ComplaintsforPool Doctor Service & Supplies, Inc

• Initial Complaint

  03/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We bought a Hayward Salt Cell from pool doctor on 6/10 of 2021 over the counter. On the receipt it marks it has a three-year warranty. They won't warranty it. First it was because a qualified technician did not install it. If you know what this is you also know you plug it in like an electrical outlet and s**** the fittings into place. Same as you would do cleaning it every single month. It doesn't take any kind of an expert. Then they decided the name on the ticket wasn't our name, but it was the previous homeowners name. We paid for the salt cell to him as we took the house over so the receipt was in his name. I have the original receipt still. ******* said that does not matter, the warranty does transfer so why would they deny us? It would be no different than ************* going to buy the part and it would be in his name instead of yours. My wife has been up here multiple times and talked to ******* and another lady in the back. It seems they are taking advantage of her. I fly every week for work and came in on Saturday, 3/16. I was hoping to resolve this. With the **** Warranty Act printed out for them, letting them know what they're doing is illegal. They still will not take care of us but yet tell me to contact them during the week. We have done this. We're getting nowhere. Our pool looks like c*** Oh by the way, we do come here and get our water tested and buy all of our products from them every single time it needs to be done. So it's not like we're estranged customers at all. I guess I will have to pursue legal action for furthering pools damages from here. I have even tried contacting the manager via ******** as they would not give me a number for him. Still no return phone call. (*****************) The pool Cell was deemed bad by a reputable pool technician. They just don't deal with *******. Furthermore, they did state a technician of theirs would need to deem it bad. I agreed to this until they told us it wouldn't be warranty because of the above reasons

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  ******* is the warrantor of the product. A representative at Hayward has indicated in the year the cell was sold- the warranty could not be transferred to a new home owner. We have reached out to ******* on the customer's behalf, again, and are waiting on another response.
  
  Pool Doctor as a vendor does warranty work on behalf of a manufacturer- however we cannot honor warranty if the manufacturer's warranty does not cover the product.

• Initial Complaint

  12/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company takes care of my weekly pool maintenance. On Oct. 21, 2022, they came to clean the debris from my pool caused by hurricane ***. This was an extra service. However within a couple of days I realized I was losing close to an inch of water daily. This is a vinyl lining pool. I knew there was a leak and I knew they had caused it by tearing the liner during the cleaning process. The tech did not get into the pool as he should have. He used long handled apparatuses to remove the debris. Since there were roofing shingles in the pool I can assume there were nails also. I called to let them know. They sent somebody out to take pictures but they don't do leak detection so I called ****** pools, which is the company I use for all maintenance besides weekly care. They detected fresh holes in the liner as the invoice states, There were also some patches that they reinforced from a previous leak, which obviously came loose during the debris removal. This cost me $486 dollars. Pool Doctor refused to pay or even own up to the fact that this was caused by their company. The excuse was it's an old liner {it is only 5 years old} and because of that and previous patches they were not responsible. The person I spoke with, *****************, stated it was only a matter of time before things like this would happen. That is an idiotic statement in my opinion. All things break down with time. Since there was no problem before they came it is quite obvious they caused the damage. I even offered to split the cost which I shouldn't even have to do but they stood firm. This is their fault and they refuse to pay any portion. I want compensation for their mistake. This should have been done by getting into the pool and hand picking the debris out. I could have scooped it out for free by myself. They also had the nerve to bill me for the service, which I paid. In summary, they refuse to pay because of previous patches. And they refuse to pay for damage they caused.

  Business response

  12/08/2022

  As was explained to our customer,

  The vinyl liner had been previously patched. The 'damage' the customer refers to are for are these same patches that came apart and not new damage. Patches in any form are not a permanent fix, and are always temporary as they will not last indefinitely. At the time of the clean up there were at least 10 previous patches pre-dating the cleanup we provided. While the situation is unfortunate- this is not anyone's fault, but normal wear and tear as pools require vacuuming be it from a hurricane or use- not everything can be picked up by hand. This is further compounded by the reality of debris, nails and shingles falling into the pool from the hurricane and/or the roofing company. In the interest of being fair I sent a seasoned veteran (30 years on the job) to determine if we are at fault- and he came to the same conclusion.

  Customer response

  12/12/2022

   
  Complaint: 18530875
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  As the invoice states there were new tears in the liner.  The old patches were replaced because some of them were coming loose.  They weren't coming loose before the cleaning..  My pool was NOT leaking prior to this debris clean-up.  Pool Doctor caused the new damage and should be responsible for the cost of the leak detection and the NEW tears they put in the liner.  I don't care if they sent somebody with 100 years experience to check on it.  The person that cleaned the debris was a very young man.  Possibly not even 25 years old.  He caused the damage by just scooping the pool instead of getting in to clean the debris.  As I stated before I could have done that myself for free.  Pool Doctor is not taking responsibility for their mistake.  The pool was not leaking before they got there and they caused the new tears.  I have sent the attachment from my i phone separately.  It has the case number on it  Thank you
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  12/13/2022

  Again, the liner is clearly decrepit- its previous patches were coming apart and new ones developed. This indicates to me that the liner is old as the liner has already needed to be patched in the first place, and it is probable it will continue to have issues moving forward. However, in the interest of putting this to rest- I will credit $50 towards the account for future service for the replacement patches that were provided by ****** Pools. Finally, as a precaution- until the liner is replaced we will discontinue vacuuming the pool effective this day 12/13/22- dropping the current monthly service to a less costly plan that still includes chemistry, brushing, and the cleaning of the filter. The current service  for December will be prorated to the cost of the new plan.
  

  Customer response

  12/15/2022

   
  Complaint: 18530875
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The new response from pool doctor is to blame the roofers.  The roofers did not even start the roof before last week so it wasn't them  The liner is not decrepit.  It did have some very small patches on the bottom for quite some time.  The same tech has been vacuuming and caring for my pool for over 2 years with no incidents.  Pool Doctor can deny they did this all they want.  The bottom line is the pool was not leaking before they did the debris removal.  Again, the invoice clearly states holes in liner which were not there before,   50 dollars credit hardly covers my cost.  They can say the liner was old, decrepit, whatever.  They keep coming up with new adjectives to describe it.  It is only 5 years old.  If one of their trucks hits my car and dents it I guess they are not responsible for the new damage because the car had a previous dent.  That is their excuse.   
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  12/15/2022

  I fully understand the customers position, but it does not change the reality that the vinyl liner was already in bad shape prior to requesting the clean up- at this point we are at an impasse. Pool Doctor will always take responsibility for service inadequacies on our end- but this complaint is erroneous in it's request for our company to be held responsible for customer property that was in poor condition prior to the clean up. We are still willing to offer $50 off the cost of January's pool service to cover the cost of the patches both old and 'new' per the customers report in good faith.
  
  Per my last correspondence we have updated the pool service to our Plan 'C' which is priced so that the customer is not paying for vacuuming- we certainly do not want to cause additional wear on the liner than there already is. The customer should be aware that she will need to call or email the office if she would prefer to discontinue pool service.
  

  Customer response

  12/16/2022

   
  Complaint: 18530875
  
  I am rejecting this response because:Pool Doctor can blow smoke all they want. The bottom line is the liner had a few patches on the bottom. There was new damage caused by them. They are not taking responsibility for their actions. I can submit pictures if this liner if you like.  Anybody can see it is in fine shape.  They are acting like this liner was falling apart.  Hardly the case.   I will not go away.  And as far as their new contract with me there is no new contract.  As of Dec 31 I will not be a customer any longer.  But that does not mean I am going away.  Pool Doctor is at the impasse not me.  They caused new damage and they know it 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

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