Pools N' Spas by Strong

If you are in the market to have a pool installed, PLEASE DO NOT use Quality Pool Designs, Inc., Pools N Spas , or Quality Pools by Strong Inc. This company is NOT BBB accredited and has a C- BBB Rating.

My story in a nutshell: In June 2021, I signed a contract with Quality Pool Designs (pool spec sheet shows Pools N Spas) to install a pool and enclosure. Groundbreaking was 10 February 2022, and I was finally able to fill the pool in October 2022. However, the project was never actually completed due to several outstanding issues; namely, (1) a skimmer that needs to be grouted; (2) rough concrete edges around the enclosure that need to be smoothed out; (3) sunshelf that was not sanded down after the final coat was applied; (4) the “cool deck” (acrylic coating on concrete) which began peeling after 3 days. I finally paid to have it resurfaced by a more reputable company in July 2023. Even though this pool company repeatedly told me “We are working on it”.

In March 2023, after repeatedly reporting the same issues and receiving no resolution, I reported them to the BBB and guess what, I got a call from a sub-contractor to fix my sunshelf. They never completed their project either, but it does look better. Other issues mentioned above still exist.

Also, my salt generator has NEVER worked. I am currently on the second one and we believe the wiring is getting wet due to a run off issue. This was not reported to the pool company as I do not want them on my property again unannounced.

Following is a copy of what is on the BBB site:

Pattern of Complaint:

Based on BBB files, Strong, Inc. dba Pools N Spas Of Central Florida has a pattern of disputes alleging contract and customer service issues. Consumers allege once a contract has been signed, and the down payment made, Strong, Inc. does not honor promises made to consumers. Consumers allege Strong, Inc. gives a proposed start date for pool installation, however, consumers complain of numerous delays in start dates and during the construction process. Some consumers allege that despite paying for their projects in full, Strong, Inc. never completes the pools they were contracted to build.

They started building our pool in the beginning of November 2019 and on December 13, 2019, our empty gunite (concrete) pool popped out of the ground after only a few weeks away from being completed. Apparently an employee forgot to pop out the weeping hole at the bottom of the pool & it "floated up" like a boat. We aren't upset about the pop out, mistakes happen, but it's how they have handled or more accurately not handled their mistake. We got horrible service and treatment from this moment on. They were trying to save this pool by building trenches from the pool to the septic, bringing extra heavy equipment, getting 3 tractors/equipment stuck, more digging, a complete mess. Finally after a few days of destroying our side and back yard trying to save this pool, they admit they must demolish this one and start all over. We are ok with that, just do it right this time and fix our yard! They bring even more heavy equipment, lots of damage to our yard, dig out our back irrigation line (was supposed to cap the back sprinklers so we still have use of our front sprinklers) which resulted in none of our sprinklers working. Jonathan (our pool salesman, vp, and son) said the company would cap off the back but would not affect the performance of the front sprinklers. By ripping out the irrigation line, none of our zones work now. We have a huge pile of dirt that we have been begging them to take for months. After so much more digging, there is so much dirt. They finally start re-pouring the new pool (concrete guy said he did if for free so no one would blame him for what happened to the 1st pool). They fired the employee for not popping out the weeping hole. Why would you not have some sort of foreman or supervisor making sure important things like this is being done and not put it all on one employee? When we measure the 2nd pool, it is 4 inches shorter in the swim area lengthwise. When we brought it to Jim (the president and dad) and Jonathan's (vp & son) attention, they laughed. After our pop-out, destroyed yard, ripped our irrigation system, mounds of dirt they won't take, and a pool 4 inches shorter, I don't think it's funny. The screen enclosure guy told me they can't build the enclosure with all the dirt, so finally they took 2 dump truck loads but there is still loads needed taking. We pointed to the area where the sump pump/irrigation line is to let the crew know where NOT to dig. Of course, that is where they dug and cut our irrigation line when they were getting the 2 loads of dirt to take to the dump truck. We were afraid it was going to short out the sump pump which is of course under the big mound of dirt that is still there. We call, text, beg for the company to get this dirt as we currently are unable to flush our toilets due to the cut septic line. I sent pics to show the cut lines, they even managed to cut our septic alarm line, but no response. They love to say they don't "work weekend", but we need to flush our toilets on the weekend, and your company has left our yard and property so damaged. They even managed to cut our water-hose, must've gotten stuck on their equipment but who cares, just cut it? They have no regard for our property. Jarrod (vp of construction and other son) did admit they don't have a dump site closer than 2 hours from here and it's too expensive to dump this dirt and trash. That is why we still have all this dirt for so long and so much heavy trash (way too much for our trashcan) that our HOA is now on us asking when this mess is going to be cleaned. They dumped someone else's gutters on the side of our yard since the beginning and so much trash. Makes perfect sense, we are their dump site. We have no fence to hide this mess and live in a strict HOA. We have gotten 2 quotes to fix their damages to our yard. The normal one pallet of grass for a normal pool build will be closer to 25 pallets for us. We got a quote from 2 companies to fix the damages, so far is between $16K and $13K. I have never had such a bad experience with any company as this one. I'm so surprised they have been in business so long. Maybe they are ok if everything goes smoothly, but if anything goes wrong, this company will make it seem like it's your fault, you are inconveniencing them, and they are doing you a favor by building your pool (doing their job!). We spent $44,900 in full, cash hoping this would expedite the process and have few delays since we paid in full. They just used our money for other jobs and we have been a side job since the pop out. They basically ignore us and destroy our property. Jarrod even told me this was his construction site and I had to remind him, this is my property that you have turned into a construction site. Please please please hire another pool company. Do not hire these people. It has been the most stressful experience, costing us so much time, money, and peace of mind. They get zero, none, no stars.

Our pool project with began with Quality Pools of Jacksonville, sold to us by Frank Messina. The pool was installed by Pools N’ Spas of Central Florida, also known as Strong, Inc. The project dragged on for months and was a terrible experience for our family.

We signed the contract in Sept 2017, and construction began in early Nov 2017. They “finished” on March 29, 2018. There were no significant weather, permitting, or other issues to delay the project. In fact, a house around the corner from us started construction the same week on their pool, which included a screen enclosure, and it was completely finished in January. The pace of construction was not our biggest concern; it was the absolutely terrible treatment and lack of communication from Strong, Inc that created tremendous stress. Communication was horrible with Jarrod Eden (‘project manager’) - his voicemail is always full, he never answers his phone, and he only communicates via text message at his convenience. We had no idea who was coming, when they would come, or what was happening next.

Strong, Inc/Quality Pools of Jacksonville/Pools N Spas of Central Florida mispresented the product which was to be built in our yard with the drawings they provided. Anyone can look at the drawings and photos of what they built and clearly see this is not the same product. When confronted about this discrepancy, their salesperson, Frank Messina, was combative, disrespectful, argumentative and rude, stating that the drawing is simply a rendering and that we were wrong. Telling us to shut up and he’s the expert. You can’t reason with an unreasonable person.

Once construction was underway, I pointed out an area where irrigation lines were known to be and texted Frank Messina and Jarrod Eden a photo of the area as well as asked how we can ensure this is handled properly to avoid a break in the line, etc. They both ignored my inquiry. Several months later we discovered the line was in fact broken by the construction. Strong, Inc. said it’s not their responsibility. By this time we expected nothing less from these people.
During construction incompetence was displayed time and time again. The basic task of picking colors for tiles and plaster was a circus that took several weeks and someone driving to our home to drop off samples and a brochure when these choices were all available online. In addition, a table feature of our pool remained unfinished for weeks after the rest of the pool was finished. It took multiple follow up efforts from us to get them to come back and finish the table. But since there was already water in the pool, the water had to be drained by about 2 feet to do the work, and then debris ended up in the pool. The table is also not level.
The construction crew left behind trash and debris in the yard for weeks. Some of this ended up in the pool, and they didn’t bother to pick it up or sweep out the pool before putting water in it. The day they put water in it, they simply turned on our hose and left it running and left for the day without any communication. We were both at work, had no idea that this was done. We travel often and could have been gone for a couple of days, if this were to have happened the water would have overflowed. This was another example of their laziness and incompetence.

Overall, the experience we have had with this company has been negative, filled with stress and uncertainty. This is the largest purchase we have ever made, other than our home, and we expected to be treated as valued customers. We were not. We hope that by telling our story, we can spare other families from the suffering we endured.