Rant against pool suppliers and pool supplies

[srg55]

I am very happy to have found this forum. I do not know if this rant will get me booted before I even settle in, but we'll see----

I have been a pool owner for twenty years. I know my in-ground, 25K gallon pool, inside and out. I know all about its accessories and filtration system. I know how to keep its water sparkling clean.

The above being said, I also know that the whole pool supply business thrives on selling goods of unbelievably low quality with planned obsolescence built in. From filters to skimmers to rakes to brushes, they all are pieces of garbage! Each time I buy a piece of equipment, no matter the supplier, I know I'll be buying it again in the next 2-3 years. What crap!

DE filters are a joke, when it comes to the filter screens that do the actual filtering. Normal chlorinated water destroys the plastic fins of one or two, yearly, and those screens are not cheap. The backwash fails to clear the screens to a large extent, so you are forced to open your filter and manually hose everything down every other month. What fun! Opening the filter wears out the bolts and large o-ring/gasket, so you buy those every few years. Yay!

The pool suppliers know that they are selling mostly to older, more financially successful folks who just throw money at whatever problems come along. They thrive on this. For those of us who can't stand wasting cash, it hits very hard to see how this business makes its money.

I don't know if this forum is run by pool supply folks, but I'm sure I'll soon find out. As I consider jack hammering my pool and filling it in for a Zen garden, I look back over the last twenty years and figure that for every hour I spent enjoying swimming in my pool, I spent three screwing with it. Wasted time is never gotten back!

[srg55]

Today, a great example of the rip-off MO of pool suppliers: I stripped out a bolt on the closing ring of my DE filter. I went to Leslie's, in Austin, to buy a new bolt, about a .50 item. "Sorry, sir, we don't sell the bolt separately. You need to buy the complete ring assembly." "OK, how much is that? About $40?" "No sir, the assembly is $239.95, but I'll have to order you one." "You have got to be kidding me! You're not serious, right?"

Tomorrow I will hunt for a bolt that will do the job, at HD, Lowe's, etc. Stay tuned.

FWIW, I stripped the bolt trying to stop the leaking rubber gasket that I replaced about four months ago, for about $25. I'm sure I'll have to buy another one once I find a new bolt. The rip-offs just keep going and going and ----------

[srg55]

It turned out that the long nut was stripped out, as it is made of brass. The stainless steel T-bolt is fine. I went to the only pool supply guy I know in Austin who actually knows his stuff, cold. He's been at it for over ten years. He pointed out that the brass will strip, and not the stainless steel bolt, because of the hardness factors involved. The new style nut cost me about $15, and my filter is fine, now. Cool!

[Guest]

A nut for $15

That is definitely NOT cool

[cc]

I used a pool company in Colleyville, Tx to renovate my pool. He hired irreponsible sub contractor as he did not have any capability to do it himself. This would have been fine but he did nothing to supervise these sub-contractors and the results was poor workmanship. I requested help from the better business bureau and found they are supportive of the consumer and believed the lies of the pool company. Be careful in dealing with pool contractors. I chose one that had a good bbb rating and was local and it did not work out well.

[floridapooltech]

I used a pool company in Colleyville, Tx to renovate my pool. He hired irreponsible sub contractor as he did not have any capability to do it himself. This would have been fine but he did nothing to supervise these sub-contractors and the results was poor workmanship. I requested help from the better business bureau and found they are supportive of the consumer and believed the lies of the pool company. Be careful in dealing with pool contractors. I chose one that had a good bbb rating and was local and it did not work out well.

I am sorry to hear all these problems a few of you are having with pool stores and contractors. Regarding the above posts, I cannot believe they wouldn't just sell the replacement nut and tried making you purchase the entire clamp assembly. If it's the hayward pro-grid, we all do in-fact carry the replacement nut, yes, it is a fairly expensive part as it does have a spring around it, not $15 expensive though, but hey, some stores love overcharging because they can.

To poster quoted, the BBB is not what they used to be. I honestly believe most business pay for their ratings, which is why we don't even bother purchasing the plan. I would go to the office of consumer affairs, post this to angies list...they love this kind of treatment as they usually get results, contact the attorney general and even the state board of contractors. Hopefully they can get someone to fix your pool the way its supposed to be!

[thepoolzone]

I'm so sorry to hear about your complaints!

I am in the trade and I can agree that a lot of products be obsolete quickly around here! There are many smaller companies that sell to larger ones or merge, split, move, etc. It's hard to keep up with them, beleive me!

We have a lot of quality items at great prices. Since you have so much experience, I'm sure you have pin pointed brands that have been around as long in the pool business as you have! I would say these companies would be Hayward, Maytronics, AquaProducts, Leslie's pools, Pentair, Astral... just to name a few.

If you need help finding any parts or other items at a low price, we'll be happy to work with you. We would recommend the products wtih the longest warranty, track record and backing by the manufacturer!

Good luck and enjoy the pool!! I hope this summer you can float around and relax a little!