Total Tech Pools Inc

Last year we closed our pool with Total Tech Pools and we trusted that being the professional pool ‘experts’ that they claimed they were, they treated the water with the appropriate chemicals for the winter period. (No they did not)

This year we called them again to open the pool. Their ‘experts’ came to remove the safety cover, fold it, added (they say) 10 liters of chlorine in the water. When we returned home in the evening we were shocked by the view of our pool: filled up to the op with filthy water, and conglomerates of algae and clusters of things that I cannot even define as I have not seen them in our pool before. And they are still there, as the ‘experts’ have not removed them. I took pictures of the pool and sent them a fax that evening, however we have not received a response from them.

We called Brian several times to follow up and he was always busy with customers. When he eventually came to the phone, he told us that what has happened with our pool is because we should have closed it later last year and opened it sooner this year. They never told us last year that we should close it later or open it sooner. Only when they came to open it we heard this for the first time. |Brian said that his ‘expert’ who came to assess our pool (I think that Brian should stop using this term as far as he and his staff are concerned), so this ‘expert’ told him that there is indeed a need for vacuuming and additional substance in the water but that should be charged on top of the pool opening price, as we had a warm winter and this is the reason for the algae conglomerates.

I find this unbelievable; I find this is pure theft. To charge us $CAD213.50 before tax only to fold the cover, turn on the pump (just switch it on), and put in 10 liters of chlorine (which I very much doubt they did by the look of our pool today), I find this unacceptable.

I am placing this review, so that other people who may want to hire Total Tech Pools for any job, should really think twice and do more research before they chose to go with them. There is no accountability on their part, they are not delivering on promise, there is no quality, and they are NOT the experts they claim to be. As far as we are concerned, Total Tech Pools lost a client.

I've used Total Tech in the past (2009) for opening and closing - which was OK - most companies can open/close pools without much difficulty.

They performed some repairs on the pool that caused other issues - after trying to resolve with their so-called expert I found someone else to complete the work. I also had my visa card billed before advising me it was going to happen which I thought was unprofessional. Purchased some replacement jets for my spa and discovered later that they marked them up 300% as I found the same ones at another pool store.

Left vmail for the owner and requested to talk to the owner who never called me or even emailed.

Areas of Improvement: project mgmt + customer communication + onsite customer service and project oversight.

I have been using Total Tech Pools for the last few years to service my pool. They do a great job with the opening and closing. Staff is very nice and knowledgable. They leave the deck and covers very clean once they are done working. The beginning of the season they have a great sale for their customers and throw a wonderful BBQ. Would definately recomment Total Tech for all your pool servicing needs.

Accountability 101:
two groups of people: “renters” - Do not take accountability for their actions and “owners” –Do.

Accountability, correctly understood and effectively applied, produces results. And with those results comes a level of personal satisfaction that can be achieved in no other way. David and his team, need to make a choice that they will take accountability for being seen as a “renter” and that they would want to become seen as an “owner.”

Making the choice to operate Above the Line and take accountability for their actions and overcome the obstacles they face is an essential skill that anyone who manages and leads people must learn to master.

When you create that level of personal accountability first, your ability to execute both personally and organizationally becomes all that more effective. When you skip that step and try to execute on a foundation that lacks this personal accountability, then you get problems, not solutions; mistakes not innovation; frustration, not motivation; and excuses instead of results.

This is what I experienced as a customer who paid for a professional service to be executed and instead of getting this service, I got denial from the owner, excuses from the staff for their shoddy workmanship which they claim was down to "human error" and therefore should be acceptable and lastly I got blame. I was blamed for been unreasonable and was told that I would never be satisfied. They further told me that structurally the fence was sound, but I was been picky about the aesthetics. When I continued to tell them that they needed to come up with a workable solution to rectify the fence, the workman aka project manager lost it and said that he was leaving. He wanted to take the fence down and leave with it. At this stage I had to ask my wife to call the Oakville police department. Luckily the fence distributor was on site as this was the first time they were installing a fence and he calmed the situation down. I then spent a few hours with them trying to solve the problem (still not sure if I should sent them an invoice for my time).

The previous day, the owner blasted me that he had to come to my house on a Friday afternoon and lay a concrete slab for the pool heater (which is in accordance with the gas code) to be installed on because I had refused to use his primary gas technician and the one I was now going to use insisted there had to be a slab. Sorry, Dave, you charged me $250 to do the job, don't you remember!!

On the day they came to finish the installation, I took the day off work to make sure my wife was not left to fend for herself. She had also been talked badley to the day before from the owner. On this day, I arrived back from the shops, and the owner was outside talking to his staff. He did not have the professional decency to greet me let alone try to resolve the differences we had the day before.

Been courteous and professional does not only apply when things are going your way, but should also apply when the customer is not satisfied or when there is a dispute. This way you would be able to reach a compromise and find an agreed solution to the problem.

David and your team, enjoy the $ 5500 I spent with you and let’s hope you all become "owners" one day. I will be looking forward to the response from Terry, who I dealt with from the onset of my relationship with Total Tech Pools. I never had a problem with him and always found him courteous and respectful. As I told him, I never got a second quote on any of the pool equipment I bought and in fact, he had my credit card that he would debit as he needed. All I wanted in return was a professional installation and a courteous discussion on how to solve the problems we encountered.

Update to response by TTP:
Seen i am such a difficult client, thought i would upload a picture of the professionally installed product that they were going to leave and deemed to be acceptable. 'A picture is worth a thousand words'.

By the way, i had already paid them half the amount quoted for the fence as a deposit and they were debiting my credit card at their own discretion. They forgot to mention that when they had under quoted me for the fence by $ 130, i agreed in good faith to split the error 50/50 with them after i had accepted the quote (i must be very unreasonable as they say).

As for changing the conditions "unilaterally", i am sure i mentioned that i did phone and inform Terry that there was a change and he did tell me not to worry as they would work around it. Yes it may have been a misunderstanding and we agree on this, but take some responsibility for the advise you gave me on the call. You are supposed to be the professionals that understand the work at hand. You can't lay it all on me.

Not sure why i should have to accept below par work and this now labels me in your eyes as been a difficult and unreasonable customer.

I guess you had to throw in the 'abusive language' line as you are trying your hardest to discredit me. Pretty lame and predictable.

By threaten you, you mean phone the police! The last time i looked, it was a crime to remove goods from someone's property, and yes i had paid for half of it. The remaining half was for the installation which you could not seem to get right.

Have dealt with several other pool companies in Oakville (as there are many) but finally have found a good one with Total Tech. I needed to replace my pump and filter at the beginning of this year, that is when I was introduced to Total Tech and their staff of friendly and knowledgeable individuals. Got a great price on my equipment and have since made it my home for pool chemical testing and accessories. My kids love going in there to get a frozen treat and I like the fact they don't try and sell you every chemical under the sun. Happy to write this review for you guys, you truely deserve all those awards you have won for customer service and small business of the year. Charity car wash and BBQ was a nice touch as well. Thanks again for everything.

Having purchased our pool a few years back and worked with another Oakville based pool company (horror story) I cannot say enough good things about Total Tech on Speers Road. (The only pool company on Speers Road to deal with believe me).
Terry , Dave and company showcase all the time the ultimate in customer service . Most recently our pool started to leak -- needless to say this was a very frustrating experience. Total Tech to the rescue as always not only finding but repairing the leak in a timely fashion.
If you are dealing with any other pool company in Oakville and like most are looking for a change --- I highly recommend Total Tech.
MM

My husband and I recently bought a new home with an inground pool. We immediately wanted to convert it to salt pool and chose to go with Total Tech basically because they sold the Jandy line of products. It was almost 2K more than any of its competitors but we were assured that it would pay off in customer service. We were promised that they would get the pool up and running for us, that it would be maintenance free.

After the install was done, they told us to dump 10 bags of salt into the pool. After we blindly followed their advice (even though we had asked again and again for them to do it for us, as we really did not want to be maintaining the pool on our own at all), we had piles of salt on the bottom of our pool.

That was the end of the customer support. The owner came by and suggested we "stir" the pool as sometimes it takes a while to dissolve. After talking with other pool companies, now I know that's total BS. Also he took a water sample, and never called us back. Claims he came out several days later to check on us, but we weren't home. Hmm... maybe he should have called us first.

When you actually get the owner to call you back, it's never his fault.

Called a different pool company (Ultimate),and they were awesome. Problem fixed in 48 hours.

Also purchased a polaris sport pool cleaner, top of the line. Too bad, it broke down. Called Total Tech, still waiting for their call back 2 weeks later.
Called polaris myself, new part shipped out.

Thanks Total Tech, you are sooo Total Trash.

10 yrs. ago had walk in stairs installed and new liner and new concrete around inground pool. It was a terrible job. Second year liner had wrinkles in it and they would do nothing about it. I was to get a hand rail for my walk in stairs and still waiting. Had to fight with them to put back the diving board that was already there. Told at the beginning they would put it there and then when the concrete was poured they changed their mind and said it was illegal--then after freaking out on them they put the diving board back. Called many times about the hand railing was even told it was there at the shop but never saw it--pretty sure I paid for it.
Again another company who has one or two qualified people and the rest are college kids who are unsuprised and left to do a job on their own and don't know what they are doing and could care less.

Please do not give this company a penny of your money!~!

Go to Ulimate Pool in Oakville just the next block from Total Tech\
I have been using these 2 brothers now and they are great. Very much into customer service. As a customer I want that.

The crew came to close the pool and they were so unexperienced and not even able to picture out the way the cover should go. Then they called someone who was more experience supposed and yet left the winter cover not fully installed with a huge gap at the corner. Have to do it by myself to install it properly. Waste your time and money to hire this company. Negotiated with them and only got half refunded.