Why is it hard to find a pool builder willing to communicate these days??

[TXPfamily]

Hi! We are in Pflugerville, TX and have started the process to build a pool. We have had 1 company come out and the rep didn’t return our calls or follow up to set up an in office design meetin, another company we met with did our design and has not gotten back to us in a week and 2 other companies that never returned our calls?!
Are pools that much in demand??
I am open to hear ANY good experiences that you may have had. I feel lost as these companies were the top recommended and I feel lost now!

 

[KJB1]

We had 4 or 5 quotes before finding the builder we liked. Communication is critical. Our guy would respond to texts day or night 7 days. We did over $10k worth of extras so it was worth it for both of us. I can’t stand contractors who don’t answer or return calls. It won’t get any better. Keep looking.

 

[Texas Splash]

I think some builders are simply in the driver's seat. They are overwhelmed with requests, backlogged from COVID delays, and to make matters worse the industry took a big hit on supplies from winter storms. Costs have gone up, so they can afford to go at their own pace. You might have to gently "poke the bear" to get some attention, and continue to search for multiple builders in your surrounding area.

 

[TXPfamily]

We had 4 or 5 quotes before finding the builder we liked. Communication is critical. Our guy would respond to texts day or night 7 days. We did over $10k worth of extras so it was worth it for both of us. I can’t stand contractors who don’t answer or return calls. It won’t get any better. Keep looking.

EXACTLY what I said! Usually you’ll get the BEST customer service when they are trying to seal the deal...so I can’t imagine the lack of service we would get from the ones we have met.

 

[bbarfield12]

This has been our experience so far- started reaching out in March (early). Took 3 weeks for one builder to get our design and quote. We didn’t really like him- so contacted another. It’s been another 4 weeks and we are still waiting on his design. Finally got a meeting to present the design next Wednesday. Call backs have been very limited, and the ones who are communicating are taking forever.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Right now ALL of the trades, including pool builders, are booked out by months. There are pools being built now that were contracted LAST YEAR because the demand was so high. If you look at general home improvement like kitchen and bathroom remodels, any honest builder will tell you that they wouldn't even get to your job before 6 months. You are simply experiencing the effects of the BOOM caused by COVID and historically low interest rates. For the last year, the mortgage REFI business has been hotter than a pizza oven with everyone pulling cash out of their homes to splurge on pools, kitchens, extensions, etc, etc.

Be careful, this is also the time when you will see a huge number of dishonest contractors and scammers out there. Make sure you contact as many builders as you can get quotes from and research them heavily. Fly-by-night operations will pop-up like mushrooms on cow dung to try to grab downpayments and run off with the money. This is not unlike the crazy housing bubble of '05/'06 when homes were being thrown up at record pace and unwitting buyers were left holding the bag on some very substandard construction.

 

[KJB1]

Right now ALL of the trades, including pool builders, are booked out by months. There are pools being built now that were contracted LAST YEAR because the demand was so high. If you look at general home improvement like kitchen and bathroom remodels, any honest builder will tell you that they wouldn't even get to your job before 6 months. You are simply experiencing the effects of the BOOM caused by COVID and historically low interest rates. For the last year, the mortgage REFI business has been hotter than a pizza oven with everyone pulling cash out of their homes to splurge on pools, kitchens, extensions, etc, etc.

Be careful, this is also the time when you will see a huge number of dishonest contractors and scammers out there. Make sure you contact as many builders as you can get quotes from and research them heavily. Fly-by-night operations will pop-up like mushrooms on cow dung to try to grab downpayments and run off with the money. This is not unlike the crazy housing bubble of '05/'06 when homes were being thrown up at record pace and unwitting buyers were left holding the bag on some very substandard construction.

A good contractor will tell you that, not just blow you off for 4 weeks. Good advice on the shady guys that “have been doing this for years” that come around every construction boom. A lot of people do a bad job for 30 years, not impressed.

 

[jriell]

Hi! We are in Pflugerville, TX and have started the process to build a pool. We have had 1 company come out and the rep didn’t return our calls or follow up to set up an in office design meetin, another company we met with did our design and has not gotten back to us in a week and 2 other companies that never returned our calls?!
Are pools that much in demand??
I am open to hear ANY good experiences that you may have had. I feel lost as these companies were the top recommended and I feel lost now!

We have been getting bids for a pool for the last 4 months. During that time, we have had the same experience as you in the DFW area. We contacted about 7-8 builders. Most of them showed up for the first visit. Only about 4-5 followed up, and only three actually gave us a quote.
It is insanely frustrating but wanted you to know you’re not alone.

After going through this process, I have completely changed my mindset on who I envision the “top” builders are. From my experience, the bigger and more well-known the builder, the more likely they are to blow you off or put your build at the bottom of their priority list.
We chose to go with a smaller builder who at least calls us back on a regular basis. I hope it works out.

 

[Headbanger783]

It’s insanely busy! We went under contract last September for our fiberglass build which was supposed to be June of this year. Many of my emails after signing didn’t get a response. When I wanted to change equipment or make an addendum to the contract I usually got a quick response via email or phone within a day or two...but general questions...crickets.

only to find out this past week the permit the town thought was being done or completed wasn’t. It was applied for back in Jan and my town switched to a new engineer and it was never finished. Now the pool builder needs to resubmit...I told them...didn’t hear anything but my town also reached out to them directly...needless to say I’ll be staying more on top of both parties.

I can understand the industry is swamped. But the lack of communication is very frustrating.
I think you’ve just got to keep at it. They get A LOT of leads....show your serious.

 

[PfTXPoolDad]

Hi! We are in Pflugerville, TX and have started the process to build a pool. We have had 1 company come out and the rep didn’t return our calls or follow up to set up an in office design meetin, another company we met with did our design and has not gotten back to us in a week and 2 other companies that never returned our calls?!
Are pools that much in demand??
I am open to hear ANY good experiences that you may have had. I feel lost as these companies were the top recommended and I feel lost now!

What are the odds? We are in Pflugerville also and just signed on a contract. We’ve had a great experience so far, but we are literally in the earliest of stages. I’m expecting this to take longer than usual, but it’s like this in every industry. Good luck on your pool dreams!

 

[sarahgelatinano]

You guys are lucky you can even GET a design and in writing quote!!! In the DC metro area, they will come out and give a general verbal quote but for the DESIGN and the in writing quote, you have to PAY! I had three builders come out, they were anywhere from $1000 to 5 percent of the overall cost just to design it. I'm so envious of the pretty pool designs people post, it's CRAZY out here!!!

Builders here are scheduling it to 2022 right now.

Best of luck finding someone. If they don't communicate, I would say either wait until the ball is not in there court or skip and find someone who will.

 

[KBR]

We are in Round Rock and are using Denali Pools. They were pretty quick to come out and get us up and going.

 

[wreckem]

I tried to get quotes from 5 pbs last oct-nov. Only two got back to me.
Every PB has oversold themselves and the supply chain. It is even worse now. If you are just now going under contract I wouldn’t count on getting it completed this calendar year. Mines looking to be a total of 6.5-7 months from hoa approval to start up. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to swim in August.

 

[cledee]

This has been our experience so far- started reaching out in March (early). Took 3 weeks for one builder to get our design and quote. We didn’t really like him- so contacted another. It’s been another 4 weeks and we are still waiting on his design. Finally got a meeting to present the design next Wednesday. Call backs have been very limited, and the ones who are communicating are taking forever.

This is a country wide problem. It's hitting all industries. I started contacting landscapers, electrician's, ect., for various projects and most would not respond or if they did it was like weeks later. I contacted someone in January and they got back to me right away, and then after initial did not get back to me until 2 months later. Some people either don't want to work or they overwhelmed with jobs and will only do the jobs that pay the most which take the least amount of time.

 

[joboo7777]

Communication skills by all Trades is lacking and has also been this way. Coming from a blue collar family that owned a pluming company for over 80 years I can tell you with certainty that communication is definitely not a forte.

 

[Gladius Nova]

Not just with pool builders, but anyone offering a service! I can't stand lack of communication! If I reach out to you to practically "throw money at you" and you don't reply, that is their one an only chance! What is worse in our case, we had probably the #1 pool builder in all of Texas come out for an initial visit, and the rep basically told us in more words than one "if he wasn't building anything in the range of $150k and up, we were wasting his time!" Talk about insulting!

 

[Robert1022]

You guys are lucky you can even GET a design and in writing quote!!! In the DC metro area, they will come out and give a general verbal quote but for the DESIGN and the in writing quote, you have to PAY! I had three builders come out, they were anywhere from $1000 to 5 percent of the overall cost just to design it. I'm so envious of the pretty pool designs people post, it's CRAZY out here!!!

Builders here are scheduling it to 2022 right now.

Best of luck finding someone. If they don't communicate, I would say either wait until the ball is not in there court or skip and find someone who will.

Where do you happen to be located? I am in Maryland (MOCO) and almost done with a fabulous build with a phenomenal pool builder.

 

[sarahgelatinano]

Where do you happen to be located? I am in Maryland (MOCO) and almost done with a fabulous build with a phenomenal pool builder.

Hey Robert! I'm also in MoCo, had Browning pools, Live well landscape and Land and Water Design come out. Browning and Livewell wanted a fee to design and final quote, Land and Water Design wanted a percentage of the final product (they said they do a lot of variations and since they spend so much time and effort making it custom, the design is then their right and your can't take it to another company, etc.).

Who did you use?