Garrett
1 year ago
this is very detailed and the exact letter I wrote to Freedom pools
firstly, we had a quote from Narellan Pools then went to Freedom Pools Burpengary and spoke with A, wow he was great set our minds at ease was very informative lovely person, Narellan Pools quote was cheaper, but A was so great we went with him
we were told by A and I also have the email that we would be swimming by xmas but the surrounds would not be done, we were fine with this but did say if it couldn鈥檛 be swimmable by xmas we would rather wait until the new year to start any of the build
we asked if my husband who is a Tiler could do the coping tiles A said no as it would void our warranty
the foreman came to inspect the site gave it the ok, I asked if my husband could do the coping and he said no it would void our warranty??
the foreman mentioned we would be swimming by xmas, but the beam and coping tiles wouldn鈥檛 be done until after the xmas break.
14/12/2018 Dig day 2 guys turned up one in a ute one in a truck, the guy in the ute was lovely guy in truck had the shats it was obvious
it started to rain, and I offered coffee tea water as they said the foreman told them they had to wait for 1hour to see if rain stops
truck guy was on and off the phone swearing saying the foreman the cu#t is making us f-ing stay here we just have to sit and wait its f-ing bullshat
I then asked if they would like to come and watch Netflix or something whilst they wait, they declined
about 30mins later rain had stopped and clouds started to clear I believe they got a call from the foreman who told them to start the dig
truck guy was furious he started throwing tools around and slamming things
he got in his truck and backed straight over my palm tree and it snapped at the base to which he started laughing
he continued to slam things during the dig and was very erratic slamming the excavator arm into the back of the truck
he moved the truck around the back of the house and ran over the septic breaking the surrounds
he continually drove over a spot I specifically told him not to as the weeping pipes from the septic where there they are now also broken and leaking
as they were about to leave, I had to ask them to put the temporary fence up to which the truck driver slammed the truck door and huffed off throwing the fence panels around
the ute driver was apologetic, and he never once was out of line he was lovely
truck driver left and I had to ask ute driver to fix fence as there was a 2m by 1m gap the kids or my dogs could fall into if they were near the pool, he corrected this for me
I rang the foreman and let him know what had happened regarding palm septic and attitude he told me he would come look at the septic (nothing can be done regarding palm apparently not even an apology) and not to worry about truck driver as he was knew and just finding his feet but wouldn鈥檛 be back at my house as his job there was complete
next day 6.15am I get a call from the foreman asking me for a favour
he asked if I could I hit on his son flirt with him wink at him?????
I said no I wouldn鈥檛
when the foremans son arrived at 7.30 that morning with his crew, I spoke with him regarding the phone call and said that I didn鈥檛 want any part of its I鈥檓 married
I kept my 4 dogs inside with me all day as I just wasn鈥檛 sure what the whole situation meant and there was approximately 6 to 7 men in my yard, I wasn鈥檛 risking having any of them hit on me or worse
I did cook the crew bacon and egg sandwiches at about 9am to which they were thankful.
It rained overnight so the hole was drained, the shell was lifted please note (the foreman asked me to cut down one of my beautiful trees to get the shell in the yard I didn鈥檛 cut it down completely as its very old and lushes I cut the branches that I thought would need to be cut the crane driver informed me that it wasn鈥檛 necessary at all he would go over the trees as there are no power lines on my side of the road??) BAFFLED and now missing the branches covering my driveway!
the foremans son called me outside after lunch and we had a chat about the filtration system amongst other things regarding the pool he stated in the conversation that we would be swimming by the following afternoon
after all the ATTEMPTS to level the pool mud and muddy water had risen through the bung hole approximately 200mm in the deep end??
and instead of using their bilge pump that was right next to the pool they just plugged the hole and dumped the fresh water in on top, I asked why they would do that they said its ok the cleaner guy will be here tomorrow to clean it
they put the chemicals in put temp fence up and left
throughout the day there was no direction just unhappy workers with no respect for money I had paid for quality and service
the pool was dirty no cleaner turned up so I rang the foreman he said he was trying to find someone to clean the pool ??I said shouldn鈥檛 it have of been booked in when the pool deposit was paid?
the foreman said it鈥檚 a busy time of year
by the afternoon the foreman called me saying I won鈥檛 have the pool cleaned until the new year
he said let your kids swim in it, it won鈥檛 hurt them
I then contacted an independent pool company and they lent me the pipes and vacuum head and told me how to bypass the cartridge so as not to damage it
they sold me some chemicals to drop the debris to the bottom I left it over night
I vacuumed the pool in the morning left it sit until afternoon refilled the pool and vacuumed it all over again refilled the pool let sit overnight and vacuumed again in the morning
took sample of water to pool shop and had to buy liquid chlorine and bags of salt to rebalance levels
pool was not 100 percent clear but a lot better then what we were left with
during the refill I filled the pool quite high and we could see the difference in the levels from deep end to shallow end
also, a stain around the pool where the muddy water had reached
I rang the foreman and he told me the level of the pool can鈥檛 be perfect, and I agreed but this is noticeable he said its within Australian standards I asked him to come and view it and he said no
with that said my husband got his laser level out and the mould is out of square the back wall is bowed
I rang the office and a South African man answered Raj?? I asked to speak to the foreman he said he was busy and to leave a message
I said could you please tell the foreman to call me because the pool is out of square and the mould seems to be out of line
he said and how would you know that
I said because its visible
my husband said to me tell him I got my laser out and checked it
before I could say that Raj said who are you talking to,
I said my husband
he said I鈥檇 rather talk to him not you
I said I beg your pardon
he said he will know more then you
so, I gave hubby the phone
Raj said your wife is complaining about the pool
hubby said well actually the pool is out of square the steps don鈥檛 line up the steps are hollow and there鈥檚 a massive lump in the shallow end along with staining
Raj said how would you know the pool is out
hubby who is a polite person works in people鈥檚 homes every day and not one issue, raised his voice to Raj and said because I got my f-ing laser level out
Raj response was oh you have a laser level, I鈥檒l have to get the foreman to call you back
we hung up the phone and hubby said let鈥檚 get rid of the pool I f-ing hate it I hate looking at it and for the rest of my life I鈥檓 going to know that there are faults and its going do my head in
I told Tim it would be fine, and that the foreman would get it sorted
the foreman rang the next day and said he was going to come and view the pool that day at 11am
I waited and he never showed by the time hubby got home from work about 4pm I had left messages for foreman to call me and none had been returned
then a man turns up about 5pmish I believe his name was Chad he stated foreman had sent him I asked why foreman didn鈥檛 turn up he said he was too busy
apparently, Chad was new to the company after running his own pool company Chad was rude and spoke to us horribly
we showed him the problems and he brushed them off saying foreman won鈥檛 fix this take him to court if you want but you won鈥檛 win, and it will cost you a fortune it鈥檚 not worth it just be happy with what you have
I said if this was a new car and I went to pick it up and it has scratches or dents I wouldn鈥檛 except it and I wouldn鈥檛 pay for it
Chad said it鈥檚 not the same thing and I said it cost the same as a new car and I shouldn鈥檛 get less then I paid for
hubby offered to get his laser out to look at the problem properly and Chad said no, and he didn鈥檛 have any levels or measuring devices to look at the job properly
the next day I rang foreman I said what鈥檚 happening with my pool
he said nothing Chad advised me it鈥檚 within the Australian standards so its fine
I asked foreman to come and view the filtration system as it sticks out like a sore thumb and if someone was to fall near it, they would snap the chlorinator off
I asked him again to please come and look at the pool as its horrendous and im very upset with it,
he still declined
then without any notice the concrete beam guy turned up to pour the beam but had to leave as it looked like rain was going to hit
he returned the next day and completed the beam I asked him if he knew about the warranty side of things, when it comes to us doing our own coping tiles he said if I where you I wouldn鈥檛 do anything to your pool yourself even if you are told you can foreman will void your warranty has done it to people in the past, also adding Quote: you didn鈥檛 hear that from me
this made us scared to complain any further incase our warranty was revoked
the tiler text me to tell me they were coming the next day, my husband waited for them so he could talk about the layout, and centring of the pavers, the tilers seemed to listen and said no worries
when my husband got home from work he was annoyed they didn鈥檛 listen at all and
firstly, we had a quote from Narellan Pools then went to Freedom Pools Burpengary and spoke with A, wow he was great set our minds at ease was very informative lovely person, Narellan Pools quote was cheaper, but A was so great we went with him
we were told by A and I also have the email that we would be swimming by xmas but the surrounds would not be done, we were fine with this but did say if it couldn鈥檛 be swimmable by xmas we would rather wait until the new year to start any of the build
we asked if my husband who is a Tiler could do the coping tiles A said no as it would void our warranty
the foreman came to inspect the site gave it the ok, I asked if my husband could do the coping and he said no it would void our warranty??
the foreman mentioned we would be swimming by xmas, but the beam and coping tiles wouldn鈥檛 be done until after the xmas break.
14/12/2018 Dig day 2 guys turned up one in a ute one in a truck, the guy in the ute was lovely guy in truck had the shats it was obvious
it started to rain, and I offered coffee tea water as they said the foreman told them they had to wait for 1hour to see if rain stops
truck guy was on and off the phone swearing saying the foreman the cu#t is making us f-ing stay here we just have to sit and wait its f-ing bullshat
I then asked if they would like to come and watch Netflix or something whilst they wait, they declined
about 30mins later rain had stopped and clouds started to clear I believe they got a call from the foreman who told them to start the dig
truck guy was furious he started throwing tools around and slamming things
he got in his truck and backed straight over my palm tree and it snapped at the base to which he started laughing
he continued to slam things during the dig and was very erratic slamming the excavator arm into the back of the truck
he moved the truck around the back of the house and ran over the septic breaking the surrounds
he continually drove over a spot I specifically told him not to as the weeping pipes from the septic where there they are now also broken and leaking
as they were about to leave, I had to ask them to put the temporary fence up to which the truck driver slammed the truck door and huffed off throwing the fence panels around
the ute driver was apologetic, and he never once was out of line he was lovely
truck driver left and I had to ask ute driver to fix fence as there was a 2m by 1m gap the kids or my dogs could fall into if they were near the pool, he corrected this for me
I rang the foreman and let him know what had happened regarding palm septic and attitude he told me he would come look at the septic (nothing can be done regarding palm apparently not even an apology) and not to worry about truck driver as he was knew and just finding his feet but wouldn鈥檛 be back at my house as his job there was complete
next day 6.15am I get a call from the foreman asking me for a favour
he asked if I could I hit on his son flirt with him wink at him?????
I said no I wouldn鈥檛
when the foremans son arrived at 7.30 that morning with his crew, I spoke with him regarding the phone call and said that I didn鈥檛 want any part of its I鈥檓 married
I kept my 4 dogs inside with me all day as I just wasn鈥檛 sure what the whole situation meant and there was approximately 6 to 7 men in my yard, I wasn鈥檛 risking having any of them hit on me or worse
I did cook the crew bacon and egg sandwiches at about 9am to which they were thankful.
It rained overnight so the hole was drained, the shell was lifted please note (the foreman asked me to cut down one of my beautiful trees to get the shell in the yard I didn鈥檛 cut it down completely as its very old and lushes I cut the branches that I thought would need to be cut the crane driver informed me that it wasn鈥檛 necessary at all he would go over the trees as there are no power lines on my side of the road??) BAFFLED and now missing the branches covering my driveway!
the foremans son called me outside after lunch and we had a chat about the filtration system amongst other things regarding the pool he stated in the conversation that we would be swimming by the following afternoon
after all the ATTEMPTS to level the pool mud and muddy water had risen through the bung hole approximately 200mm in the deep end??
and instead of using their bilge pump that was right next to the pool they just plugged the hole and dumped the fresh water in on top, I asked why they would do that they said its ok the cleaner guy will be here tomorrow to clean it
they put the chemicals in put temp fence up and left
throughout the day there was no direction just unhappy workers with no respect for money I had paid for quality and service
the pool was dirty no cleaner turned up so I rang the foreman he said he was trying to find someone to clean the pool ??I said shouldn鈥檛 it have of been booked in when the pool deposit was paid?
the foreman said it鈥檚 a busy time of year
by the afternoon the foreman called me saying I won鈥檛 have the pool cleaned until the new year
he said let your kids swim in it, it won鈥檛 hurt them
I then contacted an independent pool company and they lent me the pipes and vacuum head and told me how to bypass the cartridge so as not to damage it
they sold me some chemicals to drop the debris to the bottom I left it over night
I vacuumed the pool in the morning left it sit until afternoon refilled the pool and vacuumed it all over again refilled the pool let sit overnight and vacuumed again in the morning
took sample of water to pool shop and had to buy liquid chlorine and bags of salt to rebalance levels
pool was not 100 percent clear but a lot better then what we were left with
during the refill I filled the pool quite high and we could see the difference in the levels from deep end to shallow end
also, a stain around the pool where the muddy water had reached
I rang the foreman and he told me the level of the pool can鈥檛 be perfect, and I agreed but this is noticeable he said its within Australian standards I asked him to come and view it and he said no
with that said my husband got his laser level out and the mould is out of square the back wall is bowed
I rang the office and a South African man answered Raj?? I asked to speak to the foreman he said he was busy and to leave a message
I said could you please tell the foreman to call me because the pool is out of square and the mould seems to be out of line
he said and how would you know that
I said because its visible
my husband said to me tell him I got my laser out and checked it
before I could say that Raj said who are you talking to,
I said my husband
he said I鈥檇 rather talk to him not you
I said I beg your pardon
he said he will know more then you
so, I gave hubby the phone
Raj said your wife is complaining about the pool
hubby said well actually the pool is out of square the steps don鈥檛 line up the steps are hollow and there鈥檚 a massive lump in the shallow end along with staining
Raj said how would you know the pool is out
hubby who is a polite person works in people鈥檚 homes every day and not one issue, raised his voice to Raj and said because I got my f-ing laser level out
Raj response was oh you have a laser level, I鈥檒l have to get the foreman to call you back
we hung up the phone and hubby said let鈥檚 get rid of the pool I f-ing hate it I hate looking at it and for the rest of my life I鈥檓 going to know that there are faults and its going do my head in
I told Tim it would be fine, and that the foreman would get it sorted
the foreman rang the next day and said he was going to come and view the pool that day at 11am
I waited and he never showed by the time hubby got home from work about 4pm I had left messages for foreman to call me and none had been returned
then a man turns up about 5pmish I believe his name was Chad he stated foreman had sent him I asked why foreman didn鈥檛 turn up he said he was too busy
apparently, Chad was new to the company after running his own pool company Chad was rude and spoke to us horribly
we showed him the problems and he brushed them off saying foreman won鈥檛 fix this take him to court if you want but you won鈥檛 win, and it will cost you a fortune it鈥檚 not worth it just be happy with what you have
I said if this was a new car and I went to pick it up and it has scratches or dents I wouldn鈥檛 except it and I wouldn鈥檛 pay for it
Chad said it鈥檚 not the same thing and I said it cost the same as a new car and I shouldn鈥檛 get less then I paid for
hubby offered to get his laser out to look at the problem properly and Chad said no, and he didn鈥檛 have any levels or measuring devices to look at the job properly
the next day I rang foreman I said what鈥檚 happening with my pool
he said nothing Chad advised me it鈥檚 within the Australian standards so its fine
I asked foreman to come and view the filtration system as it sticks out like a sore thumb and if someone was to fall near it, they would snap the chlorinator off
I asked him again to please come and look at the pool as its horrendous and im very upset with it,
he still declined
then without any notice the concrete beam guy turned up to pour the beam but had to leave as it looked like rain was going to hit
he returned the next day and completed the beam I asked him if he knew about the warranty side of things, when it comes to us doing our own coping tiles he said if I where you I wouldn鈥檛 do anything to your pool yourself even if you are told you can foreman will void your warranty has done it to people in the past, also adding Quote: you didn鈥檛 hear that from me
this made us scared to complain any further incase our warranty was revoked
the tiler text me to tell me they were coming the next day, my husband waited for them so he could talk about the layout, and centring of the pavers, the tilers seemed to listen and said no worries
when my husband got home from work he was annoyed they didn鈥檛 listen at all and
,
Brandi
4 years ago
Back to one star.
Finding a good pool builder is important, but if you are reading this you still haven't found one.
Don't waste your time reading this review, instead put your time into finding a better builder.
And believe the reviews.
don't fall for the line "they are different companies with a similar name"
Believe the reviews.
In fact, in writing this review, it feels like I am giving them more consideration than they have given me.
They have some nice people working for them, but they can't plan effectively enough to make the most of their staff/contractors. Freedom pools needs to work on their planning and communication, as well as things like giving staff explicit instructions and product training. (Other trades people I have seen use Safe Work Method Statements and risk assessments)
Any way, my pool is now more than 8 weeks late, and there is still no sign of them replying to me, let alone actually finishing the job. With freedom pools you can expect additional expense.
Here is a summary….
After 4 weeks of excuses, half of the original build time was gone, they told me their excavation contractor had gone on holidays, so they couldn't even get started. But what could I do?, I had signed a contract, and paid a deposit. So I had to find my own excavator. It wasn't that difficult, but it was more expensive. The contractor we found was $1800 plus removal costs, but apparently freedom only allowed $1500. So I had to be an extra $300 out of pocket. But again what could I do? they had me over a barrel, either I pay extra, or the pool won't even get started.
So then we got the hole dug, but then nothing else happened for a couple of weeks. This surprised me, as I got the impression that they had a whole lot of staff sitting around twiddling their thumbs while they were waiting for their excavator to return from holidays.
After many calls, and my initial one star review, some more work was carried out. The pool shell was put in place, and they began to back fill the hole with gravel. It was a very hot day, and the guys did pretty well, but a large amount of gravel ended up inside the pool. Freedom pools did not respond to my request for assistance in removing the gravel. So, I had to pay another maintenance company to clean the pool. A similar situation occurred a few weeks later when they did the bond beam. (Aside: I was surprised that they didn't use a concrete vibrator for the bond beam, and they had a lot of concrete left over.)
A significant amount of concrete ended up in the pool, now completely full of water, and again I had no way of removing it. So I again had to pay extra to another company to clean the mess made by freedom. I don't blame them for the mess, they did better than any thing I could have done on a 40掳 day. But my issue is with the company management who paid no attention to removing the mess – when they supposedly have the equipment and know-how. Then, I had to pay more money again to have the formwork removed, and other rubbish disposed of. Freedom pools left a lot of rubbish around, including items from previous jobs, including an old broken wheel barrow, off cuts from the pool fence from some other job, etc etc. So I was regularly paying more (or twice) for work that freedom should have done…. but if i didn't pay extra, it just wouldn't happen. I showed them respect by paying all progress invoices on the day I received them, but it doesn't feel like respect is returned.
There are only minor things left -1- doing expansion joints between some tiles left un-grouted. It is almost a month since the tiles were laid. I have even purchased the silicone for this already! I could probably do this step myself, but then what am I paying freedom for? -2- Moving the filter a bit to stop it pressing on the boundary fence, and -3- the hand over kit.
I don't understand why there is such a delay to finish things off. I just expected them to be keen to finish off so they could get the final payment. But now, the late penalty is at a fixed amount, so there is nothing motivating them to complete the job in a hurry. Should i go and buy my own items that would be in the handover kit?
So it is now roughly 4 months since approval, and the job is still not finalised.
I will update the review if anything changes.
Finding a good pool builder is important, but if you are reading this you still haven't found one.
Don't waste your time reading this review, instead put your time into finding a better builder.
And believe the reviews.
don't fall for the line "they are different companies with a similar name"
Believe the reviews.
In fact, in writing this review, it feels like I am giving them more consideration than they have given me.
They have some nice people working for them, but they can't plan effectively enough to make the most of their staff/contractors. Freedom pools needs to work on their planning and communication, as well as things like giving staff explicit instructions and product training. (Other trades people I have seen use Safe Work Method Statements and risk assessments)
Any way, my pool is now more than 8 weeks late, and there is still no sign of them replying to me, let alone actually finishing the job. With freedom pools you can expect additional expense.
Here is a summary….
After 4 weeks of excuses, half of the original build time was gone, they told me their excavation contractor had gone on holidays, so they couldn't even get started. But what could I do?, I had signed a contract, and paid a deposit. So I had to find my own excavator. It wasn't that difficult, but it was more expensive. The contractor we found was $1800 plus removal costs, but apparently freedom only allowed $1500. So I had to be an extra $300 out of pocket. But again what could I do? they had me over a barrel, either I pay extra, or the pool won't even get started.
So then we got the hole dug, but then nothing else happened for a couple of weeks. This surprised me, as I got the impression that they had a whole lot of staff sitting around twiddling their thumbs while they were waiting for their excavator to return from holidays.
After many calls, and my initial one star review, some more work was carried out. The pool shell was put in place, and they began to back fill the hole with gravel. It was a very hot day, and the guys did pretty well, but a large amount of gravel ended up inside the pool. Freedom pools did not respond to my request for assistance in removing the gravel. So, I had to pay another maintenance company to clean the pool. A similar situation occurred a few weeks later when they did the bond beam. (Aside: I was surprised that they didn't use a concrete vibrator for the bond beam, and they had a lot of concrete left over.)
A significant amount of concrete ended up in the pool, now completely full of water, and again I had no way of removing it. So I again had to pay extra to another company to clean the mess made by freedom. I don't blame them for the mess, they did better than any thing I could have done on a 40掳 day. But my issue is with the company management who paid no attention to removing the mess – when they supposedly have the equipment and know-how. Then, I had to pay more money again to have the formwork removed, and other rubbish disposed of. Freedom pools left a lot of rubbish around, including items from previous jobs, including an old broken wheel barrow, off cuts from the pool fence from some other job, etc etc. So I was regularly paying more (or twice) for work that freedom should have done…. but if i didn't pay extra, it just wouldn't happen. I showed them respect by paying all progress invoices on the day I received them, but it doesn't feel like respect is returned.
There are only minor things left -1- doing expansion joints between some tiles left un-grouted. It is almost a month since the tiles were laid. I have even purchased the silicone for this already! I could probably do this step myself, but then what am I paying freedom for? -2- Moving the filter a bit to stop it pressing on the boundary fence, and -3- the hand over kit.
I don't understand why there is such a delay to finish things off. I just expected them to be keen to finish off so they could get the final payment. But now, the late penalty is at a fixed amount, so there is nothing motivating them to complete the job in a hurry. Should i go and buy my own items that would be in the handover kit?
So it is now roughly 4 months since approval, and the job is still not finalised.
I will update the review if anything changes.
,
Heather
4 years ago
Back to one star.
Finding a good pool builder is important, but if you are reading this you still haven't found one.
Don't waste your time reading this review, instead put your time into finding a better builder.
And believe the reviews.
don't fall for the line "they are different companies with a similar name"
Believe the reviews.
In fact, in writing this review, it feels like I am giving them more consideration than they have given me.
They have some nice people working for them, but they can't plan effectively enough to make the most of their staff/contractors. Freedom pools needs to work on their planning and communication, as well as things like giving staff explicit instructions and product training. (Other trades people I have seen use Safe Work Method Statements and risk assessments)
Any way, my pool is now more than 8 weeks late, and there is still no sign of them replying to me, let alone actually finishing the job. With freedom pools you can expect additional expense.
Here is a summary….
After 4 weeks of excuses, half of the original build time was gone, they told me their excavation contractor had gone on holidays, so they couldn't even get started. But what could I do?, I had signed a contract, and paid a deposit. So I had to find my own excavator. It wasn't that difficult, but it was more expensive. The contractor we found was $1800 plus removal costs, but apparently freedom only allowed $1500. So I had to be an extra $300 out of pocket. But again what could I do? they had me over a barrel, either I pay extra, or the pool won't even get started.
So then we got the hole dug, but then nothing else happened for a couple of weeks. This surprised me, as I got the impression that they had a whole lot of staff sitting around twiddling their thumbs while they were waiting for their excavator to return from holidays.
After many calls, and my initial one star review, some more work was carried out. The pool shell was put in place, and they began to back fill the hole with gravel. It was a very hot day, and the guys did pretty well, but a large amount of gravel ended up inside the pool. Freedom pools did not respond to my request for assistance in removing the gravel. So, I had to pay another maintenance company to clean the pool. A similar situation occurred a few weeks later when they did the bond beam. (Aside: I was surprised that they didn't use a concrete vibrator for the bond beam, and they had a lot of concrete left over.)
A significant amount of concrete ended up in the pool, now completely full of water, and again I had no way of removing it. So I again had to pay extra to another company to clean the mess made by freedom. I don't blame them for the mess, they did better than any thing I could have done on a 40掳 day. But my issue is with the company management who paid no attention to removing the mess – when they supposedly have the equipment and know-how. Then, I had to pay more money again to have the formwork removed, and other rubbish disposed of. Freedom pools left a lot of rubbish around, including items from previous jobs, including an old broken wheel barrow, off cuts from the pool fence from some other job, etc etc. So I was regularly paying more (or twice) for work that freedom should have done…. but if i didn't pay extra, it just wouldn't happen. I showed them respect by paying all progress invoices on the day I received them, but it doesn't feel like respect is returned.
There are only minor things left -1- doing expansion joints between some tiles left un-grouted. It is almost a month since the tiles were laid. I have even purchased the silicone for this already! I could probably do this step myself, but then what am I paying freedom for? -2- Moving the filter a bit to stop it pressing on the boundary fence, and -3- the hand over kit.
I don't understand why there is such a delay to finish things off. I just expected them to be keen to finish off so they could get the final payment. But now, the late penalty is at a fixed amount, so there is nothing motivating them to complete the job in a hurry. Should i go and buy my own items that would be in the handover kit?
So it is now roughly 4 months since approval, and the job is still not finalised.
I will update the review if anything changes.
Finding a good pool builder is important, but if you are reading this you still haven't found one.
Don't waste your time reading this review, instead put your time into finding a better builder.
And believe the reviews.
don't fall for the line "they are different companies with a similar name"
Believe the reviews.
In fact, in writing this review, it feels like I am giving them more consideration than they have given me.
They have some nice people working for them, but they can't plan effectively enough to make the most of their staff/contractors. Freedom pools needs to work on their planning and communication, as well as things like giving staff explicit instructions and product training. (Other trades people I have seen use Safe Work Method Statements and risk assessments)
Any way, my pool is now more than 8 weeks late, and there is still no sign of them replying to me, let alone actually finishing the job. With freedom pools you can expect additional expense.
Here is a summary….
After 4 weeks of excuses, half of the original build time was gone, they told me their excavation contractor had gone on holidays, so they couldn't even get started. But what could I do?, I had signed a contract, and paid a deposit. So I had to find my own excavator. It wasn't that difficult, but it was more expensive. The contractor we found was $1800 plus removal costs, but apparently freedom only allowed $1500. So I had to be an extra $300 out of pocket. But again what could I do? they had me over a barrel, either I pay extra, or the pool won't even get started.
So then we got the hole dug, but then nothing else happened for a couple of weeks. This surprised me, as I got the impression that they had a whole lot of staff sitting around twiddling their thumbs while they were waiting for their excavator to return from holidays.
After many calls, and my initial one star review, some more work was carried out. The pool shell was put in place, and they began to back fill the hole with gravel. It was a very hot day, and the guys did pretty well, but a large amount of gravel ended up inside the pool. Freedom pools did not respond to my request for assistance in removing the gravel. So, I had to pay another maintenance company to clean the pool. A similar situation occurred a few weeks later when they did the bond beam. (Aside: I was surprised that they didn't use a concrete vibrator for the bond beam, and they had a lot of concrete left over.)
A significant amount of concrete ended up in the pool, now completely full of water, and again I had no way of removing it. So I again had to pay extra to another company to clean the mess made by freedom. I don't blame them for the mess, they did better than any thing I could have done on a 40掳 day. But my issue is with the company management who paid no attention to removing the mess – when they supposedly have the equipment and know-how. Then, I had to pay more money again to have the formwork removed, and other rubbish disposed of. Freedom pools left a lot of rubbish around, including items from previous jobs, including an old broken wheel barrow, off cuts from the pool fence from some other job, etc etc. So I was regularly paying more (or twice) for work that freedom should have done…. but if i didn't pay extra, it just wouldn't happen. I showed them respect by paying all progress invoices on the day I received them, but it doesn't feel like respect is returned.
There are only minor things left -1- doing expansion joints between some tiles left un-grouted. It is almost a month since the tiles were laid. I have even purchased the silicone for this already! I could probably do this step myself, but then what am I paying freedom for? -2- Moving the filter a bit to stop it pressing on the boundary fence, and -3- the hand over kit.
I don't understand why there is such a delay to finish things off. I just expected them to be keen to finish off so they could get the final payment. But now, the late penalty is at a fixed amount, so there is nothing motivating them to complete the job in a hurry. Should i go and buy my own items that would be in the handover kit?
So it is now roughly 4 months since approval, and the job is still not finalised.
I will update the review if anything changes.