Family's dream pool turns into a "cowboys' nightmare"! Company threatens them if they complain

[webfact]

Daily News Thai Caption

 

Thai social media was abuzz with comment after a woman went on Facebook to complain about a backyard swimming pool she ordered.

 

It turned into a pandemic nightmare!

 

Nantawan Damrika said the family in Petchaburi were obliged to hunker down at home so they thought about getting a pool, reported Daily News.

 

Picture: Daily News

 

They thought they had done their Google and Facebook research well in identifying a company that had installed dozens of swanky looking pools in Hua Hin. At least according to the advertising blurb. 

 

In addition the company - (please Inbox us if you want to know the name, she said) - responded promptly to queries.

 

So in January last year they agreed to part with 297,000 baht for a fiberglass pool, size 5.9 m x 2.3 m, with a 'skimmer' pump.

 

Picture: Daily News

 

After a series of miscommunications they soon realised that the people subcontracted by the company were a bunch of what British people call "cowboys".

 

Poor tradesmen. 

 

When they complained that the pool was leaning they were told "that's normal".

 

Picture: Daily News

 

When they moaned about the water being green they were informed:

 

"That's not our problem".

 

When they threatened to write a bad review on the company's page they were told:

 

"Do that and we'll have you in court".

 

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So they were not about to reveal the name of the firm in defamation crazy Thailand where the customer is invariably wrong!

 

Now they are left with a buckled pool that is a complete mess and wanted to know what other consumers would do to get redress. 

 

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[SAFETY FIRST]

Defamation

 

I saw this in the comments and thought it would help to pass on ????

 

'Write and name the company praising them for their stellar work and then add pictures' 

Edited March 22, 2022 by SAFETY FIRST

[OneMoreFarang]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

So in January last year they agreed to part with 297,000 baht for a fiberglass pool

When did they part with that money? Before the work started? Did they have a contract with details of what has to be done? Did they have an agreement that they only pay if the pool is properly installed and the installation is inspected?

Obviously people should do good work when they get paid a lot of money. But it seems too many people are ready to pay too early for bad work. And it seems too many people hire others to do work without any meaningful contract. It should be obvious to everybody that that is a bad idea.

[DezLez]

It might have gone swimmingly if they had splashed out the money on a reputable company instead of jumping in the deep end with a bunch of sharks.

Edited March 22, 2022 by DezLez

[OneMoreFarang]

54 minutes ago, DezLez said:

It might have gone swimmingly if they had splashed out the money on a reputable company instead of jumping in the deep end with a bunch of sharks.

Yes, sure. But sometimes it is not so easy to find out how reputable a company or person is. And sometimes reputable companies want a lot of money for seemingly small jobs so I understand when people think: My neighbor Somchai can do that for 1/4 of that money. And maybe Somchai can do that. But just in case he can't it's good to make a contract (with Somchai and any reputable builder).

[jwest10]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

When did they part with that money? Before the work started? Did they have a contract with details of what has to be done? Did they have an agreement that they only pay if the pool is properly installed and the installation is inspected?

Obviously people should do good work when they get paid a lot of money. But it seems too many people are ready to pay too early for bad work. And it seems too many people hire others to do work without any meaningful contract. It should be obvious to everybody that that is a bad idea.

Yes, like thieving extended family members who have many properties and drives a merc car and a solicitor stating a very large loan but they insisted it was a gift when trying to get money back and no grounds to get it back, despite constant reminders and yes occasionally see the lady at funerals and does the wai.
GRRRRRRRRRRRR and wonder why so very angry my families money, not theirs.

 

[yeahbutif]

Looks like a case of someone not done their home work on expansion......when water added and heat..

[Gottfrid]

That´s not a pool! That´s an oversized bath tub with a ladder.

[BestB]

If family is reading, file a case with OCPB and demand full refund, plus cost of removing this atrocity and fixing whatever needs to be fixed to install a new one.

 

Also file a police report only as evidence of this really being true.

 

Within 6 months case will be heard and i dare to say fully refunded or fixed at no cost

[4MyEgo]

That's one expensive fish pond IMO.

[pacovl46]

Well, the company is right about the green water. It's not their problem because regular pools needs chemicals like chlorine to keep the water clean and to prohibit algae buildup. Having said that, it's definitely not normal to have a pool leaning and the huge gap on the right hand side doesn't seem to be normal either. Press charges!

 

Nice view by the way!

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Defamation

 

I saw this in the comments and thought it would help to pass on ????

 

'Write and name the company praising them for their stellar work and then add pictures' 

Now that's lateral thinking.

[swm59nj]

I don’t know where these so called contractors and technicians get their training or lack of.  But from my experience they don’t know much of anything.  And if there is a problem the common answer “that’s normal “

Dealing with contractors in the west you get some bad ones.  But here it’s the worst. 

[JeffersLos]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

redress

Always good to do once you've dried off. 

[Aussieroaming]

Looks like an expensive ice box without the lid, buried and buckled to make it unique.

[BritManToo]

Can't believe anyone would pay 300kbht for a pool that small.

Even if it had been installed properly.

Maybe I'm just out of touch with reality!

[Bangkok Barry]

Before spending that amount of money I would have asked the company for 'references', names of customers that had used their services. Before I had my house remodeled I saw one I liked and wanted to ask them who did the job so I could use them too, but that idea was too alien for the wife to agree to. Instead, we used a relative and his crew and it was only after they had done a less than stellar job that I was told they had no qualifications whatsoever.

[RocketDog]

5 hours ago, yeahbutif said:

Looks like a case of someone not done their home work on expansion......when water added and heat..

I thought the same thing. It seems inevitable.

Such fiberglass liners are never a good investment. If the water is drained the earth will also just 'spit' the liner up.

The buyers didn't really do their homework or they would have turned up reports on the web.

[Charlie Halliday]

When will people seek references before engaging with builders. There are very few honest reliable builiders anywhere in the world and least of all here in Thailand. There are some good ones so ask around and go to see houses or in this case, pools, built by recommended builder. It's not rocket science. We've had nothing but really great experiences with our builder and have become  family friends.. He's now built more than 8 luxury villas for friends, all of whom are thrilled with the outcome. Background checks whether building or buying in Thailand is a must. Its very easy to do. 

[spidermike007]

Always a good idea to get real referrals and see actual work performed, before committing to a 6 figure job. Talk to people who have had actual work done. And if the company refuses to provide this, walk away. We all know why they would refuse. 

 

And lets start calling out these hooligans by name. The defamation laws were drafted for thieving cowards, by thieving cowards. 

[robertson468]

When I had my house built I ensured there was a retention fee, which was written in to the contract of construction.  Not surprising, the end product was perfect.

[Thingamabob]

I would not recommend a fibre glass pool except as a stand alone for kids for paddling.

[toofarnorth]

3 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Well, the company is right about the green water. It's not their problem because regular pools needs chemicals like chlorine to keep the water clean and to prohibit algae buildup. Having said that, it's definitely not normal to have a pool leaning and the huge gap on the right hand side doesn't seem to be normal either. Press charges!

 

Nice view by the way!

I hadn't noticed that but YES it is , so much better than looking at that drinking trough .

[simon43]

So many negative/glass half empty replies here.  The green water is simply due to pH imbalance and algae growth - easily sorted out by the necessary chemicals to balance up the pH and then weekly maintenance.  I have a fibreglass pool at my house here in Mauritius and it works fine. If the family can't resolve the problem legally, the pool doesn't have to look like a duckpond!  Insert strong rebar shaped like an upside down J into concrete along the warped side of the pool, with the short part of the J dipping into the water side of the pool such that it pulls the warped section back into line.  The rebar can be covered with waterproof foam etc so it looks OK.  Then add flowers or tiling right up to the edge of the pool, such that it covers the visible warped section.

 

I am sure her kids will be happy to play in this pool after the water pH is corrected and the warp visibly reduced. No-one would refuse to play in the pool, just because one side is out of true....

 

[Tropposurfer]

What a disaster! Complete rebuild needed.

[Confuscious]

A friend of mine (in Belgium), bought 2 years ago a new kitchen for his Thai restaurant at a fair.
Price: more than 25,000 Euro.
When the fair was over, the company was declared "broke" was dissolved.
He never saw his new kitchen nor the 25,000 Euro.
Cowboys are everywhere.
Also, every day, another nutter is born.

[H1w4yR1da]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Before spending that amount of money I would have asked the company for 'references', names of customers that had used their services. Before I had my house remodeled I saw one I liked and wanted to ask them who did the job so I could use them too, but that idea was too alien for the wife to agree to. Instead, we used a relative and his crew and it was only after they had done a less than stellar job that I was told they had no qualifications whatsoever.

What happens when the wife wears the pants.

[bbko]

Looks like a glorified kiddie pool built by total amateurs.

[rwill]

Perhaps the warranty only covers the pool for leaking.  This pool might not be leaking.

 

I've been looking at pool companies lately.  I will probably get one for my new home.  JD pools has a 15 year warranty on thier fiberglass pools and a 10 year warranty on their liner pools.  "15 year structural warranty, strong, flexible and leak-free".  I'd say the pool in the article meets the 'flexible' part of the warranty.

 

Anyway it would be nice to know which companies to avoid.

[Road Warrior]

a real COWBOY job . 

 

signed by retired construction director plc uk