Does Swimming Pool After Sales Service Matter?

Yes it does - But It should not Effect your Decision on who to use to Build Your Swimming Pool

The Most important Pool Installation Elements

As a Chartered Engineer I consider the most important pool elements are:-

The structure of the pool including the Roman End
The stability and appearance of the paving around the pool
The appearance, water tightness and life of the PVC vinyl liner
The water tightness and life expectancy of the buried pipework
The capacity of the water filtration system to treat the whole pool volume in 6 hours and keep the pool water healthy - no matter what the air tmeperature is
The reliability of the water filtration control equipment
The appearance, water tightness and life of the through the wall equipment including auto water top up, skimmers and inlets

None of these items are connected in any way with the likelihood that any pool installer will provide a satisfactory After Sales Service.

Swimming Pool Risks

The biggest risk in pool installation are as follows:

Risk	Impact
Pool Installer going bust	Very High - Loss of a lot of money
Collapse of the Pool Walls	Very High - New Pool required
Pipework and Liner Leaks	High - Can lead to structural problems in adjacent building foundations
Polluted Pool water	High - Disease in swimmers
Pool unusable because of equipment failure	Low - Pool cannot be used until it is repaired / replaced

The conclusion that I draw from this is that After Sales Service should not affect your choice of pool installer.

I am going to say that again in different words:-

"After Sales Service should not affect your choice of pool installer because the biggest risks in having a major pool problem always occur during installation - not operation"

Pool Installation Contract Warranty Period

No matter how carefully the pool installer carries out his obligation to build the pool and install the pool equipment in accordance with the pool equipment suppliers instruction manual there will be equipment failures that are outside the control of the pool installer.

We have found that electrical equipment failures seem to be the thing that aggravate Pool Buyers the most. This is probably because they can happen at any time - normally when most inconvenient!

The Pool Installer is often the fall guy

The Pool Installer is often the fall guy in these circumstances simply he has provided the kit and is seen quite rightly as the pool expert. But at the end of the day these can always be put right by a Service Engineer with a screwdriver and some cheap parts.

One Year Guarantee Period

So Bluepools ensures there is a one year period after the pool has been commissioned when the pool installer is responsible for putting everything that goes wrong right and Bluepools will make sure that the pool installer does so.

The main reason for this is that there is no way of knowing whether early failures in equipment are caused by faulty installation or by faulty equipment.

After one years use it is very unlikely that any equipment failure has been caused by faulty installation.

Components such as the Liner with Longer Guarantees

There are certain pool components such as the pump and filter that have longer guarantees than a year but the Pool Buyer must expect to pay the labour costs associated with pool plant removal and replacement after 1 years use of the pool.

If there is a problem with the pool liner the Pool Buyer should ask the pool installer to visit and report on the problem. If he does not resolve the issue then contact Bluepools and we will ensure that your liner problem is resolved

Pool Maintenance Contract

So if you want someone to look after the maintenance of your swimming pool then find the right person or firm and place a contract with them to provide the service that you want after the 1 year warranty period has expired.

Bluepools can find someone to do this for a fee but to be honest you are more likely to find someone by asking amongst friends and neighbours.

The most important criteria is that they live closeby and are not constantly away on holiday. People that know what they are doing will probably provide this service for between 15 and 20 Euros or Pounds per square metre of pool area - so that a 10 x 5 pool in the UK will cost between £750 and £1000 per annum

Bluepools ensures that the details of the guarantees and call out telephone numbers for the pool equipment - especially those that have an electrical component are included in the pool operations manual that is provided to the Pool Buyer when the pool is first commissioned.

Regards

will signature

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Hi Will,

Thanks for your news letter, I really do look forward to them as I now wish that I had got yourself to install my pool, people should take on board what you tell then, especially about the pitfalls and in particular picking the right quote and builder, also to remember that the cheapest is never usually the best as I have found out, I have now paid this guy 46K with all the extra’s.

I received a quote from you around February last year, but because of the distance went for an English builder who was slightly closer and a little cheaper, (Big Mistake). The starting date of 1st May passed and he eventually he got started on the 3rd of August and completed the pool on the 26th of November 16 weeks from start to finish, this might seem a long time but when you take into account he and his 2 men had all of September off and only worked a 3 day week I suppose it was not too bad, however they seemed to spend more time travelling than building a pool

Luckily because he was so slow I was able to take photos from when he started the PolyBlok 8X4X1.4 deep pool to completion, the reason I am sending this email is because of your email a few days ago in particular your video on PolyBlok pools, was I relieved that at least he had built the pool almost as you explained it, with the exception that he poured and laid the foundation and floor all in one, I know it was at least 500mm thick with steel reinforcing. My only problem is we have 80 square meters of paving all round the pool that he hasn’t laid a solid foundation for, so I am expecting problems there.

The last thing people should know and check up on is there company and VAT registration numbers, I now know that his company number is bogus and his payment requests always included the vat, I now know he has no vat number but has charged me about £3600. And the final straw was to find out yesterday that he failed to pay the local DIY or builders merchant at least 1000 Euro.

I have actually contacted the UK VAT fraud squad about this guy, and to be honest I don’t think they seem to be bothered about it, they haven’t even acknowledged my complaint.

Thanks again for your regular emails; I really do wish I had taken more heed of them, because you do give out sound advice.

Kind Regards

Tom O’Donnell 20th January 2010

Thank you to Bluepools for the lovely swimming pool you have installed for us. We are very pleased with it and this justifies our decision to choose Bluepools to do the installation for us. It has been a great success with our gite clients also, from whom we have had some very complimentary comments.

Best Regards
Kevin & Debbie MILLS

Bluepools built our pool and completely reshaped the old quarry in which it was built - we now have a magnificent facility for entertaining our family and friends

Owen Bull

Bluepools built our new pool in 2008 on a very steep hillside above our millhouse holiday home, near Angoluleme in Dept 16. It involved very deep foundations down into the underlying rock as well as suspended concrete slabs that support the sunbathing areas around the pool

Michael Brooks

I appreciated the answers to my questions and the time Luke spent at our initial meeting, going thriough the various options, with helpful suggestions and observations on our plans for our new pool at our holiday home near Tarbres. It was a relief to find a company that was prepared to offer a full construction solution including the terracing, steps and landscaping. I found the quotation very comprehensive, and useful to have an idea of the costs we might incur should ground conditions prove difficult - which they did!! Also appreciated Bluepools ability to overcome the difficulty encountered with the water table.

You were pretty accurate in terms of timescale for completing the project although there was an over run of three days because of the day or two later than advised start, the extra work involved in overcoming the water table issue, and the inclement weather towards the end of the final week.

Having been initially advised by Luke that an engineering project of this scale would undoubtedly create damage to the land surrounding the pool site, we were pleasantly surprised at how little damage had actually been caused. Overall, very happy with how everything has been handled, and would happily recommend Bluepools - especially now they're going to have a presence down that way.

Kind Regards

Andrew Lund-Yates

I would like to thank you for the way you handled the installations off the two swimming pools for me. You managed to start just after the selected time, proved to be totally reliable and finished in the time frame you had expected. The quality of the work was fine and you left everything neat and tidy after you had finished. I have good relationship with Luke and he has always been available to sort out any teething problems. I would like to wish you all the very best for the future.

Kind Regards Keith Trenter

When working on an old house there are always many unforeseen problems, and, like many other Brits, our house is old. So when it came to putting a swimming pool close to the house it was not surprising to find some complications. Bluepools proved themselves by recognising these complications and coming up with solutions.
Their ability to cope with these extras has made such a difference. Otherwise we would have been chasing around, spending time we really do not have, looking for additional artisans to do those unforeseen bits and pieces.
From the earliest stages, a test hole for the fosse septique soak-away, through to completion of the swimming pool Bluepools products and services have been good which means peace of mind for us."

Peter Butler

Hi Bluepools,

The pool has been brilliant and we have had an increase in the number of people wanting to visit as a result. But that is something we can put up with!

Caroline Jones

Dear Bluepools

Many thanks to you, Will and the lads for a terrific job, Amanda and I are really pleased with the result.

Tom Dodds

Hi Bluepools

I am at les Pesquies for a few days. We have a beautiful looking pool that several people have commented upon with admiration and expressed interest in having one themselves and knowing how we got it built. I have been happy to respond with two positive references for prospective clients.

Hamish Macdonald

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