ComplaintsforArtco Paint & Pool Co

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased my property on June 2, 2023. The previous homeowner shared with me that he used ArtCo Pool to maintain the pool. I signed a new contract to continue services a few days after closing on the home. On July 26, I had to have an air to water AC unit repaired. This unit release water via a hose and needs to run in order to allow the water to be expelled from the unit. The water hose was connected to a new pipe and initially the hose was put in the pool to allow to use some of the water to refill the pool. The next day the pool was serviced by the ArtCo technician. They left no notes and made no call to tell me that they had turned off the hose. As I have not moved into the house I was not there to see that the water was not running. On Saturday, July 29 I arrived to the house to find that the AC was not working. The earliest I was able to get the AC person to repair the unit was Monday, July 31. When the AC repair man arrived he explained someone turned off the hose which caused the water to back up and overheated the pump to the point where the pump motor was burnt out. This resulted in a $1500 repair. I called the ArtCo management and requested their assistance in paying, even partially, for the repair caused by their technician turning off the hose. I explained that I had not been contacted, that no notes indicated what they had done, and that the repair was substantial enough it was not something I felt was fair for me to have to pay for since it was related to their work. They have refused to refund me and claim that they do not need to notify home owners if they turn off hoses, not even in the notes of their reports that they send to home owner. I am seeking reimbursement for the $1500 repair caused by ArtCo's technician turning off something without communicating to me the homeowner.

  Business response

  08/07/2023

  
  Although we are very sympathetic to Ms. ****** as she begins to learn some of the details of her new home, we do not feel it is reasonable that we have responsibility to the damage in question.
  

  Before commencing any service, it is our company policy that we meet the homeowner on site to discuss any pertinent information regarding the pool. This is intended for both parties. Any information given to ArtCo is recorded and logged into that customers file. The technician performing the weekly service will see any and all notes every week while servicing the pool.
  

  We will also communicate anything that we could like the homeowner to know. For example, I informed Ms. ****** that the pump she currently had is no longer made and we unfortunately do not work on that specific pump due to issues that arise from repairs.
  

  When Ms. ****** brought this issue to our attention and shared that she felt we were responsible I asked why we were not informed at our initial evaluation that this particular hose, despite its appearance is not in actuality a normal hose. Her reply was she was not aware it was something different either. To which I would argue, if she was not aware how were we supposed to be aware. We also believe, it was negligent that once she did learn of this important information, not only did she not inform us but she put and left the hose in the pool because she said it was making her yard muddy. When our technician arrived to the  pool, he found the pool to be over flowing and full of algae due to the fact that this hose had flushed out all of the pool chemicals. This is all documented in the weekly report photos we take after every service.
  

  In regard to Ms. ******’s comment about not notifying her about the tech turning off the water: As a company we take communicating with customers very seriously. We notify customers of any and all detrimental information regarding the pool. Some but not all examples of this are: Pump not turning on, the pool is leaking, water level low (could burn out pump, bad water circulation), etc. However, we do not communicate non detrimental issues as they would be time prohibitive, and the list would be very long and mostly seen as frivolous. We believe turning a hose off in the pool due to over filling or high-water level is of no harm but only benefit. ArtCo Pool Company has been cleaning pools for many years and cleans a large number of pools on a weekly basis and this is the first occurrence we’ve had with a home that uses this style AC system and/or the first time the homeowner has left said hose running in the pool.
  

  It is our position that it would have been negligent for us to leave the very ordinary seeming hose “on” in the pool as further damage could have been done (ie very large water bill, wash out of yard, flooding, washout of chems causing algae, etc). We were aware the homeowner did not reside at the home yet and believed we were doing the correct measure to stop further damage.
  

  We believe that this garden hose scenario is an anomaly, and it is the homeowners’ responsibility to inform anyone who would have contact with this hose that looks and appears to function like every other hose we’ve have ever encountered of its unique and unusual function. Especially since the homeowner left it running in the pool that we service. Furthermore, we already meet and ask if there was anything specific we should be aware of. 

  
  

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