Would not honor their own warranty. Do not deal with these deceitful people. Told me I needed to prove I paid the original bill as they could not find proof of me paying. read more

Avoid at all costs. I'm not sure how they are for pool maintenance, but for repairs, absolutely TERRIBLE. Avoid them because it will simply cost you more in the end. read more

After reading the enormous number of negative reviews of A Very Nice Pool Company, I have nothing to add. Run, don't walk away from these people. There are some number of reputable pool companies in the Lamorinda area and this company is not one of them. They were foisted on me (under the radar) by another pool company and the quality and value of their service is sub par. read more

Great reliable service. Used for pool start up. Mr. Green is a master of pool science.

**DO NOT HIRE** (Yelp should give the option of negative Sta I bought a house in April. Paul, inspected the pool in the yard and provided a review that left both me and my agent relieved; minor repairs were all that were necessary. Once the house was in my possession, I noticed the necessity to fill the pool up to two to three inches daily. After a number of further inspections, a 40 foot crack in the pool was found to be the culprit. Roots are growing through one of the cracks! I am now being told that I will not only need to fix the cracks, but will need to replaster the pool which will cost 15k. Unethical and unapologetic. Look elsewhere for a true professional. 8/1/18 Update: Spoke with Paul, shared details and followed up with a copy of a second inspection from "Precision Leak Detection". (If you are buying a house and want a true inspection done, this is the business to call.). I called twice and emailed repeatedly and have yet to receive a call or email in return. Crook read more

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First, I'd like to make it very clear that there is nothing "very nice" about this company. The one and only thing that they accomplish is to prove that, just because you call yourself something doesn't make it true. This business is an absolute disgrace. I'm honestly embarrassed to have had anything to do with these people. For MONTHS, my emails were ignored, my calls were not returned and, when I did reach them, had to deal with multiple false promises that were never met. These people clearly have absolutely no idea how to run a business, or to be responsible human beings. They wasted my time and cost me money. I don't want to hear about how you can't hire anyone. That was the excuse that I got 6 weeks after they had already made 3 promises to come out "some time early next week". Pay more, try harder or, here's a novel idea, don't commit to work that you can't complete! I'm truly disgusted by the entire experience that I had with these people and am now going to take a shower. The 2.5 stars they currently have on Yelp is painfully generous and deluded. Krystal M. wrote in another review "First and foremost, this company is the worst company I've ever come across in my life." She is 100% spot on. They are the worst people possible. Avoid like the plague. read more

Terrible service, wasteful and hurtful. Do not use this company. They "performed" a service on our pool filters which should have been replaced, not cleaned. Then they get combative and rude when confronted. Buyer beware. Run. read more

We have been using Very Nice Pools since we purchased our house a year ago. They have been courteous and timely with weekly service. They also keep an eye on pool equipment functionality and let us know when something isn't working as it should. We have had to replace the same hose twice on the auxiliary pump. That repair has been $150 each time and there was no warranty on the first replacement. We paid full price both times which was less than 3 months apart. Our only gripe really is the cost of basic monthly service. We pay $131/mo and for this we get chemicals adjusted, crawly bag, skimmer basket and pump basket emptied as needed, along with a cleaning of our pool filters when they get quite clogged up about once per year. For the pool filter cleaning we maintain and own 2 sets of filters, so one set can go with the pool service person to their facility. It's returned cleaned the following week. I would recommend the company if you're looking for a reliable pool service which also has the ability to perform repairs. We do however feel like we are overpaying for what we get and we will shop around in the future for a lower cost service. Nearly $1600 for basic service per year feels a bit too rich when other local companies seem to offer the same for under $1100 (~$89/mo). They also do pool inspections for real estate purchases and that was our original interaction with the company, which was also very pleasant, courteous and informative. I do enjoy interacting with them and I would keep the service longer term if the cost wasn't so high. read more

All these negative reviews confirm my suspicion that the experience I just had is systemic with the company and not the individual technician. I was taking a walk in my neighborhood, during the pandemic, wearing a mask and the sign I always wear encouraging other people to wear their masks. A man in a "very nice pools" truck was parked along my walking path. Without provocation on my part, he said "if you're sick you should go home". I decided not to ignore this, so I walked back and said, "you realize it's ironic, right?" and he said "it's stupid". Okay, let's REALLY talk stupid. I told him that he's reflecting very poorly on the company he works for. BOY! am I glad I don't have a pool!! Hmmm, I wonder if someone from the company will respond? read more

They inspected my pool for the purchase of the home. They made a recommendation for the cleaner to be fixed. I called them after the hime closed to have it fixed. They didn't call back for a while and when they did they set an appointment but didn't show up. Then when they finally called back I had already purchased a new cleaner. read more

Very Nice Pools - The pool cleaner stopped working completely while I waited for them to return my call. - Pool Cleaners Near Me - Lafayette, California

10/10 for meeting me at my home as scheduled 10/10 for subject matter expertise by Paul 0/10 for no quote, no reply to my 2 emails asking for quote status and just poor customer service. Other yelp reviewers seem to have had similar experience. Why bother driving to my home, and engaging me about my project, if you have intentions to bid on it? Strange business model read more

Do not, I repeat do not hire these crooks. They installed a spa panel completely wrong, put 230 volts into a 115 volt and burned up my spa motor. Charged a very high amount and then after the motor burned up refused to service and correct the problem. They have no ethics what so ever. Do not use these people. They do not guarantee their work and the owner, Todd Steindorf will not call you back. Also, they refused to give out their contractor's license when asked, after the fact. Do not use this company. read more

Awful owner named Paul. He's charged twice for the same work MULTIPLE times. He also talked bad to me about his office staff. Not a good look. I recommend people who are on his monthly service list to stop and look for business elsewhere. read more

I wouldn't recommend these folks. Customer service (or potential service) wasn't what I would say stellar let alone average. I called to get an estimate on some work done for a pool clean up and maintenance and I was told to just email the details and the owner would get back to me. Ok, no big deal so I did. And I waited and waited. Sent a follow up email with my phone number and still nada. If that's how they treat potential customers I loathe to think how they treat ones that pay. read more

Worst pool company ever! I had a terrible experience with this shady, unprofessional, and unethical company. A service technician repaired a leaking pipe from my solar panel on my roof and ended up falling off my roof. Had to call 911 to help this poor man. Fortunately, this technician is doing fine but unfortunately for me, when he fell he caused damage to my roof. Paul came by and said he would fix it. After one phone call the next day, Paul ignored my phone calls and emails. He wouldn't tell me if he was going to fix my roof...nothing. Rain was coming and my roof was still damaged. After threatening a lawsuit, Paul finally responded once. It finally took him a month to repair my roof...during the rainy season! To make matters worse, when I received a bill for the repair, I was overcharged! When I disputed the charge and said I had time records of when the service technician was at my house, I was given some BS answer about being charged for travel time! What?! They are based in Lafayette and I'm in San Ramon. I understand if I was located far away, but this is a local drive! Gas doesn't even cost that much! Also, no where stated on the bill or when I was given a quote over the phone was I told about being charged for travel time. Don't believe any quoted price that Paul gives you on the phone because Paul will find a way to overcharge you and add on hidden fees. During this stressful ordeal, I looked up Paul's contractor's license (public information that you can find online) only to find out that his license was suspended! I wish I did my due diligence beforehand because I would never have hired him. Homeowners beware and steer clear of this company! read more

If you want to call in a company that wastes your time, comes in to do a quote and then ghosts you, I highly recommend this company. You will wait for the appointment, do all the explanation and spend your time, be promised a quote and follow-up, and then they will not reply to messages or contact you again. read more

UNRELIABLE...... first appointment time: say they will come by either Friday or Monday, (can't make it today; be there tomorrow AM) they didn't show - pushed it off till Tuesday AM - again they don't show or call. I call them around 11 Tuesday - "we will try later today" Again - no show. As my pool is turning yellowish green, I try to get in touch with Paul... (the manager or owner) who I initially spoke with, who set up the appointments. However, you can not get a-hold of Paul - he is always in the field - probably does not have a cell- because "he can't get a hold of you until he gets back to the office". Unreal. DO NOT COUNT ON THEM Ken W. Moraga, Ca read more

This company was contracted to inspect my house recently by the potential buyer. They removed the contact of my current pool company Advanced Pool care, (who are awesome by the way), and placed their contact info stickers on the control box and panel. Remarkably when I confronted the jerk that did it he said, "too bad find something else to complain about". Advertising in areas that do not belong to you nor were requested, Shameful. read more

Here we are in mid-April and my pool still is not finished. Now grant it there has been some rain but the customer service is just plain awful. We had thought about using their pool service but no way! You can't even get them to call back! My empty pool is almost full again and i have been trying for 4 days to get them to come out and empty it again!!!! I asked the person who handles phone calls when my pool is supposed to be work on and she had no idea. We are now 5 months into it. If we don't have this done by the end of the month we will have to seek legal help. I know if I could talk to Paul I'd get answers but you can only speak with the front desk and that's it. No calls back, no rescheduling, no nothing....nothing but crickets. read more

Quick and good service. Fixed the plumbing issue we had. Repairman knew what needed to be done and took care of it promptly.

Just plain bad and rude... needed legal help in the end - really. Too many good companies out there to waste any time and money with them.

HELP~~~Discrimination, I agreed. They knew that I am an minority and don't have perfect English. I know we can report to the local BBB and consumer center. They dropped my pool leak inspection after one visit due to a big project going on back in November, 2011-the lady answered the phone told me. With no respond after my requests... and no invoice or inspection report till a week ago, they sent me an invoice for $390 (which Paul told me it's $350 and would have had it done in two weeks-that's reason I asked them to come out for inspection and estimate for repair), now they threaten to take legal action if I don't pay them in 10 days. They did not earn this revenue regardless that they even caused my pool to leaked longer and emotion distraction of my peace. ===below it's their second emails/documents since Nov. 11, dated 10/16/12=== "I received your emails dated 10/13/12 and 10/15/12 and you are incorrect in what you are saying in your letter. You requested that we come and look for a leak in the pool by pressure testing and dye checking the pool, which we completed. There were no leaks in the pool plumbing and we could not find any leaks by dye checking the various fittings/light of the pool. Please remit a check for the work that was completed. If you have any questions, please contact me. If Very Nice Pools is not paid within 10 days from the date of this letter you leave me no choice but to take legal action." =========end ============ What in the world I'd order "pressure testing" and "dye checking" for leaking pool, I don't even know the term. I wanted inspection report and repair estimate, would you? Any thoughts please discuss and I am willing to go extra miles to make public aware of this case. - JJ, Walnut Creek Ca read more

I've been using Very Nice Pools for years. Paul is always gracious, his inspections seem accurate and reasonably priced and he is patient with clients as he explains the nuances of maintaining pools. Clients can then use him for ongoing, weekly maintenance if they choose which is nice. He is always responsive and prompt. Everyone I know has been very happy with Paul's work and no one has ever had a problem in the years that I have been working with them. read more

Paul put in a pool liner for us that keeps pulling out of the bead retainer. I constantly have to pound it back in. I asked him to fix the problem repeatedly and got no response. He finally offered to show me how I could fix his defective installation by jamming another layer of liner material in the bead! He expected me to come to his shop! I'm sure that fix would look like crap. He should replace the entire bead with the proper size but doesn't stand behind his work. Terrible work quality and complete lack of customer service. read more

Very Unhappy!! A chunk of the plaster from the pool fell off the wall and they DID NOT bother to tell us. The pieces of plaster have been all over the bottom of the pool for 3 weeks and the tech does not even bother to pick them up or even knock on the door to tell us. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY.....should have checked their reviews before. read more

I was referred to Paul at Very Nice Pools by a friend in the trades. My current pump had failed seals and my Polaris 360 was kaput. My pool is adjacent to a golf course and surrounded by trees so the debris load is significant. Paul was very responsive, got me a bid in 24 hours and I had a contract in hand 24 hours later. A new variable speed pump, booster pump, Polaris 380 and Jandy Never Lube valves has the pool looking better than ever. Thanks to Paul and his team for an excellent experience! read more

Pool companies in general don't excel in service. These guys are local and always answer the phone when I call. Service is fairly quick as they fix any problems within a couple of days. Only complaint is they don't hold on to service guys...it's always someone new. read more

I was looking for a pool company to install a variable speed pool pump and integrate the controls with my Aqua Logic panel. Paul at Very Nice Pools was the only company I talked to that was willing and able to make it happen. They did a great job, I couldn't be happier. He installed a Hayward variable speed pump that is saving me $250 month in electric and runs 10 hours a day. I will never use anyone else. read more

Terrible, period. As a Developer/Contractor, I have dealt with many pool service companies. I had been warned by a realtor not to use Very Nice Pools, but they were close to my home in Lafayette, and I figured "How bad could they be?" The work they did (installation of two pumps and a filter) was fine, but the owner Paul turned out to be a big prick. His estimate was one number and his invoice a month later was 30% higher. He marks up parts by an obscene amount and pads the hours. In a conversation about the hours and markups, he got pretty obnoxious and rude. We ended up settling at a lower amount, but the experience left a very bad vibe. I wish I had read Yelp beforehand, and I would not recommend that anyone use Very Nice Pools. There are too many better outfits in the Lamorinda/Walnut Creek area to deal with this fool. read more

I used these guys for a couple of months until one time the service guy came on a different day I walked out into the backyard and caught the service guy staring through the bedroom window at my daughter who was getting undressed and getting ready for school It did not end well read more

Absolutely horrible service. They claim that the pool walls are stained yet you can see the tire tracks from the pool sweep along the bottom of the pool and up the sides. When i asked the owner to come out and check out the claim, i was told he would come out, never called never showed up....... So much for a very nice pool. Oh and they just put thru a cost of living increase for their monthly service. I had no ideal the price increase went along with a reduction in service. pictures tell a thousand words, i have the proof read more

The most horrible experience you can imagine. I wont go into details, but they ruined my wife's dream. It has been several years since they did the work, and the trash they left in the yard still hasn't been removed. I would never ever ever ever ever ever ever use them again under any circumstances. read more

Great reliable and reasonable pool repair. Recommend them often and never disappointed. Works on quite a bit of homes in my area and always comes highly recommended read more

if you are looking for a knowledgeable company to install/update the iaqua link controller, look no farther. very nice pools company is skilled in upgrading the controller to control both landscape lightening and well pool pumps etc. i was very impressed with service tech and his ability to make the enhancements. he was quick to determine what was needed to add landscape lighting control. read more

As previously stated by a former customer I too kept A Very Nice Pool Co. longer than I should have. Their customer service was horrible and made promises they didn't keep then I'd get charged for every little thing. Come to find out my new pool service told me that some pool companies intentionally disconnect the wire to your solar so it doesn't work for you and you have to call them. This is exactly what A Very Nice Pool Co. did! Then sent me a $140 bill! Even though their office staff was helpful, especially the office manager, I still wouldn't ever recommend their company! read more

We've been with Very Nice Pools for a few years now and have had complaints the whole time. We should have changed a long time ago, but since they helped install the pool, we thought they'd have a better handle on what to do. It's long overdue and we're now in the process of looking at other companies. They have "fixed" one of our underwater lights 3 times now and it has never worked properly and consistently. They don't hesitate to charge us each time they "fix" it though. They unroll my pool cover with such little care that it ends up looking like a wadded up mess. My teenagers do a better job of opening up the pool. They don't answer messages and return calls. The whole operation is a mess. I'm so stupid to have stayed with them for so long. Don't be stupid. Stay away. read more

Very "nice" Pools should be changed to "VERY BAD POOLS". Paul who is the general manager at this pool company is not only in the business of pools but also litigation and suing his customers on unfair grounds, and is rude to his paying customers. From what I hear around the community (word gets around), he has quite a reputation for for being as such. We had a very bad experience with Very Nice Pools from when we first bought our home. We were told that we needed to spend $3500 for a new skimmer replacement for a leak when in fact it didn't exist from a 3rd party inspection. This was AFTER we had them do an initial inspection in which this was never addressed. We were also very embarrassed on several occaisions when thier technicians came to the house for weekly maintenance when we had guests visiting. Their tehnicians were imrpoperly clothed and generally non-professional even when asked questions from the property and pool owner. Additionally, the chemicals were not properly balanced and we had to fight it after we had a better local Lafayette-based pool company come service the pool. They claim to be in the business for 40+ years and best in town.....but in my opinion, I really don't know how they have manged to do so based on our experience and the things I have heard about Paul and Very Nice Pools around our community. Final conclusion: ask around town and you will hear more negative comments about this company, poor services and unfriendy staff. IF YOU ARE A NEW HOME PURCHASER AND OR GETTING YOUR POOL READY FOR SPRING AND SUMMER LOOK ELSEWHERE!!! There are a couple other companies in town I would HIGHLY recommend with respectable staff and technicians who are polite, respectable, friendly, presentable, and do not cheat you. I welcome anyone else in the community to voice the same opinions.....looks like there are many!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU ARE A NEW HOME PURCHASER AND OR GETTING YOUR POOL READY FOR SPRING AND SUMMER LOOK ELSEWHERE!!! read more

Avoid this enterprise! Poor service, no supervision and worse communications.

Shady business practices, owner arrogance and discrimination problem. I called them for estimate. They send someone who gave me $110.00, who in my opinion looked like a bum, for cleaning the pool. He gave me $110.00 out the door no other hidden fees. After he was done I was ready to pay in cash and he said that I'll receive an invoice and they don't take cash or any form of payment at the end of the service. Couple days later I received the invoice which stated that I Owe them $152.63 where apparently only labor and pool check is only $110.00 and addition to that another 40.00 for Chlorine and tax. So they give you an estimate of $110.00 which you agree to and days later after work is done they put in fees that were not disclosed when statement was given. Any Way I called them to dispute those charges and they basically told me to go F... my self and if I don't pay they will put a lien on my house. Not only that but asked me where I'm from to which I did not say anything and he (Paul the owner) assumed that I am Russian (Which is way far from the truth) to which I told him that I am a customer and it doesn't matter from what nationality I come from. To which he stated " All the Russians are the same" no idea what he meant by that since I am not Russian but I guess from all the other reviews he has problem with every single customer since he gives a very poor customer service. I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT HONEST AND THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF. read more

This company charged $355 for a 45-minute long pool inspection when I bought a house in the area. This is a higher hourly charge than my doctor, lawyer and accountant all make! They were polite, but some equipment failed within a month and they would not refund any of the inspection fee. (By contrast, for the same house my roof inspection was $125, the pest inspection was $55, and the entire property inspection was $200). I want to support local small businesses, and I appreciate that this company employs a larger number of people than many other pool services in the area, but I can't help feeling ripped off. read more