Pinch A Penny Pool Patio Spa

I am surprised to see the negative reviews on this particular Pinch a Penny! Perhaps, there have been some employee or management changes since I started shopping here in May 2015. The staff are Extremely kind, and the store manager Mark is one of the nicest guys you will meet. He’s patient, always very helpful and his store seems to always have what we need. I’ve never had to order anything or find another pool store to buy my basic items. The store is small, but they have almost everything you’ll need for the basic needs of your pool. I don’t understand the gripe. We even used Mark for «Pool School», where he came out to our home labeled all of our pool parts/​equipment and taught us how to use the equipment etc. There was a charge, very reasonable $ 80 I think, but he was there nearly 1.5 hours. We have never had a pool before, and these guys have been absolutely great! Give them a try. They do get very busy, but I’ve never been treated poorly or walked out of the store without something I needed. Great store, nice staff!

I was out of bromine tablets and PH minus for my hot tub so I stopped by on my way from the post office. The gentleman that waited on me was very polite and his customer service skills were exemplary. He had the bromine tablets but only the PH minus in the liquid for spas and the large bags for pools. Since I rarely need the PH minus, I decided to order it at their online store.
Overall they have most of what I need when I need it but when they don’t I can usually order it at their online store. I have been shopping here for my hot tub supplies for over 5 years and only one time did I have a bad experience but that employee left LONG ago.
They have always been able to give me or get me an answer or solution to my spa related needs so overall I am happy with them.

I have been unimpressed with other locations and their prices on supplies and outside pool services. But this one doesn’t offer pool services so nothing to leave on that — great spot for your every pool need otherwise.

In a pinch (heh) this place will do, but their customer service is definitely lacking. Usually I go when I need a gallon of chlorine and have no problems, but my last trip there had me pondering whether or not to call the manager and complain.
This place keeps records on pool size, filter info and other parts. I know this because the previous owner of my home registered my address. They know what size pool I have. I asked for two o-​rings; one for my chlorinator and one for my filter canister. I also keep a picture of both on my phone for reference. To be clear, the picture I have is the actual part number of both canisters. I assume they cross reference the canister number to get which o-​ring goes with which.
I walked in and the guy at the front was waiting on another customer, so I waited for him to finish. However, he glanced at me and asked what I needed. Told him, generally speaking, that I needed o-​rings. He immediately told me I needed to know the exact part numbers for the two o-​rings. I told him I had a picture of the chlorinator and filter for reference, and he said it didn’t matter, I needed the actual part numbers. Whatever. I then told him he probably had the numbers in their system because of the previous owner of my house. It didn’t phase him. He stated he still needed the exact part numbers. This was ALL THE WHILE he was ringing up another customer! I was so disgusted that I left and told him I’d simply contact my pool guy (who is cheaper anyway). They didn’t stop me.

Pinch-​a-​Penny is a pool supply and pool service/​maintenance store. I’m reviewing the pool service and maintenance element.
I had the full service option for six months, 2009 – 2010, which included once a week chemicals, vacuuming, filter cleaning, tile brushing, skimming, etc., for $ 100/​month. Our pool is screened in and about 30’x20’.
Our experience with Pinch-​a-​Penny is that the chemical management was close to optimal according to litmus testing. The pool cleaning element was spotty. Sometimes the vacuuming and skimming looked great, other times it looked like the pool guy just dumped chems and made sure no obvious leaves were on the bottom of the pool, leaving the dirt on the bottom and bugs on the surface.
One major complaint I have is that the day your pool is cleaned is on a day dictated by the company (pool guy’s route), however if it lands on a holiday, you lose that week out of the month and do not get a pro-​rated discount to your bill — they just clean it the following week. Last year Thanksgiving and Xmas fell on a Friday, meaning we paid $ 100 for 3 weeks cleaning in November and December.
Pinch-​A-​Penny also charges $ 95/​hour for maintenance + parts. The labor cost is pretty high, but the techs are good. We had a new pool pump installed. They tend to be expensive on parts versus buying them yourself which they will then refuse to install. Watch out for their «estimate» of total hours of labor… they estimated one hour for a job once, but charged me for two because they sent two techs! Kind of shady, in my book.
Needless to say, I’ve switched to a small 1-​person business now as I continue my quest to find an all-​around reliable and high quality pool service company.