Project took twice as long as quoted. Project manager does not respond to emails or calls. Cost of pool paid in full and I am still awaiting my handrail and explanation on a panel the cost extra to install but has no use. RUNNNNNNNNN FAST!!!!! read more

I went to Richard's because they were listed as the distributor for Endless Pools in Houston. I understand pricing is expensive & there were long delays from the manufacturer. Those things can't be helped. The problem with this company is their customer service. Poor communication from the project manager & unnecessary delays due to her poor planning & disorganization. It's been 10 months since I ordered my swim spa. I told them from the beginning that I believed I needed electrical service upgrade, & repeatedly asked for the electrician to come early to avoid delays, but they kept saying don't worry about it, their electrician will take care of it. Until he finally came out & said he can't do it, a week before the pool is to be delivered, & they tell me to find my own electrician. Last month I had to go to the BBB to resolve a price issue (they tried to charge me extra for medical tax exemption, even though I completed the paperwork at time of contract). When they got the BBB complaint, they were suddenly accommodating, at least until I withdrew my complaint when they corrected the pricing. Since then, it's like pulling teeth to get a response from them about anything. I haven't been able to use my driveway for two weeks due to the mound of dirt they left there when they finally framed the concrete pad. The latest is that they will schedule the clean-up crew sometime next week. Back to the electrician: I got one out with firm dates on the service upgrade, and immediately informed the project manager exactly what date they could deliver the spa this month (which according to her, is already on its way to Houston & could be delivered on Tuesday if they hadn't delayed the electrician coming out). She arbitrarily (spitefully) said she could schedule the delivery AFTER the 4th of July weekend. No reason for the delay. Just passive aggressive. She doesn't take my calls, & ignores half my emails. So back to the beginning: I'm still dealing with this company because they are the distributor for the swim spa I want. But I don't recommend the company if you have a choice. UPDATE IN RESPONSE TO CHRISTINA: I fully expected this kind of response from your company, as no one there ever admits fault and your staff have repeatedly lied & tried blaming me (and each other) for their screw ups. A simple acknowledgment of errors and an attempt to make it right would go a long way in improving your customer relationships. I have the emails showing I have been asking since November to have the electrical looked at. Your own electrician told me that the pre-site person told him I said I think I might need an upgrade (it's also in the paperwork), but that she and he didn't think so. Your project manager, Kristen, told me in March that the electrician would come out in April, in response to my reminding her that I was still waiting for the electrical assessment to see if the service upgrade was needed. AT NO TIME IN THE PAST 10 MONTHS has ANYONE from your company said that I needed to do the upgrade, or that I would have to find my own electrician. ALL conversations about the electrical were brought up by me, repeatedly telling your staff that I need to know if my panel can handle the extra load or if it needs an upgrade. I was repeatedly told not to worry about it, and that if it was needed, your electrician could do it (at an extra cost). I repeatedly expressed concern about getting the electrical question answered so that it could be addressed without causing further delays. As for Kristen always responding, you know that is not true. If I leave a message or send an email, it takes DAYS to get a partial reply, and in many cases I have had to copy the owner on the communication in order to get any reply. At every turn, I have adjusted my schedule, often on a moment's notice, to accommodate you. Including responding immediately to email sent at 11:30 at night on a Saturday saying the concrete pad would be done on the Monday holiday. I made myself & my property available at your convenience. You waited four days before sending the electrician to do the stub up (after repeatedly telling me he's standing by to do it at the same time). Even when the electrician was finally at my house, he indicated to me that he could do the upgrade. We discussed how it would be done. He drew plans. I have it all on video with audio. The next morning, I got a call telling me to find my own electrician. My electrician came out within ONE DAY of my requesting. He put me on his next available date for the work. Don't try to act like any of the delays are my fault. This is on Kristen and Torah. Torah even admitted to me that she was "new" when we did this contract, so she didn't do everything right. read more

We contracted Richards mid 2020 to build our pool and spa. This was the worst decision we've made. Not only did it take way longer than expected to complete the project, construction ended a couple months ago and we still do not have a functioning pool and spa. We contact them constantly with little to no reply. We were lied to constantly about time frames and when things would be fixed. I would never recommend this company to anyone. read more

When you look at their facilit, You think they are pros. Totally suck. I paid 80 K and they don't even pay a pallet of grass. very cheap guys. read more

We have had a terrible experience with this company. After dealing with our flooded home after hurricane Harvey, we finally moved back in after 10 months and thought we found the right company to rebuild our pool and back yard. They did a great job designing our dream backyard with fancy software and a great sales person. We signed the contract on April 26. Today is August 16th and our back yard is a total disaster. We were told aprox 8 weeks after demolition in May - and are now over 14 weeks into the project with no end in site. We are on our 3rd project manager and are lied to daily. They can't seem to keep anyone on the job long enough to finish a project and the lack of communication is abysmal. After what our family has endured, we were looking forward to a beautiful back yard space to enjoy at least some of our summer. We are left staring at a garbage dump and over half of our $'s spent so far. This is a large project that has a very large price tag - we are appalled at the lack of progress. Stay tuned for progress - or lack there of. read more

My experience began with an online inquiry that led to immediate contact even during the busy holiday season. The staff was courteous and professional and confirmed and kept their appointment to come to my home to evaluate my property and answer my questions of which hot tub could work best for my backyard. There was no high pressure tactics, the gentleman who came over asked appropriate questions of what I wanted and he placed me in the most appropriate tub based on what I desired. When due to a minor inventory error we found out that the tub we initially agreed upon was not in stock. Richard's bent over backwards to accommodate me. As for arranging delivery and installation--seamless. When it came to educating me on hot tub maintenance, the gentleman was very patient and well informed. I would recommend this company, without reservation, to any one interested in acquiring a hot tub. read more

We paid the initial down payment for the pool around the 15th of August. We were told that once this is paid the digging can begin. We have asked what the hold up is and Nick told us we will have more info in a few days. Weeks go by and we never hear anything whatsoever. This has happened on more than one occasion. There has been absolutely zero communication except for the times we have reached out and a similar message is relayed to us. The worst part is that it would literally take 10 seconds to send us a quick update. Seems like that isn't asking too much. Maybe our experience will drastically improve but at this point we are very worried about the decision we made. read more

We contracted to have our family pool and spa built on Aug 15th, 2019. It is 98% complete and usable as of Sep 16th, 2019. Still waiting on a couple of items, but because of the tropical storm it has been delayed. You can't control the weather. Overall the experience has been positive. Our contractor Jose is great at answering texts, addressing issues right away, and letting you know what work is expected to be completed on which day. I felt that the price was a little high compared to what I was expecting. We had to make several cuts to our final project because every drain head, pipe length, and fence movement cost extra money. I was also not happy about the $2400 I spent on extra sod and sprinkler system replacement that was not included in the scope of work. I am hoping that the warranty on their construction and equipment will be worth the extra cost. We are very happy with the completed product. The work appears to be done well. I would recommend this company to a friend. read more

-Richards came through finally! They came and repaired everything beautifully! Our new contractor Marvin was amazing! He knew how to fix the issue and his work is gorgeous. The management at Richards was extremely apologetic and redeemed themselves! read more

Richard's Total Backyard Solutions - It's fixed!!! Marvin is awesome!! - Hot Tub & Pool Near Me - Houston, Texas

I contracted Richards total backyard to build a pool at our residence in March of 2020. After speaking with several other pool companies and referring back to the quotes I was given I choose to work with Richards. It was the best decision I could have made. The staff at Richards were very professional. I entered the facility, sat with my salesperson Kristy (which by the way was awesome) and we thoroughly went through my price point along with my expectancy of workmanship. I was taken through the construction phases, and as they said it all went exactly as I anticipated. The construction manager Bray was very hands on with his constructions crew. Our sales manager Stacie stayed in communication with me at all times. The finished project was beyond my expectations. We stayed within our budget and ended with an amazing pool. I would highly recommend working with these folks. Good people, honest people. Very professional. read more

So far not good. Hoping to update with a better review, but truly been just a frustrating experience so far. I know two other friends that started about the same time (March/April) and one is swimming, the other is in start up. Ours is a literal mud hole. Gave parameters and said many times to please come and verify that the drawing would work. They said just pay the initial 30k of 90k so that construction could start, and we did.Then when they were finally ready, they came and drew out the pool, and found out the design did not work for our existing layout. Back to the drawing board again. We agreed on the new design, followed up multiple to have someone draw it out, we gave a deadline to have this started or else we were going to move on from RTBS. They scheduled the excavation within days of that email, now we just have a big hole in the backyard. We were waiting on designs for a cleaning system, then scheduled for them to come out to install it, that's been rescheduled twice now. Going on 14 weeks working on this, we've had to change our plans for the summer (which was expected) but sadly have lost most of the summer, still no pool, and no completion date in sight. Based on a friend's recommendation of TBS we had high expectations, we are hoping to update this with a much better review once the project is complete. read more

This company may be well respected for the building of backyard pools, I will never know because I would never hire this company again for anything, after the experience I had with the building of our deck. First, it took nearly six months to complete. The boards are uneven and the overall appearance is very undesirable. The hinges on the built in storage boxes did not even last a year. I wish I could find one nice comment to say about the experience I had with this company, but just not possible. read more

I am a recent owner of a Richards Total Backyard solutions pool and spa. Its a 15,000 gallon gunite pool. Since the start of this project, it has been a nightmare. The office and project manager had trouble pulling permits, trouble scheduling the contractors, and several times ordered the wrong materials. Luckily I work from home and was able to oversea the entire project, since I got little oversight from the Project Manager. Some examples of issues: 1. Wrong tile was delivered, and with no PM around, I had to call the office and be the liaison between the PM, Construction manager, and the contractors. 2. The other tile was backordered and I had to change my design. 3. Then I had to change the tile design again because the pool deck was NOT-level, that a normal tile would leave edges to stub your feet or dips to retain rain water. 4. The spa jets are not designed for this type of in-ground spa. They keep falling out when the blower is turned on. I was told by one of their employees that they have been asking management for awhile to change their jets to one that works better. 5. I had many gaps in the grout, mastic (rubber caulking material), and tiles that had to get fixed several times. This took awhile to get contractors back out. 6. There was no check valve installed at the pump so anytime I try to empty the filter basket, it all backflows back into the pool. 6. One pool return had the pipe accidentally capped off, so I don't have enough flow to get the leaves into the skimmer basket. 7. The main drain and skimmer are tied together, so when you turn it on to skim the leaves off the top, the main drain sucks all the leaves under water. They should have tied it to the skimmer. My pool takes hours everyday trying to clean due to the plumbing issues. **As of 1/19/2018, I still do not have a pool that is acceptable for the whopping $60,000 that I spent. I have tried numerous times to resolve these issues, but they are avoiding my calls and emails. I was specifically told by the Project Manager that these are "minor issues". That to me means that their level of quality work is so very LOW. I did however receive a $2 "Richards" bottle of no-name wine and a "Richards" beach towel. I guess that was their way of saying "we are done fixing the botched pool build, good luck". read more

Richard's built my pool 6 years ago. I have been very satisfied with warranty work and especially with Paula getting everything done.

Couldn't be happier with the hottub we bought this past week from Nancy. The store had a great selection of all types and levels of spas, was nice to see such a large selection to chose from. The entire staff we worked with were informative, professional and courteous. Electrical set up was a breeze by Kevin (I believe his name was). We opted for the higher voltage unit over the plug and play, initially worried about the wiring hassle but honestly is wasn't bad at all. Delivery day and set up also very simple. Our delivery and install rep Ryan was just as personable as everyone else we had met, gave all the info we needed and left a contact number if we had any additional questions. Our sales rep even stopped out on delivery day to be sure everything ran smoothly and we were happy.... overall zero complaints, and zero issues, we will absolutely be doing business with this company again. read more

Your feedback matters". I don't think anything matters to Richards Total Backyard. We have never ever met a company with staff so unreliable. We have only bad experience with the company and especially Quentin. We have only had bad experience from the time we bought our Hot Tub to it got installed. Young people who didn't have enough experience. Incorrect calculation regarding the Hot Tub pads where the Hot Tub should be located. Disagreement about how much we should pay etc etc. Now we are moving from Houston and would like to sell the Hot Tub back to Richard Total Backyard. Quentin wrote in our contract if we move within 3 years the company would like to buy the Hot Tub back but it was only empty words. When we call ask them to buy the Hot Tub back, they said they don't buy used Hot Tubs. How can You run a business while being so unreliable facing your customers? I do hope people think twice and read between the lines. We are really disappointed and unhappy with our experience with Richards total Backyards. We don't recommend the Company. read more

We purchased our Hot Springs tub in 2005 from Richard's. We recently needed some repairs on it and Rodney was sent to handle. I cannot say enough about Rodney. He is professional, polite, hard working, honest, and just a great guy. Rodney handled the repair from beginning to end and takes great pride in doing a good job. Thanks Rodney and kudos to Richard's on having hied a great employee! read more

Richards Spas and Pools are such crooks, they sold us a Spa THAT DID NOT WORK. The owner would not refund our 13,000.00 dollars. They tried to charge us rent on the defective spa, don't use this company. Very abusive language from the owner. So now they saw it's their property due to them having it for 2 years. read more

Finally we have completed the pool .. it looks amazing. The whole process did go over smoothly with a few minor bumps in the road.. some of the contractors can get sloppy and not perform to the high standards in which we hold them too but all in all not a bad experience!!! We are waiting for landscaping still to be complete but we couldn't be happier with our pool... thanks Richards!!! read more

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Very professional throughout the entire process from design to the first pool cleaning. My salesperson helped me the entire way and helped me understand why it is so important to spend a little extra money on the front end of the transaction to save money in the long term. I am happy with my pool. read more

The owners have the biggest hearts and feel pride in every pool they build. The selection of hot tubs and the quality is truly the best. The showrooms are wonderful and make me want to hang around in the inviting atmosphere. read more

I would like to give an update regarding my post below. Since then all repairs have been done and we are very happy again! First let me say our experience from the beginning and through construction went very well and overall we were very happy with our experience. Unfortunately, that experience went south when we contacted their warranty/service department to fix a few issues. We contacted them on July 22nd to replace the jets in our spa that continued to fall out when we turned the spa on, to cut down two yard drains that were too high, and lastly to reseal the grout that was separating. It took 2 weeks to finally get someone out to our home and they only had one replacement drain which was replaced but left the others and stated someone would be out to replace those. They did cut down one of the yard drains but the tool broke so they could not cut down the other and of course we are still waiting on that. To date no one has come to reseal the grout. After several emails and phone calls over the last week the repairs have not been done. We continue to get the run around stating the service department is backed up. We spend $55,000 on our pool and our only expectation is for Richard's to honor the warranty in place and fix the issues in a timely manner. read more

It's a scam. We built our pool only two years ago and the entire experience was painful. Two years later our new deck looked like the aftermath of an earthquake. Poor customer service added to even poor project execution. Repaired it with someone else for half their price. Happy to share pictures to prove this read more

We hired Richards to build our dream patio. Janine did a great job designing our patio and worked within our budget. However, once the project went to construction everything fell apart. The lack of communication and organization was unbelievable. Zach (construction superintendent) and Tami's customer service skills were non existent. The only way they communicate is by email. I asked several times for a construction schedule & anticipated completion date with no response. I also requested they notify me before contractors arrived so I could make sure my dog was not in the backyard. But again, no advance communication. Instead they would email saying they were on their way to the house. I asked to be notified before landscaper arrived so my husband could be there for a repair but again, they did not. I requested several times to speak with management about my concerns but was told management was not available & nobody ever called me. The ONLY person who expressed they cared about our business was Janine. If she had not called me & tried to resolve some of our issues we would have cancelled our project. Because of Zach and Tami we have decided not to complete phase two of our project ($$$). The patio looks great but it could have been a better experience. I am rating this company two stars because of the poor customer service and attitude from Zach & Tami. read more

Avoid Richard's Total Backyard Solutions in Houston, if you can!! Delays, Unsatisfactory work, and they take all money without completing the work. It has been quite a frustrating ride for all of us. I wish we had never started our pool with Richard's Pool. read more

Have built a pool with Richards. The entire process was a nightmare. Very unprofessional planning and execution and disrispectful staff that lies to you permanently. Our pool took twice the time and ended up being 30 percent more expensive than their original estimate and is full of defects. Forget about them or you will write a negative post too read more

Really great sales pitch and design drawings, but terrible execution beyond for everything beyond the pool itself. Really bad project manager who did not follow through. They did not meet expectations and did provide everything that was promised. read more

Richard's is following through on its commitment to handle a hard-to-solve problem with our pool.

We bought our first and only hot tub (Tiger River Siberian) from Richard's back in July 1999. Yes, we still have it. We've only had two issues during those 17 years. The first time was in 2008 when the heater crapped out, so we had to get a new one. The service tech from Richard's offered us a used heater for a fraction of the cost. He assured me it was a good working heater. Hesitantly, i agreed to the new heater. That was 8 years ago and the heater is still working. Today, we had a tech come out because the spa wasn't heating. I thought the heater died out again. Turns out we had a short in the spa wiring (not in the heater). The service tech (Angel) replaced the wiring for about $15 over the $169 service charge. Once again, the spa is heating. We're now debating on whether we want to get another spa next Spring. We spent $6500 for our hot tub back in 1999. I know they're a lot more expensive nowadays, but we'll head to Richard's if and when we do get one. Anyone know where I can find a coupon? :) read more

Representative came to the house to discuss plans for a new patio. He brought designs and alot of good suggestions. They never returned or followed up. Have since had someone else do it. read more

This place has the worst after sale customer service i have ever seen, with 15 years in customer service with over $200,000 a month in sales i know how a customer should be taken care of. First i bought a used hot tub and asked the sales guy if this is a fully working tub, of course he said yes and would bring it in and check everything out before it would be droped off. The tub gets droped off and i would have to wait on my electrician to hook it up and when he did there were thing not working. When these isues were found i contacted richards and was told they would order the new parts and install them at no charge since i bought a fully working tub with No Apologies. Well they did order the parts that took two weeks to get here (no big deal) but when they sent the service man to do the work i get a call telling me its was all done and everthing was working, first lie. Then i contact richards and spoke with service manage and was told the service man did not even install parts that were ordered and he has them in his truck and he would get a firm talking too. Then the service man told me he used a flat head screwdriver to fix the jets (dont tell the customer you didnt repalce part but riged it to work). Then i got home and nothing was done so then a made another call to richards but asked for the manage and was told they would order the jets which would take another two weeks. So i get a call in two weeks saying my parts are here and they would be over the next day to install jets and led lights, the day of repair i get a call at 3:30pm telling me the parts are wrong (check in your parts before you call the customer) and would have to take two more weeks to get, thats over 1 month waiting on a so called fully working tub. When i get the phone call from the service lady she did not care or even would let me finish my sentence with out talking over me. Its not the parts delay that upsets me as a customer i deal with parts delays allday long but when i asked her why didnt you at least instal the led lighting she said why would i send my guys out on two service calls when i can do it once (how about takeing care of one of your lies) thats when she also told me she has more important jobs and i would have to wait on the parts and she would send them out one more time to correct the issues. All this would have been taken care of if they would have done what they said the first time (check out the tub before drop off) but once the money was paid and tub droped off poof no customer service lies lies lies. Just understand i know sh@@ happens but customer service is what brings customers back and repeat business and word of mouth is key in any business. Make your own decision with this review but walking in and getting good customer service is good but what counts is after you buy customer service is what counts in my book. I just washed my hands with richards and called another shop and payed out of my pocket to get the tub working like i was told it would be.. read more

I do not recommend this company. The product is very good but the sales staff is dishonest. I specifically asked if the sub-panel was included in the price and was assured it was. The contract showed no charge but the day before delivery I was informed that they would need another $650. After a long conversation we agreed to half that amount,,,while I could have won a court case..the cost of legal fees would have been more. I will say their service department was very good although the sales staff guarantee a time for delivery. 3 hours later called to find out where they were and was told the sales department made no arrangements. Service got right on it. Bottom line...a $7,000 purchase ended up costing more than $9,000....more add ons they won't tell you about.... read more

13 months ago Richards Total Backyard Solutions completed our full backyard renovation. Typical contractor issues with timing and costs but no big deal. However, they gave us a sales pitch on a mosquito system that was misleading and down right slimy. Richards sold the misting system as the same one Mr. Richards has in his own backyard and referred a maintenance guy to refill and service. It never worked properly so the maintenance guy kept changing up chemicals and buying time until the month after the 1 year warranty expired. At that time, it was disclosed that the system had an outdated analog timing system and no agitator in the barrel. That's when we learned it's an outdated system that you can't even buy parts for any longer!!! Richard's response was "(we) can pay the mosquito installer directly for any work that needs done". I'm disappointed that my family hired Richards to consult and build our dream backyard but we now feel like we were sold by, confused by and ultimately scammed by "used car salesmen" that were more interested in selling and dumping a useless piece of inventory than serving their customers' best interests. read more

I am being generous with the 2 stars simply because the Richards pool I have was built by the homes previous owner, who flat out told me he had no idea about pools. Having said that and having worked for pool builders and as a cpo instructor for years, I wanted to extend the deck and confirm the drainage runs installed by richards. I called and was told they probably had no paperwork on my pool. Ok. That's not a good start. 2nd I realized they didn't put in an overflow line for the pool and the person on the phone just rationalized that by saying use the hose valve on top of the pump...ummm ok. Granted in Houston you don't need it often, but in the case of those over night rain storms that fill a small pool very quickly I really don't like going outside, turning the pump on and opening a hose valve... And once I did this I realized that when Richards trenched between my house and the neighbors the pitch was left wrong. The area flodded about a foot deep. So opening said valve resulted in massive flooding of mine and my neighbor's yard. Richards sent out a guy to give me an estimate on my desired deck extension and to discuss the drainage. I asked him where the drainage pop up should be. He apparently couldn't find it and said it was probably plumed into the sewage...not allowed. I had a bad feeling so I didn't give them my business, and had another company come look at the drainage issue and locate the pop up installed by Richards...it was right in-between my neighbor's house and mine at the lowest part of the yard about 60 feet from the curb... So to be clear it was installed in a way that caused flooding! All my pool deck drains we're flowing directly to the lowest part of the yard that was not levelled after Richards dug the trench for the drainage even if the previous owner ok'd this install a reputable builder should not have allowed it. The pool and hot tub itself simply works, but not putting in an overflow line and the simply botched drainage line is unforgivable. Not having paperwork and not troubleshooting in person came across as shady. read more

This has been the worst experience I have ever had with a service company. They have a constant turnover of personnel and they have repeatedly failed to keep scheduled appointments. I would have never bought the spa had I known what the service would be like. I would avoid this company completely. read more