Lakeside Pools

One of the biggest major project mistakes we ever made. Lousy, unethical company. They won’t back to commitments they make themselves directly, those of their own people or their subcontractors. We contracted with them to do the pool and entire backyard landscape project. The subcontractors that Lakeside set up and sent did cheap, garbage work .. or didn’t show up at all and took our deposit. When we naturally had issues with all of this, Lakeside claimed they were “direct deals” that we made and they’re not responsible. We didn’t deal directly with anyone other than Lakeside - there was no reason to since we worked with them and they set up/designed and were supposed to fulfill the entire project. They set up and designed pergola for the backyard, the subcontractor they chose wanted 50% down to order materials and 50% upon completion. They sent their invoice to Lakeside directly who sent it to us with instructions to fulfill. This person/company they contracted with actually lost their license in March 2022, but the Lakeside kept stringing us along that the Pergola would be completed when the pool is completed – this went on for an entire year. It was only after Lakeside got final payment that they admitted the Pergola person/company had defaulted and went out of business - too bad, but not on them. The entire project was a litany of screwup’s, revolving door subcontractors, garbage workmanship, delays, lies and excuses. I understand delays and things that are outside of their control, but the lying and denial of any responsibility for their own commitments and mistakes goes above and beyond. They’ve had 11 complaints in the last two years through the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, 6 of them currently open and this year alone - this should tell you something. Getting a poor review or negative feedback can happen to anyone, but when there are several with the same issues time and time again, it should give anyone pause. If you are looking to find someone to trust to design and fulfill a large project such as a pool, backyard redesign, landscape, pergola/gazebo, etc. – I would recommend to look elsewhere.

My pool & landscape project was contracted in December 2020. Excavation began July 2021 one month after closing on a newly built home. Initial completion date provided to escrow company was December 10, 2021, now May 1, 2022. All contact was professional until the project was actually started. Communication appropriate with customer service reps. Very poor return communication with construction manager. I have actually not physically seen this person since our initial construction meeting. He has made multiple promises via text to come to the home and never showed up, doing this more than once. Thus far, each phase (plumbing, steel, electrical) has taken and is taking an unusually long period of time. I have had a hole in my backyard since July which just has plumbing and steel after 6 months. And after a very angry email exchange with the design manager I am concerned the delay is retaliation for my complaints. Mine is not a large project. Neighbors using other companies in the area have projects that are completed even though they started those projects after mine. I’ve been told multiple times that delays are industry-wide which is clearly not the case. The blame is being placed on the contractors but if that were the case and customers are getting angry, why wouldn’t this company find alternative contractors to get projects done? The issue now is that I’m stuck with Lakeside Pool and am at their mercy to complete this project. No other pool company wants to take over an incomplete project. Lakeside Pools offers no sincere apology or mitigation offers, only excuses, arguments, and threats. I am sorry I chose Lakeside Pools and would never recommend them to anyone.