally landed on the, supervisors supervisor, and finally after 2 months, they authorized sending me a new robot. The position I kept taking was, "I have a dead piece of Pentair equipment, you tried to fix it in the field, this has failed, the next step has to be replacement. The robot is under warranty, lets get that part working in my pool, just like if it was a pump or filter, or heater. They did sent me a RMA for the broken one, so I did send it back on their dime, but the new one took over three weeks to come in. Finally, after three months, which is a huge chuck of my swim season here, I had a replacement robot.

I have shared this story a couple times this season here, and had more than a few in the same boat. The Pentair warranty team is either just swamped, doesn't care, or is just bad at what they do. Maybe a big pool company or pool store who has some pull could get better results, but a single homeowner is at the mercy of their process. I am really glad it was just the robot and not a more critical piece of pool equipment.

Good luck with the process. I know parts are hard to come by these day, and with the end of a swim season coming, you may get some relief before the beginning of next years season.

I agree with your assessment of Pentair Warranty Support. Well, the good news is, last week, I got a call from the local pool company that my cleaner was ready to be picked up. I was ecstatic! I jumped in the car and made the drive to the store. The tech offered to carry it out to my car, so I let him put it in the trunk for me. The manager, the tech and I stood around and chatted for a moment about how glad we all were that this situation was "over". At this point, I was just so happy to have it back, I (temporarily) softened and in my mind, decided not to post the scathing review of them on Google as I had been planning for months! lol

Got home after an hour and a half round trip due to school busses and construction zones, got the cleaner all plugged in, popped open the top to make sure the filter baskets were seated properly and..... the basket was missing!!! OMG, I was livid! Thank goodness we live in the country, because my backyard was filled with explicative-laced rants into the air for a little while! lol

When I called them back to ask where my filter basket was, she said, "Oh, I see it on the table. I guess he forgot to put it back in." I told her that I just drove an hour and a half to get this thing and that I was pretty frustrated about about the prospect of having to drive back there that evening. She said "Oh, I can understand why you wouldn't want to drive back this evening". No sincere apology. It took me two days to cool down enough where I thought I could go back in there and not "clear any shelves" on my way out! lol Needless to say, review is "back on"

On the upside, the cleaner is working better than it ever did. We finally closed our pool today...hopefully next year will be a better season. While a cleaner isn't necessarily "critical", per se, with my bad back and lack of help around here with pool care, it really makes a world of difference in me being able to enjoy my pool or not.