Liars and Cheats/Thieves
This was NOT the first time we had built a pool so we were very familiar with the process. We had decided on a company out of town but when we saw the new office for Texas Pools and Patios opening up in Marble Falls, we decided to give them a try since they were local. The salesman Jareb was just that...a salesman; and he liked to tell you what you wanted to hear. Our main concern when designing the pool was to make sure that in no area of the pool, the kids would be able to jump from one side to the next. He gave us the impression (and showed us all kinds of drawings and photo renditions) that we would be getting really nice, big pool. We had conversations about the skimmer baskets (again not our first pool) because we wanted the same type and size skimmer baskets that we had before. We expressed how we really liked our last baskets with the brass lids. "Oh yes these are top of the line and really nice big baskets" we were told. When they were installed, they were cheap plastic and look like the skimmer baskets on the public pool. When we brought this to their attention, their response was "I've never seen anything like that on a residential pool only commercial pools." Well our last pool had them and we thought this is what we were getting again; hence the extensive conversation about the skimmer.
We discussed with Jareb in length was the propane tank for the heater. He asked us what size we wanted. He tried to encourage us to go with a 500 gallon tank, we only had a 250 gallon on our last pool and it was sufficient enough. We discussed (and even showed him on the property) where the propane take should be placed. He said that he can have his excavator dig the hole for us, however TPP could not hook up the tank. When we got close to the pool being completed, we called Jareb to ask about the propane tank and when it would be delivered. His response was "We aren't in the propane business. You have to do that yourself." He did not offer any recommendations or to help with the issue.
From the beginning, it was a mess. The excavators began to dig the pool backwards. They failed to dig the trench for the plumbing, which meant they had to tear up more of our property than needed to dig a trench that should have been dug first. We understood that only ONE area of our backyard would be destroyed from all of the equipment traveling in and out. We did not agree to multiple spots being torn up due to poor planning on their part. We especially didn't agree to having gravel poured where the trucks traveled. Now I have to pay to have this removed so I can replant the grass.
I constantly had to pick up trash, cigarette buts, cigarette packs, bottle tops, water bottles, crushed cans and food wrappers. When they removed the mold from the cement, they left nails and shards of wood all over the place. We again had to pick this up. Every time we brought this to the attention of the so-called "Project Manager" (who only showed up when it was time to collect a check) his response was "I'll take care of it".
Our contract was for a specific size pool, which included 17,000 gallons. When we received the CAD drawing of the pool, the gallons had dropped to 16,620. This was smaller than our last pool by 1400 gallons, so not much. We are on a well so the project manager recommended having the water trucked in. When we asked him if he knew of a good company we could use, he responded with "look in the phone book." Again with the customer service. When the water was ordered, we told them that the pool should hold 17,000 gallons. His trucks only hold 4000 at a time so he suggested that we order four trucks for a total of 16,000 gallons and then we can get the remainder from our well. When the water was delivered, the pool only held three trucks full for a total of 12,000 gallons. I immediately contacted Jareb to inform him that the pool was not as big as they led us to believe and what we paid for. His response was "That must be a typo or the math is wrong." They loved to tell us "It's not in the contract when we pointed something out to them, however when we pointed something out that was in the contract, that they messed up on, then it was just a typo.
The plaster on the pool is splotchy, there are holes in the grout inside the pool, there are uneven areas in the plaster in the hot tub, there is blue coloring on the side of the hot tub from the plaster being over sprayed, and the manual fill line leaks underground when we turn it on to put water in the pool and is causing a sink hole next to our home. Our Polaris has quit working and when we told Brandy it needed to be replaced, she laughed at me and said "we aren't giving you a new Polaris!" They WILL NOT respond to repeated requests to remedy these issues.
Save yourselves time, frustration and MONEY. If you are in the Texas Hill country use Keith Zars. They are like Saks Fifth Avenue of pools. TPP is more like the local dollar store read more