#2 Employee
AUTHOR: Rod Thompson - Ontario (U.S.A.)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, May 29, 2008
POSTED: Thursday, May 29, 2008
When Mr. Wayne first posted a couple of years ago, after he was paid, I thought I would let it go and let him have his chance to vent. I believe the old adage If I can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time and apologize when I am wrong, I'll be alright. So I apologized for the two errors I made and waited for it to pass but instead of passing, my apology was distorted and misused so I guess it is time to set the record straight but bear with me, it will be long. I've been reading this nonsense far too long and I am tired of it, and please remember, nobody checks the facts about what is written here.
I'll answer these accusations but first let me set the record straight. Although I am periodically pursued by other pool companies to work for them with occasional offers of management positions as enticement, I have remained with Blue Haven pools & Spas for 16 years because they build the best product on the market, and I am proud of it. I know that I am helping people to have a pool with the lowest operating cost, least amount of maintenance, and the purest water.
With Blue Haven's exclusive, patented high pressure Jet-Flow Circulation System working in conjunction with a state-of-the-art pool cleaner and water purification system, it is the most self-cleaning and self purifying pool on the market and virtually maintenance free. The equipment Blue Haven insists on using comes directly from the manufacturers, assuring it is the newest technology, the most reliable, and the most efficient available, and Blue Haven has the most experience. Consequently, a Blue Haven Smart Pool is the top selling pool in America as listed in The National Pool & Spa Magazine every year since 2002, selling over 7,000 pools per year. That's more than most other pool companies will do in their lifetime.
However, building 7,000 pools per year with eight or ten different crews on each one, things happen, things go wrong: buyer or seller miscommunications, buyer or seller mistakes, buyer-seller-workmen personality conflict or buyers who confuse information they received from getting several bids, listening to various presentations, and talking to friends and relatives. It's natural and happens frequently. I.e.: prospects call and ask for the salesman who was out to see them last week and name someone who works for some other company. People we have never heard of call to change their appointment times or cancel a sale (we love that one.)
Yes, sometimes salespeople make mistakes. Let's see, fifteen years with Blue Haven Pools, fifty weeks per year, and ten calls per week makes about 7,500 families I have spoken with in as many different yard challenges. Absolutely I have made some mistakes. Absolutely Blue Haven has made some mistakes. Absolutely some of the) workers have made mistakes or irritated somebody. And, believe it or not, sometimes customers make mistakes. But when it's all done, the customer has the lowest maintenance pool on the market with the purest water. That is why while many companies come and go or file bankruptcy at the first sign of trouble (a highly advertised company just closed their doors last week leaving several pools unfinished,) only to reopen under some other name, Blue Haven stays right here building quality pools and dealing with the problems and different kinds of people.
The Post Office has problems. Churches have problems, Presidents cause problems. Schools have problems. Many large entities have problems: Sears, Exxon, and Wall-Mart to name three. Sometimes the companies deal with the problems better than other times, but that's human nature. However, when it is all said and done, most of the people who complained about every aspect of construction for various personal reasons, end up admitting that it is great pool, and they love the low maintenance and frequently give Blue Haven referrals. Altogether, Blue Haven has built over 250,000 pools and are still here, standing behind the lifetime warranty on every one of them. There is a listing here about a pool with leaks, that has been taken care of.
Other companies emulate Blue Haven in name to take advantage of name confusion or one-off equipment claiming it's as good as, but they aren't honest about it. Do they talk about the frequent articles in trade magazines describing the negative effects of salt systems, or do they just sell them because it's an easy sale? Some other companies let Blue Haven spend time and money pioneering new equipment and technologies, all the while bad-mouthing them because they have nothing good to say about themselves, only to come along behind, trying their best to copy what Blue Haven is doing. The only way some people can make themselves look good is to make others look bad. None of my customers has ever heard me say anything bad about another company still in business because Blue Haven gives me plenty of good things to talk about.
Error #1
I wrote on the bottom of the pool plan the pool was to be 3 ½ to 5 to 4 feet deep. It had been a long call, and I was tired. Most of the pools we do are 3½ to 6' deep and that is what I wrote on the contract. Mr. A---- stated that I went over certain items on the contract including the depth, admitting I went over it with them. Actually, we went over the whole contract and pool plan line by line. I always do. Mr. & Mrs. A---- were both participating and both signed the papers. Unfortunately, just like typos that have been checked and double checked by professionals and computer programs, nobody caught the error. Before the pool is dug, the customer has to sign the dig sheet clearly identifying the layout and depth of the pool. On dig day, Mrs. A---- missed the error again and signed it. Contract, pool plan, and dig sheet: three chances to catch the error and still it was missed by everybody. Stuff happens. Blue Haven offered a cash reduction as compensation: it was refused.
Error #2
Stage payments are currently made as follows: 35% @ Excavation, 35% @ Gunite, 10% @ Tile, 10% @ Deck, 8% @ Plaster, and 2% @ Start-up. I listed their contract price correctly but miscalculated their stage payments to a lower amount. Before he revised it, Mr. A---- said Blue Haven should have just accepted the loss, admitting that he was fully aware that it would have been a loss, and he knew it was money that he owed. Trying to take advantage of the situation?
He had told me he thought the back wall could come down for tractor access, and I told him I would base the price on that but if it couldn't; there would be an additional $5,000 for the use of a mini tractor. I did not charge him an extra $5,000 in case it was needed with a verbal promise of giving it back if it wasn't. Who would sign a contract like that with a verbal promise that $5,000 would be returned if it wasn't needed? Especially after just initialing two statements that no verbal agreements applied?
About the concrete beside the house: I told them it would have to be sawcut to allow the gas and electric lines to be run from the meters into the back yard, and that the concrete removed would be replaced. Line 18 on the contract that we reviewed, line by line, stated there would be a sawcut. Everybody realizes placing a strip of new concrete in the middle of a piece of old concrete will be noticeable.
They got mad in the beginning because the day before they came into the office they demanded I be there for the meeting. Actually, I would have liked that, but I had an appointment across town at UCLA to help my wife of 38 years make plans for a double lung transplant. When she is sick, she gets priority over everything and everybody. Later, two days before the settlement was made, I found out it was in court and offered to testify but it was too late. The general manager had already made the decision to settle and move on.
Lastly, the Blustery general manager wasn't blustery, just busy. Being the number one person responsible for 500 to 700 pools per year being built out of our office from Palm Springs to Manhattan Beach and Victorville to Long Beach is heavy duty stress which is why Mr. A---- was paid. Blue Haven Pools did not fold like a cheap suit, as Mr. A---- stated. It was just time preservation and sensible management: prioritizing time versus money.
If you are still with me, thank you. Chances are you are reading this because a sales representative from some other pool company sent you here in another attempt to make Blue Haven Pools look bad. The pool industry is, for the most part, made up of a lot of good, reputable, folks doing the best work they can, but there are some sales reps either working for companies that have nothing good to talk about, or, are unprofessional, unskilled, and incapable of competing on a fair playing field. Either way, I thank him for telling you about it. Look at the facts. The complaints listed here over a 7 year period during which time Blue Haven Pools built almost 50,000 pools. Get real here folks. How good can they be?
Please, call up the person that sent you here and tell him I said thank you, then call me, or the Blue Haven representative whom was out to see you, and let us get started building you a lot of years of low-cost and virtually maintenance-free, sanitary fun in the sun. Join the other hundreds of thousands of happy Blue Haven customers enjoying healthy, wet-and-splashing, BBQing-and-laughing, picture-taking-and-memory-making summers. Swimming pools are great and the waters fine, come on in.
ROD THOMPSON, BLUE HAVEN POOLS, ONTARIO, CALIFORNIA.
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