Complaint Review: A-Affordable Pool And Spa

I came across an opportunity with a company that got their support from SCP called A-Affordable Pool and Spa Service, and went in to speak with one of the owners about a position to be a sales manager with the company, and to take over operations of the new store opening in Carrolton. After speaking with Jeff, it was clear to me that they respected the fact that I had prior experience.

These facts still remain true to this day about me and my professional approach. After Jeff told me that the company would pay me just as much as Leslie's had in the past, I met John, the other owner of the company. We all sat down and discussed the position, and after speaking with them, I came away with a good feeling about the job.

I went back in about two weeks later, and Jeff pulled out a contract. He stated that he had spoken with an advisor, and that they felt it necessary to pay me ALOT LESS than we had originally agreed on for 90 days so that i might "prove myself" worthy of getting paid more. Leslie's originally paid me 33,000/yr. This came out to about $932 dollars after taxes every two weeks. My pay from A-Affordable every week was $382, totalling $765 every two weeks after taxes. Talk about a PAY CUT.....these two owners were hungry for money as it was....they opened a store that they barely had enough money to open. The difference is nearly two hundred dollars between the two companies, and with that said, I actually got to manage a store and operate things the way I was taught with Leslies for years.....I only worked for A-Affordable for one month.

There were plenty of reasons for that, but to name a few, Jeff was a control freak....everything had to be done his way, or it was wrong, and this CONTRADICTED what he said when I interviewed with him....I wanted control of operations....so that I could have the stable working environment I wanted....instead, he practically made me do a bunch of office chores, as the opening of the store got delayed more and more and more. Jeff's mother Martha, a woman who probably taught her son how to behave, was in charge of finances, but I gotta tell ya, I don't think this was her REAL job. Her job was to harass me, and the office manager Tommy, as well as all the customers that were late or hadn't paid on time, and I observed each of these actions.

She only came in for two hours out of the day, but during that time, she would constantly come in and disturb me from my work because she had nothing else to do, and criticize me for things that were not even close to necessary. A good example of this was when she YELLED and SCREAMED at me for taking down a customer's message and name on a little yellow sticky note instead of writing it down on a legal pad.....I mean seriously, is that necessary? If you want someone to do a job right, why don't you try LEAVING THEM ALONE TO DO IT?

Jeff also had some of the WORST techs and cleaners I had EVER SEEN, and i've seen some bad cleaners before, but this takes it all. Names aside, you have one cleaner who always wanted to commit suicide, and was a walking mental institution, you have another who drives around in a van that doesn't meet saftey codes and smokes pot all day in the van....a very noticable trait, yet I don't see anyone doing anything about that.....and wow, I wonder what would happen if he got caught....Jeff's insurance company would sure be thrilled about that!

Oh, but that's not all.....another employee that goes out to clean and service pools likes to drink about three to four forty ounce beers while driving around and working on these pools.....while another one barely speaks enough English to translate what he is doing to the customers that ask him.....there might be a few more cleaners that have been hired between these times, but I know these things for a fact.....i've seen all the cleaners and at seperate points, they all either admitted or participated in these activities WHILE on the job.

No wonder Jeff needed another guy to handle all the complaining customers that would call every day with a new problem, or that wanted to cancel service because the cleaner didn't do anything to the pool while they were there. Jeff left early EVERY DAY that I was a part of that office.....especially being the owner and the guy that runs the service operations of the company, you would think he would try to stay around and help the guys out during the busy season......NOPE, he was gone midway through the afternoon to go pick up his daughter, and then if there was a problem, it was practically my responsibility to solve it. We all make mistakes, right? If I made one, I got lectured on it for two to three straight days, and it never went away....it would always get brought up later if I did anything else wrong by accident, whereas Jeff makes a mistake, it's OK.....because he works hard and has a valid excuse, but not the guys that worked ten times harder, for longer, and had to put up with him and his mother all day.....nope....we get the lecture....FROM BOTH OF THEM.

I got acused of constantly being on drugs, which was an assumption made by Jeff that had no relevancy to me at all, yet he chose to slander my name by involving me with illegal activities......GET A CLUE BOY WONDER......ALL YOUR OTHER EMPLOYEES ARE THE ONES TRIPPIN THE DRUGS, NOT ME....i HAVE RIGHTS TO A SUITABLE WORKPLACE, THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE HARASSMENT, OR TO HAVE TO BE AROUND DRUGS AND ALCOHOL, AND IN WORKING FOR HIM, I HAD TO ACCEPT ALL OF THESE THINGS, OR I DIDN'T HAVE A JOB THE NEXT DAY.

WORD TO THE WISE: do NOT get involved with this company.....both of the Owners used to be employed by Dolphin pools, and I came to find out later that they eventually plotted against the company, researched how they could take all of their customers with them if they went into business for themselves without a lawsuit from Dolphin, and did it. They literally STOLE over 200 plus pools from a reputable company, and developed their own business around it.

For the people at Dolphin that trusted these men to do a job for them, and paid them to do it, recieving this kind of treatment from Jeff and John is like stabbing someone in the back.....after all, it's what Jeff did to me.....how is this any different? This company has many problems.....they don't even have an updated computer to have their inventory in.....EVERYTHING is done by had at this place.....which leaves room for errors. If I were you, I wouldn't EVER work for this company, and I wouldn't get involved with them unless you want a drunk, high idiot walking around your property for five minutes and sayin he cleaned the pool when he did NOTHING TO IT.

Illest80
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.