We chose Platinum Pools on a referral basis from a relative. She had nothing but great things to say about the company and we felt we couldn't go wrong. We placed our trust and our yard to Platinum/Frisco without hesitation.
We are filing this report to express extreme dissatisfaction with Platinum and feel you should be aware of the "customer care" practices that are currently in place. We have tried to resolve things through the General Manager in Frisco but despite calling him and leaving messages, he has not returned our phone calls and the only communication we have received from him was a letter telling us we will not be compensated in any way.
We signed our contract on July 6. Construction did not begin until August 23. The manager cited city inspections/permit process as a possible delay in pool construction. The City of Wylie did not receive our permit application from Platinum Pools until July 27th.20 days, it took. Why? It is not fair to place blame on the city, when in fact it was Platinum who did not file the permit in a timely manner.
Pool construction began August 23. We agreed to a 30 working day contract (no weekends or holidays) from the date of dig.initially, we were told by Platinum that there were 5 rain days during construction of our pool that delayed it. We went to research this as it had been a VERY dry summer and we were in the midst of a drought. The National Weather Service showed us 3 rain days during pool construction. The construction supervisor reviewing our complaints agreed to 3. The letter from General Manager says now it is 4.
We were told by Platinum staff they would let us know when it would be time to pick out tile and coping. The General Manager stated we were late in making those selections which delayed construction of our pool. We were assured by the construction supervisor, salesman and receptionist from the Frisco office that we would have plenty of time to make those selections, and the salesman told my wife he would call us when it was time.in the Manager's rebuttal letter, it is now an issue that we were late in picking out the tile and coping. That, to put it plainly, is manipulation on the part of Platinum staff to extend their working days. Deceitful does not even begin to describe how we are feeling about the Platinum staff.
The Manager states there was a delay in payments. This infuriates us! He stated that the pool was gunited September 5 and we did not make payment until 4 days later. That is because the construction supervisor could not make it to our residence as he had other things on his schedule, and therefore we were given approval by him to bring it to Frisco when we made coping and tile selections that Saturday. No one from the Frisco office EVER said it would be considered late or that it was unacceptable. The General Manager is grasping at straws to make it seem as though we the customer, paying almost $30,000 for this product, delayed the project. The implications in his letter are very clear, and are certainly not our definition of "customer driven".
There was no Customer Care Manual given to us until the project was almost complete. It was not sent to us until September 15. That would have held important facts and instructions on the pool building process, including timelines of when things were to be complete and when selections were to be made. Without it, we could only rely on phone calls and the presence of Platinum staff to direct us, both of which were sadly lacking. We are, however, expected to be held to the contract and policies of Platinum, as the letter from the General Manager indicated.incidentally, there are a few items missing from our manual: the Contract and Addendums section was empty when we received it, as was the Pool Construction Plans and the Telephone Directory. It is difficult, if not impossible, to be an informed buyer when the information is withheld.
Grout/guinite was left on our windows. To this day there is still grout in our screen and on the side of the house. We are not sure we will be able to get the grout out of the screen without ruining it. We asked several times for this to be cleaned up and it never was. The General Manager says Platinum is sorry, but they did not offer to take corrective action.
The salesman assured us he would get HOA approval for our pool. HOA approval was not received in a timely manner. There were threats of litigation from our homeowner's association. Again, The General Manager is sorry. He intends to implement corrective action within his company to make sure this does not happen again. That is great for whoever purchases a Platinum Pool after us. What satisfaction does it bring to us, though? How will we be compensated for the oversights and deficiencies we incurred through choosing Platinum Pools?
Re-rod was left sticking up in a planter area. We asked the construction supervisor about it before the concrete decking was laid and we were assured it would be taken care of. After the decking was poured, there it still was, sticking straight up in the middle of our planter area. The construction supervisor pounded it down under the dirt, and we were told to be "careful" planting there. Our decking now has 3 cracks in it going the length of the decking in the center to the drain. It has not even been 6 months from completion. Would this have anything to do with the 2 pieces of re-bar from the edge of the pool that were not connected to that portion of the deck? We included this issue in our first letter to Platinum, but the General Manager did not address it.
After reviewing all the information you should understand our frustration and disgust at the way we have been treated through this company. Due to lack of an acceptable resolution, we did forward all pertinent information to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's office. When our neighbors ask where we purchased our pool we will tell them, and we will definitely have an opinion to share with them. Please keep in mind that we are located in a brand new subdivision that is still in the building process, and therefore the opportunity to share that opinion will present itself multiple times, as well as to friends, family and co-workers whom we invite for a swim.
We hope that this information has presented you with the opportunity to decide if this company is really who you would like to invest your money with and give your backyard to. It is unfortunate that we will have to tell people that in the end, Platinum Pools did NOT do right by us.
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