Dolphin Pools & Spas

At the end of the summer we had a swimming pool put in. It turned out to be a gorgeous pool with low maintenance. We upgraded our cleaning system and had a water feature put in after starting with a base model. Joe Ayers helped us to keep our costs reasonable while helping us to add extras. Boy, did our pool turn out nice. Even with a couple days of rain the project was finished on schedule and George kept everyone on track. Overall the experience was very good. I’d highly recommend Dolphin for a quality swimming pool.

This is by far the best pool company ever!!! Our pool is amazing and was done in three weeks once the permit was issued! They stick to the schedule and are on top of everything!!! Everyone from the sales men to the people in the office make you feel comfortable and secure in picking them. A pool is a investment do it right the first time pick Dolphin Pools you and your family won’t be sorry!

If you buy a pool from anyone else you are a fool
first this pool is not my first
The project was started July 6. Qualified sales rep Joe Ayres put together a perfect fit plan. Construction begins and we have a pool that will be done in 30 Days!!!
The fact that they have a Project Scheduler and a Construction Superintendent gets things done quickly and done right.
Excellent communication throughout the process. Thanks Joe, George, and Tonia. Doing business with Dolphin is a pleasure not torture like many other pool companies with their used car sales men and Snake Oil peddlers will offer you .
Dolphin is the best in the Valley of the Sun

Signed contract October 2014 — returned to AZ Jan 1, 2015 work started Jan 5, 2015, restarted Jan 12, 2015, completed Mar7, 2015
We did a ton of research since we had never had a pool before. We read reviews on a dozen contractors, checked the BBB (which isn’t very helpful), read Angie’s List, Unilocal and any others that we found. After three months and over 200 hours of research we started the interview process. What we learned is that none of these pool companies do very much of the actual work. They contract out the excavation, plumbing, electrical, concrete, decking, pebbletech, etc. Their own people supervise, schedule and do all the follow up on their contractors. So it comes down to a company that #1 uses excellent trades people #2 has an excellent working relationship with those trades #3 pays their subcontractors promptly #4 has a scheduler who stays on top of the schedule and responds immediately to rain delays or issues that arise #5 has a supervisor who is there immediately to inspect before and after each step of the process. One major reason we selected Dolphin is that out of all the companies we interviewed, Kimble our salesman, is the only one who told us that we definitely had to add a pool heater if we wanted to use the pool between January and May! Everyone knew we were going to be seasonal residents and the pool would be used for the first five months of the year and yet only Kimble said the heater was not an option! Would the others have told us later that we needed to add one on and add $$$ when we had not budgeted for it — probably. Because Kimble was upfront with us, gave us computer generated drawings, told us about Tonia their scheduler who is awesome and Dolphin’s 20 years in business, we chose Dolphin.
I saw another review that trashed Dolphin — the fellow had no idea where concrete was used etc. I find this hard to believe. Kimble went through every detail with us — what materials would be used, he showed us the tiles, explained the difference between plaster, pebbletech, pebblesheen, the options on heaters, filter options, vacuum versus floor systems and even went into details about the companies they used like Hayward, etc. we asked hundreds of questions and although some may have been too common sense to him, Kimble answered everyone to our satisfaction. We gave them a $ 1000 deposit and signed the contract and went back to IL for Christmas.
Jan 2^nd we met with Kimble and made final selections on color of tile and interior finish, making sure there was adequate supply available so we would not run into issues with availability of materials. A few days later the crew was out to lay out the design in the yard. The next day Kent, the supervisor, was there to verify dimensions, make sure we were happy with the design and layout and gave us a booklet which explained every step of construction, materials to be used, the time line, how many days each step took, rest days etc. Then the crew showed up to excavate — it took only a few minutes of digging for everything to come to a screeching halt! We live in the Sierra Estrella Mountains and our house literally is a house on a rock. We had what is known as a «hard dig». Back to the drawing board — Scott the owner said we could cancel the project, pay $ 300 for the excavation crew and get a $ 700 refund from our deposit — or redesign and go with the project. We chose to make a few minor modifications to the project, keep the pool as designed and pay for the hard dig. By eliminating minor things we kept on budget and resumed excavation a week later. There were a few rain days to contend with
So with the delayed start and lost rain days it took about 6 weeks for construction. We had water in the pool March 8^th and although we had not initialized the pool yet, my wife and friend plunged into the 69 degree water (we are from Chicago area so we are very hardy). The next day the pool was initialized, we turned on the pump, filter and the heat pump and everything is great. Tonia, the scheduler, was awesome — she kept everyone on schedule and had water in the pool in time for our first visitors.
We cannot say enough about Dolphin Pools — Scott, Kimble, Tonia, Kent and all their subs were great to work with. On time, friendly, professional, excellent tradesmen, kept the yard clean through the entire process thru final cleanup. We gad one minor issue with one pop up which was cleared up in minutes (had some residue from the pebbletech interfering). Dolphin Pools gets our vote for 5 Stars.

Very good price, excellent product. Had a problem with a member of Dolphin management in the beginning but ended up smoothing it over, otherwise this would’ve been a 5 star rating. Joe Ayers, our salesman and Tonia the coordinator are fantastic. Recommended

We are having a pool built by Dolphin! This is our first pool being built so I had to do a lot of research & I was little worried about making the correct decisions about everything! With my luck I had a sales man named Gary white come to meet me that was not customer friendly even though he came late in the evening to accommodateMy schedule!
Keep in mind Gary does things the old school! He doesn’t print out 3D dimension of the pool for you to see that gives you clear picture of the pool! So he draws the pool on a piece of paper of what the pool looks like along with depth & dimension! It looked very different & difficult to picture it like you would with a computer 3D! after he drew pool plan diagram & Gave me a price that I agreed with it next day I paid a deposit to start the work!
a week later I noticed that Gary included in the price a wall to cover the pool equipment that was $ 50 a foot! 10ft wall $ 500. also Gary decided to Increase my pool decking by $ 1150 more with out my knowledge. I called the company told them I didn’t ask for those & they gave me credit back! But where I wasn’t so lucky & was too late is the pathway from patio to the pool is about 10ft. So Gary decided to reduce my decking so he could use the extra concrete for 5 huge ugly concrete 5ft long 2.3 wide steps to get to the pool. I had no Idea that he was going to use concrete to make steps! I thought it was going to be the kind of tiles you see big tiles steps in people’s back yard from Home Depot kind! To my dismay I was upset & called dolphin pool spoke with Scott (manager) to have them remove them, he told me they won’t because you signed off on it! I told Scott nothing on that diagram Indicates the steps were made out of concrete let alone making my pool decking smaller because Gary decided to use it for the pathway! I told Scott he knew We had never had pool built before & he could have explain it to me if I Would prefer to have bigger pool decking rather then use the concrete for steps? I would have told him I will have the cheap tiles put in when I do the landscaping! Scott told me we will not remove the steps & told me I can give you a price for how much it would cost to remove them! I told him I’m willing to pay $ 100 to have them removed but add that extra concrete back to my decking like it should have been in the first place! I also told Scott who in their right mind would want to reduce their pool decking so they could have huge ugly concrete steps? Scott told me why didn’t you mention it before? I told him there’s nothing in the contract or pool drawing indicating the steps are made of concrete! His answer was still no! So if your reading this & your shopping for a pool This dolphin pool company is not for you! They don’t look for your best interest, they don’t explain things thoroughly for first time customers.& sometimes no matter how much research you have done it doesn’t hurt to have a company or the sales man from that company to have clear conscious & be helpful to care for you & explain the process like it was being built for his own kids! This company should not be trusted because they don’t look out for your best interest & that’s my warning to you!

On time. On budget. We had them do our pool a few years ago and I jsut came across them on Unilocal so wanted to drop a review for them. We were very pleased. Over the last 10 years or so, we have had some bad experiences and been burned by contractors and are a probably a bit too cautious with them in general. Dolphin was patient with us and even when I thought they were veering off our agreement on our remodel, in hindsight I realize they stayed on task and in the end they were a pleasure to work with. I have recommended them since many times.
The Jansens

We are an HOA located in Phoenix, Arizona and used Dolphin Pools to remodel our fifty year old, 45,000 gallon swimming pool. This included new electrical for lights, a commercial salt system, all new plumbing, including dual drain installation, and pool resurfacing. We also had our large pool deck refinished. The remodeling brought our pool up to new County regulations.
We could not be happier with the service we received from Dolphin Pools. The start-​up began as promised and the job took less time than we had expected. The various crews used by Dolphin were very professional, friendly and accommodating to our needs. Any communications directed to Dolphin was immediately responded to. We had no negative issues or any problems with the project.

I would recommend this company to anyone looking for a pool here in arizona. Obviously with this climate a pool is a necessity, and they built me the most amazing custom pool. It has all features I asked for and their entire team was extremely informative and polite.

Innovative. Reliable. Distinguished. Trust-​worthy. Accomodating. These words come to mind when describing Melanie and the guys from Dolphins Pools. From start to finish, Melanie guided me through the consultation, designing, and building of not only my pool and spa, but my backyard paving, barbecue grill, seating area, and landscaping as well. She presented creative ideas with a 3D design, a reasonable and efficient timeline of events, and assisted me with staying in my budget. Melanie’s knowledge, experience, and attention to details makes her one of the best! She was very prompt in answering my questions, phone calls, and went above and beyond to meet my expectations. I appreciated all the time, effort, and hard work put into our project and now get to enjoy our beautiful pool and backyard. From the simplest to the most sophisticated issues at a very reasonable price, I highly recommend Dolphins Pools for all your pool and outdoor needs!

It turned my stomach to see bad reviews for in what my opinion was a decent conpnay.
Winter, 2012. After months of research (pool building is a major project dont expect instant results) extensive reviews of designs from Shasta, Dolphin and one other pool general contractor (forgot the name, like Tiki something… on 35 Ave and Pinnacle Peak on a corner in a distinctive stone structure), we went with Dolphin because we liked the design we recieved at what we felt was the most bang for your buck. The pool was installed in April 2012.
Prior to this pool we had a curvilinear shasta at 12 000 gallons. It was built in 99 and was made of plaster, sand filter and pop ups.
I was very hesitant to sign up for pop ups again (If your not the original Shasta owner its $ 60 for a two ounce piece of plastic pop up… went through 3 – 4 a year to my irrritation and also needed a in floor vacuum which added additional steps/​problems in pool cleaning).
Anyways we went with pop ups, cartridge filter and let me tell you this is the cleanest looking pool of any pools I have seen… save some in travel magazines ha ha.
Project was completed in time within parameters. Want to add if you shop for a pool in the spring good luck I think thats their crazy busy season as homeowners prepare for summer… early bird gets the worm in this business… ha ha.
Almost two years into we are very pleased with our pool. At construction they had to change one corner from a 90 to a 45 but we did not feel that was a major issue. I have had one pop up replaced. Had a minor caulking issue but overall we feel water to play in the summer is worth it. Now if only we could make the water colder in August and September…
Anyways start in the fall shop around check price points and designs, expect 10 – 15 hours a week of research for 1 – 2 months before you find your most reasonable pool. I think Dolphin builds a good pool, but that is just my experience. Also talk to different pool owners and dont expect easy answers there are some frustrating decisions involving price, aesthetics, finishes, features, on any installation. It is MAJOR construction but worth years of fun.

I had 4 different proposals for my pool redo. Dolphin stopped by and took a look and told me exactly what I wanted to hear.
Their proposal had everything we wanted. They have a good eye for design and knew what type of pool would suit my yard the best.
They transformed the decking framework, and the resulting lines of the poo/​decking improved my backyard into a Mediterranean refuge.
These guys came through big time.

I absolutely loved working with Dolphin Pools. Melanie and the boys are such a pleasure to work with. They were super helpful and always available when I needed them. They took such good care of us. And not mention the pools are amazing. I can’t thank Dolphin Pools enough for all the hard work and dedication. I am so excited to tell all my friends.

My initial review of Dolphin gave them two stars for the construction of our pool. If your interested in that then read my initial review. I’m now giving them four stars for their follow up and warranty work. There have been several little things that needed tweeked since the construction of the pool. Dolphin has been exceptionally responsive and the follow up and fixes went very well. Also, one of the owners contacted me to talk about the changes they made to their business in the hopes that future customers wont face the same issues I did. That makes me a fan.

Signed for a pool with dolphin the 1^st week of January 2013. It wasn’t finished until end of May after many promises to be done months earlier. Horrible customer service and follow up! Still waiting weeks now for punch list items to be completed. I spent over $ 35k with dolphin pools and have never felt like they appreciated my business or wanted me as a customer. I would avoid dolphin pools at all costs regardless of the price or package they quote. They simply do not care…

Pool supplies next to Quiznos Subs!

I had a meeting for an estimate on June 1. Chris came to give the estimate, and was very knowledgeable. He said that he was a little busy and would get back to us after the weekend with an estimate. It is now June 29 and I have not heard anything back.

Pool is finally finished. For the most part a wonderful experience. A little disappointed in the hand-​rail installation. The installer slopped concrete around the areas drilled to hold the handrail on the Kool Deck. He tried to cover it with Kool Deck material that did not match. Now being told they can’t match it any better. We are still trying to work with them for a resolution. A little disappointed our salesperson has not followed up. I would still recommend them for pool remodeling.