Fool me once, shame on me; Protect your pool!

We recently received a call from a desperate pool owner literally begging us to help him after he had a botched acid wash done by a company he found on a non pool industry referral website. He later found out the company was not licensed and was unwilling to resolve the problem they caused. No wonder they refused, they ruined the finish after dumping 32 gallons of muriatic acid in his pool and letting it sit stagnant and half empty for over a week. Sadly, the finish was only 8 years old and is now too rough to swim safely.  He will now have no choice, not only is he out the money for the acid wash and the loss of therapeutic use of his pool, but will now have to hire us to refinish his pool. His plight need not be yours and you should make sure you do the following BEFORE you hire anyone to touch your pool:

1.       Verify their reputation. Google the company and look for any complaints. Not all complaints negate using them, but significant complaints might be a red flag for you.

2.       Verify licensing. In Florida you can look up any licensed company by going to http://myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/. We cannot stress enough the importance os verifying licensing BEFORE hiring any person or company.

3.       Ask the company for references. Established, reputable and professional pool and spa contactors who do exceptional work will always have past customers ready to sing praises about them to other customers. Ask for phone numbers and names and CALL THEM.

4.       Get pictures of their work. Pool contractors are proud of ther work and cannot wait to share it with others. Adk for pictures of similar jobs as that you want to hire them for.

5.       Get a signed proposal. Make sure it includes everything you talked about, pricing by line item and recourse or warranty information should it be needed.

6.       DON’T PAY IN FULL UP FRONT. A deposit is not uncommon for some jobs, but most companies will either do a draw wth a percentage at specific points during the job. NEVER pay in full up front.

This poor man is paying a huge price for what he hired another company to do. He is frustrated, angry and completely helpless to resolve his issue. In the end, we will take care of him and he will once again be reassured the pool and spa industry is reputable, honest and willing to things right ethically. Please take the time to research before hiring your next contractor and save your money for something more enjoyable, like a premium outdoor kitchen which is about the same cost as a refinish!