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Complaints on "Castaway Pools and Spas"

Castaway Pools and Spas

Posted: 2007-06-18 by CHRIS L. [send email]

Never came back to finish the job!

Complaint Rating:

Castaway Pools and Spas installed a pool at my home on 4/5/07. They have never came back to finish the job despite numerous phone calls and letters sent to their office. Their salesman john refuses to answer any phone calls. I would advise anyone in the tristate area to be aware of this company. If this company is hired to install a pool at your home read the contract and beware that the are not responsible for any damage to your home or property. Do not under any circumstances make a payment until they are completely done. They seem friendly but are that lie and deceive the public.

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United States

Pool & Bath Services

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More complaints on "Castaway Pools and Spas"

Castaway Pools and Spas - I had a leak too!

Castaway Pools and Spas - lost deposit

Castaway Pools and Spas - Poor service!

Castaway Pools and Spas - Never finished Pool

Castaway Pools and Spas - Poor service!

Castaway Pools and Spas - Pool installation still not complete!

Comments

273 days ago by Nicholas Celentano [send email]

We signed our contract in January, 2007 with promise of delivery by May 30th. Needless to say that didn't happen. Denny turned out to be a BS artist. John turned out to be the biggest jerk we ever had to deal with. We finally received our pool on July 2nd, and installation on July 4th (would you believe).We had to get the Electrician that was on our permits to come over and do the work. The poor guy hasn't been paid for his last 4 installations. So we paid him for the work. He did a great job. He even talked to our township construction office and got everything squared away. His name is Randy Needleman. Great Electrician. Them came the cement work. We had to pay him also. He did a great job. We still haven't received our solar heater, hand rail, ladder and fiber optic light w/remote. It is now August 17th and have still been given the run around. Didn't know about the change of name. I guess we'll never see any of those items either. I guess there should be some sort of class action law suit against them. If any of you out there are going to pursue one, let us know we will join you. As for the media, I think that is a great idea. My husband & I are going to there place in Vineland tomorrow to try and get the items owed to us. I hope others join us. E-Mail us at - nacelentano1@verizon.net.

273 days ago by Anonymous Person [send email]
Pissed Off, you should call the cops. John is already on probation for bouncing checks. Maybe the township will call them too, and then we can all bake cakes to take to John on visiting day at the jail.

273 days ago by Industry Veteran [send email]

Last known address for John Jr. living with his girlfriend Theresa Lisaik (previously listed as his parole officer on this site- NOT!!!) was 923 Adams Ave , Mays Landing, N.J. 08330.

Theresa's phone # 609-909-8028. John Jr. was being sought for knowingly passing fraudulent checks drawn on a closed bank account of Theresa Lisaik in June of 2004. First check # 872 for $12,672.38 on June 17th 2004. 2nd check # 875 in the amount of $12,687.38 on June 24th 2004. Soon after John Jr. was arrested and sent to Jail and the company had no recovery options. He burned yet another company with his scams. Where does all this money go? Does it pay for the gas he has to buy because he's a low life yellow back coward always on the run? Don't be fooled...John Sr. and Dave K. are deeply involved in this ripoff as well. John Sr. Cell # 856-466-3939 might still work... however chances are if he doesn't recognize the # you will get a spanish speaking voice recording. What a bunch of cowards. Can't wait to see them all go to jail.

272 days ago by Anonymous Person [send email]
Apparently Castaway has operated under the "Pools Spas & Beyond" name before, back in 2006. I found two advertisements in the archives of the Daily Journal, the newspaper in Vineland. http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/Vineland/HealthConnection/20060531/p28_29_a5.htm and http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/Vineland/HealthExpress/20060614/p6_7_a7.htm "New Management", right?

262 days ago by Carbo [send email]

Went to their office on August 23. I tried to get my $5,000.00 downpayment credited back to my card. Dave who informed me he was the current manager in charge couldn't do it as the funds were frozen for 7 days. The Trilogy pool was never ordered and I have since found out that Trilogy pools pulled out of the North East, as this type of activity seems to be an epidemic on the east cost! Right now AMX is trying to get my money back, but I won't know for another 5 weeks.

252 days ago by Pissed Off [send email]

HELP! can someone wake us up from this NIGHTMARE! going back to my other posts, nothing has changed. The building inspector still wants the concrete and pool ripped up. The pool was installed without the proper permits and the concrete was poured without any passing inspections. The only thing that has changed is that, they made good on the bounced check. Our pool was installed on 3/26/07 and the permit was applied for on 4/25/07, a month later!

Still our calls for help go unanswered and on Wednesday & Thursday, at 4pm, we went to the store only to find it dark, locked and CLOSED! What the hell is going on???

As for our pool with the dirt covering the bottom, I contacted several fiberglass pool companies across the country. They said that there is either a crack in the return lines or ALL the return lines were not GLUED! with the dirt covering the entire floor of the pool in different colors and textures of dirt, more likely than not the returns were not glued. This will cause a void in the soil under the pool and cause the pool to crack. They should have done a pressure check of the lines and would have found that the lines were bad. This would cost around $500 just for the test and who knows how much more to fix it.

I told Dave this and all I got was " that's interesting!" Is there anyone who can help us??? Where can we turn from here? Advise smb!

252 days ago by Feeling Sorry [send email]

I have a feeling anyone waiting to have their pools installed or finished is screwed. I would think these guys are going to skip town after abc6 news aired this investigative report last night. They have no money and no way of purchasing supplies. In the report Midge says it's due to backorders from suppliers... guess what... there are over 10 suppliers servicing the South Jersey / Pennsylvania market... so there is n0 way that every supplier is unable to source product for them. In fact I would bet that most of the suppliers Castaway could call has every single item needed to finish the pools. The problem is Castaway either owes them a ton of money or has bounced checks... so unless they steal the product... no way in hell they will be able to finish the pools. Click on the link and paste to your browser if you have not seen the news report yet on Castaway.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=consumer&id=5643141

252 days ago by Pissed Off [send email]
Thanks feeling sorry, now we are really F###'d. I am waiting for the Building Inspector to call me back... might see us on TV!

252 days ago by Anonymous Person [send email]
It was great that they did that story, they were way too nice though. The mugshot of John and the whole list of his convictions, along with that trip to his house... priceless!

252 days ago by Pool Fool [send email]
FYI: For those of you who are contemplating legal action, the following law firm in NJ has held themselves out to represent Castaway Pools & Spas, LLC: Calzaretto & Bernstein, LLC Attorneys at Law 459 Route 38 West Maple Shade, NJ 08052 T - (856) 667-0400 F - (856) 667-1477

252 days ago by Feeling Sorry [send email]

if anyone is interested in calling the wholesale supply companies Castaway has dealt with and claims has created their problems with getting materials for their jobs, please e-mail me directly. I will supply all 10 local companies names and contact info so you can call directly and discuss if Castaway's awaiting any of the products they supposedly are having trouble getting. You will find that each and everyone of these suppliers will outright refute Midge's claim. In addition you will find that Castaway has serious financial issues... including bounced checks... outrageously over due bills they can not pay... and that most will refuse to do business with... even on a cash basis.

Everyone that has ever dealt with Castaway has been lied to and scammed and they have no where else to turn to to buy products. If anyone is told by Castaway they can not get the product you need... feel free to call these suppliers and ask directly. They can not sell you the product directly... but they can at least let you know you have been lied to again by Castaway.

251 days ago by Pissed Off [send email]

FYI UPDATE:

Castaway came up with an agreement with the BVT Building Inspector to cut a window in the concrete and do a BONDING test, if it passes, we will be okay-if the bonding test fails-the concrete has to come up. The latest on the dirt in the pool and the possible leak in the returns-Castaway sent the guys out today and all the returns are LEAKING!!! two of the returns you have to dig under the concrete but the deep end return is under the 10' wide section of concrete! NOW WHAT???

At least they sent the guys out The guy at Castaway said they are under a new policy to answer all phone calls and get things resolved. Maybe channel 6 opened some eyes.

The channel 6 t6hings was like a Master Card commercial-
Johns Mug Shots- $2800
Johns Arrest list- $5000
going to John's home- PRICELESS!

248 days ago by Pissed In Pa [send email]

Someone in an earlier posting asked if anyone had a pool successfully installed by Castaway. It seems we 'somewhat' have a pool completely installed by Castaway. Although, it was not without any & all of the same exact complaints that anyone else on this site has had to go through. To this day, we still have a huge pile of dirt to be removed, White plastic rails (we contracted for stainless steel rails) that broke & need to be replaced, a blower for the spa still needs to be installed, severely cracking stamped concrete & missing waterfall feature. Nevertheless, even with these outstanding items we have been using the pool since June 2007.

We too have kept a long log of all the days the guys never showed up, weather, the few days they actually showed up, all our calls & the numerous unreturned calls. I pushed them to finish before my Son's 4th birthday 'pool party' on June 9th. Of course that didn't happen. Amazingly, they had Mario & Willy's nephew Bruce Kensinton to return to replace the Hayward lights, install the rails, somewhat clean the pool, deliver the pool tools & fix the filter issues. The rails they installed were the wrong white plastic ones & they were supposed to order us the stainless steel set that we obviously never got. At this time, Bruce clued me into all of the details about John's arrest & how his uncle Willy fired John Sr & was making John Jr resolve all the issues with all the pissed off customers before Willy fires John Jr. After reading this site it seems that was just another lie since Willy & John are still in works together in their scam of a company.

Luckily, husband is an electrical engineer & has since have to fix a lot of the electrical wiring himself as well as fix more of the filter issues. He's looking into installing the blower for the spa himself & we've already contacted someone to get the dirt hauled away at our own expence. We were lucky enough to be able to some of these things on our own & have been able to use the pool since June 23, 2007. We now need to close the pool & have to get it completely inspected first & we're truly afraid of what mess will come out of that. Electrical already failed due to a faulty ground.

John Jr & Sr, Willy Kailai, & Dave Kimanash all need to be held responsible for the mess they made to all of these hard working honest people looking to have something as simple as pool to enjoy!!! I'm all for the civil lawsuit please keep me informed, we all need to bond together & get these guys in jail where they belong.

248 days ago by Pissed In Pa [send email]

I forgot to mention that I too contacted a lawyer & to send a demand letter to complete the remainder of the open issues we had & it was all ignored & nothing at all came out of it. John Sr. even mentioned to me that they've never been sue in the number of yrs they've been installing pools. I guess because they're great at hiding.

Channel 6 news mentioned that Castaway had stopped selling pools 6 weeks ago to concentrate on resolving the current customer issues. Is anyone out there in the works with Castaway to actually finish the work or was that YET ANOTHER LIE that Castaway put out there for ABC to make it sound like they're a 'good faith' company trying to make good with their customers? Please let me know if I should even bother trying to contact Castaway again because we still have a laundry list of things to still be addressed too.

246 days ago by Anonymous [send email]

I feel for all of you on this complaint board. John Jr. has screwed many of us out of our money. I am one of the lucky ones I guess since I am getting the problems on my pool fixed right now. I am in hopes though that Castaway Pools and Spas can turn around the mess that has been put upon them by John Jr. and Sr. I am told that the Kalai's are no longer working with Jr. or Sr. and that they infact were trying to help Jr. at the begining, but of course now that so many problems are arising Jr. and Sr. are telling people that this is not there buisness, they had nothing to do with the down fall of the buisness, and it is not their problem. The Kalai's are good people with good hearts. They never thought that things would get this out of hand and are sorry they ever let Jr. have any control in the company. I am in understanding that the Kalai's are doing their best to make amends with everyone. They too have been left high and dry by Sr. and Jr. I read the comment about the news going to Jrs. house. Well I have been told that that is not his house and that he lives with his girlfriend and her family. Rumor has it that the girlfriend has smartened up and kicked him to the curve. I say good for her and the Kalai's for giving him the boot. It is not only I and the rest of you that have been taken by Jr. an Sr. that I feel sorry for I also feel sorry for their families and the Kalai's whom have to deal with this whole mess. I will give an update as to how my pools comes out after the fixtations.

246 days ago by Anonymous Person [send email]

The previous post was not from me.....in case anyone was wondering.

The Binder Equipment publication listed on the first page ( http://www.constructionpublications.com/binder/Binder_Issue_30.pdf ) was from December, 2005....and in that picture of the Kalai Excavation crew is John Dalrymple, the "Kalai Excavation Operations Manager". What this means is that John and Willy probably go back more than a few years, and that Willy knew exactly what he was doing when he put John in charge of Castaway. While he might regret it now, it's probably because his reputation is screwed and his company is crumbling, not because of the harm he has done to families. There are numous people who have posted here who have tried and tried again to get what is due to them from Castaway, only to be completely ignored. Are we so beaten down by this... that one visit from the company three months later is enough to make us believe that things will be OK? Every opportunity I give to Castaway to do bettter is met by unreturned phone calls, avoidance, and outright lies. When you think you are starting to forgive and forget, think about these lies from Castaway:

SWIM IN 1-5 DAYS

NO SUBCONTRACTORS

SUPERIOR INSTALLATION METHODS

OUTSTANDING REPUTATION

IN JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS, YOU COULD BE ENJOYING YOUR NEW POOL

NORTH EAST'S LARGEST POOL BUILDER

Oh, and one more thing:

A WASTED SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!

Ask the guys from Piper Pools in Berlin how they feel about Castaway. Castaway owes Piper money too, and if anyone from Castaway would show up at the Piper store, I believe the cops would be there in minutes. Soon I will also be calling the NJ Attorney General and an attorney.

245 days ago by Dino Nerney [send email]

Why should anyone feel sorry for the Kalai's? I gave a $4000 deposit have no pool and have been lied to for 4 months. If Will Kalai is so "nice" than why did he tell me a month ago "I'll have your deposit mailed out on Tuesday 08/14 " and I still dont have it. I'm a cop, he knows it and he still didnt make amends with me. If they are decent people than why wouldnt they try and give a cop back the money their company stole from him?
Does anyone know the Kalai's home address? I'm filing a civil suit against them this week and want to make sure they get their notice since if its mailed to Vineland it will probably get tossed in garbage

243 days ago by Anonymous Person [send email]
There are lots of phone number web sites, like http://www.switchboard.com or http://www.whitepages.com You could try one of them and see what you get.

241 days ago by In The Pool Business [send email]

OH BULL S**T! Willie knew what he was getting into with John Jr. and Sr. The two of them have had a least 6 different pool business names that just I can think of. He was warned not to go into business with them and choose not to heed the warning.

You don't feel sorry for someone who knew better!!! Shame on you for feeling sorry for them. FEEL SORRY FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE GETTING SCREWED. OR HOW ABOUT THE KIDS THAT HAD HOPES OF SWIMMING IN THEIR OWN POOL THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!

236 days ago by Unhappy Customer [send email]
Does anyone know if they are still in "business" in Vineland or have they shutdown? I live a few hours away so and of course am still waiting for a FEW ITEMS i WON'T RECIEVE.