John Fitzgerals pool services

[Taylor]

I'm in the greater Cabarete area and I have a pool.

I was told that JF is the best one around, so I gave them a shot. At first when he came to me with a $1500 bill I was surprised, but he assured me that it was just the initial set up costs and that it would be $75/month from there on.

Well since then I've had a couple $150 bills from him, and it's only been 2 months. Then the monthly bill goes from $75 to + chemicals to $140/month.

I'm not running a water park here, and the pool is a normal sized one. Can anyone recommend a good pool guy in the greater Cabarete area who works for less than $20/hour?

[montreal]

Dollars??? WOW that seems like a lot, it's definitely more than I pay in Montreal. I hope you find what you are looking for.

[MommC]

It costs us roughly RD$2000 pesos a month in JD (our 'gardiner' does the vaccuming, testing and adding chemicals daily).
That includes all repairs for pumps, filter etc. and the pool guy comes every two weeks to do his own testing to make sure PH etc. is correct.

$1500. for set up is excessive even in Canada.......at home I spend less than $50. per month on maintenance (I do my own and buy chemicals in bulk).

[Johanfitz]

To the unhappy hotel Leese in Punta Goleta

In response to you being unhappy with John's Pool Service.

I will start by saying I'm am truly very sorry that you are not happy with us,we try very hard to maintain a good reputation. I was surprised that you were upset at our costs after we agreed with all the costs before we started any work. There should have not been any surprises on this matter. You could have gone to my competition at that time.

Your letter to DR1 also requires some additional explanation, specifically that the charge of $1,500. had nothing to do with maintenance but instead to renovate your pump room. All the plumbing, valves were either repaired or replaced and your filter media was replace as the sand had been so mistreated, and setting so long, it had turned to cement.

The $150 you mentioned in your notice also had also nothing to do with pool maintenance. It had to do with all blocked lines which were full of stones and blocking the the pump intake. It was also explained to you that I had agreed to charge you this cost only if we could find, and remove the blockage. No charge if we failed

For any one interested my normal price for maintaining a pool your size (the size of a hotel commercial pool), it is $100 per month. plus chemicals. I had made an exception to you to lower the price to $75. plus chemicals until you started to do business. Then we would go to $100. Plus Chemicals. Private pools 40,000 gal. of water or less are $75. plus chemicals.

I'm disappointed that you did not talk to me about your being unhappy before you pd.me and went public.This will be my only response publicly to this matter. Yours truly John

[Rocky]

If I may add the following.
Having known John for 15 years plus, I know him to be as honest and sincere as the day is long, as well as a true humanitarian.
That speaks for his character, but I can also say this, that in all the time knowing him, I have never once heard even a whisper of bad service, high prices nor anything else except good reports.
I think that we can safely write this off to a "misunderstanding" of what the charges were for and lay this to rest.
If John's pool service is not the best deal in this area, then my name ain't Marco.

[The Virginian]

I think this exchange of information is wonderful. We actually get to hear both sides of an issue and understand it as it is writen. Sounds like it was simply a misunderstanding or poor communications. I maintain my own pool. It s takes minutes a day. I purchase my chemicals in Santiago, cheaper then Puerto Plata. I repainted my pool for the cost of the paint an epoxy. Suggest most folks mantain their own pool, the amount of time and cost is very little.

[Taylor]

To counter John's explanation, and I will be as actuate as possible.

The initial set up was supposed to bring the pool up to speed, yet there have been extra charges that were clearly over looked, so the additional charges (one month later) in my opinion should have been waived.

The initial set up was also meant to clean up the electrical, which was not done.

There is no arguing that JF work is quality, but the cost is above what is acceptable, the secondary surcharges are questionable and that is my reason for looking for other, more affordable, solutions.

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by Taylor

To counter John's explanation,

I'm afraid that you have John at a disadvantage, as he has graciously said,

Originally Posted by Johanfitz

This will be my only response publicly to this matter. Yours truly John

It appears to me that you would be trying to get the last word in, and you had already said quite a mouthful in your first post.
Some might go as far as saying that your first post was somewhat misleading, considering John's explanation and your subsequent post.
I won't get into details, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

I am surprised to have read the following.

Originally Posted by Johanfitz

I'm disappointed that you did not talk to me about your being unhappy before you pd.me and went public.

Perhaps you were just venting and underestimate the power of DR1 and what effect it could have on a person's business and reputation.
I will give the benefit of the doubt, that your post was not intended to be as malicious as it sounded.

It would have been better to have made a post like this.

I am looking for the names and contact info for the three best pool services in the greater Cabarete area, please.

[Taylor]

rocky,

this was not meant to be a flame of john's business. i made it quite clear that he does a great job. i am looking for someone more affordable, that is all.

as for using the power of dr1, don't we all? the collective thinking helps us all find solutions, and for some of us (yourself included) helps promote our business.

[aross]

From the day my house was built in 1989 until it was sold in 2002, John Fitzgerald and his very capable team took care of the swimming pool and all the associated equipment. From the time I met him he has always been a reliable and trustworthy person who we trusted to take care of the pool even when we were not there. There were times when repair work had to be undertaken when we were not there and this work was always undertaken properly. If it was extensive work John would always provide us ahead of time with a price for approval then complete the job as promised.

Knowing John as I do, I was surprised when I read the OPs first post and all the problems he supposedly had. John’s subsequent answer sure seems more like the John I have know and done business with for the last 18 years.

For anyone who has a pool in the Sosua/Cabarete area I would certainly recommend John if you want a good, dependable and professional pool service and remember one thing – YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.