Bluescape Pools and Spas (Manuel Izquierdo)/ Bluescape Design Group (Lisa or Lessette Figueroa) STOLE $71.000.00 from us for a new Pool project and never finished, the job done was incorrect. orlando Florida

were aware that building a pool is a major project, so we did some research on companies, making sure they had all their permits and were recognized by different associations, as the BBB, National Pool Association, Angie’s list, and more. We found Bluescape Pool Designs, they advertised on their website being members of several of those associations.  Since they were the first to be available to build a pool and meet all my requirements about credentials, I decided to work with this company called Bluescape Pool Designs, AKA, Bluescape Pools and Spas.

They came to my house immediately and I found the fact that I did not have to wait for an appointment was very convenient; however, now that I know what kind of people I hired I understand that I should have chosen a company with a long wait time for an appointment.

Lisa or Lessette Figueroa, came to my house and introduced herself as a sales representative from Bluescape. She told me that they did not have a showroom in Orlando; however, very confidently, she said they had a showroom all the way in Tampa, but if I wanted to look at some of the materials she could show me some pieces she had in her car.  So she showed me a piece of pavers and a few samples of pool finishes.  I did not find it odd at this time since they said they had a showroom in Tampa.  Additionally, she showed me a few pictures of pools that she claimed her company was building at the time. She even offered to take me to the sites to see some of the pools; however, it was a weekend and my husband and I already had other plans, so we told her we would like to see them some other time.

We then signed a contract back in September 20, 2015. She assured us, that if we signed the contract immediately, my pool would be finished by mid-December 2015.  Having a surgery scheduled for January and in need of the pool for my therapy after the surgery,  I decided to hurry and do it right then. She collected the first check for 10% of the total price for the Pool, $6000.00. One month and a week passed by and the only thing done to my project was a few wood pieces and lines in the back yard. When I asked what was going on, they said the timing was ok, and that they needed more money because they will not start any excavation without the second payment, so, they were already asking for another $18,000.00. I found it odd that not even starting the project, she wanted all that money already $24k by then; however, I did not want to slow down the process, so I gave them the second payment on November 4, 2015.

Time started to pass and nothing was being done in my yard. When asked what was going on, they came and open a big hole of dirt; however, the very same day they asked for a third check. They wanted another 18,000.00. At that point I found it very peculiar and refused to make payment. I wanted an explanation of why I kept making payments and I was not seeing any work done in my project. They insisted that it was regular procedure and if I did not make the payment they will stop the project right away, and I would not get any refund for my money. 

So I requested Lisa to see the pool projects they were working on and she refused to show me anything with the excuse that I may do a scandal in front of their other customers. At that point, I asked to speak to the company owner Manuel Izquierdo, whom Lisa said was not willing to talk to me. When they noticed I was not going to make another check without seeing their show room or be able to see any pool built by them, he agreed to meet with my husband and I at our house. 

I noticed immediately that this guy was not the decision maker and he was just supporting whatever Lisa, the sales representative, would say. The only time he actually spoke to say something was when I mentioned my desire of hiring an attorney. He said “If you hire an attorney, I will suspend any work in your house immediately,” so after a very heated conversation he finally offered to bring some people to start working on my project the very next day and we agreed; however, he insisted he would not do anything unless I give them the third deposit payment. 

We finally agreed to give them the check with the condition of them to start working immediately. So when the owner was leaving, he requested to look at the project and he then said, “Why aren’t you doing a spa?” We then explained that we were buying an over ground spa. Afterwards, he offered the possibility of giving us a very good price for an underground spa. He asked me how much I was paying for it and I said $4,500. He then said, you can get an in ground unit for the same price and you won’t have the problem of having to service the pool and the spa separately, which at the end will be less efficient and more expensive.

When I said I will think about it, he said, “If you do it right now, it will be less expensive for you because we have not done anything in your yard yet except for the dirt hole, so we can simply dig the additional hole for the spa, and getting the permit for the addition will take less than a week.”  He explained that if we waited, they will have to break the concrete to do it and make a change of the plans so it will take longer and he will have to charge us more.  So we decided to go ahead and do it. He said he would be sending the paperwork immediately for approval.  That day on November 06, 2015, we gave them the third check for $18,600.00.

Weeks passed by and nobody came to work so I called again, trying to find out what was going on. They said they were doing the new designs and getting the permits. Three weeks passed by and nothing was done. They had already informed me that plans and permits where approved; however, there were no signs of any crew coming to work. One more week passed, finally on a weekend and after so many calls to Lisa, they sent a couple of guys to do the gunite; however, the very same day they came to do it, they claimed the first payment for spa addition, being well aware that it was an addition and that they in fact did open an extra hole for the spa and covered it with gunite. I paid as requested, so on December 11, 2015, they received another $8000.00.   

We then waited several weeks without having anyone to work on our project. Finally, on January 4, 2016 someone came to do some plumbing, and once again they requested the final payment for the spa, another $8000.00. Several weeks of waiting and more money was requested before they continued with the project. This time they wanted the 4^th pool payment to start with deck; however, I did not even see the material in my property, so I was more and more reluctant every time. 

My project was completely abandoned and no one was working here for weeks, so we thought that giving them the money may help to expedite the process. They promised that once they get the next check they will bring the pavers on site and start the job right away. So, on Thursday, February 04, 2016, I spoke with Lisa and asked when they would be here to work and she assured they would be at my home on Friday to start working. We gave them the next payment as follows, one check for $10,000.00 for the deck and another one for tile upgrade, which was $2,350.00. So my account was already at $70,950.00.

We were very nervous, for the amount that had been given to these people through time, and no one showed up on Friday. I called, Lisa said they would come on Saturday. Again, no one showed. On Monday, noticing once again that no one came, I requested a stop payment on those last two checks. Another week passed and then Lisa called very upset asking why I put a stop payment on the checks. I said that the reason for this was because no one came as she had promised. She then said that because of this, the pavers had to be returned and now I was going to have an even longer delay in my project.  Once I saw she was once again not doing anything about my project for almost two weeks, I had to give them two more checks, this time cashier’s checks so they were confident the checks would not be stopped. The pavers finally arrived but no one came to install them for over a month.

Finally, by mid-March, three unidentified guys came to install pavers. I noticed right away they were not being installed correctly. The pavers were crooked and the lines and cuts were not even. They also used regular squared tile for the coping around pool and planters, instead of bullnose.  Also, the planters around the pool were too narrow and asymmetric. Hence this situation, I called Lisa and told her what was going on. She said not to worry because she would call the guys right away and will take care of it. Despite this, nothing was done and they continued installing it as it was until they finished.

More weeks and months were passing by and every time I called them to confront them about the delay. Their only excuse was that I had done changes in my project such as the “the spa addition” and that caused delay in my project. They have already been paid for over 90% of the cost of the entire pool, plus the additional cost of the spa which was $16,000.00.

On the first’s days of April, we decided to contact an attorney about our case, Mr. Brett Marlow, ESQ. specialized in construction law.  From the first meeting, he knew these people would not be easy to handle because the contract they made me signed was very vague and did not state any terms, conditions or deadlines that could help us to enforce the law against them. It was also vague about the description of materials used. To make things worse, he informed me that, I had signed a pool construction contract with a company that did not even have a license to build pools. However, he tried to help us by sending several emails to these people, asking them to finish the project. Despite this, they did not respond, so I contacted them asking why they weren’t answering. They said they had not received anything, although the attorney got confirmation that they had received the certified letters he sent by FEDEX.

So, once again, he sent the same letters via email. On those letters he gave them a deadline to finish the project by May 31, 2016, but they did not even worry or show any concern about that. Their only response was that if I wanted anything else to be done in my project we had to give them more money. When the attorney asked why, they said that I had several changes in my project. When I proved that the only change was the spa and it was already paid off, they tried to say that the screen porch that I was requesting was more expensive because I wanted a Mansor Dome, so when we asked them to do anything they consider standard they then said that they would not do the porch yet because the next thing to do was the finish when originally, they said otherwise. They asked what kind of finish I wanted when I had already told them many times what I wanted; however, they said that what I was requesting was an upgrade and they needed an additional payment of $7000 to do the finish I wanted, so I requested to do the standard finish. They never came to do it.  Time was passing by and when my attorney pushed for any status and/or response from them, they sent another bill for over $30,000.00 for the screen that I wanted; however, the screen enclosure was quoted in the first contract.

During this time, my attorney did some research on this company and found out that several deficiencies, like the fact that Bluescape Designs did not have a license to build pools, were being played out. So the company in charge for building my pool was another Bluescape Pools and Spas. Additionally, the contract had a lot of missing information and was not clear in purpose to leave ample room for misinterpretations so they could charge extra later. He also found that they were advertising to be members of several national accredited entities and it was not true. Finally, he found out that they had several legal cases filed in South Florida against them.

My attorney also contacted two pool companies to come and take a look at the job, so they could estimate the amount needed to finish the project and also to review if the job was done correctly.   Unfortunately, both companies agreed on the fact that there were several deficiencies in the work and for that reason, none of them accepted our offer to take over the job and finish what was already started. However, they were both willing to start over by demolishing everything that had been done in my property. The following are some of the most important failures that they found in my project amongst many others:

1. The deck is not level

2. Concrete footers for the screen are floating on one end and settling on the other side

3. The coping and tile around the pool were not cut and installed correctly

4. Raised beams are not level

5. Deck drains were not installed all the way across the deck

6. Electric lines for equipment were run over the deck

Once I heard that they were not willing to do the job, I decided to contact companies that remodel pools instead. Although they were willing to finish the job, they advised me they would not touch my site unless there is a permit release on the project, but Bluescape Designs was not willing to provide it.

At this point we do not know what to do. We have paid for over 90% of the total price of the pool, which is $70,950.00, and we only have about 45% incorrectly done. The project is suspended, we are not getting our money back, no one wants to finish the project, the materials are starting to deteriorate, and no other company is willing to do anything with our project unless they release the permits.