"Excellent service and even with shipping, best price I could find. I ordered on June 30 (Saturday) expecting it to take a little longer than some other online places, but on Tuesday July 3 I got a notice that it had been shipped (with a tracking number) and it arrived Thursday July 5 (it would have arrived a day earlier if it hadn't been a holiday). I looked carefully at the other reviews of this seller before I ordered and I noticed that all were good except for one, and that really was due to the buyer making a serious error in what was ordered."

"It came in in a timely fashion. I just put it in the pool and found the right track motor doesn't work. So, it makes about a half dozen circles to the left then, does the same to the right. I hope you can send me out a good one ASAP."

"Outstanding speed of processing. Ordered the pump on a Sunday and received it on Wednesday. Excellent pricing too"

"My experience was perfect. The pool slide I ordered arrived on time and was absolutely what we expected. I am very pleased with the quality and efficiency of the process. I was also please to be able to get an "out the door" price. Another company I spoke with was willing to match the price but wanted to charge extra for removing the order from the truck as well as tag on some other ridiculous charges.

Mike"

"Very good, I just wish you had phone service. I guess I'm old fashion and like to talk with people I'm doing business with."

"Totally satisfied with this store; excellent price and prompt shipping."

"Product came in about a week in good condition from Florida. Was able to track delivery online. This vendor seems good."

"no problems. Fast delivery!"

"POOLSTOREOUTLE.COM/Backyard Pool and Spa, Ocala, FL.

CAUTION CONSUMERS - I like giving referrals by word of mouth. I don’t usually write reviews on businesses, good or bad. That should tell you about how important I think this review can be for customers.

My wife and I purchased a Jandy EE-Ti Heat/Cool Pump for approximately $3750.00 (not including shipping cost) from Poolstoreoutlet.com a few months ago for our above ground pool. My wife researched the different types of pool pumps before making a selection on this model. To our discredit, we purchased a 3 phase model over the single phase model. Being laymen in all things electrical, we believed 3 phase referred to the operation of the unit (operating at different speeds or rates depending on the pools heating needs, thus making it a more efficient model). Admittedly the website did not make this distinction in its description, so this was certainly our error. However, one should note that it also does not make the distinction that the difference between the 3 phase unit and a single phase unit is an issue of whether you are connecting in an industrial/commercial setting or a residential setting (we of course are in the latter).

Prior to receiving this unit, I received a phone call (either from the store or the manufacturer, I’m not sure) confirming that we purchased the 3 phase model. Whether he fully understood that he was calling a residence or not, I’m not sure, but he didn’t express any concern about the unit not working for us. The man I spoke with simply explained that the unit had to be customized before being shipped.

We did not learn of our error until we were able pull a permit and get an electrician to come and wire the unit up. At that time, he, of course knowing the difference, informed us of our mistake.

Here’s where my real complaint comes in.

We immediately went to Poolstoreoutlet.com to get contact information for assistance. The website does not list a phone number or address, only two e-mail addresses for contacting them. My wife sent them a brief e-mail explaining our problem and asked them for assistance on how we could fix the problem (this was a Wednesday evening). The next day, we did not yet have a response. I sent them another e-mail, explaining in better detail our problem so that they would hopefully better understand the gravity of our problem and be more inclined to get back in touch with us in a reasonable time frame. As of that Saturday, we had sent a third e-mail and no response back.

We became concerned that we were at the mercy of whether the business felt like responding to our e-mails or not since they leave no other ways to contact them on their website. That Saturday my wife then posted a low rating review on this company, complaining of their lack of communication with us over such a costly problem.

The following Monday, I received a phone call from a Poolstoreoutlet.com representative. I immediately took down the phone number on my caller ID which he called from. While admitting that we held responsibility over the mix up, I expressed my displeasure over the fact that website also does not express such an important difference between units and that was neglectful on their part. The man I spoke with argumentatively debated me over any negligence on their part and stated that it didn’t help matters that we had posted a bad review of them on the internet. When discussing the absence of information, he told me that most people know the difference between 3 phase or single phase (I’ll let you, the reader, be the judge of that). His tone (as well as mine) during the entire conversation was argumentative (poor customer service skills).

I expressed that we were also displeased with the slow response over such an expensive issue. He explained that they were not open on weekends and that it had only been 2 business days (remember this as you read on). He did not want to respond until he had some information to give us (because apparently my $3750.00 did not make me an important enough customer to warrant a two minute e-mail response to even let me know whether or not they were looking into it).

He cited their 15 day return policy, which we were significantly past. I explained to him that I did not expect their business to be out any money. I was not seeking a refund of any money (even the difference in the unit prices). I would be willing to pay any additional shipping costs. I just wanted them to help me find a reasonable solution to a costly problem that I felt they, to at least some degree, are negligent on. He stated he was going see what he can find out and contact us by e-mail in a few days.

Hang in there it gets better.

A week later, we still had not heard anything. We sent another, short and polite e-mail, asking for any updates. Two days later, we had not received a response, so I got out the phone number the representative I spoke with a week and a half earlier called me from. I looked up the number on the internet and saw that it came back to Backyard Pool and Spa in Ocala, Florida. My wife found information on this store that shows that they are open on Saturdays, not just Monday through Friday as he led me to believe.

I called the phone number and asked to speak with someone about a purchase I made from them over the internet. The man who answered the phone tried to be very short with me. He stated he did not know anything about selling over the internet and that they were just a retail store. I asked to speak with a store manager and he identified himself as being such. During the entire conversation, he just kept repeating that he did not know what I was taking about and that he could not help me, seemingly trying to end the call with me. I asked if they had a corporate office or if they were a chain. He told me that there was no corporate office but there were other associated stores. I asked for the phone number to one of their other stores so that I could see if someone there might know what I was talking about. He responded that they will just tell me the same thing as he had.

I explained that I had already spoken with someone about the issue I had and that they called me from that phone number. He did not waive in his response, except to imply that maybe it was another pool supply business calling me from that phone number (SERIOUSLY). Not getting anywhere with him, I ended the call. He hung up so fast, I don’t even think he got to hear me say goodbye.

During this whole endeavor, I had also been in contact with Zodiac, the manufacturer of Jandy products. Seeing how they built the unit and they shipped it directly to me, they too have been unreasonably unhelpful. However, they do have much better customer service skills and I did speak with a representative who took the time to try to help me. He traced my order and got me the information on business that placed the order with them. WOULDN’T YOU KNOW, the order was place by Backyard Pool and Spa out of Ocala, Florida. That evening, after making the phone call to Backyard Pool and Spa, I conveniently received an e-mail stating that they were working on the problem, but it was taking longer than expected. As I write this, that e-mail was the last one I received from them. I received it well over a week ago.

Additionally, my wife has since called Backyard Pool and Spa herself and received a similar response as I did, but I won’t get into that type of second hand information.

During this whole thing, in speaking and corresponding with both Poolstoreoutlet.com and Zodiac (Jandy), I have asked for nothing that would cost them anything. I have even offered to pay reasonable costs out of my pocket to fix this problem, but I cannot get anyone to care enough to help come up with a solution. Zodiac simply told me to return the unit to Poolstoreoutlet.com and exchange it for the right one.

I am not wealthy. I had to stretch my money to afford this unit. They got their $3750.00 and apparently don’t seem to care too much about anything beyond that.

"

"I normally don't bother to review ecommerce sites but because they seem to be relatively new, I thought I'd share my experience. I ordered an Aquabot Turbo T-Jet on Tuesday because they had the best delivered price. I was a little worried because I saw the credit card charge right away but didn't receive the tracking number email until Friday morning. However, the package had already been shipped on Wednesday and arrived that Friday afternoon. I guess this means their systems aren't as automated as Amazon's, but the bottom line is that I received my pool cleaner for the best delivered price with a quick turn around. I am very pleased."

"Very little communication, overall very satisfied - great! Thanks "

"Purchasing the Pool Shark online was an extremely easy process with prompt delivery."

"We received our robotic cleaner in a week. We put it together and have ran it several times and it works great! "

"I have bought from this store before and once again, they have come through with flying colors. Easy to order what I needed and item was shipped so fast that they could have been waiting outside for me to order something then just rang my doorbell and said "here you go, thanks for ordering from us""