Island Pools ripoff in Virginia No Integrity Horrible Installation Bad Reputation Fredericksburg Virginia

Island Pools Inc. Fredericksburg, Va. no longer holds a contractors license in Virginia and has been closed for 1 year or more. Ted Lipscomb, Owner

Tropical Pools, Goldsboro N.C. has been out of business for 2 or more years, kicked out of the BBB, prior and was on the TV News concerning the numerous consumer complaints. Randy Lanier, Owner

Dooley Pools, Fredericksburg, Va., license was not renewed on March 31, 2009 and is no longer in business, at least not in the same area or company name.
Christine and Robert DeRoche, Owners

*The names were on public record for licenses, the BBB and personal knowledge.

All three of these companies shared the same installation contractor for above ground pools in Virginia and practiced the same sales tactics with demo/show pool closes.

Blue World Pools out of Marietta Ga., still advertises they will install a pool for $299 on Virginia TV. I dare anyone to show me one of these installed $299 pools anywhere! You can't even buy a filtration system wholesale that is worth anything for that, much less send an installation crew to your house! (Consumer beware!)
They could run your credit over the phone when you call them.

Kayak Pools, Md./Va. still is looking for home demo sites for how many years now?
If a pool company can't give you 1 price for installation of the pool while in your home, then they are a commission salesperson and trained to drop the price in stages, so why waste your time and nerves?

*Pool contracts often attach your house for collateral so read the contract closely and be sure to cancel if you decide to do so using certified mail before the 3 day rescission period ends! You don't want to have a lien on your home, do you for an above ground pool kit?

If the salesperson wants to sell you an above ground aluminum pool with a deck, fence etc, for $25,000 for example and then drops it a lot, or calls the office for a T.O. (drops price more) before he leaves your home, get them out of there!

Ask yourself, what will that pool sell for if you wanted to sell it later privately?
It is just an above ground metal pool kit after all, including installation the dealer on average costs are under with deck and fence included $8,000.

From a seasoned pool sales person that no longer sells pools and knows the business.

I feel for you Kelli as my husband and I have had a terrible experience with Island Pools....as did our neighbors. I could sit here and type out the whole saga but it would sound that a repeat of yours. We had all but picked a contractor for the pool when we saw the ad for Island Pools, so we calledjust to be sure we were getting a good deal. The salesman for Island Pools told us how much better they were than the other company and how much more they would do for us. Even went as far as to tell us that he had heard some horror stories about the other companywho btw was Capital Pools. Boy I wish I had gone with Capital now! The women from Capital actually let us come out to her house to see an installed pool, not just pictures.

We bought our pool in July of 2003, it was not completely installed until Thanksgiving weekend! Here is just a brief run down of some of the problems we experienced:

* Installation delay's, permit issues, inspection issues.
* Tore up my neighbors yard with the crane.
* Tore up the side walk in front of our house.
* Destroyed our yard...but when we purchased we were told grading would be done when the pool was finished. We complained ALOT on several different occasions to get them back out there to grade the water away from our house. It is still not great five years later. We joke about it and call it our mote now.
* Tiles around the top of the pool cracked and they refuse to fix them, told us to call the factory. We did call the factory and they sent us new tiles, not something the average homeowner knows how to fix and Island Pools wont come back out and fix them. So now I just have a nice box of tiles in my basement!
* They never installed a cover over the main drain at the bottom of the pool...we just have a big whole.
* The pool is still not level!
* We also had the foam between the concrete and the pool. We were told during the contract process that the concrete would be coped, but being green to this game we didn't make sure the concrete specifically said thatwe thought it was some standard thing. At an additional expense we had to have someone come out a year after the installation to pull out the foam and properly caulk between the pool and the concrete because we found out that the foam can cause all types of problems if left in there.
* Our pool has the Vantage in-floor cleaning system. Though we rarely have to vacuum, the system is a pain because it was not properly installed and loosing suction all the time. We have to go out there with the hose and play with it for a while to get it going again.
* We were suppose to have a concrete pad under our pump (per the contract)...we had two large concrete stepping stones. Another fight to get them to come out and fix that because they didn't want to take the pump apart to fix it. I said they should have done it right in the first place. They finally come out to lay the concrete pad and all of a sudden we need a small retaining wall before they will do it. There's another weekend project for us! We built the wall and spent several more weeks getting them back to lay the concrete. Then they didn't re-install the pump correctly and it leaks!
* We also were surprised to learn that the water was our problem, however our salesman had put "water to fill pool" in our contract so I fought that....took a while but they finally hired another pool company to come fill the pool. Of course, this sub contractor of theirs did not set the brake and the water truck went flying down the street and torn up another neighbors yard and took out there mailbox. Thank goodness no one was hurt! Getting all that fixed required even more arguing.

Those are merely the highlights, I could go on and on for a while. Dealing with Ted and Kelly was the worst experience of our lives! This was supposed to be a great experience for our family and they ruined it! Even today, every time we go out there we see the problems that still exist...5 years out I'm sure we have no chance of getting them to make good on the pool they sold us.

I just hope that others see these posts and stay clear of Island Pools!

I understand that Island Pools Inc. is failing and possibly on the way out of business soon, however I heard as well the owner will try it for another year, but what may be very limited. I looked up and saw his contractors license has expired last December, as of today's listing. You can look it up yourself. The shared installer may or not have a license, be forewarned even if he does have one, that your contract is not with him, but the company, so if no license you can bet no liability insurance as well when on your property.

Be sure to see it first. With failing companies you take the risk of your deposit disappearing to cover other debts or simply just locking their doors, so be forewarned. Under a corporation most know that the company can go bankrupt while the owners bank accounts and property is not touched.

I heard as well that Tropical Pools, Goldsboro N.C. has gone out of business with possible tax issues and numerous complaints, kicked out of the N.C. BBB. I see their web site is gone too. These small mom and pop companies use the same installer along with C.A. Dooley, Fredericksburg, Va. and all know each other.

I read your comment Kelli. If you purchased this pool in 2006, then I was long gone before then. I was a salesman as well for Island. I would imagine the reason your salesman left is the same as the rest, no pay and hard to get answers, run the lead and take a chance. He has gone through several contractors and has no employees. He has no background in pools prior except above grounds that another installer operates and shares him with 2 other companies. I do not even think now he sells fiberglass pools as I never see him advertising them anymore. What they like to do there is come in behind other good salesmen and try to find out the price he left the prospect with, if not sold and undercut them because he owns the company and no commissions to split and sells the same pool.


I heard he even tells that prospect that he uses the exact same installer and is offering them a better deal. He never presents the pools, just shows pictures since they have already seen it. They advertise the cheap pool and won't install it anyway and he omits the word "Liner" in his ads and that imaginary liner costs more than the entire pool, this leads the way to the pool he wants you to buy for a lot more of course. This is what I have been told a few times from people he's talked to along with that BD. (He), is the owner. Chances are your salesman was never trained and told you what you wanted to hear.