Charlotte Pool Cleaners

"we've used Nick for a year or so. He charges us weekly but does not come weekly. Often the pool goes green (we have to alert him of this) and he always blames it on the weather (too much rain, too much in the air, etc). I don't trust him, I don't think he does what he says he is doing. On the upside, when there is a problem ...more he is quick to respond (probably because he knows he's at fault for the problem). We are looking for another service but there don't seem to be many to choose from."

"DO NOT BUY A SPA COVER FROM THIS COMPANY-if something goes wrong, the warranty is useless. We purchased a spa cover from this company on November 5, 2010. The cover worked fine until March, 2011( a FOUR MONTH period), we noticed that one side of the cover was bulging upward (we live in North and it was 82 degrees that day). ...more As the weather cooled, the bulging subsided but the cover became wrinkled. The problem seemed to be trapped air or gas within the plastic sheeting around the foam core of the cover causing the sheeting to expand and contract with temperature change. The underside of the cover was also bulging and touching the water. This situation was causing the cover to close improperly and is obviously a manufacturing defect. We contacted the company by email and asked to speak to them by phone. We were told that  all warranty discussions had to be by email for "discussion purposes." I have never ever dealt with any company anywhere which was unable to be reached by phone to

a complaint. If we had not had a computer, I wonder how this would have been handled. We were then asked for photos of the cover as follows: "showing the ENTIRE surface area of your spa cover, two showing each hinge (zipper area, the ENTIRE length) and two of each zipper undone showing the (entire) metal reinforcement." This requirement is just about meaningless, since the cores are covered in DARK BLUE plastic making viewing anything inside almost impossible. We were also asked 9 questions many of which were  were baffling. Some examples: "What sanitizing system do you use? What type of weather do you have in your area (Please be specific)? What cleaners/protectants do you use on your spa cover? How often do you clean your cover?, etc." What relevance these questions have to our complaint is unknown to us. We sent the pictures as requested and then were told they were too small(which was not our fault). We then provided enhanced pictures. We were told that  it would take 2 weeks to advise us of a decision on our claim. On or about March 24, 2011 we were advised that our claim had been forwarded to their "warranty department" (whatever that is).  After 2 weeks, having heard nothing, we sent them 2 emails inquiring about the claim. We have received no response to date. Dealing with this company has been an ordeal from beginning to end. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! "

"They actually started out quite well, getting the chemicals balanced, keeping the pool in good repair. However, over time there was clearly much less attention to detail. Broken filter baskets weren't replaced. The pump was left on several times in the "service" mode, the pool sweep hose was left tangled and non-functional, leaves were left in the ...more primary filter. Finally, when we called to ask that they come out to take care of the primary filter, we were told we should have done that ourselves! Say what?!?! At $70 per 30 minute visit, with added costs for anything other than the minimum maintenance, you expect good work, responsiveness, and attention to detail.

clearly fell short."

"All the work that and his company did for me over the years was more than satisfactory. My only complaint these days was his lack of communication...I tried several times to get him to open my pool this season and had no luck and a friend recommended the company I currently am using"

"My wife and I can?t say enough great things about our building experience with . Below is a good summary of why we?re such huge fans of (but we encourage you to look us up in the phone book if you want to hear more!): 1) always does what they say they?re going to do: I know ...more that this probably sounds like a rather simplistic compliment, but it is the most comprehensively positive and sincere assessment that I can imagine, and it?s also the thing that differentiates

from the other pool contractors with whom we met. I was fortunate in that I already personally knew 2 other people for whom

had built a great pool...and our experience was exactly the same as theirs: Their crews were always on schedule, and they built us the pool of our dreams at the price they committed to (even when that meant eating some significant overages when concrete prices unexpectedly soared after we broke ground!). In short, though, I recommend that you ALWAYS call the contractor?s references and visit their work...some builders think that simply having a long list of references is a way to ?Wow!? you into not actually calling around. If you actually call people, you?ll be stunned at what you learn! Doing what one says one will do is NOT a common trait among pool builders, but my wife and I agree that it is

?s

! 2)

uses GREAT subcontractors: No matter what company you use, you?re going to have some subs on the job at the various construction stages.

always hires crews that are highly-skilled, but also that are nice people. Just as one example, every crew we had worked really hard not to trash our yard any more than necessary, and every crew (right down to the stone masons) had English-speakers and a foreman with whom we could always easily communicate. More than that, though, every crew was just through and through ?nice.?

?s owner,

, is openly and obviously Christian, and I believe that shows through in every aspect of the way he runs

...right down to the crews they use when they sub out a job. 3)

listened to us, and built a pool that would fit our goals/needs and our budget: Even though we were pool novices and didn?t really have a clue about what we really wanted/needed at the time,

helped us design a pool to fit our goals/needs. We worked closely with both

and

throughout the process (I hear they now also have another full-time super), and really felt like

had our best interests at heart every step of the way. Buying a pool changed the way our family spends time together, and

?s ability to listen to our questions/concerns/needs, their attention to detail, and the kid-friendly design features they helped us install were a huge part of getting such a great end result. As a result, the owner,

, is not just a contractor who came in/out of our lives 5 years ago -- he?s somebody we care about personally ,and someone with whom we still stay in touch. Should we ever decide to move, my wife and I have joked that a call to

will be one of the very first we make! 4)

? pricing was very fair, and they were very reasonable with us when we made ?real time? modifications to the design: As others have noted, it can be tough to truly get an ?Apples to Apples? quote from different companies when their designs are different, especially when you?re new to the whole arena and

?t know the difference between filtration system types, etc...I?m anal retentive that way, though, and did my homework, right down to sizing the amount of concrete used in each design (yes, I?m that crazy!)...and suffice it to say that I am very confident that

?s pricing was right on the money....In particular, they used top-notch, properly sized, pool equipment, and didn?t chintz on the amount of decking, the two areas of pressure that I found were usually the ?first to go? when other companies were trying to get their bid prices down. 5)

has always been very responsive on our warranty/maintenance questions: Let?s face it, a pool is a big investment, and, if you?re a novice to pools I can guarantee you that *something* will go wrong at some point with the system leaving you in a panic...In our case, over the past five years we?ve had a complicated waterfall and fountain setup that the subcontractor had to replumb in order to get the visual effect we wanted, and we needed a fair bit of handholding to get our water balanced initially, and our filters? plastic casing cracked a few years ago, and our heater?s thermometer went out before a party, and we recently had some light bulbs that needed replacing,...and...and... Every time, though,

?s team has always been readily available to step us through the problem, either over the phone (immediately) or in person (soon thereafter), as we needed. 6) The guy who sells you the pool is actually there to help build the pool: Unlike the National companies that send out a very nice salesperson who can design/draw a pretty looking pool on paper, but who?s never really built a pool in her life,

is a run by an owner/designer/builder, and they make sure that the guy who helps you design the pool is also the guy who?ll be helping build it...We had a really tough back yard (and I knew it would be), so I ?knew?

was the right builder for us when the designer/super/?salesperson? absolutely refused to talk to us about a design until he had spent over an hour in the back yard, shooting elevations and assessing what he really had to work with...as a result, when

laid out a design for us over the next few days, we all KNEW it would work...I slept well at night knowing that there weren?t going to be any surprises wherein the construction crew told me that ?Well, that design looks pretty on paper, but...? In interviewing other pool companies, my wife and I were struck by how virtually every representative had a clear and strong bias/flair towards either great design or solid construction.

was the ONLY company we met with that appealled to us along both dimensions, presenting us with a beautiful, yet practical, design, at a reasonable cost. We found that you don't have to sacrifice design to get a reasonable price, and you don't have to sacrifice quality to get a personable builder. In short, if you have anything other than a

, flat back yard with absolutely no

granite, and/or if you have a desire for anything other than a basic rectangular design, do yourself the favor of going with a contractor like

, where there?s a seamless link between the design and build sides of the business! In sum, we couldn?t be happier with the choice we made!

and

, NC"

" Bowling is owner and operator of this company. We interviewed about 6 different pool companies and appreciated 's forthright manner and hands-on style. He is very involved in all planning and organizational details. Once everything was laid out, his crew takes over. They were all very punctual and ...more professional. Our pool is basic in design, but fairly large (40x19 with 25k gallons). We were working with a tight budget, and

was able to deliver most of what we asked for for over $10,000 less than his competitors. The pool was finished sooner than expected.

has also been very available and helpful for all our questions post-completion."

" obviously takes pride in his business and his work. We were pleased with his knowledge of the project and confidence in being able to accomplish it in our first meeting. We were in somewhat of a time crunch; since he was referred to us by a pool cleaning company and he was rated ?A? on Angie?s List, we didn?t hesitate to hire ...more him as soon as he got the quote to us.

must have impressed tons of other customers this Spring because from the day we hired him forward, he seemed to us to be too busy to initiate ANY communication with us about our project. While he did answer or return each and every call we placed to him, he did not call us with updates as we waited for weeks and weeks and weeks for the project to finally wrap up on June 16th. He knew we needed the project finished by the end of April because we?d committed to hosting 4 parties and a family reunion at our house in May. When we did call

to press him on the status of the supplies and when his crew would be out to work next, they only seemed to show up maybe about 50% of the time when

told us they would be here. He never called before coming to do work. We hired him on March 22nd. His crew tore out the existing brick one week after we were told it would happen on April 19th. We assumed new brick was lined up and ready to go in after the old brick came out since he?d had a month to get the new brick. Not the case. The pool surround was brickless for about 6 weeks before work started up again in June (over a month after the agreed upon deadline). Our pool was full of sand for 10 days after the new brick was installed and grouted. He also seemed as though it was not common practice, but rather, an inconvenience, for him to offer samples of the materials he intended to use to complete the project. This was really important to us considering we were repairing an existing pool and needed to coordinate colors to look good with the tiles we weren?t replacing. Although the relationship between

and us was strained, to say the least, by the time the project was over, his employees did their best not to show it; we feel they didn?t let the tension compromise their work quality. "

"They gave me great advice on what to buy on what would suit my needs. They were very responsive. They were really good about telling me how to take care of it. I feel I got a really good deal and a very high quality product."