Cody Pools review: Breach of Contract 19

Cody owns Challenger Pools in Tampa FL. Two of the worst companies I have ever dealt with in my life! I'm not even sure where to start, but I can tell you we are six months into a simple rectangular pool and its still not done or done right.

Permitting took two months and their website says about 10 days. They attempted to say there were delays because of complications, but its easy to see that the city was waiting on them time and again.

Every step of the way was just as painful. If I had not played the role of project manager and stayed on top of them this pool would be even further behind. I called to see when the were going to dig, when they were going to finish rebar, when they were going to concrete, when they had city inspections scheduled, on and on until we got to the pavers and plaster. The paver sub had to be told that the job required a 3-4" base before they set the pavers. They still are uneven, there is no pattern and the gaps are unacceptable. The plaster and quartz finish looks like the pool is 10 years old. After many calls, visits from the installer and emails back and forth with the manufacturer, I was just told that quartz is a subpar choice and I should have known that it would look like a faux finish. What!?!?!

To top it all off, the project manager asked me at the end if there were any change orders that he needed to know about so that he could charge me. That's some top-notch "project manager" wouldn't you say?

I attempted to call and get some assistance from Cody the corporate office. They gladly took my call when they wanted to close out the invoice. After collecting they will no longer return my calls.

Do yourself a favor. If you are in the Tampa Bay Area, Ausit TX, or in a location that has a pool builder owned by Cody, keep on looking for a reputable and reliable company with better communication, management and customer service skills.

Our Cody pool was completed in 2009, around $60K. We had several issues over the next couple years with a single crack that ran the whole width of the pool. At no time did we have any negative feedback from Cody or the subcontractors, who had to completely refinish the entire pool 3 times, until they hit on a more expensive coating that solved the problem, at no expense to us. Once everything was out of warranty, they were very helpful on resolving questions and minor problems.

Unfortunately, our experience with Cody is reflected by many in here regarding poor workmanship, poor oversight, and poor response by company ownership. We also contracted with Cody due to the positive feedback on BBB and after having spoken with a couple of the people the company had referred us to. Our experience was a "bad dream" from the very beginning. The design guy was good, but we found out later that he had no authority and could only shrug his shoulders/apologize when the work being done by the subs was not at the quality or timeliness he had assured us it would be.

The superintendent was knowledgeable and skilled, but was stretched far too thin due to other pools in the area being built at the same time. We began our rocky journey with the "experts" screwing up the layout of our pool. They mistook the comments made by their person who had previously determined the best pool location, and, as a result, outlined the pool area incorrectly. As a result, the pool shape was not dug out correctly and we didn't realize it until after the Gunite had been shot. Cody tried to place the blame for the screw up on us, saying we hadn't said anything about the layout being wrong. Of course, all we had to look at were stakes and flags, so we neophytes really had no idea that things were not right at that point. Despite their reticence, they did come back and tear that end of the pool out and re-dig it to the correct shape.

We then found that the skimmers were incorrectly placed, as was our water feature. The super had no idea that it was wrong ... the sub that I spoke to just shrugged his shoulders. Cody repaired those mistakes, too, but it pushed my pool completion back two weeks, as the craftsmen needed to do the work were working on other pools in the city. Bottom line: it took us nearly 3 months to get a pool we were "guaranteed" would be swim-ready in 30 days. (That's when we found out that the "guarantee didn't really mean anything more than they would try their best to get it done in 30 days - no penalties, no "freebies, " just we'll do our best. Some guarantee, no?)

I could go on and on about the other issues we had regarding the poor work on our spa, the pool having to be re-plastered TWO times due to poor workmanship. Then, we had problems with the Pentair pool equipment that was installed. We had electronic boards go out in both the control module and the heating systems. Fortunately, the warranty paid for what would have been a $1, 400 repair. My Whisper-Flo pump failed twice due to cavitating, which was caused by an inadequate flow of water into the pump, which was caused by a seal leak in the Pentair valves. After going around and around with Pentair, they eventually replaced the pumps, the last time providing me with a higher premium pump, but telling me they would no long provide warranty or replacement. Cody washed their hands of any responsibility after the first year. When I replace my pool equipment in the future, it will be with another manufacturer, hopefully someone who manufactures more reliable equipment.

Dealing with Cody personnel was not pleasant. The super was rude at times; frustrated with the quality of his subs ... and having to deal with the 2-hour drive from his home to our location. He didn't have the time to fully devote himself to our project, and what time he did spend was almost always a whirlwind tour. As a result, the quality of workmanship suffered, our swim season was reduced, and the follow-on issues were always a pain to get resolved. Even calls to Cody's owner did not fully resolve all issues. In fact, he told me that I was being "too picky" when I showed him how rough and uneven the plaster job on our pool was. This wasn't our first pool, so we knew what quality work was when it came to plastering. When the owner of the plaster company came out and agreed that the job wasn't done to his standards, and agreed to provide me with a pebble-based plaster "at his cost, " Cody's owner told me, over the phone, that he would pay for one-half of the cost. When the work was done, he reneged, telling me he had not told me that. When I showed him the email follow up where he said he would pay, he said that he meant he would reimburse me for the original plaster job. Since the plastering company owner had already done when he agreed to do the pebble at his cost, Cody's owner said he wasn't going to pay anything. The plastering company president was taken aback by the Cody owner's reply, having told me that he was sure that the owner would live up to his promise to pay one-half the cost.

That's the type of ownership/company you'll be working with. Caveat emptor.

I just finished...well not exactly, a $56, 000 pool with Cody Pools. The designer was responsive and very good at the aesthetic side. That is what I thought until a "bait and switch" occurred. the designer removed the LED lights from the design without my knowledge and claimed the manager was oferring a discount. Every stepping stone or process associated with the build was delivered days to weeks late without any communication that was not in response to mine. The original timeline of 4-6 weeks extended to over 10 weeks causing us to miss the swim season all together. Understanding the Cody Pools is simply a general contractor and performs no work, every construction issue was blamed on a contractor. I spent over 8 hours per week following up on the process. This includes texts, pictures and e-mails. The process ended with the Cody Pool's construction supervisor and myself yelling expletives at the top of our lungs. Hopefully the start-up contractor will return and correct the install. Not a good experience.

Over the past fifteen years we have build six pools, my job required significant relocation. Our sixth pool was constructed by your company. We initially selected Cody Pools for the following reasons: quality materials, reputation and competitive pricing. Cody Pools far exceed our expectations throughout the whole process and the final product is everything we expected plus some. Our sales manager; Dale Sprigg was very honest and response to our needs, set the tone for the experience. The pool Installation manager; Shawn Barnacle (perfect Texas football player name) was the most authentic, transparent, responsive, installation manager we have ever dealt with. His work ethic matches my own which is very high bar. We are very thankful and appreciative of these two men's effort, they really promote the Cody Pool brand in a positive manner.

Can't say that I'm happy with Cody Pools. Our pool is only 7 years old but when it was only a year or two old, we noticed that the irrigation heads that were supposed to be capped under the deck were not. We can turn on the system and see dirt and water coming up through the drain tract. Hence cement cracked and oh what a laugh when they say they stand behind there product. Ohh, and they almost caught my house on fire when wiring the pool to the outside breaker box. They had to replace it and the old one is still there if you'd like to see it. Interesting thing is, they didn't tell us about it until we asked what happened. It's not the only issue but I would seriously consider someone else if I were you. If Cody is reading these reviews, I'm sure you remember who we are. Right, Hans?

I did not get what I paid for. They state that they have all this experience they have awards they have won (nothing since 2009 or 2008 depending where you look). What kind of award will Cody win on my pool that took 8 months to complete with a 45 day promise to be done and within 3 months ( starting Oct 2010) we have had 5-7 check valve issues, Overflow float issues, 3 leaks (1 in the electrical system), deck cracking in 5 locations, plaster cracking at the bottom of the pool, has not run for more than 3 days as advertised without an issue, EVERY wall is crooked even after repairs, Rocks are stained from the cleaning solution they used to try and get Gunite off the rock. I was told I was getting THEIR best people that is why it took so long to complete yet these folks NEVER did a pool deck with the forms provided. THEIR construction supervisor was no wheres to be found and when contacted stated I will be there next week then nothing and when confronted with other Cody employees with the facts he challenges me to a physical dual because he did not like being exposed. I told then you know warranties are to be used only IF something goes wrong NOT as a means of keeping it running from day to day. Yes, a real AWARD winning pool company that uses warranties to keep things going so they can be done 3 years later. This company has no experienced they use all subcontracted companies to build the pools and then figure they will use the maintenance to keep responding without actually fixing the issues. I would NOT recommend anyone to use this company my nightmare is continuing on a day by day basis and they DON'T care they have their money.

I had a $60, 000 Cody Pool put in my house in Austin, TX. While the design is great, the after purchase service was a NIGHTMARE! Had multiple power and lightning issues they could not diagnose and had to come out several times to try and fix. They are extremely helpful when you have a money on the table, but once your pool is built good luck, and when your warranty runs out don't even think about getting service from. After my warranty ran out, I had a pool pump fail. I called them because I figured naturally since they built this elaborate pool surely replacing a pump shouldn't be that difficult for them. Long story short, basically since my warranty ran out they wouldn't even come look at it and I was offering to pay them out of warranty prices I didn't care I just wanted the pool fixed! I asked the lady straight up, "So let me get this straight. I am willing to pay you to fix my $60, 000 pool that you, Cody Pools built, and you will won't even take a look at it?" She replied, "That's correct." So that is the reason I am taking my time out to write this review so you don't do throwing your hard earned money away to a company who won't even help you after the sale. If you want after pool nightmares be my guest and choose Cody Pools. If you want a reliable pool with the service to back it up then choose another builder. There I warned you!

It has been 1 year since Mike Church ( owner) stood in my back yard and said he would send SunDek to fix all the huge cracks in my deck... some of them are as long as 20 feet.. guess what.. the cracks are still there... so.. now I have to start with a civil suit in order to recover so that I can have them repaired by someone else... I paid Cody 65K for my pool... and besides for it taking them 90 days to do a job that was promised in 45, we have loved the pool.. but warranty and service after the fact is horrible...

I am still having problems with this Company. They never return my calls. I have to call repeatedly to get their attention. My waterfall has been repaired three times. Now I have hugh cracks in the walls. I sent them a picture of the cracks on April 9th and have not heard back from them.

Never, ever again.

We had a fantastic experience with Cody Pools as our pool builder. We had 4 of our friends comment on our pool and when they wanted to put one in their backyard, they called Cody and everyone of them shared the same experience we did. I may not be in the pool building business, but a company that has built over 4, 000 pools (that was the count last year when we bought ours) is bound to have a few complaints. We checked them out with the BBB and saw 2 issues that were noted and the BBB acknowledged that Cody had done everything to resolve the issue and the customers were satisfied.