Swan Pools DO YOUR RESEARCH ON SWAN Stockton California

Mr. Torres or Anthony, whatever name he is using this week, is the biggest liar you will ever meet. He first told us he could start our pool in a week just to get us to sign a contract. What a lie, it took six weeks to start and eleven weeks to finish. He stated all of Swan's equipment is commercial grade, another lie, and why would it be commercial grade on a private pool Tony? He also said their equipment warranty on all equipment was for 10 years, another lie.

Swan Pools uses a pool cleaner by the name of Ray Vac. He said it had a ten year warranty but it turned out it only had a seven year warranty and one year on the hose, well my hose broke and it cost me $700.00 and Mr. Torres and Swan Pools would not reimburse me. Come to find out the other Swan offices will not even sell a Ray Vac because they are so cheap and they do not last. We asked about the in-floor cleaning systems and he told us because of the suction that our children could get trapped so we believed him and once again found out it was once again another lie. We found out that the in-floor cleaning systems are a pressure cleaner that distributes pressure to move the water, so there is no way anyone can get stuck. He then stated all the other pool companies standard pool cleaners are also suction cleaners and our children could get stuck in the suction, another lie Also Mr. Torres said Swan Pools is the largest pool builder in California and they are all one company. Well after checking their Contractors License, there are EIGHT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, AND ALL HAVE SEPARATE OWNERS AND LICENSES, so we called a couple of other Swan offices and confirmed they all are owned separately, another big lie, I went to the State of California Contractors Board website at www.cslb.ca.gov/ which is the California State Contractors Board Licensing Department. When you go to this site and enter Swan Pools you will see all of the locations with different licenses and different owners.

One of Tony Torres' big selling points is that Swan has been in business since 1954. That is also printed on their brochure so we had no reason to doubt that. It turns out that Swan Pools has only been up in the Valley since 1980. We did some checking after all the problems we had so you can simply go to the Better Business Bureau and check when they joined the Better Business Bureau which was in 1980. Simply click on the website below and it will take you directly to the Better Business Bureau website. http://www.midcalbbb.org/nis/newsearch2.asp?ID=1&strBCode=12660000&ComID=1266000035000145&ComName=SWAN+POOLS

When looking at the Better Business Bureau website, Swan Pools actually stated their start date in business was on 1/1/1954 under a corporation which lists the principal as Thomas R. Willard, President. Now it states the principal is Peggy Willard under their California State Contractors Board License. Now I am getting a little confused then it proceeds to state the date Swan Pools joined the BBB was 3/1/1980. Would you care to explain this Mr. Willard, why did you wait 26 years to join the BBB? Isn't it true and obvious that you weren't in business prior to 1980? I can't wait to hear your response. Also, why do you have 19 complaints when supposedly your company is the greatest thing since sliced bread based on your company's own representations?

I asked Tony Torres and Swan Pools why they tell everybody they've been in business since 1954 and he continued with his story that they had been in business since 1954. I then refreshed his memory with the information I gathered and challenged him and Swan Pools to provide me with any kind of documentation that they had been in business in the Central Valley prior to 1980. Come to find out they were unable to because they were not in business prior to 1980. This is just another one of Tony Torres and Swan Pools lies. It turns out Swan Pools name was purchased from a gentleman in Southern California.

When you call Swan Pools make sure you ask to see some documentation, maybe a contract or better yet, a permit from a local building department showing that they have been in business prior to 1980.

My question to Tony Torres and Swan Pools is why you don't tell everyone you have been in business since 1980 which is the truth instead of saying you've been in business since 1954. Isn't it true you simply purchased the name? Isn't that a fact Mr.Willard? If you can't remember I can supply the information to refresh your memory. Any way you look at it this is obviously a blatant misrepresentation.

Then Mr. Torres proceeded to tell me that their Better Business Bureau status is the best in the industry. The Better Business Bureau currently reflects 19 complaints against Swan Pools. Mr. Torres also showed us documents for the years between 2000 and 2005 of which they received awards of merit from the Better Business Bureau. We then called the Better Business Bureau regarding those documents but the Better Business Bureau did not issue them so they must have been forged, what do you think about that Tony? Just another lie and also fraud. Mr. Torres also stressed more than once that Swan Pools is the only company that does not charge to transfer your lifetime warranty, which he showed us a copy of one and it did not have any transfer fees on it which was just another lie. We went to the Modesto office and asked to see a copy and the young lady showed us one that said there is a fee. Mr. Torres simply used some white out and made a copy. Mr. Torres also told us that Swan Pools is recommended by the State Contractors Board and we believed him until we checked this information out with the State Contractors Board and found once again that Mr. Torres told us another lie because the State Contractors Board does not recommend any companies. Mr. Torres also told us that Swan Pool's does not use any subcontractors but it turns out that all of their work is done using subcontractors so again Mr. Torres told us one more lie. One of the other issues I had with Swan Pools was scheduling. I would talk to Geralynde from the Modesto office and she was very courteous. There were numerous times I called to check on the scheduling to see when the next subcontractor was going to be out. She would have to call the subcontractor then call me back and give me a time and date and it never was what they said. It really got bad when we were trying to get the schedule for the tile work. The tile subcontractor's name was Joe and she scheduled him three to four different times and he never showed up and I never even received a phone call to let me know that people weren't showing up. I was constantly calling them to try to keep the process going but the problem is Swan Pools does not build their pools. All they do is call subcontractors to build their pools. So their whole business is dependent on how good their subcontractors are. Come to find out that most of their subcontractors also work for different pool companies. There are only so many subcontractors to go around, and come to find out the top quality subcontractors go to the Bay Area because the jobs pay more. So their schedules are constantly changing and trying to juggle things. After the pool is finished is where it really gets bad. When you have an issue it takes an act of congress to get the subcontractors back out to fix the problems and stand behind all of Swan's great warranties!

Mr. Torres also said if we use a different concrete company for our stamped concrete instead of the company Swan uses he could lower the price. Mr. Torres also said Swan Pools does not reverse the side gate to swing out to bring it up to code, but then he referred us to a person by the name of Dennis Williams who also was recommended to do our existing concrete demolition by Mr. Torres. Mr. Torres said he was much cheaper than Swan. The only problem is he is not a licensed contractor and would not come back and fix the problems. Swan Pools then said we shouldn't have used him even though Mr. Torres said he was licensed and he does all Swans fences and demolition work, which was another lie. Mr. Torres stated that Swan Pools does not use subcontractors, but Mr. Torres uses subcontractors' with no licenses and no follow up. One of the last issues that really threw me over the edge was that we were told we had to have a Swan Pool's Logo over our light and we told them in plenty of time that we didn't want the logo but they installed it anyway. I then called the office and talked to someone by the name of Doug Fox, whom stated he was one of the owners. To no surprise, it was another lie because his name is not on any license or with the State of California. There was nothing he would do about it point blank and had the attitude that he could care less, and I did him a favor when I bought a pool from Swan. I then called Tom Willard who is actually the owner. Tom told me it was a Swan Pools policy to put the log in every pool they build. I asked him if I am buying the pool why can't you leave the logo off and he replied if I leave your logo off how will someone know who build your pool in fifteen years? I told him I have a contract and asked about that transferable warranty that Mr. Torres lied about. He then got very upset and said if they take their logo off that I will lose my plaster warranty. I told him that was ridiculous because what does the logo have to do with plaster. After thinking about it Mr. Torres said there was a lifetime warranty on the plaster which I found out was another one of Mr. Torres lies and Swan's warranty on plaster is only a one year warranty. No big deal at this point. Well Mr. Willard got very mad and said the logo was going to stay, and basically told me where to go. For those of you buying a pool beware of Mr. Torres and his lies because he can be very convincing and we should have seen right through him with all his promises and how much time he spent bashing other salesmen and their companies. Beware of all his falsified documents because they look real. I only wish we would have done a little checking first, not after all these issues started to surface and we then started looking and found Mr. Torres lied about everything right in my house in front of my family and made me look really stupid, I can't believe I trusted such a liar.

Mr. Torres should get an academy award for his performance. But you would think Swan Pools and Mr. Willard would do something about a salesman like this. After talking to other people this is the way Swan sells pools with fear and bashing other company's. All Swan Pools is worried about is to sell a pool, once you sign and they start their promises are down the drain.

Good Luck if you buy a Swan Pool, and by the way, don't worry about the workers urinating in the yard and lunch wrappers and bottles left all over. Mr. Torres told us they clean up daily but what a joke that is. And make sure you do not ask any of the workers any question's because there response was we work for Swan not you, so call them, how special is that.

If I was to do it again I would have gone with the other pool company even though they were $3,300.00 more, it would have been well worth it. WE TRUSTED AND BELIEVED SWAN POOLS AND MR. TORRES, WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE.

Do your homework when it comes to SWAN POOLS and Mr. Tony (Anthony) TORRES,

Jerry
turlock, California
U.S.A.