If you like never knowing when your pool is going to be cleaned, being lied to and having no one be held accountable for(lack of) services to your pool, B & L Pools is the company for you! Let’s be clear, as a customer, you can give them every single opportunity in to the world to admit some fault or wrong doing and they will dig their heels into the ground and give you every excuse under the sun why they are not responsible. If the employees aren’t related by blood, the owner will tell you they are«like family» and while he doesn’t say it, he’s implying that keeping them happy is more important than keeping you as a customer, even when the employee is at fault. I had pool service with this company for a year. First I communicated with the man who serviced the pool himself. I asked him for a time card for him to fill out each time he was here. He said the company didn’t have those. I asked for a day or two a week that he could guarantee being able to service the pool. According to him, impossible. It was whenever he felt like it and if he didn’t bother to show up, I had no way to prove he had never completed the service. Multiple times I had to request he come because it was obvious he did not service the pool that week and if he had, he had done an extremely poor job. After a year of sending photos of my dirty pool to Eric, the man B & L enlisted to service my pool, I had an accident that caused an injury requiring physical therapy in the pool. Once I started using the pool every day, my disappointment with the lack of services I was paying for caused me to call B & L Pools directly. The phone was answered by an immature sounding employee, Marissa Benson, who as it turns out is the manager’s daughter. I told her that once again, Eric had not showed up for over a week to service the pool and once again, it was gross. She promised to talk to Eric and get back to me. She didn’t call back that day or the next morning so I called her back. Her solution was that Eric would be out later that day. No apologies or explanations for the poor service or her inability to return a call. I told her that was fine, but this kind of service needed to change. For instance, do they have a check off list or a card for Eric to leave for him to prove he was here every week? She said they did. I told her Eric had said the company did not have such a sheet. She gave no explanation or apology for why I was lied to and instead just said that she would have him bring a sheet his next service. Because her reaction made it seem like these kind of problems were standard, I wanted to let her know that I was simply not going to allow this kind of «service» to continue. I stated that I was going to be loud and obnoxious until I started getting the service I signed up for, weekly service that resulted in a pool that looked like someone spent more than five minutes cleaning it. I stated I had been polite and had asked Eric to do his job for nearly a year, which produced no results. Her response was in no way reassuring that service was going to get better. Immediately Marissa’s defenses were up and she reacted to criticism of a business in the way young people often react — as if you had criticized them. She raised her voice and said that if I was going to be loud and obnoxious, she didn’t have to help and acted as if I needed to be grateful for sub-par pool service. She continued that they didn’t have to guarantee a day of the week for weekly pool service. I understood that I was never going to get my pool service every Thursday at 9 a.m. But I thought it was beyond reasonable to ask for service to guarantee to be completed one of two days a week that they could pick. Her resistance makes me think that the reason they don’t want to commit to service being completed on certain days allows them to scam people and do service every 10 days or 12 or whatever is convenient for them. Because Marissa was acting so childish and taking the whole thing so personally, I had to ask her if she owned the company, because in my experience, only people who own the company are that secure with unprofessional behavior. She told me she did not, so I asked to speak with a manager. She was happy to hand me over the manager, Blaine Benson, otherwise known as her dad. There’s lot more including the owner, Dale Howard, defending all of his employees unprofessional behavior but Unilocal only allows so much space. Feel free to check out the full review on the Better Business Bureau of AZ website. But the bottom line is these guys are liars and can’t complete basic pool service. There are plenty of pool companies who actually want your business and will do a great job, B & L pools isn’t one of them.
Edward E.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
The motor on my pool pump went out. Showed picture of pump to Roy. He said he wasn’t sure and to bring the pump in. Meanwhile I contacted 2 other pool stores and was told I needed a new pump. I took my pump to Roy. He said he needed to look at it over night. The next day he called me. I stopped in and Roy told me my pump is fine. There was a clog. He didn’t charge me a dime! Nice to see a business that really cares.
Nate A.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
I have had such a hard time getting info out of pool guys regarding an install of an above ground pool, until I met Roy! Roy has really taken his time to explain how to install my liner and set up my pool. This has been extremely helpful being a noob with above ground pools. Thank you Roy for your patience, time and expertise! My new pool store for everything! Nate
Tony B.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
My dad and I have been going to this place for years. Roy is very experienced and had helped me with all sorts of issues. Roy and the crew provides A+ service.
Casey B.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
Fast friendly service. I wondered how they would treat me, since I’m female, and they have always taken the time to explain things to me. They came out and replaced my sand filter. They were on time, very clean about their work, and the work matched my quote. Here’s to the mom & pops that are still around and beating the big box competition in all areas. Thank you B&L!
Christine S.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
I found this store after seeing their ad in the Sunday paper. I needed pool cleaning supplies after moving into a home with a pool, and the previous occupants left nothing except for the floating chlorine dispenser. They have a rewards program, are locally owned and have several locations. I got a great deal on my new hose and a pool lounger. Watch for their ads in the Sunday paper as they usually have coupons.
David A.
Place rating: 5 Huntley, IL
My 7 year old pump quit last Saturday so brought it in expecting to buy a new pump for $ 500. They tested the pump and it was a $ 17 relay. Needless to say they have a customer for life.
Kirstin E.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
So the pool store we had been going to closed. Bummer. Fortunately we remembered this place was right up the street from our house! Its super old school in there. Nothing fancy, but they have all the chemicals you could need and they also work on your pool pumps and vacuums right there so that’s handy! Our pool developed the black algae :(We took in pictures and a sample of our water and they set us straight. Black algae was wiped out and pool is back to new! We will definitely be making this our new pool go to place.
Michelle P.
Place rating: 5 Phoenix, AZ
B&L Pools & Spa rocks! Great customer service over the phone and in person. After cancelling pool service from a company because the guy was an ass over the phone, I decided to care for my pool on my own. Called a few places to find out the hours and what not, and B&L was the friendliest. When I walked in, I was greeted and helped by Donna. She is great! Being a first time pool owner I knew my questions were pretty elementary, but Donna answered all my questions and didn’t make me feel awkward about it. After testing my water, rather than just telling me what products I needed, she explained why and what they do.