Let me start by saying, I had encounters with 5 different employees from J&S Pools. Carly, in the main office, was nice and friendly, and helpful. No problems there. Matt, one of the servicemen that came out to install a pump that I had warranty work done on was good as well. Friendly, on time, courteous, and knew what he was doing. 2 other service techs, they admittedly didn't really know what they were doing, and didn't know anything about the cost of the repairs they came to estimate, but they were able to remove the part of my motor that needed to be replaced and went on their merry way. THE OWNER, however, I believe his name is Jim. This guy was the farthest thing from professional I have ever experienced.
My Hayward Variable Speed pump stopped working and I called Hayward and they told me that J&S was an authorized warranty provider. I called and scheduled an appointment with Carly to have the above mentioned 2 unnamed service men come to look at my pump. I confirmed with Carly that if this was a warranty issue there would be no cost to me. It was deemed that the motor was burnt out and needed to be replaced. Seeing as how the pump was less than one year old, it was under warranty and there should have been no charge. They took the pump and let me know that a new one would be brought out and installed and should be free as it is under warranty. A few days later, Matt (technician) came and installed the new pump and I confirmed that the pump got warrantied out and there was no charge. I assumed this was the end of my interaction with J&S and to this point everyone had been nice and helpful and I would be using J&S forever.
Imagine my surprise when 2 weeks later I receive a bill for nearly $100 ($96 I believe) for the service call to install my new pump. Rather than call, I visit the store in person and was greeted by Jim. When I told him who I was, he knew the situation (pump burnt out and got warranties) right away. I mentioned that I had no idea why I was receiving a bill for this service as I was told multiple times that it would be no cost. Jim told me that they were unable to get paid for the repair by Hayward as the pump had no serial number on it and they could not verify the warranty, therefore I had to pay the standard service charge. I asked why I was getting charged when I was told multiple times that I would not be charged a thing. My problem is not that I am being charged because if that is the case that my pump was no longer under warranty then I would have taken that up with Hayward, but the fact that you had 2 different opportunities after the initial service call to tell me there would be charges and you never bothered to mention it. Jim immediately got irate and threw my copy of the bill at me and said, "fine I'll take care of it, it's gone. You can leave now"
After discussing this with Jim for approximately 5 minutes I was able to DRAG out of him that all I needed to do was provide the serial number and they would be able to get their money for the service from Hayward. So I got Jim's email, went home, and sure enough in 2 different places on my pump were very large font stamped serial numbers that clearly none of the technicians ever bothered to look for. I sent a picture of them to Jim, even though that should not have been my responsibility.
I went out of my way to treat them right, and needless to say, Jim was one of the worst interactions I have ever had. I will NEVER use J&S again and I advise you all to stay away as well. read more