Customer ReviewsforAquaRama Pools & Spas

There are many reasons, many very good reasons, that Aquarama has been in the pool business for over 60 years. They are honest, dependable and very knowledgeable about building pools, maintaining pools and the pool business. Thet are also highly efficient and creative, plus they do everything for a reasonable price. The pool business is a tough one, but they do it better than anyone else we have ever used.

They are great. Very professional. They have people that can help with your yard for proper drainage and they are great with any problems you are having with your pool.

Aqua Rama really is one of the most painful companies I've had the displeasure of working with. Which is a shame because their weekly service technicians are knowledgeable and very nice.The frustration I have with this business is how disorganized and completely radio silent they are with you. They'll never tell you if or if not they are showing up to do a repair. I've been waiting over 2 months for a repair to my pool. The damage was also done during a return line replacement. Instead of fixing one of the drains the crew broke, they just covered it with concrete. This fix would've taken the repair crew 5 minutes, but instead they cut corners and now I have a damaged drain.***** called and initially scheduled something for 3 weeks ago to fix this problem. They of course never showed up, and she later called and rescheduled. And guess what - they never showed up on the rescheduled date. Since then, no one has reached out to me for rescheduling (for a 4th time). I regret choosing this business for our pool work. Again, it's a shame because I really like our weekly maintenance crew for our pool. But anything to do with repairs, maintenance, or scheduling is an absolute nightmare. And the management of Aquarama truly does not care.

What an absolute joke of a company, with a serious lack of communication problem. After our initial pool clean we were told someone would come weekly on Fridays for maintenance. This past Friday rolls around and no one shows up I call Saturday to see what happened and was told that our ticket had been moved to Mondays without our knowledge. I made it clear that our house was being professionally photographed on Monday to be put on the market later in the week so the cleaning would need to be completed before 11am. Was told this was not an issue - called Monday morning at 11am to confirm it was completed and was promptly told that the technician had called out sick only an hour before and there was nothing they could do. I would have never found out this information had I not called myself and now we have a dirty pool prior to pictures being taken. DO NOT recommend if you expect timeliness and thorough communication from a business.

On Saturday they came to my house to replace one of my pumps as well as check over the entire filtration system. Where do I even begin with this nightmare. Their techs arrived unannounced, dug a hole in my backyard without asking me (once again, my wife and I were home they never rang the doorbell to inform us that they had arrived). Okay fine, I rolled with it. After they were done I asked them many questions and I genuinely felt like my old pump might've been fine and that they just replaced it without even checking it. Fine whatever. They tell me they cleaned up the leaks in my system, specifically the chlorinator and that my unit should be good to go. Well I go to put chlorine into the chlorinator and I can't get the top off for the life of me. I am very strong and I was cranking so hard I was afraid I was going to break something, which I did, one of the tabs. On top of that the new pump they installed was leaking and so was the chlorinator still!! Also they removed the anchors from my old pump and did not re-anchor the new pump to the ground. On Monday I called them and explained my concerns. I was assured someone would call me back. On Thursday (with no return phone call and no itemized receipt delivered to me) they decided to charge my card for their services. On Friday I called and spoke with a manager, ******* She profusely apologized and assured me a crew was on their way to fix the issues. On top of that she PROMISED me she was going to call me back with an exact time that they would be coming to do the work. It is not Saturday. It's been one week that I haven't been able to get chlorine into my chlorinator. I never received a phone call back yesterday and no one has arrived to fix the installation. I was sad because this is supposed to be a mom and pop shop and I was hoping to have my pool cover purchased and installed through them but with the way that this experience has gone I have no other choice but to leave this review and never

This is an honest assessment of my experience with Aquarama, I will only include the facts as they occurred. The following was put together from my phone log and text history. Strap in!

My wife and I decided to upgrade our old pool pump after it died from a single speed Hayward Pump to a Variable speed. The new pump installed had a faulty drive. It was explained to me this would be an easy fix, simply have another drive sent and they swap like puzzle pieces. However, in order to kick in the warranty Hayward required a diagnostic from a 'registered Hayward tech', and this is when I contacted Aquarama.

I contacted them on April 12th to schedule a visit. After they rescheduled a couple times I let them know I would be writing an honest review at the end of their work.

The tech arrived April 19th. Remember, the pump is out so the pool is deteriorating. We keep our pump running intermittently year round, this was not a winterized pool. My intention was to have the pool ready for the kids (I have three) by the start of April. Overall it took 7 days from the time I called to schedule the appointment to the day they arrived. The tech seemed a very experienced pool motor guy, he was friendly and seemed to really know his craft. He agreed the drive was faulty and stated he would put in the order to Hayward.

April 26th: I called. I was told the individual whom I needed to talk with was at lunch and would call me back when they returned. They did not return the call.

April 27th: After no call back I reached out via text, Aquarama stated they would reach out with an update by the next morning. They did not. (The pool is now green. There is a symphony of mating frogs in it.)

April 30th: Again, I reached out via text. Aquarama responded, "I just checked in and they will be approving the warranty today and it should ship out by Monday", demonstrating they had yet to even approve the warranty. Mind you, this is 2 weeks and 3 days since I first made contact. The pool is starting to look less like a pool, and more like an actual pond.

May 6th (Thursday): After reaching out via text Aquarama stated that the "shipment is scheduled" and should arrive within 1-2 business days.

May 12: I reached out via text. No response that day.

May 14th: Aquarama responded via text, stating that it would ship out on Monday.

May 19th: I reached out via text, "Please tell me the part shipped on Monday" Aquarama stated they would track it and get back with me. They did not reach out at all. The pool water is now going from deep green to black. Less like a pond and more like a cesspool. You cannot see below a foot of the water. It has been 30 days since I first contacted them.

May 21st: I called. I was told that the person I needed to talk to was on the phone and they would return my call as soon as they were off. They did not return the call.

May 24th: I called. I was told the individual I needed to talk to was out to lunch and would return my call after they returned. They did not return the call.

May 25th: I called. When the individual stated the person I needed to talk to was "at lunch" I told them I would wait on the phone until they returned. I was put on hold and the head of the department, *****, was on the phone within 2 minutes. She stated they did not have the part.

Now I want to be clear, other than over a month prior informing them via text I would be inevitably writing a review of their services, I had been very polite and professional with this company. I even sent funny GIF's in my texts showing cartoons of swamps from Disney movies with funny little quips. I was determined not to present myself as entitled or demanding. I'm a psychotherapist by trade, I understand these are real people on the other end of the phone just doing their job. I never name called, raised my voice, demanded, or threatened them at any point. At this juncture however I felt like I needed to let them know that I was starting to get disappointed and needed them to step it up.

***** seemed like an individual who was used to dealing with problems. I told her how disappointed I was Aquarama had never returned a single call. I was disappointed they had continued to inform me the part was coming and would be there in a matter of days and would never inform me that it hadn't. I gave her the timeline of events I had prepared prior to the call. I told her about the condition of the pool. I maintained a completely respectful tone the entire conversation. I never raised my voice, condescended, demeaned, or demoralized this individual. I showed complete respect. What I did do was communicate my disappointment. She stated she took pride in resolving issues and would reach out to Hayward and find out what was going on. She was polite, and the call ended with me thanking her for taking the time to resolve the issue. It was a very calm and rational conversation.

May 25th: ***** called back that evening and said she had waited "all day" on hold with Hayward. She said she would try again the next day. I thanked her.

May 26th: (Strap in!) ***** called at 2:00. She said that there had never really been a problem. That somehow it had been "sitting on a dock and waiting" all this time. She insisted right out of the gate: it was not Aquarama's fault at all, but Haywards. Thankfully after her call to them, Hayward reported the part would now be expedited. This bothered me. I told her even if what she was saying was true that it took almost a month and a half for them to make contact with Hayward. That Aquarama had not returned even 1 of my phone calls. I had been lightly and respectfully informing them of the condition of the pool. Texting them. It took me refusing to get off of the phone when I last called to get any action. The pool water might be ruined. Maybe they could absorb the cost of sending someone out to help? She said no, it simply "wasn't their fault" and if I would like she would write a "maintenance letter" to my utility company. "Maybe they would give me a break on my utility bill" for replacing the water she said. I told her that Aquarama of course bore some responsibility, it was ridiculous to insist otherwise. (It would also be fundamentally dishonest to claim this to the utility company. She knew that.)

But ***** did insist, throwing everything but the kitchen sink: It was the Pandemic...It was manufacturing issues...They were swamped in her office unlike anything she had ever experienced in her 30 years. She talked about how the price of lumber had gone up and this affected her as she was in the middle of renovations after moving into her daughters in-law suite. She seemed to want me to know that she herself had recently suffered, and personally. She insisted I should be grateful for her recent efforts. For all these stated reasons: It was Hayward's fault completely. This seemed silly to me, I told her even if Hayward had issues, it had no bearing on "Aquarama never returning any of my calls". You kept saying it was being shipped when it wasn't and now the pool is a wreck. I would have bought a single speed pump in the interim had I known. Surely Aquarama bore some responsibility in this? She said they did not accept any responsibility and that I would also be charged for installing the drive because the warranty only covered parts, not labor. I told her I would be giving a very honest review of all that had happened and to just get me the part, I would install it myself. (At this point in the conversation we're talking over each other) She then said I would be charged for the original diagnostic. I told her "Fine. I'll give you your money, just get me the part".

She seemed insulted, and this is when she showed her colors, "You know what?", she said. "You can keep your money, and you can get your part from somewhere else!"

And then she hung up the phone.

6 weeks, 2 days, and one ruined pool later I was literally back to square one.

When I reached out to other pool companies to get estimates, they mostly laughed when I told them what had happened. They informed me this is why pool professionals in the area have come to refer (amongst themselves) to Aquarama as AquaDrama. One stated they received clients "all the time" from them because "they get tired of the lying". They all told a similarly themed story of an old family run business that once took their work and clients seriously, but had recently been inherited and was under new leadership. That being said they all knew of ***** too. That she had gotten her daughter a job at Aquarama. They stated ***** could behave however she wanted with impunity because Aquarama couldn't run without her, and she knew it. Turns out the pool business is a pretty small world. One suggested I simply call Hayward myself.

AquaDrama indeed.

The interim pool motor it took to get the pool running was listed at $189.00. The chemicals required to bring to pool back to life cost around $80.00. I did the labor myself: it took about 4 days (10-12 hours total) of vacuuming, dumping filters, netting, a full day of new water, and brushing the pool over and over again to remedy the damage. All this I would have done earlier had I not been thinking the part would arrive within days.

After finally calling Hayward myself they stated they would ship a new pump and motor directly considering Aquadrama's behavior.

Trust me: Aquadrama isn't worth it. It would be less emotionally taxing to get a double major in chemistry and engineering and take care of your pool yourself. Or you could simply call someone else at the onset. Your choice.

Aquarama will take your money, not deliver, and are clearly indifferent to customer care.

1) TECHNICIANS ARE GREAT: The technicians that do the work are knowledgeable and do a good job. I have confidence in their abilities and training. I have used Aquarama for 15 years. However,,,,,,,

2) OFFICE MANAGER AND STAFF ARE INCOMPETENT: The office manager and staff scheduling service calls, providing quotes, and ordering equipment are incompetent and non-responsive to service delays or customer complaints. We have been adjusting our schedule to stay home everyday for over a month, waiting for the service technicians to show up and complete work on our pool. We call the office staff every morning asking if they will show up, they respond sorry we will be there first thing tomorrow morning. They consistently do not show up, we call again, and they respond with again with false promises. Rinse and repeat daily for the past 29 days. The technicians are good but the scheduling and office staff are terrible.

3) BUSINESS OWNER NO LONGER CARES ABOUT CUSTOMER: We chose Aquarama to build our pool based on their reputation for service quality and the Schearer family owned business. However, the past few years the current family owner has clearly tarnished the family name. I have left multiple messages and tried to reach the semi-retired owner directly for months and she refuses to return calls. I am truly surprised and disappointed in the degradation of customer service responsiveness. The business problems clearly come from top management down.

I am ***** to revise my BBB review if they decide to show up and complete the work, for which I have already paid.

Respectfully,

*** ***** / Powder Springs, GA