Chattanooga Land Design review: pool design and installation

I first contacted Chattanooga Land Design through their website in mid-May. They were prompt in returning my email request and scheduled a visit to our property within a week. James Eaton, the owner, arrived as scheduled, a little late, but he did call to let us know he would be late. This was the first and only time he met his commitment as to timing. He surveyed the property, asked us what we had in mind and then told us he would get back with a detailed design with pricing of options (such as heater, cover, fencing, lighting, cleaning equipment, landscape, etc). He did not supply the information as promised and I contacted him on 31 May in regards to when I would receive the proposal.

We had a meeting on 5 June where James provided us with 20 pictures of what our design would be. He also said at that time that the pricing would be in the $75, 000 price range which we had told him was our top price. The design was beautiful, it appeared to have everything we had discussed, however the detailed information was not there. We did not have detailed pricing or information on the accessories. I made the mistake of paying him the $750.00 that was committed for the design although, I had not yet received the detailed information.

On 9 June I contacted James and asked when we would get the final proposal. On 10 June, I received 7 pictures from James, still no detailed information. He stated that he had to trim the design back some to meet our $75, 000 budget. Basically, I received 7 pictures of a pool - dimensions unknown, but given the available area it couldn’t have been more than 24’ x 16’. So basically I was getting at pool at $195.00 per square foot versus the national average of $72.00.

I contacted James and expressed my disappointment and concern and again asked for the details. He did not reply.

I contacted him again on 15 Jun, he did not reply.

I contacted him through his web site about a week later, he did not reply.

I contacted him via phone, but it went straight to voice mail.

I contacted him on 7 Jul, he did not reply.

I thought he was an honest and ethical contractor, but he did not deliver on his commitments, I basically got 27 pictures which I could have cut out of any pool magazine for $750.00

To date, he still has not returned my requests for detailed design which I paid for and I have also found through social media posting that several others have had worse experiences with him and that he is not a licensed contractor.