California Pool Service

We moved in 2 years ago and decide to pull the trigger and redo the pool. We decided to also go with Pebble-​Tec for the surface. We are not sure as who is to blame here, but the problem is this. The pebble was contaminated with tiny shavings of metal. The shavings got mixed in to the pebbles. Over time the metal shavings rust, What do you get once they rust? Nice dime shaped rust colored stains. Gary’s solution to this was to drain the pool grind them out. They did take care of the water bill for the 4 times we had to drain the pool but still. What you get once they grind the stains out? Nice white shapes with out any pebble. Still not a desirable look or the the solution.
We recently saw 2 new rust marks pop up and its been 2 years since the pool was surfaced. We really have tried to be understanding. Now that the drought is here we feel super guilty draining the pool to fix it or re surface. Really what Gary should of done then and even now is re-​do the entire surface and make sure that it is not contaminated!!! Lack of true costumer service is the main problem here. Passing the problem on to Pebble Tec and not even trying to resolve it! Gary and his company dropped the ball.
Weekly pool service is adequate but nor suburb. Our pool guy is cool but I’m sure there are better services out there where you don’t have to tell them their job or ask them to do what would seem like a no brainer. Dirt in pool, go get the vacuum and vacuum it out. Attention to details is all I ask.

This company has been in business for a long time and has provided me great service! I’ve used them for the past 8 years and would use anyone else. They are very knowledgeable and respond quickly to service calls.
I recommend them to anyone who’s looking for a pool service company.

A picture says a thousand words. I hope the two I uploaded speak volumes about the poor service and professionalism of this company. Worst. Ever. The only reason they are servicing our pool is because our old pool company went out of business and they picked up his clients.

Update a day after my Unilocal review? yep guess what I got in the mail… you got it ~ ANOTHER BILL!!! demanding payment in full in the amount of $ 240.00 !!! These people are ridiculous!!!

So, I’m writing this review for my mom, as she doesn’t have a Unilocal account and hasn’t had a need to review anything… until now.
My mom has a pool. It’s an awesome pool and is one of the main reasons she bought this house, more than half my life ago. We love it, our dogs love it, our friends and family love it. Pool = happy time.
Her last pool service company, however? NOT happy time.
They were hired around November of 2007 and were doing okay for about a month and then the «technician» stopped showing up regularly. When he did bother showing up, he’d consistently half-​ass the job and as a result, the pool went from being a heavenly crystal blue to looking like the murky waters of the River Styx.
Not only would he half-​ass the job, he’d leave equipment laying around the yard, leave the electrical box open, forget to empty the basket, he’d rarely vacuum (and when he did, it was a poor job of it). One weekend, the pool was the color and nearly the consistency of key lime pie (see included picture).
Due to it being winter, my mom let it slide and hoped for better results come Spring. She did call the company’s owner a few times and was told that the technician was «a good kid» and acted like he didn’t believe her that the tech wasn’t showing up and that she should be grateful he shows up at all, saying that the technician was «like a son to [him]» making repeated excuses for the sloppy work and lack of presence.
In April of 2008, the pool’s pump needed to be replaced. The company said that they could do it, but ended up hiring a subcontractor for the job. The pump worked for almost exactly a year, completely freezing up in April of 2009. When my mom’s current pool service (not the one being reviewed) checked out the situation, it was very clear that the pump was not a «new» pump, as she had been billed for by California Pool and Chemical Service. It was very clearly much older parts than a pump that had only been in use for a year (no matter how ignored the pool had been by California Pool and Chemical Service’s sorry excuse for t technician) and all of the parts were warped. My mom had to pay out of pocket for a NEW new pump — and saved the parts from the OLD new pump, for posterity.
After a summer of continually bad service from the tech (from California Pool and Chemical Service), he had not shown up for the first two weeks of September 2008. My mom had finally had enough and when he did decide to show up on the third week of September, she told him not to bother and that she was canceling service. She called the offices to cancel, but all she ever got was voicemail. She repeatedly called to try to reach someone in the office, and each time left messages stating that she no longer wanted service and gave all of the pertinent information (account number, name, etc.).
The pool technician from California Pool and Chemical Service never showed up again, so she assumed that they had gotten her messages and canceled the services. WRONG.
She received another bill in October… then November… then December… despite her calling every month to let them know that she’d called the cancel in September. The «bill» for February of 2009 even included extra charges for «Pool Conditioner» & «RX Booster System — Natural Clarifier» — WHAT A JOKE! How the hell are they putting chemicals into her pool if it’s behind three separate gates, with locks that nobody from California Pool and Chemical Services has keys to… not to mention the large dogs between the final gate and the pool itself?
Fast forward to this month, May 2009. My mom got a letter in the mail from the company, stating that if she doesn’t pay them $ 1,152 within seven days, they would be reporting her to the various credit bureaus for non-​payment of debt. WHAT DEBT? The bill had previously been paid in full for all services rendered (through September ’08) and she hasn’t had service since September of 2008. Why the hell should she pay them ANY money?
She called the owner today to find out what the deal was and instead of asking for further details, he rudely dismissed her and said he didn’t want to deal with it right now, to call his phone back and leave a voicemail and he’ll deal with it on Monday.
We’re not holding our breath… we did enough of that when California Pool and Chemical Service allowed the pool to go to stinky swamp hell. Don’t make the same mistake.
[Note: In a nod to this company’s shadiness, they also go by «California Chemical Co.» and «California Chemical & Pool», as well as another name involving plaster.]