Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/13/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We paid $100,000 for a quality swimming pool from someone who claims to be a Top 50 Pool Builder in the **. What we got was a pool that is 4" out of level and has been since day one. They had to put a 2" plug in the overflow line to keep it from flowing so much water out that the waterline did not cover the plaster. They put this plug in without telling us. Their landscape "cleanup" crew buried five, five-gallon buckets of sludge and construction debris in our yard. We have that on video. We have an overwhelming amount of evidence against this company. They refuse to talk with us or do anything along the lines of making this right. Our pool is 2" outside of the ***** Code on Construction Tolerances. Our pool drains into the street any time someone jumps in. It is so far out of level that one of the skimmers does not work. Gohlke Pools told us in July of this year that they can find nothing wrong with our pool. We have had three catastrophic leaks (*****k gallons) on this pool. The plumbing is also faulty. They changed the plans of our pool during construction, using cheaper components and did not tell us. This is after we were upsold on the more expensive components. We have an engineer's report that states our pool has not shifted as Gohlke claims. But the presence of the 2" plug shows that they have known all along that it was out of level so badly that it would not properly hold water. Yet they refuse to do anything about any of this. We want them to remove the pool and re-build it in a way that is sustainable. Please help us.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/17/2024

  We have posted relevant videos and other information online. Our ******* channel has the videos and the address of it is 

  *************************************************

  You can also look at ******** profiles for ***** ****** or ******* ****** and see lots of information about this. Making this a public spectacle is our only means of possibly getting Gohlke Pools to do the right thing. 

  Gohlke Pools has offered us a mere $25,000 to go away. We will NOT go away. We paid these people $100,000 in cash for a top quality pool and what we got were chronic problems and the same types of "fixes" that you would use on a 25 year old pool. 

  They say that our pool has shifted, but they installed this 2" plug on our pool in April 2022, before it was ever even swam in. We had no idea that this is what they had done. This was concealed behind a grate that is very difficult to remove. If you remove that plug, our pool does not hold enough water to cover the plaster, leaving it dysfunctional. The only way this can be repaired is to basically cut it in half and raise one end. This leaves the pool looking hideous and even Gohlke's own lawyer told us that he would not do that.

  We are not asking for money for our pain and suffering. We are not asking for money for all of the grief and heartache this has caused. All we are asking for is what we paid for, a nice, functional pool of good quality. What they built is neither functional or good quality. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/21/2024

  This letter to the editor highlights Two facts. 1) Gohlke Pool installed this 2" plug in our overflow pipe before April 4, 2022 and this plug is all that keeps enough water in our pool for it to operate properly. 2) **** Gohlke, his General Manager and his attorney all surveyed and inspected our pool in June 2024 and through his attorney, he sent a letter stating that 'Gohlke can find nothing wrong with your pool." The problem is, Gohlke has known since ************************************ our overflow and that our pool won't hold water without it because it is SO FAR our of level. I'm no judge, but that statement seems like it would be along the lines of fraud. We complained in 2022 that our pool was unlevel. 

  We have a web site now with our complete story on it. Feel free to visit it. *************************

  We hope that you can help convince **** Gohlke and his family to do the right thing and either replace our pool or give us the money to hire one of their competitors to do the job. 

  Thank you so much. I am available 24/7 at ************** to help resolve this problem. 

  ***** and ******* ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/02/2024

  Consider the following timeline: 

  3/31/2022  A plug is placed in our overflow pipe, by Gohlke Pools, during an exercise to stop a leak. That plug was placed in our overflow because our pool is so unlevel that it will not properly hold water without this plug. We were unaware of this, and of the plug at this time. We were told they were putting a grate with the bottom section covered up to help with water flow. We reluctantly agreed to that if it would help stop the leaking. We would have never agreed to put a plug in the pipe, essentially blocking most of our overflow. We did not discover the plug until August 2024.
  4/4/2022  It is determined that this plug in our overflow has nothing to do with our leak. We ask Gohlke to remove it. They ignored that request. 
  4/11/2022  We again to complain that our pool is very unlevel.
  Between 4/2022 and 5/2024  We battle three catastrophic leaks of our pool, each one spilling 10K+ gallons of pool water into our landscaped areas. During this time we also had many other problems with our pool. Gohlke has been to our house countless times during this period. Also during this time, we were concerned about our house as it had shown a sudden shift. The engineer we hired also assessed our slab and determined that we were OK there. 
  5/2024  We made the decision to seek counsel to help us with this matter.
  6/2024  We hire an independent engineer and his report states that our pool was built soundly, but was indeed built this far out of level.
  6/2024  Gohlke performs an inspection of our pool. 
  7/2/2024  Received letter from Gohlkes attorney after their inspection, telling us In short, Gohlke can find nothing wrong with the pool. They knew about the plug in the overflow, but we did not at this point.
  7/2024  We release our attorney for reasons unrelated to the case.
  Late August 2024  We discover the plug in our overflow. We knew that our pool leaked out of the overflow up to that point. We had NO IDEA that the plug that Gohlke put in the pool was all that was keeping enough water in it to cover the plaster. We have never removed the plug, but it is clear to see from the waterline that if it is removed, water level will drop at least 1.5? and that will expose plaster on the North end of our pool. 
  September 16, 2024  In a phone meeting with Gohlkes attorney, we are told that they know our pool is unlevel but that it shifted, but they had already told us that they can find nothing wrong with our pool. In this meeting we are also told that Gohlke has filed an insurance claim on our behalf, but it was denied. If Gohlke will not even admit that there is anything wrong with our pool, what exactly did this insurance claim filed on our behalf actually claim? The insurance company will not let us see the claim.

  I'm sorry to say it, but it is fraud when they told me that they can find nothing wrong with our pool while they knew it had this plug in the overflow. 

  Gohlke filing an insurance claim on their own construction defects insurance policy when they never even admitted to us that our pool has any problems, seems very suspicious. What kind of claim was made? Did they tell the insurance company that we were complaining but our pool had no problems? Or did they admit on that claim that there are problems that they will not admit to us?  Either way, this smells a lot like insurance fraud. 

  It was also fraud when their attorney told us on 9/16/2024 that they know the pool is unlevel, they just claim that it shifted. 

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2024

  From: **** ******** <*******************************************************> 
  Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 9:59 AM
  To: ***** H <*************************>
  Cc: Complaints <*************************************************************************>; ***** **** <*********************************************************>
  Subject: Re: Complaint ID ********
  
  Thanks *****. Does this mean that you have withdrawn the complaint as agreed?
  
  Sent from my iPhone
  
  > On Nov 26, 2024, at 9:51 AM, ***** H <*************************> wrote:
  > 
  > 
  > Please consider this complaint settled.
  > Thank you
  > 
  > --
  > ***** ******
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/02/2024

  Please consider this complaint settled.
  Thank you
  
  -- 
  ***** ******
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/08/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Account number or quote id#****** *********************** Disputing $4137.39 for work that has not been done and will not be done. Approximately August 30, 2023 I received a quote from ************************* master electrician from Gohlke pools. They were supposed to have a permit before the job start. They started wiring approximately October 2, 2023 without a permit, had to stop until they got a permit approval. . Gohlke pools employee ***** said he put in a request for a permit before October 2023. My understanding it was October 16 2023,asked me for my blueprint of my house later on I found out they applied December 7,2023 for the permit and it was approved and issued on December 20 2023. ***** from Gohlke pools informing that I was going to have a permit and he applied for it. I have all the text messages referring to our conversation. They only wired my hot tub, completed a couple of days before Christmas. Which is approximately $900 to $1250. I enclosed pictures of the billing. They billing is for the same amount. Last bill mailed out to me was on May 01 2024 the same amount $4137.39. It is unjust to be charged for services that were not rendered and are unwanted. The company demonstrates poor communication with customers, substandard workmanship, and inadequate billing practices. Enclosed is the permit #****-022, the billing invoices. ***********************

  Business Response

  Date: 06/04/2024

  This complaint has been resolved.  Thank you.