CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — On today's Troubleshooters, another customer complains about a local swimming pool builder.
The good news is that the customer and his family are able to enjoy the pool, but he points out, upon closer examination, there are serious flaws with the construction of the pool that need to be fixed and haven't been so far.
"They said they would bring an engineer back because of the concrete cracking, and they just never showed up," Gino Giardini told the Troubleshooters.
When Giardini and his family relocated to the Coastal Bend for his job, they bought five acres of property in Odem.
In October 2020, he contracted AA Pools of Rockport to build a beautiful 16 x 13 pool in the back yard.
Total cost? $53,000
It's already paid in full according to Giardini.
The family is able to use the pool to relax and cool off during these hot South Texas temperatures, but Giardini says he called the Troubleshooters because, if you take a closer look, there are issues with the pool's construction.
For instance, "the biggest issues are the cracks inside the pool. We've got to fill the pool up at least once a day to keep the water up," said Giardini.
He also claims he loses 4-6 inches of water daily because of leaks in the pool. He says there are other plumbing issues with the pool as well. The waterfall leaks, there are issues with the skimmer, and there are cracks in the concrete.
But what really led to him contacting the Troubleshooters, he says, is an apparent communication breakdown.
He told us AA doesn't call him when he calls them to ask when and how they plan to make repairs.
"I just feel like they got paid, and I think they're onto the next pool."
So as we sat poolside listening to Giardini's side of this story, we called AA Pools of Rockport, and spoke with Monica Animas, who owns the business with her husband.
She says COVID-19, the big February freeze, not enough help, and nationwide issues getting supplies have all contributed to them not being able to respond to the Giardini's. But, she takes issue with his claim that AA Pools hasn't returned his calls.
She provided us a copy of a September 7 text exchange with Giardini, where she asks him to call her. She claims he did not until a few days later, but by that time she had been overtaken by COVID-19.
After speaking with us, she texted Giardini to let him know her husband was leaving another job to go to Odem to see the extent of the necessary repairs to his pool.
And she told us "there's not any ill will about going back to take care of these issues. We have the intention of going back and doing it. We do have integrity."
Further, she claims many of these issues are the 'nature of the beast' when it comes to building swimming pools, but with rain in the weekend weather forecast, and the backlog of supplies delivered, it'll take time to do what Giardini wants done.
