BUYER BEWARE-Nightmare Pool Experience-
There is no way I will be able to express fully how unimaginable our experience was/ is with Champion Pools. It would literally be a novel! I will add too that I do not write reviews often unless the service is great. I cannot remember ever having to write a bad review. However, if we can keep one single person from choosing Champion, then my review is beneficial.
We started out February 2021 to have a new pool built. We had considered for years putting in a pool and were finally ready to build. We chose Champion after meeting with several other companies because they were so attentive and helpful initially and since they were just beginning this side of their business, they could start us sooner. The estimate they provided for us was mid-range of the companies we had talked to so overall we felt they were the best choice. We have never been so wrong in all the choices we have made.
From the very beginning, there was disorganization, a huge lack of communication (nonexistent most of the time unless we reached out), frequent turnover of staff including construction supervisors (CS), no show, no call, and people who absolutely have no idea about pool construction figuring it out as they went.
At one point, after paying one of our draws, we had a subcontractor for the gunite show up at our house needing to collect from us because they had not been paid. He said if they did not receive payment soon, a lien would be placed on our home. We were told that the person who they hired to manage the subs ran off with all the money. That was about the 10th red flag. But we were already invested and committed. The red flags just continued. Problems started all the way back to when they dug the hole- many issues all the way to start up that the word limit on here won't allow me to explain. 3 days after filling the pool with water we noticed major cracking and shifting of the deck/ pool. The coping sat above the deck. In addition to this, they filled the pool with water but did not start the main pump or give us any instruction or supplies for 2 weeks- the water turned green, and the plaster was compromised. We mentioned these problems to the CS who seemed concerned about the issues and said he would get them resolved. He would bad mouth the owner of the company to us when things weren't happening. We were trying to be patient as he confirmed there was definitely an issue and was taking care of it. He had the concrete crew come out, who put liquid nail in the cracks and painted what looked like house paint on the deck! (Which began to peel in about a week)
Meanwhile, we noticed that there was a large area around the perimeter of the pool that was wet and kept getting wetter and we were having to add water to the pool daily to keep the water level up. Again, we mentioned this to CS who acted concerned- had the plumbing checked and then concluded it was not the pool but some underground issue affecting the pool and the deck. On December 21 we received by certified mail, an affidavit from Champion stating they were done with construction of the pool and we had 14 days to find where the water was coming from or they would void all warranties AS IT was the cause of the deck/ pool issues.
We hired multiple people to check issues at our property including septic service, drainage specialist, plumber, sprinkler company and finally another pool company to check for leaks. All was good EXCEPT THERE WAS A MAJOR STRUCTURAL LEAK in the side of the pool.
Would you believe that even after we informed Champion of the problem, they never apologized nor resolved the issues with the deck being cracked/ shifted, coping pieces broken.
In the meantime, we have been in an endless email exchange with the owner of the company, Jerry- who says he will do something, then altogether doesn't respond anymore. No integrity!
We have paid other contractors to fix the leak and remove and replace the deck and now next to fix the coping. We will have to live with the plaster as it is all so expensive to do twice! read more