Should the Swimming Pool Industry Have A Lemon Law?
Posted by Kent Carpenter on Wed, Oct 19, 2011 @ 04:21 PM
Think about it, the installed cost for an inground fiberglass swimming pool can surpass the the average cost of purchasing an automobile. Thousands many times even millions of vehicles are recalled each year due to a defective condition or fault. Given that a good well built fiberglass swimming pool will easily outlast the family wagon it seems logical that a defective or substandard fiberglass pool could potentially be recalled much like an automobile.
Of course motor vehicle safety is really important, brake failures or uncontrolled acceleration are very dangerous conditions. It is possible that a poorly constucted fiberglass pool might have or develop some safety issues however let's focus on your "economic safety". If you purchase a lemon car you have consumer statues such as the "lemon law" but what can you do about a recalling a lemon pool?
In fairness frequently fiberglass pool problems are often caused by an untrained/unskilled installers not by the manufacturer. An improperly backfilled pool using dirt or clay instead of pea gravel or washed sand can leave the pool floor unsupported and it can develop a crack once the fiberglass swimming pool is filled with water and the inadequately supported fiberglass pool is left to support the tons of water that have been placed within it. But.....
Fiberglass swimming pools as with most consumer products are not all created equal. There are manufacturer's that pride themselves on doing the right thing all the time and every time and there are those that do not. All the fiberglass pool manufacturers have lots of pretty pictures, fancy websites and plenty of verbage about why their pool is the best, and a few of them are.
There is NO better swimming pool for ease of operation, low maintenance, beauty and long term hassle free use than a well built properly installed fiberglass swimming pool.
Fiberglass swimming pool dealers frequently end up sort of "the meat in the sandwich" if you will. Picture the scenario as the new pool has been hauled to the job site and there are costs involved before the fiberglass pool shell is even unloaded. The freight cost for hauling the pool from the manufacturer to the job site is now due. A rented crane that is onsite to unload the pool has a minimum fee of at least $600 or more. The hourly crew is onsite to assist in the unloading and placement of the pool. A water tanker truck may have been arranged to bring a 6000 gallon load of fill water once the pool has been set and backfilling has begun. Typically the pool dealer at this point only has been given a 10% or 20% deposit and sometimes before but always after the manufacturer wants to pick up a check for the new fiberglass swimming pool. It is apparent that there is a great deal of pressure upon the dealer to "accept" the pool rather than reject it. If it is rejected who pays for the labor, the crane, the water, the freight? These are very big expenses to a dealer. The dealer typically ends up explaining to the homeowner that the pool had unacceptable gel coat issues, discoloration or other obvious issues if he does reject it. This is not a good position for a dealer to be in unless he is well supported by the manufacturer who stands behind their product and their dealers.
What about issues that are unseen by an inexperienced dealer or have not yet developed until three months later when the pool has been fully installed? That is why it is so important that you do your homework in checking out the dealer as well as the manufacturer. Ask the dealer about warranty issues such as response attitudes and timing that the manufacturer offers. Ask him if he has had any unsatisfactorily resolved warranty issues with the manufacturers that he represents? If so what was the outcome? Can you speak directly with a pool owner that experienced a problem? How does the pool manufacturer respond to a warranty claim from a homeowner when the dealer that sold the pool no longer represents that manufacturer?
The dealer has to live among most of his customers and he or she will certainly want to make certain that you receive a well built fiberglass pool from a quality driven manufacturer as good responsible dealers value your positive referral for a job well done.
Unlike automobiles there are no consumer reports available on fiberglass swimming pools which is why it is so important to get the facts.
Ask the tough questions early on and do your homework in learning all that you can about fiberglass pools, fiberglass pool manufacturers and the dealers that represent them, and youll get a great fiberglass pool properly installed without any "after the fact" lemon law protections.
It's that simple....