Island Recreational Reviews

We went into the store to ask about opening our pool ourselves. We wanted to get information on how difficult it would be to do it. This girl, who was no older than 16, first tested out water (which we had brought with us). She then started scaring us and saying that our chemical levels were way below a safe swimming level. She started putting chemical after chemical into our wagon. She gave us this handbook with a 3 day pool opening procedure. She made it seem like a piece of cake so we bought the first 2 days of chemicals.

I purchased a pump on 5/25/08 about 2wks later I was having a problem with my pool. I went to the store and they said that if my pump was not working I wouldn't get any pressure in the pool. I then purchased wound up buying a complete set Filter and pump figuring it was just the filter. It winds up that after all this back and forth that the pump isn't working. I called the number on my receipt to see when they can repair or replace the pump.

I purchased a pump on 5/25/08 about 2wks later I was having a problem with my pool. I went to the store and they said that if my pump was not working I wouldn't get any pressure in the pool. I then purchased wound up buying a complete set Filter and pump figuring it was just the filter. It winds up that after all this back and forth that the pump isn't working.

We had a pool installed by them in 2002 when they installed it there was a slow leak not noticable at first . we looked and called IR and they said it would be $200 to come and look at the pool .

I paid for a pool opening/maintenance/closing package in 2007. This year, 2008, when I took my pool cover off, the water in the pool was very green and murky. I am confident the proper chemicals were not added to my pool water upon closing. In addition to that, the grids in my filter were thick with caked on DE. Worse, that this, the plug put into the return of the pool is jammed stuck into the return. I, nor the 2 very strong gentlemen with tools that tried to remove this plug from the pool were able to remove it.

I purchased a Sand Filter last season 6/07 has never worked properly. Is still in repair. Nobody has an answer as to why I have not received my filter back or why I have not been able to receive a brand new filter. The filter Never worked properly from the day of purchase.

Very first pool opening in the dark 3 times, hoses poped off, pool lost plenty of water because hoses were not tightened. Bought a waterfall that came with no instructions or parts. Asked several times for them to install. They gave me various phone numbers to installers who NEVER installed this item and NEVER will.

We purchased an above ground pool entry system on 8/5/06, it was a pre-order that was promised in the warehouse by April 1st 2007, well in time for the 2007 summer season. There was also a $100 rebate that had to be mailed between 5/1/07 and 5/15/07, which we did. Well, April 1st came and went, no entry system came in. Every time I called, they didn't have it. One time they told my husband that it came in and when he got there, someone had made a mistake on the phone and it wasn't there. He borrowed a truck and made the trip to the warehouse for nothing. Weeks and weeks of phone calls ensued. I was promised callbacks, but never received any calls back. Not even one.

Island rec. charges you 200.00 for a pool install which they then subout to someone who subs it out to someone else. When you finally have the pool installed its about an extra 800.00 . When i had the pool installed, It was done incorrectly.(When They Install You have to pay cash, You wont know if theres a problem until pool is filled) Due to the quality of the pool and install , I am now going on a 3RD INSTALL.

I was charged twice for a VIP membership in 10/06 and 12/06. I have called them multiple times to refund my account and cancel my membership. On three different occasions they have assured me they would refund my credit card account and they have failed to do so.

I cancelled my account with IR 2 years ago. October 31, 2006 they charged $100.00 to my credit card account. I called and I was told they would credit my card the following month. On December 12, 2006 they did not credit my account but charged me another $100.00. I have called them on 12/4/06 1/8/07 2/5/07 3/12/07 and each time they have told me they will credit my account $200. I still have not been credited the $200 to date.

Island Recreational fraudulently debited my checking account in the amount of $300.00 without my approval and then claimed it was a clerical error that happened to a lot of people. Each of the 3 times I called they said they would credit my account, but didn’t. The following week after my bank told me my account was not credited, I called Island Recreational back to speak to a manager and was told I could not speak to anyone else only the person who I was speaking to whose name was Lakisha.

They charged my credit card in October '06 for $100.00 after I already paid $100.00 in June for the yearly VIP membership. I called multiple times to have the charge credited back to my credit card and was assured by each different phone representative it would get done. Now in March '07 it still has not been done even though I was given a confirmation number by the last representative. Shame on you Island Recreational for such irresponsible and unprofessional phone "representatives".

I joined the Island Recreational VIP club in July 2006 and cancelled membership within that week due to not spending more than the $100.00 due to the fact that my pool broke. I was told that I could possibly get a refund for that $100.00 which I never received. On 9/27/2006, 11/13/2006 and 12/22/2006 $100.00 each time was taken from my checking account. Now I am out the original $100.00 and $300.00 more.

I used my credit card to join this club in 2004. They also charged my account in 2005 for $100.00 for 2006 membership. I explained that I did not want them to use my credit card. Now I have made my 3rd phone call to these people. Not only did they charge my credit card UNAUTHORIZED for the membership of $100.00, they hit my credit card 2 more times totaling $300.00. They said it was a computer glitch but I still do not have my money back! My husband is disabled and I have been paying interest on this money since August 2006.

In August 0f 2006 my credit card was billed for $100.00 as renewal fee for my VIP membership. In October 2006 my card was billed for another $100.00. I was since advised there is no longer a charge for this membership. I have called several times and visited the Hicksville store. To this date 03/02/2007 my credit card has not yet been refunded, which has caused me late payments to my credit card company.

I have been a VIP member for many years. Membership fee of 100.00 was charged to my credit card once a year. This year my charge card was charged three times. I have spoken with customer service numerous times and have been assured a credit was put through. To date no credit has been put through to my charge card.

Island recreational has put through triplicate charges on our credit card for VIP membership. We were told on 12/4/06 that they would credit our account back for charges put through on 8/1/06, 10/18/06, and 12/1/06 totaling $300.00. Over the next 2 months we have spoke with several customer service reps. Each one stated that the credit was being put through that day and we should see it within 3 days or next statement. Each time we did not see the credit. We have been given numerous reference numbers and stories.

My VIP membership expires in 4/07 however they charged my checking account 100.00 in October 2006 then again in December 2006 another 100.00 for membership - I have called on numerous occasions to no avail. I want my money back.

They have a VIP program which cost $100.00 a year which I had paid back in August. For some odd reason they charged my credit card without my authorization 3 months in a row, each month in the amount of $100. I have called them 4 times and they said they would credit back my credit card but it never happens.

They asked me to join the VIP club for $100.00 up front. I did and was billed in June. I signed a contract at the register stating that I DO NOT want to be automatically billed on my credit card for renewal. Come my July statement and there was another $100.00 charged. I called and they said it was a valid charge to be in the club for the upcoming season, so I let it go. Come October, there was another charge of $100.00. My husband paid it not to ruin our perfect credit rating.

I joined Island Recreational's VIP club in May 2006. I paid a fee of $100 (charged to my Credit Card) in exchange for $100 of coupons to be used at their stores. In July 2006, Island Recreational automatically renewed my membership and charged an additional $100 to my credit card. I called Island Recreational to cancel my account, and was told that any remaining credits that I had on my account would be lost.

First I bought a pool that was on clearance and they set the date for the delivery. They told me that they would call me on Friday to tell me the time that they were going to be delivering my pool. When I finally got hold of someone they were like, oh we don't have it in stock. I eventually canceled my order because everyday it was another excuse. Then i signed up for the vip card membership at the end of june for $100.00 and i just saw on my account that they took another $100.00 out of my account. (they told me membership was good for 1 year).

The installation of our pool was not completed correctly. There are ditches in the base of the pool, could cause the pool wall to collapse and the liner to rip.

I purchased a pool January of 2006. Mind you it was paid in full the time of the order. They installed it on May 21,2006. I also purchased a fence and decking because I have an autistic son. When Travis and his crew installed the fence they installed it Approximately 6 inches from the pool. I asked him if the fencing was supposed to be that high from the pool and he said that was the way the fencing is installed. I had used my 4 year old nephew to test to see if he could get through the gap and he could easily fit in between the fence and the pool. The installer did not care how it was put up as long as he could get done and out on that Sunday afternoon.

I purchased an above ground pool in August 2005 for delivery and instalation for the coming spring 2006 season. My contract reads an installed pool by or before May 1, 2006. It is now June 9, 2006 and all I have is a delivered pool that is taking up too much space in my garage, I cannot put my car in it, and no actual installation date. They keep slipping the install date and all I have is grief.

I have a pool maintenance program with island recreational that has been ignored. My pool was to be opened on the 12th of May, they did not come to open it until the 17th of May. They were supposed to open the pool and add the chemicals needed. They asked me for the chemicals and had me remove the cover because of the weights on it. I had no problem removing the cover. I realized they did not put in chemicals or vacuum as said in contract. i called the company and they sent someone else on the 26th of may.

We took out a pool service plan with this company. They were supposed to open our pool prior to May 1st, perform weekly maintanance and close pool at end of season. The service men didnt arrive until May 25th, did not call to confirm appt. They left the cover in a pile near the pool (uncleaned), left chemical wrappers and jugs around pool area, did not install chlorinator as per contract. Filter was not working, heater was not on and pool was extremely green when we returned home that day. No return call from supervisor when requested.

We purchased a pool from Island Recreational in January 2006 and had it installed at the end of March. It is now almost June and no one from either Island Rec or Champion Pool installers has been here to install the filter. Our pool is completely green and obviously cannot be used. After numerous calls to Island Rec and being kept on hold for sometimes 45 minutes. We were told they would take care of it and get back to us in the next few days. Those few days went and no one returned our calls. I put in a call to them again, was kept on hold for 32 minutes and was told, after all this, that they are not responsible for installing the filter, that we needed to contact Champion directly. I also complained to Island Rec that because the filter was not installed and we were told to fill the pool to get the wrinkles out of the lining we now have a pool that is completely green and Island Rec refused to come in with chemimcals and get it up and running becuase we did not purchase the Chemical package.

Bought pool on 10/30/05, installed on 4/10. Installers came late and stayed intil 9PM, put 6 of water in pool. 4/11 AM, pool was empty. I called twice a day on 4/11 and 4/12 to have someone fix pool. Inspector came at 5:50AM on 4/13, told me the bottom circ was cracked and had to be replaced. Called on 4/14 , they had no record of inspection. After they found it, I was told Tri County Pools would complete installation. Island REc did not give them correct parts, so they had to come back twice more. Finally on 4/28 I had a pool that held water. I was told the filter would be hooked up on 5/5. When Island Rec called on 5/4 to give ma a time, I was told it was for oreitnatin. They had no record of filter hooked. I contacted Tri COunty to see if they could hook up filter. tHey told me that they porbably would no be paid by Island Rec, so I did not pursue. I now am scheudled for filter hook up on 5/11, one month after initial installatin. No schedule for orientation.

We purchased a custom made pool cover for our inground pool. Their installer came to our home to sketch & measure the pool. Cover was to have custom pocket to accomodate slide (we paid extra for this). Day of installation, installer realized cover was manufactured incorrectly to accomodate a water fall. Instead of returning cover to manufacturer for correction, the installers decided to try installing cover anyway.

At the close of summer 2004 we purchased a weekly service contract from island recreational. This contract cost about $500 and they were supposed to close the pool, open the pool and do weekly maintenence on the pool throughout the summer of 2005. They closed the pool in the fall of 2004 and put a winter cover on it. While closing the pool they removed much of the water before putting the cover on the pool. In the spring they returned to open the pool. They took the cover off, looked in the pool and claimed that there was not enough water in the pool to add any chemicals. They told us they would return in a week.

They keep advertising Econo shock on sale at $1 a lb. This is a great deal, but when you arrive at their store they don't have any in stock. The salesperson tries to sell you a BETTER shock (GreenOut) which costs about $5 per lb. They tell you to return in a couple of days or the next week. I return later in the week for the same result. I recently received another circular from them advertising EconoShock for $1 a lb. I went to the massapequa store immediately, but this time i was told they were out for the season. The ad that runs through Sept 2 was printed in error, I was told by the manager. Of course, I again was told to purchase the more expensive Green Out shock.

I purchased a pool with a deck on 4/17/05 and I was never told that they were from 2 different mfrs. My pool was installed incorrectly the side walls under the deck have buckled I had to empty the pool 2 times to date they still haven't repaired it properly the deck bends when my 4 year old who weighs 38 pounds stands on it. The pool filter leaks and the under ground filter pipe leaks. For the pass 2-1/2 months I have been on the phone with their customer service and they keep sending they same people to fix a problem that they created by not installing the pool properly and putting another companies deck with this pool which I spoke with the Manufacturer of the deck and they informed me that this deck should not have been installed on my pool.

I purchased a Speck E90-1(This was actually my second one) pool pump from Island recreational in Massapequa NY(all Island reqs sell this pump). I was told that It was a 1.5 HP pump, but according to the manufacturers web site, it is a 3/4 HP pump. I went to Island rec and asked about the discrepancy and they told me that the E90-1 is sold to them as a 1.5 HP motor. I'm pretty sure if I've twice paid more for a pump that was a lot less powerful and expensive than they claim.