Richards Pool Service

So far, I’m not impressed. Between Water Ways in Portage and Richard’s, I get told 2 different completely opposite things. I was told that I would have my pool installed w/​in 2 weeks of the purchase date of 6÷7÷2016. Richard’s charged $ 40 to come survey the site and mark it. This money will NOT be applied to the final install cost. What? We were told by Richard’s that install would be the week of ⁶⁄₂₆. They told us they couldn’t give us an install date until the pool was delivered. WW said don’t deliver it until you have an install date. When Richard’s finally called w/​a date, it was ⁷⁄₁. No one was able to be home. When my husband learned that in laws could be here, he called back w/​in 1 – 2 hours. We heard back from them 2 days later, on Monday. Now it can’t be done until ⁷⁄₆. How did it get pushed back that many days when they were closed for the weekend?
After reading the other reviews posted here, I’m dreading the install and am expecting more problems. I hope that I am wrong. Dad will be here that day, and God help that crew if they screw up!

I used this guy for a few years many years ago. In the beginning his service was reasonable but grew to be outrageous.
I have a four step ladder that he would place or remove from the pool. One year he didn’t install it and saiid his insurance company wouldn’t let him. He had installed it in previous years. Each year he would charge for things he had previously not charged for. His pool openings were also sub par, he did a horrible job of cleaning the pool. He would also charge extra to connect the heater then the heater wouldn’t work. I didn’t realize what a horrible job he did until I hired a company from Hammond who did a great job of cleaning and opening for less cost. This guy also helped himself to a valve on my pool and replaced it with another without my permission.
One year I needed a pool cover and he sold me one for $ 75, saying it was guaranteed for 5 years. It ripped the next Spring and they would not honor the guarantee. He said I would have to contact the manufacturer, they don’t guarantee it. I reminded him of our conversation and he just kept saying, «yes ma’am, yes ma’am».
He also had a habit of saying «have a blessed day». Kind of hard to feel blessed when you feel you’re being scammed.

they just did my new pool install. What a wonderful crew. everyone had a job, and they did it professionally and on-​time. Everyone from Jennifer, Sieg, and the install crew where courteous and professional. And what a great job they did. As far as the backfill and such, it states in the contract that they are not responsible for that unless otherwise specified. I chose to do this myself and completely understood the terms BEFORE service was started. Thanks guys! Really looking forward to my new pool! I would HIGHLY recommend. On a further note, I almost cancelled this company due to the lack of and poor ratings on various sites. What a mistake that would have been. I’ll only use Richards if needed in the future. I will be seeing them in the fall to close my pool based on my experience with this install.

DO NOT HIRE THESE PEOPLE!!! THey will rip you off. They rip our pool liner and did not tell us. the filter leaks because they broke the rubber ring. They said we need a chlorinator, no not true, all they did was took the tarp off and charged us 479.00. BIG RIP OFF

Last year, my parents decided to hire Richards to open our pool. They agreed to open and clean the pool for two hours (aka 2 hour vacuum). They rushed through the opening, and vacuumed nothing. They claimed it was too cloudy to vacuum. It was cloudy because they pushed the dirt up using the vacuum. When someone pushes hard and fast on the vacuum, the dirt tends to cloud up and make visibility impossible. Well they said they would come back tomorrow and continue the vacuum service. They never came back.
For some odd reason, my parents went back to them this year for the same service they never got last year. Well, they agreed on yesterday being the day, and told my parents they would arrive at 6pm. My mom said she had to remind the person on the phone we are in fact paying for a 2hr vacuuming (as advertised), and expect them to vacuum for 2hrs. They called around 5 or 6pm yesterday and said they were too tired and had a job that was longer than expected. So they said they would be here sometime in the timeframe of 2pm-​4pm. I am writing this review at 6:22pm and they just called. This time the man on the phone said, «I am in Hickory Hills right now in traffic. We won’t be able to make it today.» That is two cancellations in two days within an hour or later than the scheduled appointment. My mom was irritated, and told them that we would be finding someone else if not tomorrow because they are busy next week (going on vacation), and then we would be looking at late June for the pool opening. Since we live in Indiana, our summer’s are pretty short. That is unacceptable.
Personally, I wouldn’t have hired these people back after last year. Who cares if it’s cloudy, sit there and vacuum. That is what they are paying you for.
But after this year, I can assure you, we won’t be returning customers unless they pull some crazy awesome service with a smile. And get the WHOLE pool vacuumed.
I will more than likely update if the service gets better or worse.
update: They showed up about a half hour late, 8:30 AM and did the job they were contracted for. I am on the fence if I am satisfied considering how many cancellations and their service last year.