Custom Designs Pool Co

"LONG BUT WORTH THE READ We chose to use CDP due to the amazing sales pitch the owner gave. He came off very knowledgable. While Our pool is complete, it is far from custom or quality for the price.Dig day ended up being Nov 10th which was a month behind. We weren’t overly concerned because we knew we wouldn’t be swimming over the winter. Once the pool was dug and rebar was set, communication came to a complete stop. Weeks would go by and not a word from the company unless we called them asking what was next. While some of the time setbacks were understandable ( severe weather, sick employees) most of it was lack of communication and planning. We would get told guys were coming to work on the stone by one owner, when they didn’t show and we called to ask where they were, anyone else in the office had no clue what we were talking about. We called to ask what the dirt that got dropped off was for, they had no clue where it came from or why. They told us they would get the tile we picked immediately while it was in stock. They did not and it resulted in a wait. Total time from dig day to water in the pool was 125 days. To show comparison, the other pool company 2 neighbors used had pools complete dig to fill in 6 weeks. At that point we were paid in full as required. It took another 22 days to get mastic and the cleaning equipment finished. Once they received final payment which was required before plaster, they were gone. The table is not centered. The umbrella holes are not centered. The mastic was over poured and done sloppy. During the whole process my yard was a trash pile. While I understand the process will create a mess, it shouldn’t include trash, cigarette butts, form boards with nails in them around my children, When it came time to grade the yard back with dirt, they told me their skid steer was broke so they did it by hand. Within a week, it was uneven and a giant mess due to it not being packed down. I ordered more dirt and fixed it myself after with a skid steer and found multiple pieces of tile and coping they buried instead of cleaning up as promised. Overall the process was extremely frustrating for the Amount of money spent. They have taken on too many projects at once with not enough employees. You will not be of any priority to this company. The only person who tries to make things right is Meredith who has many job titles there, but one person can simply not make this company run. Steer clear of them unless you want to spend your money for mediocre work and a terrible experience."

"Bruce Peel (the owner) has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Had several issues during the build. Finally got the pool finished and as soon as the check was cashed, the customer service stopped. I actually had to refer to my contract before final payment to dispute an overcharge. On a $75,000 he was trying to nit pick a nickel here and a nickel there. I paid the full amount. then when I had a couple minor issues, I requested service. they would take weeks to come out. when they did show up they would only attempt to fix 1 thing out of a list of several things. I learned I had to be there just to relay the info to the service person. Bruce spoke to me in a way I have never been spoken to, He was so rude and condescending and was even mocking me on the phone. I only have a 1 year warranty and I still have a few things that do not work. I was just told that I am too picky and that I would have to pre-pay for services from now on. Bruce needs to retire. they are basically refusing to honor a warranty that I paid for. His son Justin, worked for them and is the person who represented the company and told me what was wrong with the pool and that he would make sure it was replaced. Bruce now claims that Justin was the" lowest of the low employee" and I have to get off this "Justin said" stuff. Do yourself a huge favor and do not use these guys for your new pool or for your service. they promise the world and underdeliver. they do not stand behind their work and even family doesn't stick around. He will try to dispute this by saying I am too picky. I have never had this kind of experience with any other company I have ever dealt with. I am furious at the way I have been spoken to on at least 2 different occasions from the owner himself. he will also try to say he had a hard time with getting paid... I paid fully early in some cases but after the pool was paid in full, his son left me some chlorine tablets and billed me. It was like $116. I never received a bill and they were calling "the wrong number" but once I was made aware, I paid right away. He is just an angry, cheap, old man. He has no leg to stand on and should never be allowed to speak to customers. Buyer beware. There are plenty of pool companies out there that actually value your business and treat you with respect. The BBB will be contacted. Please note... there are several other low reviews but instead of responding to the negative review directly, they input a new review in response and they give themselves 5 stars (of course). This is a little thing but it speaks volumes to their deceptiveness to falsely inflate their overall google rating. Please do yourself a favor and read all reviews. If being treated horribly is not enough to steer you away please read reviews and proceed with great caution. the perceived savings will vanish when they nickel and dime you and then you will have to pay for things that should be warranty covered. you will either pay them or finally realize you need to pay someone else to fix it right."

"DO NOT USE Custom Designs Pool Company (CDPC). CDPC finally finished our pool this month. I was told our pool would take 70 days to complete. 70 days is a longer length of time than it has been in the past, but due to (insert excuse here) it would take 70 days. I lost count after 115 days. After the pool equipment was installed is when I learned that there are manual controls such as valves and such that have to be worked to turn on the spa. I have to walk around the back of the equipment through the mud to get to them. The day after that install, we had our first rain. I checked on the equipment to discover it is submerged in 5” of water. It was obvious that setting this equipment 12” below the patio deck was not a good idea. But what do I know? I advised him of the submerged equipment. He told me he’s not responsible, in fact, “It’s not my fault!” was the reply and the equipment was placed where I told him. He also said he is not responsible for landscaping of my pool and relayed to me how smart of a man I appear to be and should understand how it is (I am not keen on my intellect being challenged by the incompetence of another.) I had to remind him being the pool designer was his job, not mine. I asked for a remote at a discounted rate to make up for his miscommunication. He said he couldn’t do that. He said he “is in business to make money”. He can’t afford to give me a remote at cost and lose money. I suppose they would have left my equipment as such had I not spoke up about it. Meanwhile, CDPC’s foreman quit before finishing my pool. After sending another person out to examine the submerged equipment, he said he didn’t know why it was set in like that. It took a week for (mis-)management to decide if they were going to redo the setting of the equipment. Once they decided it was the correct thing to do, it took another week before work was started. Meanwhile my pool had to sit stagnant after filling it for the first time. No urgency from CDPC whatsoever. After repairing the system, it took another 2 weeks to get the cleaning equipment and be taught how to care for the pool. Five weeks after it was filled with water, they were finally done. Management has not spoken to me since they finally agreed to fix the submerged equipment. During the time I had to deal with CDPC, I heard lots of excuses from (mis-)management. You know what they say about excuses… and they all stink. I also had to deal with the blame game, no one taking responsibility and no return calls. Many apologies came from the previous foreman and the last man at my place trying to make some compensation for the mismanagement I had to endure. There were lots of other errors I had to overcome to see this to the end. Too many to list and anxious to be rid of the company. Both Ken and Bruce were very concerned and diligent about their payments. It’s a three payment process. I had no problem paying, but special emphasis on payments was reiterated. Before the last step in the process to be completed (the plastering), I received call with a stern demeanor dictating payment had to be secured before the plastering would be done. No problem. I paid him. That’s what I agreed to. However, after the last payment was made is when the “service” really declined. Once they had their full payment, I went to the bottom of the urgency list. What should have been a week after plastering to complete took 5 weeks and lots of excuses. Most were, “…we are working on someone else’s pool”. It is unfortunate that good employees have to attempt to make up for the incompetence of the owners. Apologies is what I got used to hearing. There are only 3-4 employees at CDPC. Everyone who comes out to work on your pool is a sub-contractor. DO NOT USE Custom Designs Pool Company. I am so sorry I used them. I will not refer anyone to Custom Designs Pool of Granbury."

"Amanda Caywood, when you called the office I returned your call the following day. We did tell you that the coping and Plaster were out of warranty which is plainly stated in our contract. We did send someone over to look at these issues, as a courtesy to see what could be done. This was not the answer that you were looking for. You also called our office on another issue about your pump being down (which was still under warranty) and we told you that we were so busy and didn't want your pool being down any longer then necessary that we would turn it over to Hayward warranty company ( since it was still under warranty) and who ever could get there first would fix it. (Once again not what you wanted to hear). The Builder who recommended you to us still uses our company today and anyone is free to call and talk to them"

"Jeff K. you have aerators not fountains which are controlled by valves to equalize you aerator's height. As all pools with multi outlets on one line, a valve is used to balance the flow between outlets. We have addressed your concerns in this matter and have found no basis for this issue. All work was done in a quality and timely manner as promised. Mr McFarland Your complaint extends from Material left on your property. At the point of our first Discovery/Design appointment, in the beginning you ask me if we could leave the material excavated from the pool back behind the pool, off to the side. I myself told you it'll probably be mostly rock. You informed me that it would be ok/ no problem. The day my excavator shows up with my employees standing beside the excavator again you explicitly asked him and us to leave the excavated material piled up on the right rear of the pool. We all knew it would be rock, including you. My excavator did exactly as asked. After the excavator finished his job, loaded up his rig and left to start another job across the county you come home to find the rock piled up exactly where you directed us to leave it. You then at that point realizing it was all rock and faced with the reality it was a lot of rock , You called shouting why did the excavator leave the rock on site. How did all 4 of us hear the same thing and suddenly you claim different when faced with reality of what you were warned about in the first place. We offered to have the excavator come back at cost to haul off the rock. No one works for free. I'm sorry you choose to slam us for your decisions. I feel bad this happened but it was not of our making. Ken Peel Co- Owner"