Complaint Review: Carlton Pools - Warminster Pennsylvania

Deciding on Carlton Pools (based in Warminster, PA.) to build our swimming pool was the single biggest consumer mistake we've ever made. Hopefully our experience with Carlton Pools will send the simple message: avoid them like the plague.

We had our new home finished in January of 1999, and picked Carlton Pools, Inc to build us our custom pool in the spring of 1999. They guaranteed us the pool would be done by July 4th; well we were in the pool on the 20th, which wasnt bad at all.

Then the HEADACHES began. After 2 days we noticed that water was leaking out at 2-3" a day from our pool, with NO noticeable reason. We call Carlton, and they sent someone out after 3 or 4 days, and NO problem could be found. We called and they usually waited at least 3 days or so to even call us back from the calls, as their man DANA, was way to busy lying to other people to worry about someone who had already paid for the pool.

When the came back for their 10th time, they finally figured out that one of their workers didnt connect one of the drain pipes UNDER the pool right and the water was just leaking out under the pool. They did tell me that whoever did this was in big trouble at the company, like I care about that. They dug up the concrete decking we paid them to do and ran the pipes NEXT to the pool and not under it, as they said doing it the RIGHT way was too much work. They told us in the presentation that was big plus on their part, they put the pipes under the pool, and their competitors did a half a*s job, and put theirs beside the pool. Guess what job we got from them. They destroyed the concrete and replaced it with slabs of concrete that do not match in the least, and with all the jackhammering, the caulk around the tile all started falling in the pool. Their response, WE are not responsible, that is the tile guys job, but the tile guys were all contractors they got, not us.

After that they waterfall they sold us with the pool was sitting on top of stones, and the stones kept washing into the pool, and when finally someone came to see it, they couldnt believe they did a job that bad, and promised to get it done right, that was DANA himself. Well we called over the next month over 20 times and NOONE called back, till finally one of their secretaries or screeners for Dana, made a mistake and put him on the phone with me. He sent someone out the next week to just fill it in with concrete and NO waterfall. Lovely way to solve the problem.

It is 4 years later and the concrete they replaced the parts with they screwed up needs to be totally replaced, as does all the Tile, Caulking, and waterfall piece, because when they filled it, it blocked another pipe.

We have called them over 75 times from 1999 when they started to 2001, when he finally told us your warranty is up, and in other words get lost. I wasnt shocked at all after dealing with these incompetents for 2 years. The heater and filter are both shot, as they had to work on them 2 or 3 times each during the 2 years of HELL we went through.

I run a large National Auction company, and have a website visited by over 1,000,000 people a year for our auctions, and I am going to put this out there for all to see before getting ripped off like we did. I welcome any other people who would like to add their names, and addresses to the list of UNSATISFIED Carlton Pool customers to get in touch by a letter, with your OK to use it and I will include it on my website www.myccsa.com.

This is my pool from Hell and when ready to retire we thought we would have years of enjoyment, instead we got years of Headaches!!

Nick

Telford, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.