Like many new pools installs between 2020 - 2022, our pool idea was born during the COVID-19 shutdown. We had talked about upgrading our backyard with a jacuzzi/spa and stone blocks to replace the grass in the yard to enjoy during retirement. My wife said one of the things she had on her bucket list was to learn how to swim. So, I suggested a membership to "Lifetime Fitness." That did not go over well. During a visit from her mother and sister, they mentioned to her that the backyard would really look good with a pool. I emphatically tried to shut that discussion down that morning. By that afternoon, we were on our way to Cave Creek to check out pools at Dolphin Pools. When entering the office there is a receptionist who greeted us. She was quite friendly and welcoming. We did not have an appointment, and the sales staff were already with customers, so she scheduled an appointment for us later that week. We perused the showroom. Much to my astonishment, the receptionist adequately answered all the questions we had with remarkable knowledge about the pools. That left us with a very nice first impression and great start to the process. Once we met our assigned salesperson, he was very affable, welcoming, and extremely knowledgeable. His name is DJ McClanahan. DJ knows everything there is to know about the pool industry and landscaping, I later discovered. What I appreciated most was his honesty. DJ would tell you if something could or could not work. He could always succinctly back up whatever he said would or would not be beneficial to the build or the aesthetics of the pool. He has seen it all and done it all. There was never any high-pressure sales pitch or condescension because we were shopping and had not made any decisions about getting the pool. We were still in the research stage, at least so I thought, until my wife pulled out the checkbook and proceeded to put a down payment on the contract. "Happy wife, happy life!" No worries though, I had done my research before we got to Dolphin Pools. What they were offering as a package totally blew their competitors out of the water (so-to-speak). Furthermore, there was an immediate rapport we felt with DJ and the support staff overall. As we progressed throughout the process, every deadline was met as promised and when there were parts of the process that broke down either beyond their control, such as lack of cement or supply chain problems, as well as contractor scheduling issues, the support staff and superintendent were the first to notify us as soon as they learned of the concerns with a detailed explanation, workaround and anticipation date to resolve said issue. Rarely, were they far off or wrong. For example, we signed our contract in October 2021 with an expectation of a start date of late January 2022. The completion date was scheduled for the beginning of May 2022. The projected completion date was less than two weeks off schedule. Still, well worth the wait! In conclusion, our experience with Dolphin Pools was excellent. There was no pressure to sign on the dotted line. They design your pool based on your lifestyle, property line, HOA requirements, your imagination, and financial situation. We were always given choices, and not pushed into a one size fits all package. Overall, Dolphin Pools proved itself to be reliable, dependable, responsible, and dedicated to making sure that the anxiety of building a pool is as pleasant as possible. That starts and ends with the professionalism of the receptionist, salesforce team, and contractors. Our backyard now has a "wow factor." The first word out of the mouth of those who visit our backyard is, "wow!" And no, my wife still has not learned to swim. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a pool company that will give your backyard that "wow factor," Dolphin Pools has you covered. I highly recommend them for your pool build. Ask for DJ and tell him Mike and Paulette sent you. Oh, and by the way, I got my jacuzzi. "Happy hubby, more lovey dovey."T read more

I am super excited about my new Dolphin Pool! I had a wonderful experience transforming my backyard into a beautiful oasis. From the very beginning, I received excellent advice, help, knowledge and patience from each and every person at Dolphin. They have an amazing team of good people who are professional and knowledgeable. I am really impressed with their company. Eric came out to my house for a consultation just before Labor Day. He took measurements and helped with several ideas and pool designs. He was awesome and patient with me. I feel like we have become friends from the very first day he was here. He was so creative, yet realistic with all that goes into planning and designing a pool. When I decided to "take the plunge", he adjusted his schedule and Labor Day plans to come over once more. I paid my deposit and we picked out pool colors, tile, and decking. The plans were set in motion....I was on my way to owning a 30th Anniversary pool special. George was my Superintendent, and he was also great! He came over and checked on each phase of the process. I had to reach out to him on a few occasions, and each time he was there to help me. Les was super with the chemical start up and equipment orientation. I have called him a few times and he has helped me with some of my nervous questions. He has been extremely helpful! The contractors were pleasant and punctual. I was home for some of the process, so I would offer sodas to them as they were busy making my dream come true. Tanya was awesome with her emails and calls regarding the scheduling of each and every person. I spoke with Barb and Melanie a few times about the warranties and pool questions. I am so happy they were all willing and able to help me out. Building a new pool is a huge task! These ladies and gentlemen made it such a fun and easy process. Once the permit was approved, the construction began on October 2nd. On Halloween, the pool was filling with water. I would highly recommend Dolphin Pools and Spas to anyone interested in having their dreams come true. I look forward to enjoying my new pool and backyard for many years to come. Thank you, Dolphin Pools, for making my dream turn into a reality. I am so grateful to all of you. :) Megan O'Neill read more

This review is to acknowledge the great job received by DOLPHIN POOLS, recently in our new home. I could start by saying how professional they were and how attentive to details and my family needs. And I could finish here just leaving it at that. But it would be unfair, since I felt like I had a whole team of professionals arranjing the construction, just like a fine tuned orchestra. It all started with Mr. Joe Ayers, he came in, did the design, gave me options, sugestions and confidence that the job was getting off to a good start. He was never pushy and he never lost sight of what he was there to do. Very professional and accommodating, a gentleman. Dot and the people of engineering for drawing the plan and getting the permits. Steve Bensema was next, he was the job superintendent and supervisor and I know that He was tough with his inspections, if he didn't like something, next day it was fixed, in and out of my back and out of my yard quietly, like a man in a mission, thank you Sir for taking care of everything that went on behind the scene. Tonia and Tashina were next, they made sure that I had all the materials on time, that the project was moving forward, the contractors were there when they said that they would and that at every step of the way I was informed of what was happening, even when my stones were not in stock, and I screamed blood and murder at them, they kept there cool and did everything to make sure to let me know that they understood my frustation, for that my apologies, at the end, you gave me my pool ahead of schedule by a full 2 weeks. By the end of the project I had met with almost everyone, and a special thanks to Chris and Frank owners of Sonoram Landscape, Isidoro, Armando and Paulino, the pavers and concrete sub contractors, for going the extra mile for us, and for the presents that you guys left for us in our pool. Last, thank you Less for showing us how to work with the pool chemicals, filters and computer controls. Again, thank you all for your effort and for the beautiful job that you guys did. Max & Sam Verrado - AZ read more

Dolphin Pools - More than just a company that "builds a pool and says "enjoy!"", this has been such a great experience in the entire process. My wife and I met many of the sales staff at a Home and Garden a few years ago, including Kimble, who became our sales consultant for the pool/deck design. We live in central Arizona , and it's not always easy getting to the valley efficiently, so Kimble was more than kind to come to our location to work on design, show an amazing 3d rendering, print out pages needed, and designed with our assistance too! (hey, this is our paradise we are getting here!). Price was better than any of the other 2 or 3 pool companies that we also considered....and we got a LOT more! Construction, from the initial bob cats ripping up the hole, to plumbers, electricians, deckers and more, there was such a nice 'camaraderie' between us. Dolphin Pools, like many, if not all builders, use separate construction companies during the build. It is obvious, that these builders are carefully selected, as they are not only proficient by what they do, but friendly as well. Now, after a few months, entire backyard was transformed, and once pool was started , here , like many others would negate in keeping this a 5 star review, normal upstart adjustments and or fixes had to be applied, be it to reapplication paint on decking (temperature during initial application was too cool, so improper curing occurred), to water flow adjustments and tiling fixing. Because coordination with staff at Dolphin was on top of every matter, and without question, every repair was handled with such professionalism and this was from Les, Melanie, Tanya, Barb at Dolphin Pools and this is why I keep this a 5 star review. It's all about customer service folks! As pool has "broken in", we can not be more pleased with the pool 'oasis' if you will, in which we now call our resort...."Sorry California beaches or Disney"...you might not see us as much :) I would recommend Dolphin Pools to anyone wanting trust in a quality pool. read more

I am now looking at a beautiful completed project. When my husband and I moved back to Arizona my only stipulation was that I had to have a pool. Finally, 10 years later we were able to get that done. Fortunately, we have a family friend who is a pool maintenance technician. He was with us on several interviews. We started by calling out and interviewing 5 pool companies. Dolphin was our 3rd interview. After talking to Joe Ayers at Dolphin, we were confident they could do the job. I still interviewed 2 more companies because why not they were set for the next day. When I told one of the companies that we talked to Dolphin, the sales rep looked at me and said we can't compete with Dolphin. He didn't even share what he had to offer. On another appointment, the Sales associate talked down to my family friend as if he didn't have an important role in our decision. Joe treated our family friend with respect for the position he had as our friend and a pool technician. We decided to go with Dolphin. I called Joe up and He took us step by step through every process. Joe made us feel like we were part of the Dolphin family. Next came our foreman on the project Dolphin Dave. We made a couple errors on our thinking on how our pool should be and Dolphin Dave quickly made corrections to my judgment errors. For example, I didn't think we needed a step into the jacuzzi and when I realized my thinking was wrong, Dave was there to quickly make sure we got a step into our jacuzzi. Any question I had Dave was quick to answer. We did have a problem with the painters painting the cooling deck the wrong color. A quick call to Dave had the correct color the next day. Due to Covid, a few things were on delay but ultimately Maria Plascencia in Warranty made sure all our final details were taken care of. I highly recommend Dolphin Pools and the amazing team they have there. read more

I'll share my consultation experience with Dolphin Pools vs. California Pools: We did not even make it far enough to receive a price quote from California Pools. Immediately upon arrival, the consultant began telling us all the reasons why we may not want to build a pool. He stated that there is only one entrance into our backyard which is too narrow and would require a mini bobcat instead of a standard size, which would be much more expensive and time-consuming. He added that since our home is built partially mountainside, it would most likely require a "hard dig" which would again add much more expense. He said we would need to have our gas box shut off and removed for them to get in which would also be a hassle. He gave us a rough estimate seeming uninterested and without even providing any written information. There were much more negatives which left us feeling discouraged and as if he did not want to earn our business. (We purchased our home with the intent to build a pool some day for our daughter.) A couple of weeks later we had the absolute pleasure of working with DJ from Dolphin Pools. He assessed the setup of our home and quickly found a much easier entrance into our yard. He recommended the pool being built on the other side of our yard to avoid any hard digs. He listened to our ideas/concerns and offered his own creative ideas which were awesome! We received a detailed breakdown of the estimate and we are beyond excited to be building a pool for countless memories with our family. We have recommended Dolphin Pools to my sister who also had a disappointing experience with a different company. Thank you DJ and Dolphin Pools for your kindness, professionalism, and knowledge. It goes a long way. read more

Where do I start? Dolphin Pools Under Promise and over delivers and that is very very hard to find in any business. You talk about a company with integrity, If you are looking to have a pool done then look no further than Dolphin Pools. I was referred to Dolphin Pools from my neighbor who owns a pool cleaning company. He had heard great things about Dolphin Pools and in his opinion, Out of all the Pools he cleans Dolphin Pools looked more custom and he felt they build a better pool. I had 6 pool companies come out and give me a quote on having the pool I designed built. #1 Dolphin Pools, Shasta Pools, We Fix Ugly Pools, Lake Side Pools , Monster Pools and California Pools! NOW LET ME TALK ABOUT MY Salesman Dustin Parker. When he first came out he was very professional and was at my house sitting out front 15 minutes early and waited till 5 minutes before our appointment and then came to ring our doorbell. From the start we hit it off! NOT PUSHY very informative and help me make a few minor changes to my pool to help me get the most for my money. Dustin told me up front he would give me one price and wouldn't play the game of going back and forth and he also told me up front he would be the cheapest by far!!! Dustin quote came in $4,000 cheaper than the lowest bidder out of the 5 other companies for the exact same pool after negotiating with the other companies for days. Because of Dustin Parker and Dolphin Pools my family are able to have the exact pool we desired and we are ever so grateful for Dolphin Pools finishing our pool in less than the 58 days they promised. I highly recommend Dustin Parker and Dolphin Pools, if you want a family owned Pool Company that cares about the customer. read more

Building a pool is a stressful experience to say the least. When we got to the point where we had saved up enough money for ours, we went into full research mode. There are very few builders that don't have a mix of both good and bad reviews, and Dolphin was one of maybe ten companies that we looked at. Of those, six actually came out to our property to create designs for us. I am honestly not sure what is going on with most pool companies, but of those six companies that came out, only three actually followed up with quotes. It was like the rest didn't want our business. Dustin at Dolphin was hands-down the most professional salesperson we met with, and he was super flexible with our plans. He was upfront about the possibility of a hard dig with us, and we built some flexibility into our bid so that if a hard dig occurred (which it did), we were just able to remove some other features to keep our overall cost within budget. We finalized our details and signed the contract in December. A hard dig bid and the holiday break kept progress to a minimum that month, but once January rolled around things moved into high gear. From start to finish, it took them about eight weeks to finish our pool. Dolphin was very communicative along the way, and the entire build process was professional and they never left our yard a mess. Our pool was completed last week, and while it's too cold to get in it still, it looks beautiful! I'll keep this review updated periodically if anything comes up with regards to our pool maintenance, but when looking at the experience we've had so far, I would highly recommend Dolphin to anybody looking to build a pool. read more

Our pool was built by Dolphin in mid-2004, we purchased the house w/pool late that year. Dolphin Pools apparently have a "lifetime warranty", BUT only for the original owner. So basically, we got a brand new pool with NO warranty. The plumbing and electrical systems have performed well enough- other than routine repair and maintenance. The problems we've experienced with the pool surface and the tile surround have been inexcusable, though, and are the result of shoddy workmanship. The pool has a "pebble-tech" surface, and last year it began coming off in large chunks from the steps in about 5 different places. Apparently when this surface was applied to the concrete understructure (Gunnite) it was applied too thickly and did not adhere properly- causing a gap that then allowed the surface to expand and contract, develop surface cracks, let water underneath, and then just fall off. The ceramic tile was installed with the same lack of attention to detail. I currently have about 4 feet of corner trim off of the spa, and some of the tile pieces have little to no cement on the back, or have gaps. Now that I can see how the vertical surface of tile was installed, it was either done in a hurry, or the contractor just didn't care about anything other than getting it done- there's no cement at the outside edges of the tile- another air gap- and failure waiting to happen. Our next door neighbor had their pool done by Dolphin last year- about the same time I was repairing the pebble-tech, but it was too late for them to back out of the contract! At least they'll have a warranty. read more

We had a fantastic experience with getting a pool built with Dolphin Pools. I can't say enough good things about them. Our designer Dustin was awesome!! We gave him ideas of what we were wanting and a budget we wanted to stick to and he was so wonderful and listened and understood what we wanted and came up with a beautiful design that was exactly what we were looking for and we were even able to do a few little extras all while staying within our budget. We were given an estimated time frame as to when the pool would be complete and it was done and running right on time, even with a few hiccups in between, no major issues but things come up and can cause delays with pool builds, between all the workers with different phases and weather, things are bound to happen. Even with us choosing to start this project right before the onset of monsoon season, Dolphin had everything planned out so well that any little issues that came up, were handled timely and never ended up causing any delays on the overall end date. Everyone we worked with at Dolphin from the ladies in the office (Tonia, Melanie, Tashina, Barbara and sorry if I forgot anyone else :) to George our supervisor and all the workers in between were excellent and always available to answer questions. They were so helpful throughout the whole process and communicated everything we needed to know well in advance. We really couldn't have had a better experience and are absolutely pleased and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to get a pool built. read more

I contacted Dolphin Pools in September (2021) and spoke to Deanna who would become our sales advisor. Deanna came out to our house in Mesa and gave us recommendations on location, size, etc of the pool. We also went over what the price for the package would be (around $38,000), however, we wanted to add a water feature. On October 2nd, I sent over photos of water features I wanted and was told Deanna would get a concrete final price of everything included. On October 7th, I was the one to follow up with her to see if she had pricing, and was told because of 4 employees tested positive for covid, all employees had to take a "mandatory vacation". On October 12th I received a call to tell me that if I don't sign a contract by October 17th, the base price was going to increase by $3,000. I still had not received the original quote that had been requested on October 7th. I asked Deanna to give me a final price asap so I could make a decision before the price increase on the 17th. Now it is the 17th and it took me reaching out to Deanna to see what the price was going to be, and she said the price is going to increase and because I didn't want to pay anything more than what was originally quoted and agreed upon, she wasn't going to reach back out. What type of business quotes someone a price, then holds out weeks to give them a final contract, then strong arms them into a higher price. I should have listened to the prior yelp reviews before contacting them, and in the end, is probably a good thing this fell through. read more