Midwest Fiberglass Pools

We researched so many pool companies before deciding on Midwest Pools, in Charlotte and Monroe, NC. Their promise and sales pitch was to get us 'swimming within 2 weeks'. After paying almost all of the money upfront, we weren't swimming in 2 weeks or even 2 months. Appointments would be set for phases of the pool to be done and no one would show up and no one from the company would call. I would have to call and inquire about this and even the 'project manager' (for lack of another term) wouldn't know where the crew was. I ended up having to basically GC this entire project alone, with little help from Midwest.

Their contractors all complained about not getting paid for months and eventually starting asking us, the homeowners, for money to cover their labor. At one point, an entire crew of cement contractors wouldn't leave our property until they were paid money owed by Midwest, not us. Several things were wrong with the pool and each time it was corrected with a temporary band aid or we were told it 'not a big deal' and the pool would work fine.

The final straw was a phone call we received on Christmas Eve from their specialist (we were not home at the time) reminding us to keep the deck jets running all winter so they wouldn't freeze! Never was this mentioned during pool school and for the company to wait until Christmas Eve to place this call was crazy (especially with the unusually cold winter we had here in Charlotte.

There are several things currently wrong with out pool and today I went to call the main office in Charlotte and the number was disconnected. I called directory assistance and was told 'there is no such business listing for Midwest Pools in Charlotte.' Unbelievable! Not once did Midwest assume an ounce of responsibility for their shoddy service and installation. Every problem was blamed on the weather, the time of the year or their sub-contractors, never their fault!

In late July of 2009, I contracted Midwest Pools & Spas for a fiberglass pool and surrounding concrete patio. They wanted full payment upon delivery of the pool shell. They completed the work in late August. The concrete patio cracked and collapsed over the winter, and the pool tilted.

Greg Hoover, the owner of Midwest Pools & Spa of Charlotte, sent a supervisor out and then personally took responsibility for the shoddy cement work and agreed to fix it. He requested we wait until pool season was over in September, which we agreed to. Now he claims to "not have the money" to replace the patio and repair the pool until his lawsuit against his pool subcontractor is complete, and he has no idea when that may be.

(This replaces the Consumer Comment Form of June 12, 2010, by William of Winnsboro. ) Midwest Pools & Spas sold us a fiberglass pool partly on the basis of speedy installation - "typically 3 to 5 days. " It actually took over a month from the time the pool arrived to the time it could be used. While the materials and workmanship are good, it has been our impression that skilled subcontractors are in generally short supply, making it hard to complete any project like this in a timely manner. We were also put off by poor and less-than-up-front communications about the work schedule and the cause of the delays. As first time pool owners, we are hampered by the lack of any written primer on pool care and maintenance.

Midwest Pools moved into NC from Michigan a couple years ago. Their pitch is that they can install a fiberglass pool "within 3 to 5 days." On June 1, they placed our pool in the ground and filled it with water. Unfortunately, they have been unable so far electrical connections to make the pump and filter work.

Midwest requires that customers pay in full (all but $500) upon delivery of the pool. We have paid them $27,500. With money in hand, this company then sets about to actually install the pool at their own pace, which could take days, weeks, or perhaps a month or more.

Their business plan appears to be to promise speedy installation, collect money upon delivery of the fiberglass shell, and then figure out how to line up the subcontractors needed to complete the job when they get around to it.

While perhaps they will complete our job in the next week or two (they still owe us a pool deck), this company is getting off on the wrong foot in NC. We selected them, perhaps foolishly, over another firm in the area because they convinced us they could deliver in a timely manner. It was all sales talk.

The pool has sat for nearly 3 weeks in our backyard with the water stagnating and frogs and insects taking over. They also pulled out their bulldozer before finishing the grading because they had "another job to finish." They never returned. Since the surrounding earth is only partially graded we have been unable to replant the grass. I can provide you digital pictures of this mess in our backyard, including the frogs that are now calling our pool home.