I have been using Kool Bear for 9 years in total now and Larry and his staff have been wonderful. That was true until about a couple of years ago when Larry sold his business to a new owner. This guy is consistently rude, raised his prices, doesn't answer the phone, and definitely does not stand behind his work. Twice now in the last two summer my pool has turned green - this never happened when Larry was at the helm. The new owner is slow to respond, and when he does he tries to blame the client. 5 days ago my pool turn green again and when we were justifiably upset, and really needed our pool guy, he QUIT! DO NOT USE KOOL BEAR. read more

Larry Bickelmeyer is the owner and has been around a long time as a pool tech; however, you do not get Larry servicing your pool on a weekly basis. Larry comes only if you complain or have a mechanical malfunction like a pool sweep problem or a pump motor, etc. What you get is a sub contractor or trainee who come to your house each week. I had 3 different guys in 3 years. I demanded the first two be replaced as they did nothing to help my issue and I truly believe I know as much as they did about pools. One even brought his girlfriend who was learning "the business." We hired Larry during our renovation of our pool. He was not involved with the remodel, it was done by a pool contractor. We had our pool done in a dark gray plaster and all the tiles on the water line, dam wall and spa are very expensive mosaic glass. Our pool soon became a calcified cement pond. I continually complained to the pool techs who came by each week and to Larry. Larry blames the water from the main line, the plaster, etc. etc. etc. Apparently, he and his bunch of trainees are blameless in his mind. My neighbor remodeled his pool with dark gray plaster and new tiles about the same time as mine and his pool to this day has not one speck of calcium. My pool looks like a zebra with all the white crap, my beautiful tiles are laden with calcium! The blue tiled spillway from the Spa to the pool is almost solid white! I had 2 pool experts come and take water samples from the main line and the pool and they were astounded at the horrible condition of my pool and each said "...it could have been avoided." We recently returned from a two week trip to Hawaii and found the pool full of algae. Larry's trainee didn't put enough chlorine in the water while we were gone, who knows if he even showed up? My 6 year old granddaughter said when she saw the pool "...it looks like the ocean" and it did! I could not get Larry to do anything that helped the calcium or to spend any time really cleaning it. Oh, he tried in a little spot here and there and tried a bunch of cleaners to no avail. He told me I should clean it! We even drained the pool twice, which is a pain. I don't think I needed to go through all this stuff! Long story short I paid a lot of money to remodel the pool and now I am paying over $1,000 to have the 3 year old plaster acid bathed to rid it of the massive calcium and the tiles must be blasted to get off all the calcium on the mosaic tiles. When you run your hand over the plaster it feels like 300 grit sandpaper! I am left "holding the bag" so to speak. I am very very sorry I used Kool Bear. I never got an apology for ruining my plaster and tile and making my pool look like no one ever cleans it or cares for it, only finger pointing by Larry at every one but Kool Bear. Hire at your own risk. read more

Larry Bickelmeyer & his staff have been servicing our pool for the past 5 years, and we would never consider replacing him! Larry led teh team that re-plastered & tiled the pool, converted us from chlorinated to salt water, oversaw the installation of our solar heaters and babysat the pool while we renovated our house. Larry's personal involvement in our pool ensure's that we have the greatest pool in Manhattan Beach! read more

First off when the owner (Boaz) shows up the pool looks great. Unfortunately his techs showing up and communications are the issues. We have lived here a little less then 2 years and every couple of months something comes up and they "no show" cleaning our pool as scheduled. Unfortunately there has only been advanced notice two times. More unfortunate it always seems to be a time when were are having people over. I have given them several chances to correct and the same problems return. This last time was after a windstorm so I was doing what I pay them for at 10pm the night before 25 high school athletes were coming over to swim the next morning. While cleaning I found yellow mold growing along 2 of the 4 walls and I found a dead baby rat stuck in the finger hole of the plastic cover for the pool return. It was black and almost completely gone (been there a long time). It actually looked like black leaves stuck until I pulled the cover and a rotted face was staring back. If the tech had been opening this cover then gross but I suspect he wasn't. When the tech came for the last time I watched him. 6 minutes and 43 seconds from the time he walked through our gate and back out to leave. If this is what I was getting all month I have been paying them over $200/hr to maintain our pool! In addition they charge $10 extra a month for pool cover removal to service. During this 6 minute visit the tech opened a corner of the cover to pour chemicals in then closed it but didn't pull it open to check the pool. Left me wondering if he ever took it off. I will leave it to you to decide if you want to try them but I'm looking for a new pool service if anyone knows of one that is reliable and communicates with its customers let me know. read more

I popped in here to learn about doing my own pool and they were very helpful and the products were reasonable. I found they took the time and were detailed about what i needed to do. I priced some of the products on Coscto on line and found they weren't too much higher so I feel they were fairly priced. I would use them again. read more

We've had Kool Bear service our pool for several years. Lary at Kool Bear is very quick and efficient in getting your pool back into working order. We developed a leak in our system and Lary came out to fix it immediately and was very reasonably priced. We have just invested in upgrading our pool and were looking forward to having a dependable, experienced pool technician to service it every week! read more

This company is under new ownership, be very careful with this company, they are very good charging you for services that you don't need, they like to do extra work for you with out your approval. They also like to take pool equipment from your property with out the property owners approval and their overall pool cleaning services is mediocre and dishonest. The new owner is very rude and never get back to you on time. Save your time and money. Take your business some where else. read more

I have read the negative reviews on Boaz and Kool Bear Pool and Spa and was surprised!! We have Kool Bear servicing our pool these past two years and have had no issues!! Our guy does a wonderful job, does not take short cuts and is very conscientious about the service he gives us so I never have to worry about it!! This week we had an issue with our spa not filling up with water! Boaz came out today and not only resolved the problem, but educated us on all the pool equipment and what to do! We had turned the system off until he came out and now we feel confident on what to do if we should have an issue! He wrote on the equipment as to which way all the valves should be!! He was pleasant to talk to!! I personally would recommend them and feel grateful to have their service!!! John and Janet Wagner read more

Reliable, courteous and professional services. My pool is sparkling clean. Last week the wind brought a lot of leaves into the pool. The employee stayed twice as long and brought out extra equipment to clean up the mess. Occasionally my older equipment needs repair or a new part. Theses issues are quickly solved. I've been using Kool Bear for several years and am most satisfied. read more

Amazing Service and all around great experience, I met Larry through a mutual friend and he has been servicing our pool for over 2 years. He keeps our pool looking beautiful and is always so friendly. He gave me a great recommendation on a variable speed pool pump and we went ahead and installed. WOW we saw a huge decrease in our electrical bill. Larry is a straight shooter and always has a smile on his face. He really enjoys what he does for a living and i would recommend him to all my family and friends. You wont be disappointed and if you want your pool looking crystal blue he is the guy! Kool Bear Pools get 5 stars read more

I've been using Kool Bear for years, ever since I bought my house in 2011. The last few years their service has dropped off, but the last year it has been phenomenally bad, hence the one star. They have repeatedly removed my sweep to "fix" it without notifying me. It takes multiple months for them to replace it. This last time resulted in damage to my pump. I'm a busy guy; moreover, I don't have time to police them so I had to terminate their services. I would advise potential customers to look elsewhere. Please feel free to contact me, and I will be happy provide details. read more

I've used this company for nearly 10 years and even with the recent ownership change, the service is reliable and affordable. Highly recommended. read more

I have pulled my positive re ie.. A huge disappointment these past few weeks. Communication of any sort (phone, email, text) is lacking. In case folks do not know Larry was the previous owner. Boaz, this is to reply to your false assessment of our situation. There was nothing personal in removing the post. You had asked me if I would put a positive review in Yelp. I did. But the situation for the last month. It started when I noticed the pool draining. I contacted you ! You came 2 days later & said I have a crack. Now you folks have been servicing this pool weekly for a year. Couldn't someone servicing the pool every week have noticed there was a crack ? We also discussed estimate on the pool equipment tubes above ground & redoing the area around the pool. You said you would have the fiberglass repair man plus your "construction company" would be getting back to me for estimates. Two weeks later I had not heard a peep. So again. I contacted you with a text saying "what's up ?" No reply. I emailed, I re-texted, I emailed again and I left voice mails. And finally you called to say, "oh, I thought you were going to get ahold of Mr. Cross" ,(fiberglass person). After that conversation, you did call me back and tell me Mr.Cross was tied up on a big job but would definitely get ahold of me. But no mention of the other estimates of pool equipment repair and/or the deck around the pool. I said I received the monthly bill & was surprised since there was only a foot of water in the pool. It "still had to be serviced with chemicals so there would be no mosquitoes or frogs". Frogs ???? And then you said you were quitting. And you are upset because I pulled my (the requested from you) review? Things had definitely changed from a year ago when you came to give an estimate for weekly service and even gave me your personal cell #. read more

How dare you Boaz. I posted an honest review of your business and you accuse me of lying. Cameras, photos and a green pool do not lie. Thank you for proving your disrespect to your now former customers and a WARNING to any potential customers. It is a shame what you did to Larry's business. Too bad you got to keep the business name as that is the ONLY good reviews is when Larry owned it read more

Kool Bear Pool and Spa is a great pool and spa service company. I have used them for the past 10 years or so and they are always so helpful and knowledgeable. Can't say enough about Kiku and Boaz, the owner, they are the best!!! read more

The folks at Kool Bear do a great job keeping our pool sparkling clean at a very reasonable price.

As a Kool Bear customer our weekly pool service has been a 5-Star experience. Time is taken to do the job right. The owner also deserves an A+ 5-Star rating for going the extra mile to make sure his customers are satisfied . read more

Larry did amazing job fixing our heater. Reasonable, trustworthy and great expertise is our experience. Came out on a Saturday and our heater was working an hour later. Thank you we will call again next time!! read more

A very fair price for my pool resurfacing and Boaz was very professional. He answered all of my questions and was quick to respond to any concerns! I spoke to some other companies and they were very slow to respond to even the most basic of questions. His attentiveness was much appreciated. read more

Lary at Kool Bear is fantastic! He's helped me out with my pool on two different occasions and I'm not even a regular customer! I do my own pool maintenance, but on occasion I need help. Lary came over and solved my pump issue and even fixed some things that the original pool installation team failed to do. On his most recent visit he cleaned my large filter and recommended an alternative to that nasty DE. Besides being extremely knowledgeable, straight forward, honest and funny, Lary cares! He's not going to mislead you or pressure you just to make money. Not once did he try to get me to use his pool cleaning service instead of doing it myself. I'm going to take that as a compliment that I'm doing a decent job! ;) Great company - Great guy!! Thanks Lary!! read more

Have been our pool folks for about six months or more, they do a sterling job. Our previous pool guy disappeared and we hired Kool Bear, and they haven't disappointed us at all, and are experts in installing equipment as well. read more

I have been with Kool Bear Pool & Spa from the start. My pool is always clean and if I have a question or need something taken care of it is handled ASAP. If there is a problem with something that I am not aware of I am notified by Kool Bear of the situation and what needs to be done. I would recommend Kool Bear Pool & Spa. They let you know if things need to be fixed and are fair about it too. read more

When calling the company I was put touch with the owner who made an appointment with us to go over the pool equipment and how to work everything as we were new pool owners. Lary is very polite and explained all there is to know, which was alot for us. He has been doing our pool now for four years and when I look out my kitchen window every evening I feel like I'm in the Caribbean ocean read more