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We gather that the original manufacturer of Kayak above-ground pools declared bankruptcy, leaving many Kayak owners stuck with useless warranties. The New Kayak Pool Corp. sells parts to repair leaky Kayaks but isn't responsible for the previous firm's warranty obligations, leaving some pool owners high and dry.
Is the situation better today than it was immediately after the bankruptcy? Hard to say. One thing's for sure: above-ground pools are expensive and more prone to damage than in-ground pools. Consumers should carefully weigh the costs of sinking a lot of money into what is essentially a temporary structure.
Oh, and be sure to read the contract thoroughly before signing it. Completely disregard the salesman's verbal promises. They are meaningless.
Here are a few of the more recent complaints ...
Karen of Marengo OH (07/11/08)
I would just like to offer some advise to those of you sitting with useless Kayak pools, we have owned our second hand Kayak pool for 8 years, prior to that it was 2 counties away and we purchased from the original owner who had it in their yard for 17 years. We installed it with only a new liner, and new hardware (screws & bolts), a couple years ago we replaced the walls the aluminum tracking that holds the walls underneath and I can honestly say that besides upgrading a few things here and there due to just giving out we have not had any issues....however all parts and liner that have been purchased have been done so NOT through the kayak company or a kayak dealer...
I order all my replacement parts from Pool Supplies, they are in New York and easy to deal with. The staff are there to help and even allowed me to have my own freight driver pick up the walls and aluminum tracks so that I did not have to pay their shipping freight charges... just called and gave the salesman (that I dealt with from order to pick up and always returned my calls) my driver's name and phone and they contacted him to give directions to thier warehouse and all was good...
It is not as pricy as the kayak dealers and have not had any issues with the liner that I see most of the comments had with the REAL Kayak liners...so my advise is just go elsewhere to service and take care of your pool there are companies that ship the items all over the US and they are easy to deal with and their products don't seem to have the Kayak issues but still work with the pool. Don't let Kayak make you believe they are the only store in town to get a properly fit liner..at least ours has been great....check out the internet for other stores selling replacement Kayak parts.. Good luck!
Felicia of Ferndale MD (07/03/08)
Purchased a maintenance free pool from them in 2007. Delivered in a timely manner and installed within a week of delivery. Unfortunately they did not finish installation until 10:00pm at night and had me sign the agreement that everything was good even though I could not see a thing. They told me that if there was any problem with anything just call them and they would come and take care of it.
I filled out every one of their warranty cards for the liner, pool, motor, everything. It was supposed to be 10'ft at 4 feet and 10'ft at 5 feet. The measurements are nowhere near that, but I can live with it. The major problems are a deck that gets scalding hot. It is so bad you cannot step on it without shoes or sit on it without a chair.
When it came to closing the pool for the winter the manual was so confusing I called for help. Several times of calling and getting no answer only machines, I finally got a hold of someone who said that they had no one to come and explain because it was seasonal work and the season was over. I closed the pool up the best I could, which I knew was wrong but it was the only way I could do it.
This summer after hooking everything up I called Kayak to have someone come and inspect it to make sure everything was okay because I had leaks from everywhere. They said they would but they didn't know when. I was surprised when they called back and said they had someone that could come right away.
I had to leave for work so my friend and my mom were here to talk to the man. He said I must have lose O rings when I put things away and he fixed everything. When asked about the difficulty with winterizing the pool he said that the manual is worthless and that I did not have to put away the motor and filter just cover them up. As for the drain hoses, I would lose most of my water even though they sold me an Aquador so that would not happen.
Their manual is the worst written book I have every tried to understand. I paid $14,000 for this pool so that I could relax my muscles due to MS and Lupus. I wanted better customer service when explaining how to take care of this investment. The man who came out said that this time he wouldn't charge me but next time it would be over $200. My representative told me that it was free inspection and maintenance as long as the warranty's were sent in. I have copies of all the warranty' so they aren't getting a penny out of me.
Rosemarie of Gilbertsville PA (06/19/08)
We purchased our pool in 2003. They delivered it (destroying the right side of my house in the process) and left it there until the last week in August (approximately 2 months). My family was going on vacation 2 days after. They realized they had delivered it to the wrong side of the house and proceeded to destroy the left side of my house when installation began.
When we came back from vacation we had 7,500 gallons of water in our backyard due to a flawed liner. They came and fixed it 2 weeks later. So the 1st year we owned our pool we could only swim once.
This year I have another 7,500 gallons of water in my back yard. My husband called the company and they sent someone out. They said it wasn't their fault since it wasn't on a seam and wanted $385 for the inspection, my husband told them to pound salt. We had to order the liner from them $800 but had another company (Chris Miller) install for half the price that Kayak wanted and was on time and did a great job.
The Kayak warranty is not worth the paper it is printed on. Very unprofessional people, every single one that I have dealt with. We even heard one of the managers in the background use extreme profanity when he heard that we were not going to pay the $385. My husband wants to put an add in the Philadelphia Inquirer warning people NEVER to buy this product. I believe there should be a class action suit leveled against this company.
We have lost $280 for water. $800 for the liner and $600 to have installed. Landscaping for the damage done to the side yard $400.
John of Abington MA (06/05/08)
i bought a 12 24 pool free cemicals,cover , skimer. 20,000.dollars the pool was delivered it was used it took 2 months to get a new one that is all i wanted .the manerger danti--never got any were with him doug finally got the pool set up the crew left the water truck was filling the pool the liner fell off the top . the crew came right back took care of it the next day the pool was half empty
I called it took 4 weeks they put new liner in i pay again 275 for water used it for 1 month had them close it for winter. when i opened it i noticed the liner seam spliting i called it took several months finally a new liner and made them pay for the water. I think the only reson they fixed it because the better buisness was involved and the sign in my front yard never deal with those people ever again only had the pool 4 years then it fell down last winter
Debi of Clarksville OH (06/05/08)
Our liner was torn after taking it out we discovered corrosion (exfoliation) on every waterwall. Places were already blown out and other places on the way.We actaced Janice in New York who handles warrenty issues and sent over 100 pictures. After viewing them she told me areas exfoliated were just cosmetic. She would not let me talk to anyone else who supposedly viewed the pictures but she would let them know I was not happy. I informed her my husband and I are both Aircraft Mechanics and work with metal every day and we know what we are talking about. Now they say we will have to pay for shipping and installation for the new walls plus the walls will be prorated because the pool is 9 years old and we will have to pay 30% for each wall.
I didn't know a lifetime warrenty could be pro rated. Also I know my pool is not the only one out there like this there are probably quite a few so maybe a class action suit would be the way to handle this with Kayak since they only seem to be concered about ripping off their customers and not standing behind their product. I'm not done fighting with them yet but a sign is about to go up in my yard advertising their pool in hoping to spare others a big headache.
Exfoliation peels away the layer of aluminum and turns them to powder, in the meantime it leaves sharp edges where the metal is deteriorating, I believe this is why my liner was torn. It will cost $3089.00ace the walls which they want me to pay around $900.00 A hardware kit will cost $110.00, wall seam tape $8.00, coping kit $140.00, corner caps $8.00, return fitting w/gaskets $8.00, in wall skimmer $43.00, liner 700.00 all totaling $3948.00
Larry of Jackson MI (06/03/08)
Had a problem this winter (2007/2008)where a PVC pipe poped apart. This drained the pool and distroyed the liner. Called Nita in March of 08 at kayak pools expecting them to live up to there 30 year warranty since the pool was only installed in November of 06. Nita assured me she was working on it. Did har from her til middle of April and at that time I was told that I had to pay a $240.00 to have the Service man out to look at it. Service man came out 2 weeks later and said it was Kayaks fault.
Gave Nita a week to respond. I did not hear from her. Emailed her and waited another week and still no response. My wife called still no reply. Emailed again and waited another week. Now I was mad and called corperate. She called my wife and said liner was on order. Kayak and nita provided terrible customer support. I will not ever recommend a Kayak pool to anyone and I will tell as many people as can on my bad experience.
Because of poor installation my pool was drained and even damaged.
Charmaine of Mattawan MI (06/02/08)
We purchased a Kayak pool in the fall of 2006. They came and set it up and because this was Oct. we were told to hook things up in the spring. When we did we ran it for 1 month before the frogger broke. They were not helpful at all and did not return phone calls, and then proceded to tell us that there would be a $200 charge for them to look at it. We waited for 3 weeks in the heat of June without any help.They told us this was not warrenty and that we broke it.In one month this brand new item was broken. Sorry to say that this was just the beginning of our troubles with Kayak pools.
After fixing the frogger at our own exspense we encountered pipes that broke and connections that burst. After amounts of money and time on OUR OWN we closed it down. During the winter the liner ripped apart and 15,000 gallons of water appeared in our yard. I cannot tell you how disappointed we were. After phone calls to Kayak pools, they requested a picture,of the tear. Because they had told us when we purchased the pool that this liner had a 25 year guarantee no matter what. Well after a quick look at the picture they decided that it was caused by the weather and that it was not a covered warrenty.
I am shocked and can't believe that they have no standards to back the products they sell. We are out a liner and now are responsible for the cost of a new liner, a $22,000 pool that is junk and a company that is lying to the public. At this time I am contracting to rent a huge billboard and post this statement, that Kayak pools are junk. Funny how they wanted me to put a sign in my yard advertising this pool.They have already ripped me off of my hard earned money and will not give any customer service.
This pool cost $22,000, $1000 for a liner, $750 to put a new one in and $120 to replace the sand that washed away. The sad part to this, is that my husband is recovering from cancer and this pool was to be part of his treatment to a healthy life. To bad this pool issue has caused him undue stress.
Amy of New Hudson MI (05/27/08)
We purchased our Kayak pool in 2006 with the sales pitch that Kayak provided the best warranty & maintenance free pool. We had a tear in our liner over the winter and contacted Kayak Midwest. We were advised to email pictures of the liner and was told by Nita that this was ice damage.
We were concerned how they could come to this conclusion by looking at pictures. We requested (Kayak did not offer) to have someone come out to take a look and we were told a service technician would come out for a $240 charge! The service tech contacted us to give us a quote over the phone of $2000 for replacement and repair of liner!! This is for a pool that is not even 2 years old!! He didn't even come out to look at the damage.
We contacted a local pool company owner who came out free of charge and said the tear started at the seam. He advised us to call Kayak back since this should be covered under warranty. When we called Kayak Midwest, they referred us to their New York office and to speak with Janice in the Warranty Dept. We made several phone calls, which she NEVER returned and when she finally did, she would give us some excuse that she was working on it and that she would call us back.
After 2 weeks dealing with Janice, she told us that we needed to contact the Midwest office! We were getting the complete run around without any assistance let alone decent customer service to resolve this. We've left several messages for Greg, who is the national sales manager for Kayak and the supervisor of Janice. And surprise, we're still waiting for a return call.
They don't stand behind their warranty and I would never recommend a Kayak Pool to anyone! We will also let everyone we come into contact with to not buy a Kayak pool or even think about it! BUYERS BEWARE, don't waste your money!
We've been trying to resolve this for over a month now and we still haven't gotten anywhere with Kayak. Luckily, the local pool company owner is a reputable and honest person who is going to help us out. We still feel entitled to a new liner from Kayak since our current one is a defective item. They refuse to return calls and it seems that if they give us the run around long enough, we will give up.
Derek of Downers Grove IL (05/21/08)
I bought my Kayak 16x32 pool 2 years ago never had an issue with it. When I was suckered into this pool I was lied to and deceived to think my so called 30 year warranty covered everything and anything and thats the KAYAK name.. Well now its 2 years later and my liner has a hole in it that is too large to repair. They said it was due to ice... I know Chicago has some bad winters but growing up my first family pool liner lasted 17 years.. Let me tell you the winters were much worse in the late 70's and all of the 80's. So I call them and as sweet as pie just send us the pictures so we can validate the warranty claim. Bottom line is they are rediculously priced and are not standing behind what the salesman said. EVERYTHING IS COVERED So my advice buy a DOUGHBOY or just an inflatable pool. Anything but a KAYAK
I can either buy a one thousand dollar liner and pay to have it installed or claim it on my homeowners insurance. Either way I am screwed. I should scrap it and buy something with a REAL GUARANTEE!
Kevin of Homewood IL (06/15/07)
Purchased a new pool liner in 2004 with a 15-yr warranty. The liner ripped at the seam which should have been covered and they came up with every excuse in the book,not to give me a new liner. What I was told was I could buy a new one with 15% off.I'm now think about buying green seeds. They are cheaper then a liner.
Anne of New Fairfield CT (06/10/07)
Once I ordered my Kayak pool and it was delivered they never came to install it. The pool sat in my driveway for months. I called several times and was told different days. I would take a day off from work on the day they said they were coming and they never came!!
When Gary came and gave me the sales pitch he told me the pool could go partially above and partially in the ground. I informed Gary that the only thing I didn't want was an above ground pool - he assured me that they would sink it three feet into the ground!
When they finally installed it, which was done on the day I told them not to come, it was done totally about the ground! Exactly what I didn't want.
When I called - Lord knows how many times - Gary said he would talk to Doug about redoing the pool and then I would call and Doug said he didn't know why Gary would lie and tell me it could go partially in the ground!!
I spent four months with the run around and then they finally said they would have it redone by the end of September. They said their workers were in Virginia - know if you have an irate customer wouldn't you help them first before sending your crew to Virginia?!?!?!
Anyway - September came and went - I finally contacted an attorney who tried several times to reach them but they wouldn't even return his phone calls or certified letters!!
I have had my own business now for 19 years and I must say that this is the most poorly run business I have ever heard of.
Erica of Mashpee MA (11/09/06)
My husband and I purchased a pool from kayak last March assuming we would have a pool to swim in by summer. After getting the run around for several weeks on a delivery date then another date to install the crew finally showed up to put the pool in. The crew started to dig the hole and it didnt look anything like I had expected so I asked the main guy what he was digging. He said he knew there was going to be a problem when he saw my paper work and had seen they had sold me a pool that was no longer available.
I told him to stop right there untill I could figure out what was going on. After8 months of attitude from Doug, dodging of phone calls, Attorney fees, and aggrivation we now have a $ 17,000 litter box in the back of our beautifully landscaped yard. IT is a huge hole with the whole pool kit strewn about. We took out a home equity line of credit to buy this pool for our two little girls, and are paying 275.00 a month for nothing but aggrivation.
Rita of Upper Marlboro MD (05/24/06)
In July 2005, we ordered a 16x32 above ground pool. It was delivered and installed in late August. When the installer finished, it was 10 p.m. Because we couldn't inspect the pool, we signed the paperwork annotating it with a conditional acceptance that if there were any creases in the liner, they would return to fix them. They agreed and stated that any creases remaining should come out when the pools was filled. The pool was filled the next day, and not only did the creases remain, but one foot of the liner pulled away from the side. We contact Kayak to have the liner fixed. It took 3 weeks for them to come out and when they did, it was during the day while no one was here.
They re-attached the liner, but did nothing else. My husband contacted the company numerous times, and they finally said that we had to empty the water to fix the creases, so they would wait until Spring when the water level was low. It was arranged that they would put us on the calendar for March 2006. We started calling in March and were getting no response. Because we wanted larger decks, we went ahead and ordered them through Kayak thinking that when the decks were installed, they would fix the liner.
My husband dropped the water level to where they wanted it. The decks were installed the first week of May. We have been trying to get the liner fixed since then. They have made numerous appointments, and have stood us up for every one. We withheld payment on the decks until the liner was fixed. That hasn't helped. Here it is Memorial Day weekend, and I have no water in my pool because they keep promising to fix it. I'm not sure what to do from here.
The warranty will not be valid on the liner because of the creases should something go wrong.
Debbie of West Caldwell NJ (05/18/06)
I would like to comment on Kayak complaints. I also dealt with Chris he was our installer. I found him to be very professional, timely, and I can call him anytime I need to to ask a question. He even gave me his personal number! I love my Kayak pool, I only wish I had gotten a bigger one! Thanks Kayak.
Steve of Purcellville VA (07/20/05)
After pool was installed, the liner (vinyl) separates from the sides and bottom during any heavy rain. The separation allows water to wash between the liner and earthen bottom and sides, eroding the earth beneath the liner, further exacerbating the problem. The liner has since separated completely from the sides of the pool and is no longer able to be reattached. We have called and written Kayak over 15 times (dates, times, and details available), and recently sent them a video of the pool conditions, at their request. They remain unresponsive; the pool remains unusable. This has been an ongoing issue since April of this year (2005).
Our $30,000 pool is completely unusable. It cannot be filled with water (liner has separated from sides), and the remaining water in the pool cannot be filtered, thereby causing it to stagnate and draw mosquitos and other insects -- a definite health hazard.
Leia of Maryville TN (09/07/04)
In July of 2004 we had a kayak pool put in our back yard.The salesperson told us whatever we needed to know this specific person would help us.They were 2 weeks late in coming to put it in,suprised us by coming on a day we weren't expecting them. My husband works for the city of Maryville, that night his work was having a get together and we had to go. We paid a good deal of money for this pool, which was supposed to be maintance free, which all it has been is work, and now they won't come and show us how to close it up!
We have no idea how to close it and we read somewhere that if you don't close it up right it could cause damage to it!I don't think this is right of kayak pool!We really trusted them to give us a good deal! We have put our house on the line for this pool and now it may get ruined because they will not respond to our calls!
Richard of White Plains MD (07/21/04)
Purchased a 12 x 24 foot kayak rectangular pool May 20, 2004. Finally came and installed pool after several calls on July 20, 2004. Today is July 21st, 2004 and we had the pool filled at approx. 9:00am. Noticed a small leak from under the pool. Called the installer Jerry from Box inc. and told him we had a small leak under the pool and he needs to come out and check it. His first words were it wasn't leaking yesterday when we left. It only had about 2 of water in it when they left yesterday, He said he was in Va. and could not come back out until Monday.
I called the salesperson whom had said if there is any problems to call him. He sounded concerned and said he would call the owner right away and call me back. No call back. My wife called the main office and spoke to Alicia who advised my wife there were no supervisors on duty until after 3:00pm. I will have one call you In the past several hours the leak has washed the sand away from under the liner on one end of the pool, The liner began sagging until it busted, now I have water running down my backyard, the $150.00 we spent to have the pool filled is wasted. I have yet to receive a call back from anyone at Kayak, so the small leak has now turned into a large leak, a ruined liner and a mess in the yard. If it were taken care of in a timely manner it probably would have saved alot of problems for Kayak and us.
Thomas of Pasadena MD (06/24/04)
I own a 12 x 20 above groud Kayak swimming pool and I have had 2 major repairs made to this pool since 2001. On 4/16/01, I purchased a new liner from Kayak East Coast pool, which they installed, The liner kept slpping and I had low spots in the bottom of the pool. On 9/5/02, Kayak East Coast replaced the water walls as they were bulging. When they installed the water walls, they re-installed the liner. Towards the end of the summer of 2003, the pool started losing water. I closed the pool anyway and here it is the summer of 2004. When I filled the pool this year, the water walls and liner were not lined up. I called Kayak many times and finally a Kayak rep came to our house and said to my wife, it was an installation problem.
This rep said he would talk to his manager and call us back. I had to keep calling Kayak again and finally spoke to this rep and he said his manager said it we had to replace the liner at our cost. The warranty was not covered. This was not a matter of a warranty, the Kayak installers really messed up our liner when they installed the water walls. I have all my paperwork and feel Kayak should certainly fix my pool at their expense.
Doreen of Goshen IN (05/10/04)
When I took these people to small claims, the Judge in Elkhart County gave them so many chances and repeatedly told them they had to have an attorney. That after almost a year in small claims, they filed bankrupcy and I was out a lot of money and have a bad pool. Small Claims Court is not a one day shot. At least not in Elkhart County.
After 4 liners there is a large rock that protudes out in the bottom. Damaged a lot of decking. Lots of screws popping out. Damaged wall panel, and third filter they brought out was also broke.
Julie of Monticello IN (05/04/04)
Bought a Kayak pool in 1999. Paid 15,000 for it and with in 3 yrs the liner was ripped and had holes. This is a liner that had a 30 yr. guarantee. We winterized and did everything as we were told to. Called Kayak and found out that it only covers manufacturer flaws which you chould notice in first yr. Told it would be 900. for a new liner. We can not afford that. I told them I would get one from someone else, as you can find liners online for Kayak cheaper. Their response was yes but they wont last as long and the warrenty is as good. Well as you may see I told them Id rather spend 400. every 3 yrs then 1000. and their warrenty dont cover anything anyway.
Also my pool is sinking. They installed it and prepped it, but they say that I would have to pay to have it redone as they cannot control the way it settled. Is that not the point of have it professionally installed so it is done right! This will be the 2nd yr. we havent been able to use our pool because of them. This company is out for the money, your better off going to walmart and buying a cheap pool you may have to replace in 5 yrs or so.
Jill of Jerseyville IL (04/26/04)
We signed a contract to purchase a pool 3-04. We put $100 down to start the ball rolling. The salesman said that if we cancelled, we would not get our money back after 3 days. It is now April, and we have the financing to get the pool, but we have decided that 19,000 is too much for a pool. We have tried to get out of this contract. Nicole said the only way to get out of this is to pay 15% of the price of the pool because of all their work they have already done. They have done no work. Just today we got a work order stating they can not do anything until they receive $4500. We have until 4-27 fo finalize the home loan (the right to cancel phase) They said they have already paid the commission on this loan. How can they do that when only $100 has been paid.
I do not see how a company can force upon you their product when no actual cost has been spent on their part. The salesman told us false statements, leading us to believe that the only thing we would be out of was $100 if we cancelled after 3 days. He told us a story how a customer of his cancelled after she already had her payment book, and ten years later she finally purchased a pool from them.
Laura of Lyons IL (07/31/03)
We had a salesmen come to the house to give us an estimate on one of their pools. This guy was real good with how he explained it all and we were confident that this would be a great addition to the back yard. We signed a contract and at that time I told the guy that unless the interest rate was good, I would not be taking the loan. It took some time for their loan company to get back to us.. much longer then the 3 days they put on the contract. We were denied the credit however Kayak still insisted that we pay the price for the pool. I fought them and fought them and they eventually put a mark against my credit for the amount of $2700. Now, what this is for is beyond me. The contract stated in his own handwriting that the contract was void if the financing didn't go through so how can they come after me for $2700??!!!
The end result is that I have a mark on my credit that I cannot remove. I have pleaded with the different credit bureau's and have been told that Kayak would have to have it removed. I sent an email to Larry somebody and he will not do that.
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