Dutch Tourist Hurls Objects at Udon Thani Café Staff Over Change Dispute

[Guderian]

The village where I live has finally got enough money together to repair its leaking swimming pool. It's a fairly big pool, around 18m X 12 m, and the repairs are expected to cost ca. 2 million Baht.

The committee have invited bids for the work from three companies and we now have them all. A meeting of the owners will be held this month to decide which company to use. I was wondering if anybody would be willing to give us the benefit of their own experience with these companies, both good and bad experiences are welcome.

The three companies concerned are:

1. Home & Pool Co. Ltd.

2. Lomatec Co. Ltd.

3. Pools Shop Co. Ltd.

I don't believe there's any problem under Thai Visa's rules with posting positive reports, but if you have had a bad experience with any of these companies and are worried about breaking the rules on posting defamatory information about companies then please feel free to send me your views and experiences either via a PM on this board or else via my e-mail address:

[email protected]

Thanks for any feedback, we'd really like to get the pool fixed properly this time so any help or advice is appreciated.

[prk888]

Home and Pool did a very good job for me about 3 years ago. No problems whatsoever. But as always its management and his team that actually do the work. At that time it was a K Nung - a good manager

[Guderian]

Home and Pool did a very good job for me about 3 years ago. No problems whatsoever. But as always its management and his team that actually do the work. At that time it was a K Nung - a good manager

I don't want to show any bias, but my neighbours also had a small pool installed by Home & Pool about 3 years ago and they haven't had any problems with it. Overall it was a nice job. Has the management changed since then?

[LennyW]

I have had many pools done by home and pool over the years, never a problem, nice people to deal with.

[Guderian]

I have had many pools done by home and pool over the years, never a problem, nice people to deal with.

Thanks, I'm trying to keep an open mind for the tendering process but this does seem to be a regular response when I ask people.

Does anyone have any experience with the other two companies mentioned in my OP, Lomatec and Pools Shop?

[prk888]

why not call H & P and see if K Nung is still there. I got the feeling he is/was a bit more than just a Manager.

[Guderian]

why not call H & P and see if K Nung is still there. I got the feeling he is/was a bit more than just a Manager.

I can just ask the guy on the committee who was sorting out the tender from H&P whom he dealt with when I see him next, if I remember.

[Baboy]

Not dealt with those companies but the quote seems fairly high if only for repairs. A pool that size a couple of years ago would set you back about 1.5 million being built from scratch. That would be all the pump ,filter installation, tiles, etc . Hope it works out Ok

[KittenKong]

I often seem to see H&P vans installing new pools in new condo buildings. That says nothing about their ability to undertake repairs though.

I also think that quote sounds high for a repair, unless the thing is being rebuilt rather than repaired.

[Guderian]

The pool was originally built by the developers of the village and they did a lousy job of it. They tried to repair the leaks by coating the entire tiled surface with some sort of elastic sealant, then tiling again over the top of that. Needless to say it didn't work. So to all intents and purposes it is going to have to be almost a complete rebuild of the pool, which is presumably why it's so expensive.

Yes, you see H&P around quite a bit, they're very visible in Pattaya. OTOH so is the developer of this village who made such a mess of the original swimming pool, so visibility doesn't tell you much.

The Lomatec website looks very nice, but so far I haven't come across anybody who's actually used them. They're also conveniently local, just down the road on Thepprasit. And as for Pools Shop, I can't find anything about them in Pattaya on Google. There's a company with a similar name in Hua Hin, maybe they've opened a branch in Pattaya? Or is it just a small mom & pop style pool company?

[TheCruncher]

The pool was originally built by the developers of the village and they did a lousy job of it. They tried to repair the leaks by coating the entire tiled surface with some sort of elastic sealant, then tiling again over the top of that. Needless to say it didn't work. So to all intents and purposes it is going to have to be almost a complete rebuild of the pool, which is presumably why it's so expensive.

Yes, you see H&P around quite a bit, they're very visible in Pattaya. OTOH so is the developer of this village who made such a mess of the original swimming pool, so visibility doesn't tell you much.

The Lomatec website looks very nice, but so far I haven't come across anybody who's actually used them. They're also conveniently local, just down the road on Thepprasit. And as for Pools Shop, I can't find anything about them in Pattaya on Google. There's a company with a similar name in Hua Hin, maybe they've opened a branch in Pattaya? Or is it just a small mom & pop style pool company?

Lomatec is a company set up by a German many years ago, and I recall they got good reviews at that time, never have used them myself.

Then the owner was killed in a bike accident a few years ago, so no idea how that turned out for the company.

[Naam]

Lomatec is a company set up by a German many years ago, and I recall they got good reviews at that time, never have used them myself.

Then the owner was killed in a bike accident a few years ago, so no idea how that turned out for the company.

it didn't turn out too well after Michael Lambauer died. warranties (six digits) were neither honoured nor taken care of but just ignored. i didn't take any legal action because i pitied Michael's widow.

addendum: Lomatec did not build my pool but installed peripherals for several hundred thousand Baht.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Naam

[Guderian]

The pool was originally built by the developers of the village and they did a lousy job of it. They tried to repair the leaks by coating the entire tiled surface with some sort of elastic sealant, then tiling again over the top of that. Needless to say it didn't work. So to all intents and purposes it is going to have to be almost a complete rebuild of the pool, which is presumably why it's so expensive.

Yes, you see H&P around quite a bit, they're very visible in Pattaya. OTOH so is the developer of this village who made such a mess of the original swimming pool, so visibility doesn't tell you much.

The Lomatec website looks very nice, but so far I haven't come across anybody who's actually used them. They're also conveniently local, just down the road on Thepprasit. And as for Pools Shop, I can't find anything about them in Pattaya on Google. There's a company with a similar name in Hua Hin, maybe they've opened a branch in Pattaya? Or is it just a small mom & pop style pool company?

Lomatec is a company set up by a German many years ago, and I recall they got good reviews at that time, never have used them myself.

Then the owner was killed in a bike accident a few years ago, so no idea how that turned out for the company.

Thanks for the info.

[Guderian]

Lomatec is a company set up by a German many years ago, and I recall they got good reviews at that time, never have used them myself.

Then the owner was killed in a bike accident a few years ago, so no idea how that turned out for the company.

it didn't turn out too well after Michael Lambauer died. warranties (six digits) were neither honoured nor taken care of but just ignored. i didn't take any legal action because i pitied Michael's widow.

addendum: Lomatec did not build my pool but installed peripherals for several hundred thousand Baht.

Thanks for the info., can I ask how long ago this was?

[Naam]

Thanks for the info., can I ask how long ago this was?

problems arose in spring 2013 a few months after Michael died. have no idea what the present setup is because Mrs Lambauer was mentioning recently "i have to ask boss" when my maintenance man inquired about the replacement of a UV-bulb.

[LennyW]

Lomatec used to be very expensive compared to H&P, i gave them the chance to quote every time., dont know of the other company you mention.

[Guderian]

Thanks for the info., can I ask how long ago this was?

problems arose in spring 2013 a few months after Michael died. have no idea what the present setup is because Mrs Lambauer was mentioning recently "i have to ask boss" when my maintenance man inquired about the replacement of a UV-bulb.

Right, thanks, so things might have changed for the better or worse over the last few years, no way of telling without somebody providing feedback.

[Guderian]

Lomatec used to be very expensive compared to H&P, i gave them the chance to quote every time., dont know of the other company you mention.

Interesting, that's not the case this time. Maybe the 'new' management at Lomatec have tried to cut costs to win back business that might have been lost when the previous owner died? In my experience here, though, cutting costs usually also means cutting quality and service.

This will probably be our last chance to get the pool fixed as I don't see this village ever being able to raise 2 million Baht++ for this purpose again. I'm a bit worried that the owners will vote (as they usually do) for the cheapest option. When you go that route, in my experience, they often get 80% or so of the job done and then down tools as they've run out of money. I know there will be clauses in the contract supposedly forcing the contractors to complete the job at their own expense, or to levy fines on them if they refuse, but to enforce those you then have to spend the next five to ten years chasing them in court. If it was up to me I'd go for the most expensive bid, but I'm just one vote out of almost 200.