Pinch A Penny

I am probably going to sound like another pissed off customer , I am not I was in store number 111 on Saturday April 4th ,to purchase some Items for my pool , when I presented the mailer for the sale price I was told by Frank the owner that he could not make any adjustments it was corporate .I understand the sale is starting April 9th -April 12th . I will not be in town on those dates .

I have been buying my supplies and pool repairs from this store for 25 Years , You can imagine my disappointment after I spoke to Frank and did mention this to him and also my son did work there when he was in high school and college .

I purchased 2 jugs of chlorine , 1 4 lb bag of stablizer,and 1 jug of muriatic acid . Your help with this will be greatly appreciated .

Thank You

Mr .Steve Tremamunno

We had our pool resurfaced by Pinch A Penny Panama City, FL. We thought they did a good job.

The warranty states protection against delamination for 10 years, as long as monthly water samples were brought in, which we did... always buying the products needed, and doing as recommended.
A few years later we noticed a small area of delamination and let Jimmy Legg know about it. It took SEVEN MONTHS to get any response, then he quoted us $1,300 to repair a 3x4 inch area under warranty. The entire resurfacing was only about $5,000.

I can't understand paying $1,300 for a small area under warranty.
Over the years, we have probably spent approximately $15,000 with this company. We were good customers. We will never do business with them again, nor will we recommended them. So disappointing.

I can see now why they have such low ratings. I just wish I would have never done business with them.

I called and asked for pricing . They never came out to look and they quoted me a price less than competitors.

However my pool was fine . No green just changing to salt to use for exercise. I have multiple sclerosis .

Immune issues . Pinchapenny came out on a rainy day and he didnt want to be here .

My neighbor can attest to that . He didnt finish and I had replaced the valve a couple years ago . I had no issues suddenly Im waiting for weeks . Pool was so green and the cost of trying to keep it from staining the sides .

600.more for the part!? .when it kept shutting off and stayed green they blamed me . I didnt set the timer . They were called several times .

The owner demanded a.check. For the remaining 600. is was on hold it isnt finished.Then they tell me that my sand filter may need replaced WHAT??!

I was overcharged . It took months and I called an electrician .

It wasnt my breakers . I called pinch a penny and told them like before it is not turning on . The salt generator . You set the timer .

I didnt touch it . He came out and said it was loose . This was the absolute worst service . I was told just now we are not coming out again .

This is their fault . I called and I had to pay an electrician to come out and check my breakers and my panel . . It wasnt my panel .

I had to pay for him. 300.00 It has to do with the pool people . I am so disappointed and Im a disabled veteran . 100% service connected .i felt like he was a bully and threatened to call fwc on me because I wouldnt give him a check .

The man looks sick. He about fell. He called me names and refused to leave until I had to call sheriff . I will never send anyone to them.

My parents use them . They were not informative . She had 5 jugs of chlorine and they were no good . Someone should have told them you cant stock pile chlorine .

It turns . Cant use it .

What is wrong with these people .

Bob was not helpful at all . TJ was the manager and he talked to me a couple of times . Why is my pool so green .

I was hospitalized and still my pool was not finished . I had to stop payment . They got their money and they are not coming out again . My neighbor was on hand and I called them.

They put 5 bags of salt and chlorine . I bought 20 bags of salt and I had it delivered. I put in 4 bags .the salt generator was not turning on and the pump was humming and not cleaning like it should . This was the third time they came out .

It was shutting off and I didnt touch the timer . What a horrible company . They came out after I called and complained luckily to corporate.

I thought it was all good until today . Terrible business man.

It was over 3000.

Still stopping . Hes been paid .

Lets start with a check list before hiring employees you clearly missed when hiring the 3 employees I came in contact with today. The customer service should not be according to your race how youre treated.

I go to the CROSSHILL location because its convenient. The so called manager for October 21,2024/a female, they should have a record of who spoke with me. She was short and smart mouth.and took the tone as if I shouldnt say anything but accept the service given and not ask any questions.I explained the poor service, and also expressed my concerns about the only two chemicals the pool guy dumped in my pool. He said I wasnt low on one and needed some of the other, a yellow container, the other was a white container.

She ,referring to the said manager speculated and made the assumption of what he might have used in the pool. I said to her, he didnt tell me the chemicals he was using or what the chemicals that were needed. She said he didnt need to. Excuse me???

I've spoken with her before and she had the same nasty attitude while speaking at me. Employees should know their job description and place. I let her know that yes he should have, if I asked. I said youre billing my card for a service Im not receiving.

I

Explained that the pool guy vacuumed the pool and there was clearly debris left at the bottom of the pool. Apparently the vacuum doesnt work very well. I watched him briskly sweep across the pool by areas. The swim out area was not touched,the spa area was left with the debris and dirt.

The sun shelf was left with debris and a few black spots, that he didnt mention or take care of. To put the icing on this topic, apparently today a rabbit got into the pool and didnt make it out. I got a bag, he scooped it out, he continued to gather the leaves from the pool. Im not an expert pool cleaner, but shouldnt the pool have received some sort of shocker for that rabbit being in the pool today???

Im sure chlorine and acid would not have been enough to sanitize a pool from a stray animal

Ill end with the young male employee that answered the phone around 6pm, who passed the phone to the so call manager, was Rude!!! He said its that LOVER againI in return said yes it is Mrs Lover again.What led up to this rudeness is I called this morning to verify a time the pool guy would come today,she acted like she couldnt give me a morning time or a evening or end of the day time . Iexplained it didnt have to be an exact time, I simply need to know when to be at home. I called again almost 4 pm to see if the pool guy had a cut off time for the day, then I called after the pool guy rushed through the horrible cleaning of my pool.

If the male employee didnt want to answer the phone he shouldve allowed someone else to answer the phone. I am a paying customer, not the employees friend or equal. He should have addressed me as Mrs Lover or Mrs Threats and not say it as if was annoying them for making a call to inquire about the arrival of the pool guy. I too have a schedule that I rearranged to meet the person that would take care of my pool.

It is my right to be at home while the pool is being cleaned. I shouldnt be told to just leave the gate unlocked there for the pool guy. They suggested I leave the gate unlocked!!! As if they would be responsible for someone drowning in the pool that wasnt properly secured.

The employees really need more training and etiquette. Im questioning the amount your company will charge our card for a blundered pool cleaning serviceplease email me at lthreats@***.com or call from a identifiable number 904-365-****

This is the review I am posting about your company:

REFINISHING A POOL-Pinch a Penny should be called Pinch a Crook. For anyone trying to refinish their pool, look elsewhere.

Last year Pinch a Penny in Clermont did mine and it was a nightmare. We started in March 2022 and got a quote. We liked it and wanted to proceed. We bugged the store constantly and finally around August 2022 they told us they had never returned any of our calls or visits because they did not have anyone who could refinish pools that year as their people left and try them next season.

Thanks for wasting 5 months before telling us. Fast forward to March 2023 and new quote for the same standard work- nothing premium, had gone up by $6,000. While discussing this with the manager and trying to get the price lowered, they came out to the pool several times to decide to decrease the tile from $42/ ft to $34/foot- and yes- this is for the 4 inch tiles around the top of the pool. They also promised the job could be started in beginning of May.

They started the job over a month after the start date they stated claiming sick call issues. Then they started tacking on more charges. They stated we needed a new light bulb because they saw water in our light housing unit. They charged us $699 for ONLY a light bulb.

We asked them to change the wire attached to the light since I heard they are usually done together with the housing unit but they stated they couldn't (for less than an additional $2000 extra). They said we had to pay extra because it took the grout guy longer to do his job so we had to pay. They should have just watched the hours of video that showed the guy sitting down talking on the phone or leaving after 2 hours of work. They saw the pool before and gave a quote- I shouldn't pay more because the guy wants to talk to family and friends rather than work.

Then we had to pay for the granite spill over between the spa and pool. $300 for the granite and $80 to get installed. Why wasn't that part of the original quote? They were the ones who removed it stating it was part of the work.

I also have an in-floor cleaning system that had two heads that occasionally get dirt trapped and then don't rise so you have to remove and clean. The first pool guy told us he checked them and the heads were good and system good, just needed debris cleaning, then the manager called and said the employee was wrong and we needed a new system- and then charges us for a Rebuild Kit and new Drive and $95 to repair and would not answer our questions regarding why two kits and why replacing 3 heads. And the finish we picked was not a roll on paint but what we saw on the home video was a roll on job whose color does not match what we ordered. We complained and they told us it would get darker with time.

It is a year later and we do not have the color we requested. Also we paid for them to brush the pool every day for 2 weeks because they said if we did not brush it properly we would develop mineral deposits that will appear as white marks on the finish. We gave them the remote to our gate so they could come and brush without us having to be there. Home video shows they only came 3 times in 2 weeks but charged us anyway and we do have mineral deposits.

If they had told us they weren't going to do the job they were paid for, I would have arranged for someone else to brush my pool. The spill over took a few weeks for them to get in but when they did place it, they never bothered using grout around the sides to complete the look.

I've attached the invoices and a picture of what we ordered and what we got (the blue paint Lowe's sells for pools). Overall a waste of money and a lot of aggravation.