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WORTHLESS RIPOFF
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Late in 2013, my wife and I bought a house with a 30-year old pool/spa that needed a complete remodel including new equipment and new plaster. The spa is about two-feet higher than the pool and has a waterfall to the pool over some boulders. The pool/spa
were leaking and losing water at about 7/16 inch per day, of which about 1/4 inch was due to evaporation as confirmed by a "bucket test". We hired a contractor to do the restoration and at the outset he placed pressure gauges on the 4 lines that ran to the
pool/spa and then pressurized the lines. Two lines to the spa slowly lost pressure. The contractor recommended that I contact a leak detection company that could precisely locate the leaks with the use of sonar/audio and other specialized equipment. So I called
the Santa Ana branch of American Leak Detection (ALD) and arranged for them to come out and "do their thing". When their inspector arrived he noted the pressure gauges that had already been installed. Then, using his own equipment on the gauges, he pressurized
all the lines and again the same spa lines lost pressure at the same rates. That was it. That's all he did. I asked if he had audio equipment he could use to try to pinpoint the location of the leaks. He said the leaks were too small and faint for his equipment
to detect. He didn't do any dye testing or any other testing to observe the leaks. And he didn't do anything to repair them. When asked about the pressure losses he said they were insignificant and the water loss would be of no consequence. Other than hooking
his equipment to the already installed fittings, during the time he was there he never had a tool in his hand. He just lounged around. After about an hour I said "Don't you have other inspections you need to go to"? He said, "No. I'm here for the 'minimum'
time and the cost will be $350". He then continued to just "hang-around" for at least another hour...doing nothing. With a great deal of reluctance I paid him the $350 but I didn't get a receipt or a report. Based on ALD's inspection and verbal report that
the leaks were insignificant, my contactor and I concurred we should go ahead with the restoration. I otherwise may have decided not to go forward because the leaks could be in the spa plumbing that where it was covered by large real boulders, which could
have made repairs very difficult and costly. I might have opted to just demo the pool and/or spa. However after restoration, I noticed the pool was still losing water at exactly the same rate as before. So I began taking measurements, often twice per day to
get readings before and after the pumps ran. I did this for about 8 weeks raising and lowering the water level in both the pool and the spa in an attempt to pinpoint where the water loss was occurring. I also did some dye testing at certain fittings and at
the skimmer but observed nothing. But when I lowered the water in the spa to a level below the upper jets and return, while holding the water in the pool to a level above the skimmer, the leak stopped! This established that the leak(s) were not in the pool's
skimmer, light, jets or drains, but were in fact, in the spa plumbing, and likely under the boulders. So I called ALD and asked if I could talk to the owner. I was told he was not in and the guy on the phone asked if he could help me. I explained everything
and asked if ALD could send someone out and try to pinpoint the leaks at no cost because I had already paid the "minimum" and didn't get anything for my money. He said he would talk to his supervisor later that day and get back to me. Two days later, I had
not received any contact from ALD. So I called again and talked to the same guy and he promised he would talk to his supervisor "first thing in the morning" and call me back. He did not call me back. Nothing! No one ever called from ALD. They were obviously
trying to avoid me in hopes I would just "go away". They did nonetheless email me the invoice/report and it said their inspector "performed a pressure test on the spa jet and pool return systems, finding both to hold 15 PSI". Sounds like he actually did something,
huh? Well all he did was take readings from his equipment that he had connected to existing fittings and gauges that my contractor had installed. He also reported "two systems lost pressure" and "The pressure loss is too slight to show up on the technician's
pressure test, so this appears to be a non-issue." Huh? Since ALD was completely ignoring me and refusing to call me back, I subsequently hired "Jay" of Inland Empire Pools, Inc (AKA "Leak Solvers") to detect and fix the pool's leaks. He tested and discovered
pressure losses in the same spa plumbing observed by my contractor and that the ALD inspector said were a "non-issue". However Jay said the pressure drops WERE significant and likely the cause for the water loss I was observing. Then over a period of about
two weeks, he meticulously inspected the pool/spa and fixed the leaks at a reasonable cost. On the other hand, ALD charged $350 for a worthless inspection and misleading report which is why I went ahead with the costly pool restoration. Not to mention their
discourteous and inept customer service where they refused to respond to my telephone inquiries. In summary, ALD's service was a GREEDY and WORTHLESS RIPOFF for me! If you have a plumbing leak I strongly suggest you go elsewhere for an inspection.
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