Luvtlee

Much to our surprise, we are now done with our pool. Here at the end of things they really stepped up the pace! They plastered it and it is now filling with water!!! YAY! The only things that are left to do now are yard cleanup and the start up guy is going to be coming by to get things going. Approximately two weeks from now they're supposed to come and put in the mastic (spelling?) and put in our salt water system. I hope they really do put in the salt water system like they said they would; the binder they gave us has the manual for the Dichlor watermatic we were originally going to have installed, so I am a bit concerned. We were told in the beginning that if we wanted to switch to the SWG we could at no additional charge, since we were already paying $1600 for the Dichlor system. We have paid for everything in full now, and I'm hoping that they won't neglect to do the things they said they'd do for us just because they've now received all their monies.

Yes, most definitely! They're also members of Aquatech, which was another reason we hired them thinking we'd get a good job done in a timely manner. I have written down everything since day one. BBB, Aquatech and maybe even Sea Breeze themselves will be getting a copy of it. Super crazy about things, I've written everything in journal format, calendar format and am also planning on making a list when all is said and done. There will be two columns; "How long they said it'd take" vs. "How long it actually took". Here we are on August 3rd, tile & coping still hasn't been finished a week after it began, even though they told us Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. We even had the super tell us yesterday morning that the tile & coping guys will be showing up "any minute now". I am so incredibly frustrated and stressed out over the whole deal. It's crazy. I hope you don't end up having this same kind of experience! I know others have had worse, and most of the time I try hard to hang onto my sanity. But, it shouldn't be this way for anyone. Anyway, thanks for listening to me vent my frustrations! Wish I could be of better help. Keep in touch, let me know who you go with in the end, and how it all goes. Sure would be nice to hear of some good pool building stories!

You know, we actually checked everyone out by BBB before we even had them come to give estimates? Sea Breeze was the lowest rated, at a B, but we thought we'd give them a chance due to others who had given us good recommendations, so we had them out for an estimate. We had out five different companies, and honestly the Sea Breeze guy was the one we liked best. They weren't by any means the cheapest, but we liked the guy and felt he was being honest with us. We did everything you're supposed to do when hiring a pool company, we did so much research into everything it was crazy. But in the end we still made a bad decision. Go figure. I can't say it enough, be extremely cautious in every part of the decision making! I feel like such an idiot now for going with these people.

DO NOT go with Sea Breeze Pools in Murrieta (off of Kalmia), unless you don't mind delay after delay. In the long run you may end up with a spectacular pool, but believe me, it is a LONG run!! We are not getting a large pool with all the bells and whistles. We're getting a modest sized, pool only, no spa, no waterfalls, no nothing. Not even heating. When we signed the contract we were told it would likely only take six weeks. They were supposed to start our dig on May 22nd, with a completion date of July 24th. They didn't actually start until May 31st. Taking into consideration the 9 day delay in starting, you'd think our completion date would be August 4th (9 days after the original contract completion date). But here it is, July 24th and they're telling us that our start date was June 3rd (NO, it WASN'T!! It was on May 31st!!!) and they're saying that our completion date is going to be some time in middle to late August. They do one part of the job and then do NOTHING for about two weeks. They don't call every Friday to give us an update like they told us they'd be doing. They also do NOT return phone calls half the time. They most likely have overbooked themselves, and that is not a good thing for obvious reasons. It takes away GREATLY from customer service relations. In hindsight, I'd go with one of the companies that only do so many pools a year, rather than trying to line their pockets with as many jobs as they can get. We truly feel we are being jerked around by these people, they couldn't care less about us and doing a good job in a timely matter. All they care about is our money. They've NEVER once been late to pick up a payment! At this point in time, we wish we had gone with another company. We didn't want any bad feelings about having our pool built, had hoped for a wonderful experience (who wouldn't), but having a project move along this slowly and this far behind schedule IS NOT a good experience. Sorry I can't give you a positive to go by, but I know it's just as important to know who to stay away from. Edit 7/29/06: They came today and did some work, one box of tile was wrong though so who knows how long that will now delay the pool. Also, they were supposed to frame some extra area for us for more concrete, and add an electrical outlet in the back right corner. Neither of which were done. We don't trust ANYTHING these people say.