- Report: #103719
Complaint Review: Blue Haven Pools - Austin Texas
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Blue Haven Pools
14141 W. Hwy 290, #300 Austin, 78737 Texas, U.S.A.
Phone:
512-894-4052
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Blue Haven Pools has poor customer service, poor quality, and doesn't communicate. Rip-off! Austin Texas
This letter is to comment on a bad experience we had with Blue Haven Pools. The finished pool is acceptable but the way the construction process went and dealing (or should I say lack of) with company representatives is totally unacceptable. The only thing the Blue Haven franchise in Austin was good at was demanding their payment as sections of the construction was done.
1. The salesman, who is no longer with Blue Haven was very pushy must have been a used car salesman before. We could overlook this since we had a Blue Haven pool at our previous residence and were somewhat familiar with the design and construction. I thought it was rather strange that he would not leave a copy of the pool layout, a list of options, pricing, or anything we discussed about the pool. This made it difficult to compare like items with other builders, which is always recommended. We based our decision mostly from our experience with the pool at our previous residence.
2. The contract was signed with a start date of August 27, 2003 and a completion scheduled for 45 working days per the contract. The pool was plastered, usually the last major step, in December 2003. By my calculations, excluding holidays, weekends, and bad weather days (which were rare), this was more like 60 working days. To me, our pool was more or less completed March 30, 2004 with the delivery of the jump rock (more on this later). By anyone's calculation this is over 120 working days. So just on this one point they did not fulfill their contract.
3. At the signing of the contract, I verbally protested the practice of making the last payment to Blue Haven at the time of plaster. Believe me, there was still work to be done on the pool after that. My contention was that once they received the last payment, I no longer have any leverage to make them complete the pool and that is exactly what happened. As I will detail below, I have had to call to remind, bug, complain, etc to get anything done.
4. This is in no way intended to be biased but if you are going to have a major construction project going on, there needs to be a way to communicate with the individual(s) that you have hired to do the work. I only saw and could talk to the construction foremen one time, at the time the pool was laid out at the very beginning. The rest of the time, the only person that I was able to talk to was the scheduler in the Blue Haven office.
Additionally, there was not any of the construction crew that I could talk to while they were here because I did not find any that spoke English. I'm sure they are very skilled but communication is essential. I had numerous questions but the majority of the time when I would call there was no one in the office to answer the question and would be told someone would call me back. Someone never did and that still continues today.
5. When the plumbing was put in, there was a length of PVC pipe sticking up right in the middle of where the first step would be. Several times I tried to talk to someone onsite or at the office to find out what this was for and never got an answer. After all the decking and plastering was done, I finally found out it was for an actuator, of sorts, that would control special spa jets we had installed by the steps into the pool. If I had know what it was, I would have asked them to move it more to one side so it wouldn't be sticking up right in the middle of where you step down into the pool. But again, there was no one to answer my question. When they came out to finally cut the pipe and make it closer to the deck surface, they could have done a better job with the way it looks.
6. When they were digging out the dirt, they either dug too deep or the ground was too wet and the sides collapsed in several places. To fix this, they erected boards in the shape of the pool, leaving large holes between the boards and the collapsed places. This was very dangerous in that someone (I have a 18 month old grandson) could have fallen in and gotten seriously hurt. Again, it just seemed that no one was in charge, such as a construction foremen, to talk to about this or oversee this.
7. A special feature we decided to get instead of a diving board was a jump rock. We paid Blue Haven $400 for this feature. They assured us we could even pick out what rock we wanted. We live in Taylor and the landscape company Blue Haven uses for their pools is in Dripping Springs. We're talking about over 100 miles round trip to pick out a rock. Since my wife and I both work, Saturday was the only day we could go look but whoever I talked with at the office said it would be okay since someone is in the office on Saturday. This was important because we felt we needed someone from Blue Haven to go with us. We were unsure of what would be acceptable.
The first time, the construction manager at that time accompanied us as we selected a rock. When the pool was almost completed, we asked about the rock. No one knew anything about it. That is when we found out the construction manager is no longer with Blue Haven. We went a second time, alone since no one from Blue Haven could join us. Both times it was bitterly cold (were talking November-December) but we picked out what we thought was a good choice. After several weeks, I called to find out when they were going to deliver our rock. I was told then that they had changed landscape companies and we would have to go to this other one, out past the airport, only an 80 mile round trip. We went out on a cold, damp Saturday morning and there was no one at the site. We marked a rock and planned to call the landscape office that Monday to tell them what we had done. I did this and the person on the other end of the phone gave me the impression he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Sure enough, several more weeks and several more calls to Blue Haven, I get home from work and find what looked like a piece of square, colored cement. Not even close to what one would call a natural rock or what we chose.
Calling Blue Haven, I was informed that they are not using this second landscape company but still the original one. So for the fourth time we drive 100 miles and pick out a rock with the help of someone from the Blue Haven construction office this time. He promised us the rock would be at our house the next week, even if he had to do it himself. After numerous calls and weeks passing the rock was delivered on March 30, 2004. I took off from work so I could show them where the rock was to be placed. Just prior to leaving work, I receive a call from the construction supervisor informing me that they are delivering the rock but none of them speak English so I guess you can just point. Are you kidding me! The three men who delivered the rock tried to understand but it was difficult. Later I called the Blue Haven construction office to ask if the rock is to be mortared in place. The scheduler/secretary of course did not know but would check with the construction supervisor and get back to me. I'm still waiting for an answer.
8. Blue Haven contracts with a pool service, Pool and Spa Services, to open up the clients pool make sure equipment works, show owners how to use it, etc. This service is also supposed to give the owner all the equipment manuals so he/she has a reference on how to do things as well as sending in warranty cards for the equipment. A representative came out to do this the latter part of December. By April, despite more calls to the Pool Service and Blue Haven, I still had not received any owners manuals. The closest I came is someone from the pool service saying he would download some information from the Internet and send it to me. I never received anything. This is unacceptable and a disservice. I finally received some of the equipment manuals on May 7, 2004.
9. There were several other little things like taking more that a month after the pool was opened to finally hook up the ozonator (which I paid extra for), pieces of gunite (cement) splattered on my patio roof were only recently cleaned up, and the fill dirt they spread around the edge of the pool and to fill in the tracks from the heavy equipment what is this stuff? When it rains, the water just sits on top of it and when it does dry, it's hard as a rock. Blue Haven needs to use topsoil, not this stuff I'm still dealing with drainage problems this created and don't know if grass is going to grow in this stuff.
10. During this summer I continue to have problems. The ozonator unit fell off the house wall where it was attached, there is a place where the coping has already chipped, and I have discovered a place where it appears the decking is cracked. And the pool isn't even a year old. Someone came out and reattached the ozonator and took a picture of the cracked coping. I haven't heard anything back on the latter and it now is chipped all the way off. I have recently noticed a crack in the decking. While it looks like a hairline crack, what am I going to do if it gets larger a year from now. On the last problem, the problems with Blue Haven continue I have called three times in the last week and get the same story the someone will call me back Well whoever this someone is, I would appreciate them calling me back! Blue Haven was always very quick to call and remind me of when a check was due for a section to be completed They seemed to be interested only in their money and certainly not customer service!
The finished pool is nice but not up to the quality standards Blue Haven claims or a homeowner should expect with such a large investment. I should not have had to go through all this. Blue Haven did not fulfill their contract and even though I should have put my protest in writing, when they got their last check, everything after that was a battle. They have lost at least two clients because I will not recommend them. I feel this franchise is in need of some serious reorganization and culture change. I will just say to all who read this, be careful choosing your pool builder and insist on not giving them the final payment until you are completely satisfied everything is complete.
David
Taylor, Texas
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Blue Haven Pools
1. The salesman, who is no longer with Blue Haven was very pushy must have been a used car salesman before. We could overlook this since we had a Blue Haven pool at our previous residence and were somewhat familiar with the design and construction. I thought it was rather strange that he would not leave a copy of the pool layout, a list of options, pricing, or anything we discussed about the pool. This made it difficult to compare like items with other builders, which is always recommended. We based our decision mostly from our experience with the pool at our previous residence.
2. The contract was signed with a start date of August 27, 2003 and a completion scheduled for 45 working days per the contract. The pool was plastered, usually the last major step, in December 2003. By my calculations, excluding holidays, weekends, and bad weather days (which were rare), this was more like 60 working days. To me, our pool was more or less completed March 30, 2004 with the delivery of the jump rock (more on this later). By anyone's calculation this is over 120 working days. So just on this one point they did not fulfill their contract.
3. At the signing of the contract, I verbally protested the practice of making the last payment to Blue Haven at the time of plaster. Believe me, there was still work to be done on the pool after that. My contention was that once they received the last payment, I no longer have any leverage to make them complete the pool and that is exactly what happened. As I will detail below, I have had to call to remind, bug, complain, etc to get anything done.
4. This is in no way intended to be biased but if you are going to have a major construction project going on, there needs to be a way to communicate with the individual(s) that you have hired to do the work. I only saw and could talk to the construction foremen one time, at the time the pool was laid out at the very beginning. The rest of the time, the only person that I was able to talk to was the scheduler in the Blue Haven office.
Additionally, there was not any of the construction crew that I could talk to while they were here because I did not find any that spoke English. I'm sure they are very skilled but communication is essential. I had numerous questions but the majority of the time when I would call there was no one in the office to answer the question and would be told someone would call me back. Someone never did and that still continues today.
5. When the plumbing was put in, there was a length of PVC pipe sticking up right in the middle of where the first step would be. Several times I tried to talk to someone onsite or at the office to find out what this was for and never got an answer. After all the decking and plastering was done, I finally found out it was for an actuator, of sorts, that would control special spa jets we had installed by the steps into the pool. If I had know what it was, I would have asked them to move it more to one side so it wouldn't be sticking up right in the middle of where you step down into the pool. But again, there was no one to answer my question. When they came out to finally cut the pipe and make it closer to the deck surface, they could have done a better job with the way it looks.
6. When they were digging out the dirt, they either dug too deep or the ground was too wet and the sides collapsed in several places. To fix this, they erected boards in the shape of the pool, leaving large holes between the boards and the collapsed places. This was very dangerous in that someone (I have a 18 month old grandson) could have fallen in and gotten seriously hurt. Again, it just seemed that no one was in charge, such as a construction foremen, to talk to about this or oversee this.
7. A special feature we decided to get instead of a diving board was a jump rock. We paid Blue Haven $400 for this feature. They assured us we could even pick out what rock we wanted. We live in Taylor and the landscape company Blue Haven uses for their pools is in Dripping Springs. We're talking about over 100 miles round trip to pick out a rock. Since my wife and I both work, Saturday was the only day we could go look but whoever I talked with at the office said it would be okay since someone is in the office on Saturday. This was important because we felt we needed someone from Blue Haven to go with us. We were unsure of what would be acceptable.
The first time, the construction manager at that time accompanied us as we selected a rock. When the pool was almost completed, we asked about the rock. No one knew anything about it. That is when we found out the construction manager is no longer with Blue Haven. We went a second time, alone since no one from Blue Haven could join us. Both times it was bitterly cold (were talking November-December) but we picked out what we thought was a good choice. After several weeks, I called to find out when they were going to deliver our rock. I was told then that they had changed landscape companies and we would have to go to this other one, out past the airport, only an 80 mile round trip. We went out on a cold, damp Saturday morning and there was no one at the site. We marked a rock and planned to call the landscape office that Monday to tell them what we had done. I did this and the person on the other end of the phone gave me the impression he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Sure enough, several more weeks and several more calls to Blue Haven, I get home from work and find what looked like a piece of square, colored cement. Not even close to what one would call a natural rock or what we chose.
Calling Blue Haven, I was informed that they are not using this second landscape company but still the original one. So for the fourth time we drive 100 miles and pick out a rock with the help of someone from the Blue Haven construction office this time. He promised us the rock would be at our house the next week, even if he had to do it himself. After numerous calls and weeks passing the rock was delivered on March 30, 2004. I took off from work so I could show them where the rock was to be placed. Just prior to leaving work, I receive a call from the construction supervisor informing me that they are delivering the rock but none of them speak English so I guess you can just point. Are you kidding me! The three men who delivered the rock tried to understand but it was difficult. Later I called the Blue Haven construction office to ask if the rock is to be mortared in place. The scheduler/secretary of course did not know but would check with the construction supervisor and get back to me. I'm still waiting for an answer.
8. Blue Haven contracts with a pool service, Pool and Spa Services, to open up the clients pool make sure equipment works, show owners how to use it, etc. This service is also supposed to give the owner all the equipment manuals so he/she has a reference on how to do things as well as sending in warranty cards for the equipment. A representative came out to do this the latter part of December. By April, despite more calls to the Pool Service and Blue Haven, I still had not received any owners manuals. The closest I came is someone from the pool service saying he would download some information from the Internet and send it to me. I never received anything. This is unacceptable and a disservice. I finally received some of the equipment manuals on May 7, 2004.
9. There were several other little things like taking more that a month after the pool was opened to finally hook up the ozonator (which I paid extra for), pieces of gunite (cement) splattered on my patio roof were only recently cleaned up, and the fill dirt they spread around the edge of the pool and to fill in the tracks from the heavy equipment what is this stuff? When it rains, the water just sits on top of it and when it does dry, it's hard as a rock. Blue Haven needs to use topsoil, not this stuff I'm still dealing with drainage problems this created and don't know if grass is going to grow in this stuff.
10. During this summer I continue to have problems. The ozonator unit fell off the house wall where it was attached, there is a place where the coping has already chipped, and I have discovered a place where it appears the decking is cracked. And the pool isn't even a year old. Someone came out and reattached the ozonator and took a picture of the cracked coping. I haven't heard anything back on the latter and it now is chipped all the way off. I have recently noticed a crack in the decking. While it looks like a hairline crack, what am I going to do if it gets larger a year from now. On the last problem, the problems with Blue Haven continue I have called three times in the last week and get the same story the someone will call me back Well whoever this someone is, I would appreciate them calling me back! Blue Haven was always very quick to call and remind me of when a check was due for a section to be completed They seemed to be interested only in their money and certainly not customer service!
The finished pool is nice but not up to the quality standards Blue Haven claims or a homeowner should expect with such a large investment. I should not have had to go through all this. Blue Haven did not fulfill their contract and even though I should have put my protest in writing, when they got their last check, everything after that was a battle. They have lost at least two clients because I will not recommend them. I feel this franchise is in need of some serious reorganization and culture change. I will just say to all who read this, be careful choosing your pool builder and insist on not giving them the final payment until you are completely satisfied everything is complete.
David
Taylor, Texas
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Blue Haven Pools
