Have been trying for over 2 years to get Challenger to finish my punch list and other items I have had to hire an attorney, lose time from work, deal with their lying and deceitfulness to me and others. I took out a loan to buy a pool for my family it has been nothing but a nightmare with Challenger. At this point, my family is ready to sell the house so we don't have to look at the mess they have created. No one from Challenger ever supervised the construction of the job, so you can imagine the mess I have. I had to call them constantly on a daily basis to let them know their subcontractors did not show up to do the job. A 6 week job turned into over 3 months and to top it off the pool had a leak for over 4 months before they could find someone competent enough to locate it then it started again. I called them and they sent some guy out to my house to shut the water down and scribbled a vertical line in the skimmer. Well he should have made a horizontal mark, then he never showed back up to check it. My husband found the leak in the housing for the spa light. They had to drain the pool a week after filling it to grind down the entire inside of the pool the finishers had done such a sloppy job the pool has lumps and holes in it. Challenger promised to reimburse me for the cost of the water, and they also built the pool 2' above the rest of my yard it was suppose to be an in-ground pool, the spa drain is jammed into the side of the seat and they cut around it instead of placing the drain in the center per the construction plan. Because the pool is so high above ground my yard floods when it rains and is washing away the back side of the pool decking and its starting to crack. Also, every time the pool turns on water shoots out from the flange/housing of the pool pump and is also leaking in other areas of the pump. I am having the hardest time with them. They constantly lie and get away with it I filed a complaint with the Attorney Generals office in 2004 and can't get them to move on it. I am running out of money from my attorney fees, paying the loan on the pool, the constant aggravation and the stress I am going through. I have been keeping logs and documentation on everything I do and have done with them. How can our system let these people get away with treating consumers like this? Bruce Esquinaldo, the owner of Challenger, promised me he would adjust my billing to him for the problems they created. He has lied, lied, lied and lied. Now I have had to hire an attorney that I can't afford. I have photos, quotes from other pool companies that told me there is no way they will touch the mess Challenger has done.in 2001 the State Attorney Generals Office filed charges against Challenger and should have put them out of business so as not to allow them to continue to rip-off consumers: here are the charges:
September 21
Pool Company Charged With Deception, Violations Of Agreements
TALLAHASSEE — A swimming pool construction company with offices around Florida has been charged with deceiving consumers and violating past agreements to end abusive marketing practices, Attorney General Bob Butterworth announced today.
A civil complaint was filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against Challenger Pools Inc. And principal officers Bruce E. Esquinaldo Sr., Eamonn D. Walsh and Gary Weston. The complaint seeks consumer restitution and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation of the state's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.in addition, separate $10,000 penalties are being sought for each violation of Agreements of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) entered by the company in previous years.
"Challenger Pools entered two separate agreements to restrict their marketing tactics in their dealings with consumers and violated both of them, " Butterworth said. "The message we're sending the company now is 'three strikes and you're out.'"
Challenger Pools has Florida offices in Altamonte Springs, Fort Myers, Sunrise, Tampa and West Palm Beach, as well as an office in Dallas, Texas. The company first ran afoul of the attorney general's office in 1990 when an investigation of alleged deceptive practices led to an AVC. An investigation into alleged violations of that agreement was launched several years later, culminating in another AVC in 1999.
In addition to paying a total of $11,000 and compensating consumers in those earlier instances, the company promised to stop making misrepresentations in its marketing practices. Those practices included leading consumers to believe that construction work would be done by Challenger Pools employees rather than subcontractors and that the company was the industry's largest.
In his complaint, the attorney general charged Challenger Pools with a number of infractions, including:
Violating earlier agreements by continuing to suggest construction would be done by company employees and that Challenger Pools was the largest builder in the country.
Promising most consumers that pool construction would be completed within 30 days when the company knew, or should have known, that the actual construction period would be as long as several months or, in some instances, even years.
Failing to meet county code inspections in many instances and demanding additional payment of monies by consumers even though completion of construction was not possible without meeting codified specifications.
Failing to honor the "lifetime structural warranty" contained in the construction agreement disseminated to consumers.
Failing to pay subcontractors for work already covered by consumers' payments to Challenger Pools, thereby subjecting customers to construction liens on their homes.
Failing to follow the construction plans selected by consumers.
The complaint was prepared by Assistant Attorney General Marta Moakley.
When is someone going to stop this kind a theivery??? Why do we have to still be the victims - the govenment is not protecting us against this dishonesty.
If anyone out there has supporting evidence I can use against Challenger to put them out of business, please contact me.
Thank you.
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