We Fix Ugly Pools

Having been a long time client of WFUP, I wanted to again note that every time they are needed, they come through for me. I have had multiple repairs over the years, so repair related, some self-​induced… :)
Each time, the repairs were professionally done, and always at reasonable prices. Not that it has ever been needed, but if there ever were a problem, the owner of the chain is accessible and is often at his stores. I prefer these guys over any other chain pool supply store!

I went to their store at 75^th Avenue and Thunderbird and spoke to one of the guys — he was very professional, knowledgeable, and helpful. Too bad I never saw him again. I described the problems I was having (in floor cleaner heads) and he said they would come, look over the pool, «design» the correct set of replacement heads, I agreed and we scheduled one of his people to come out. That never happened. In between that discussion and the appointment, I went back and ordered an inline chlorinator and an inline leaf catcher with the special floor drain mentioned at the first meeting that would let leaves pass through and still meet safety standards. I was told that installation for the two would be «$ 125», I asked several times. I also wanted a pressure wash to clean off the waterline of mineral deposits. The person assisting me said he was the store manager, however, he did not act like a store manager. When I mentioned the floor cleaner work the first person told me about, this guy knew nothing about it — a manager is supposed to know everything that goes on in a store — nor did he make any effort to find out. His first statement about everything that I asked about was «there is a fee for that», valid thing to say, I suppose, however, if you are trying to make a sale, you phrase it as «we offer a service…»
The technician showed up on a Friday to install the leaf catcher and chlorinator. The chlorinator went right in and when asked, he said to set it on «2» for «a pool this size», so I did. He tried to install the leaf catcher, but the ground was too hard, so he would have to come back the next morning, «first thing», with his electric jack hammer.
I asked him about the pressure wash for the pool, stating that his company never called me to (re)schedule the appointment. He measured the pool and told me it would be $ 300 for the acid wash and $ 400 (roughly) for the special «glass bead» pressure wash.
«First thing» ended up being around 5pm. He worked fairly hard and the ground was very hard. I guess he just got tired of doing the job and now my leaf catcher that is designed to be flush with the surface is now installed about 18″ out of the ground. Adding insult to injury, he did a VERY poor job of cleaning up — the ground around the leaf catcher was not tamped down, he mixed the landscaping gravel with the dirt, and then left that all over one of my flagstones. And he charged me around $ 250 for installation.
When he presented the bill, he tried to get me to pay for the two washes, which I refused to do. He promised that the company would call me to schedule the wash work, which was to include the special floor drains — since I had told him that they never called me back, he said he would make sure they did. They never did.
During these exchanges, I did talk to some woman who answered their scheduling phone and was told they would call back to make an appointment, that never happened.
My situation now is I have a very poorly installed leaf catcher that cost me several hundred dollars and no special floor drains, which I have been told by a reputable pool store would require rebuilding the drains in the pool (as in drain the pool chop up the floor, install the drains, and rework the pool finish — a far cry from the «just replace the drain covers» as I was told by We Fix Ugly Pools. Since that «solution» was a bust, I had to buy a $ 400 robotic cleaner and I suppose the leaf catcher will work well with it, even though it is sticking out of the ground. I will probably have to pay someone else a couple hundred bucks to reinstall it or just live with it.
The chlorinator installation is outstanding — he made sure to leave room in the fixtures to install other equipment, such as a heater, even made sure to paint everything, even though he refused to tell me what paint he was using as I wanted to put a fresh coat on the rest of the plumbing. And the «2» setting he recommended — wrong — try 4.5. Fortunately, the new robotic cleaner and a quart of clarifier took only a couple days to clear out the algae growth. Yes — I should have checked the chlorine level every day — hindsight (trusting his judgement) being 20 – 20.
I never received a call back to schedule the acid/​pressure washes I requested.
I have since removed their «brag sticker» from my timer box, found an excellent pool parts store in Scottsdale who also carry the in-​floor cleaner heads in stock, and I am getting recommendations for other pool service techs. I will never use this company again.