In August I paid Blue Haven pools to put a pool in my backyard.
From the second day they breached our agreement as I had paid to have my pool dug by hand to not have to deal with my neighbors fence/yard issues. They took my money for a hand dig and proceeded to work with the builder of my neighbors homes to take down the fence to get excavation equipment through their property.
They left the dirt from the excavation on my driveway for so long that the city inspector threatened me with a $3000 fine if it wasn't moved within a day or so. (After the inspector threatened to cite them, they finally seemed to be able to move it)
After countless struggles with this company cutting every possible corner (including trying to run my gas line as exposed pipe on the outside of the house on the wall instead of burying it, like the city code requires), the final blow was the destruction of my driveway's decorative concrete when removing the pile of dirt the city was going to cite them for.
During the final inspection of the pool itself (where they pick up the final payment) the superintendent took pictures of the damage to the concrete driveway and asked that I get an estimate for the repair of the driveway.
It had been gouged beyond repair and would require a full replacement to look right again but I gave them an estimate for both full replacement and one that was slightly less for patching and painting over the areas destroyed. After submitting my estimates I was informed that the General Manager Bill Unger said repair of the destroyed driveway was now "not their responsibility" (there was $6,000 worth of damage done to my new home that they are sticking me with).
I went with a larger pool company because I thought that there would be a sense of responsibility with a major corporation behind them. Unfortunately (at least with the Houston office) the power of the corporation is used to stick it to their customers and avoid taking responsibility or having any sense of pride of workmanship whatsoever.
The salesman, John Truitt, was fantastic and put a lot of effort into the design of the pool (which was wonderful). Unfortunately for me, he quit a few weeks after the contract was signed and the ball was dropped by Blue Haven's Houston office in almost every move from the contract execution on.
Building a pool is a huge construction project that has consequences for the rest of the years you own your home. I saw some complaints from the BBB but they weren't all about the Houston office so I chalked it up to them building more pools than most other companies so what were the odds they'd have more complaints overall.
Please don't make the same mistake I made, you'll certainly regret it.
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