A & B Pool Maintenance

These guys came to our home to detect a leak located somewhere between our pool and spa. We were losing about 1 ½″ — 2″ of water a day suddenly.
It was explained to me on the phone that they would come out to pressure test the lines, assess for cracks, and test any areas such as skimmers, lights, etc… to locate the leak. We were told that we were out of the area (Morgan Hill) so they would have to charge an additional fee. In total the visit was quoted at $ 550 for the inspection and leak report that would result in finding the leak.
At the end of the visit we were told they could not find where the leak was coming from and said a leak detection report would be emailed to us within a day or so and it was.
After they got back to the office their front desk person called to say they could send out a diver for an additional $ 350 to test the visible cracks and floor cleaner spouts.
I would not have normally be so frustrated if I had been told that this was a TWO step process from the beginning. Instead I was made to believe that the the first visit would indeed find the culprit leak in the pool, it did not.
I tried to negotiate on the phone with them and was told I would get a call back, in which I did, but only to be told that they could take $ 100 off the cost of the diver. So just to find the leak now, not including any work to fix it, it was going to cost us $ 800!
I contacted another company and as a courtesy they came by while in the area (at NO charge) and took 2 minutes to confirm the leak was coming from a crack along the stairs. The gentleman took a syringe filled with dark dye and let some go over the crack and it was immediately sucked into the small crevice.
Our pool guy recommended we call A & B Pools because he buys parts from them. He said he would no longer recommend his clients to call them for service.
Needless to say, we will never call A & B Pools for any service in the future.

I’m surprised by the negative reviews for A & B Pool Maintenance because my experience was very positive!
I bought a house that had a pool that was kept green for something like 5 years. Everything needed to be fixed and updated.
I needed all new coping, new tiles, and all new equipment including a heater, pump, and saltwater chlorinator.
I got quotes from a few company’s. A & B Pool Maintenance came right in the middle of the quotes, but I chose them because the lowest-​price contractor seemed a little unprofessional; unlike the foreman from A & B Pool Maintenance.
The foreman came out handled the quote to the final acceptance. The work started a few days later which wasn’t a big deal. They finished after a couple of weeks and completed the work correct and right on budget.
The final worked looked fantastic and we’ve been enjoying our pool ever since.
I wouldn’t hesitate to hire them again. :)

My home warranty sent these folks over for my spa. Had I seen the Unilocal reviews before they came over, I would have asked for a different company. Yet, my experience was great.
Their technician, Fred, was nice and talkative, and would happily explain anything I asked. They didn’t push any extra services, etc. and most importantly, they dealt with the warranty company well, i.e. everything got approved without me having to call the warranty company.
They had to come over quite a few times though, since everything had to be approved by the warranty company and the approval would take a day or two.

I called them to fix a clogged pool pipe. They said it would require 2 people and $ 150. The showed up with just one guy, realized the problem was that the filter was dirty, they did not clean it and they still charged me $ 150.
They are only concerned about collecting their money, NOT fixing customers problems.
I wished I had checked Unilocal before calling them.
DO NOT use this company

I wish these reviews had been here before I chose them… I picked them based on a promotional rate and thinking that I would not have the pool for too long — maybe 2 years and figured that the cost savings would justify the lack of information on them. Boy was I wrong!
They will occasionally miss cleanings for any reason they can come up with and not make up the day that week, the cleaners will not walk the 10 ft to empty the collected material in a yard waste basket and will dump it on the side of the house or try to hide it nearby… And finally this week they dragged their equipment along the side of my truck scratching the whole way down and denting the fender…
Then they claim the «could not have done it» because the scratches are so high off the ground… you carry buckets and poles back there all the time that can’t reach 4 ft off the ground?
Don’t use them unless you want an extra headache at least once a month.

Absolutely do not choose this company to do your work!!! If I could give them negative stars I would. They are completely unprofessional and practice fraudulent behavior.
Here is the story:
My spa motor needed repair so I authorized the purchase of a new motor. I was told on a Wednesday that they would contact me when the motor was in so we could set up an installation date for «early the following week». I never heard back from them until that following Monday morning at 9:15 am to say they got cancellation due to rain that day and they were wondering if they could install the motor in the next 1.5 hours. I told them this wasn’t going to work for me and perhaps they could come later that day or another day. He then proceeded to put pressure on me to take the appointment, was very rude and practically hung up on me. He then called back 5 minutes later and said if I don’t take this appointment today they were going to charge me more money!!! I replied via email that I wasn’t interested in doing business with them and that I thought he was rude and unprofessional. They wrote back and said they would charge me a $ 95.00 cancellation fee (mind you for an appointment we NEVER had!) plus a restocking fee for the motor. They took my credit card info they had on file and charged me $ 120.00. Criminal! Check out some of the filtered responses on Unilocal. This company is no good!

Was told on Monday that they would service my spa I bought brand new from Costco that they will be out on Thursday. Waited four days and decided to call them to check when they were comming and they told me my address was out of their area. WHY NOT CHECK THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Wasted a whole week of my time.

AJ and Fred are helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. Austin is also helpful and responds quickly. I have called several pool service companies, most of them did not even reply and I think A&B is the best priced pool service out there. A&B responds to my needs fast. Keep up the good work and doing really good customer service!

Quick to take & charge my credit card number on the phone.
Didn’t fix my swimming pool problem. Left after 15 minutes.
Next day asked for more money to fix the problem.
I was able to fix the problem myself the next day.

Bought a high-​efficiency pump from A&B, which they installed, for a very reasonable price — noticed the savings on the electric bill immediately. Always helpful when I called with questions so when I needed weekly pool service I called A&B. Service is great — pool has never looked better!

I had A and B Pool Maintenance come out to troubleshoot a sluggish pool sweep. The technician diagnosed it as a piping problem leading to inadequate suction and recommended re-​piping. After paying $ 400, re-​piping did not improve the pool sweep performance. I had the technician return and his response was «You need a new pool sweep». I called and wrote to complain about paying to re-​pipe if it was the pool sweep that was the problem but was ignored. A and B is incompetent at best, if not an outright ripoff.

I requested a pool inspection from A&B for a potential house that I would like to purchase. My hope from the inspection was to get a clear picture of the condition of the pool and all the equipment associated with it, to avoid any potential huge costs after the purchase of the home.
I was quite surprised and upset when the inspectors told me that they would only be doing a visual inspection and would not touch/​test any equipment!
They also said they would skip the visual test for the timer/​breaker box because it was behind a bush and difficult to get to. The exact words were «we don’t work like this!» referring to the difficulty the bush created for them. I had to spend quite a bit of effort to convince them that I would help push the branches down long enough so they can at least take a look. It didn’t take much effort at all, and they definitely could’ve took the initiative themselves to do that!
I had a really bad experience and the inspectors just didn’t seem very helpful, friendly, or motivated to really help the customer. The «visual» inspection took a very short 20 mins or so and cost me close to $ 200! Not worth it!