Nationwide Pool Supply Service Repair

UPSELL, UPSELL, UPSELL!
This location used to be great. When I did the chemicals on my pool myself, they never gave me bad advice. However, it’s a lot easier and cheaper to pay Splash Pool Service to do that than to fix one algae outbreak, so I hadn’t been there in awhile. They have devolved into a mess of customer service and upselling to boost the bottom line.
I’d hate to walk into that location now as an uniformed pool owner.
Last week, my pump motor went out. It’s an old Hayward Super II pump with a 1HP motor. NPS had a new-​to-​me listing in a recent circular for a variable speed pump that was $ 450 after the NV Energy rebate. (Of course, you have to pay for installation to get the full warranty and instant rebate, but hey, that’s covered by the cost of the rebate.)
Now, electrical and plumbing work is not foreign to me. I’ve installed my own filter, ozone unit, reef tank, fixed the solar heater that United Solar Energy installed completely incorrectly, replaced the timer, and installed my own home automation system.
I understand what I need and want. If you want to get the rebate after a self install, you still have to pay a company to come out and «commission» your pump to make sure it’s setup right. The cost for doing that is darned close to the cost of paying for a full install, so why not save myself some time and have a seasoned pro do it for once?
After much hand wringing and number crunching, it made more financial sense to get a brand new pump for just $ 150 more than it would take to replace the motor and the worn internal parts on my old pump. I went to this location, but without the circular that listed the name of the pump (Pentair SuperFlo VS, btw).
I went there twice (two separate days) and talked to two separate people with the same result: By God, they were only going to sell me the Pentair IntelliFlo or the Hayward TriStar. Those are more expensive pumps because they’re bigger. Well, I don’t need the equivalent of a three horsepower pump. My pool has run just fine for at least thirty years with a one horsepower. (Honestly, maybe the first fifteen or more years it was an absolute disaster, but for the fifteen years I’ve owned it, it’s been great when I’ve paid someone else to do the chemicals.)
«Well, they do pools differently now than when they designed your pool.»
«You need more flow.» — without knowing what equipment or size plumbing I had, only the size of the pool.
«Oh, you have a sand filter? You should replace that.» — He left out the part about «…with a filter that requires you to buy supplies from us.» No thanks. My sand filter (that I installed) with the mixture of glass beads and filter sand filters better than your cartridges and DE and doesn’t require new filter material every year.
Apparently, the laws of physics and hydraulics have changed. My water hasn’t been crystal clear and perfectly safe. I NEEDED THAT MORE EXPENSIVE PUMP! Neither person could even FIND the less expensive one. The only replacement pump they could find was a standard Tristar pump that bigger than the current one and $ 595 with no rebate because it wasn’t a variable speed.
Two locations of Leslie’s Pool Supply touted the same line of bull. «BUY WHAT WE HAVE! We know nothing about less expensive variable speed pumps.»
Luckily, I called the NPS location on Centennial and talked to Carl. He was happy to ACTUALLY listen to me, asked questions about my system, allayed my fears about buying an undersized pump, and sell me exactly the pump that I wanted with no upselling bullcrap just to increase their bottom line. Even after I had committed to buying the pump, he took the time to demonstrate that I would save about $ 45 a month even if I ran the pump at the 1HP equivalent speed.
I will happily drive the extra minutes out of my way and navigate that horrible shopping center up north to talk to a responsible salesman.
The Sahara location? Never again.

We started going to Nationwide Pool & to our surprise we found our favorite pool person Larry. He is always able to help us with a smile & a great story. He know us by name & always cares! We have told Larry that if he were ever to leave we would hunt him down & bring him back! Our pool is in such great hands Larry’s. the other men who work there are wonderful too. We will always go to Nationwide. Thank you, The Houk’s.