Pinch A Penny
reviews and complaints

As someone who loves spending time by the pool, I've had mixed experiences with Pinch A Penny. While some customers have praised their technical knowledge and excellent service, others have faced challenges with customer service and product quality. It seems like the level of service can vary depending on the location and the specific staff members you interact with. Personally, I would recommend approaching Pinch A Penny with caution and perhaps doing some research on the specific store you plan to visit before making a purchase or seeking assistance.

I took my polaris pool cleaner in for repair they said it was fixed and charged me $240.00. Took clener home and it was not fixed doing the samething as before. When I took it back and expalined they had not fixed it and replaced the wrong aprt on the wrong side if the cleaner they refused to make it right and wanted me to pay for another part and repair...

On July 23, 2023, a pool sample was taken to the Sunrise, FL location ~15 minutes prior to closing for assessment. My adult children were told by the employee whose name tag was Adrian that he could not do it. When I called a few minutes later, someone named Andrew informed me that the machine automatically cuts off 20 minutes prior to closing and that they did not do pool water analysis manually. This is a pool center. If the employee does not know how to do the analysis manually, he needs to say so, but he also needs to be trained. I have a saltwater pool, so proper analysis is key.

Spoke with the owner of the Pinch A Penny store in Beverly Hills Fl regarding our pool cleaning service. We hired them to cover cleaning our pool while we are gone for the summer. We initially started with them in 2022. We had to call them 2-3 times to tell them our pool was not clean and was in fact green. They managed to stumble through the rest of the summer managing to keep our pool relatively clean for the rest of the summer. Fast forward to summer 2023. Had to call them again because of the pool being green and full of algae. on 7/22/23 I had to contact them yet again because our pool was green. Spoke with the owner Jim (very rude...must think he's a shooter because he owns a Pinch A Penny franchise...) who told me "I don't follow up on each pool our people service every time". This would be a sensible response (however rude and dismissive it is) if we hadn't had to call them several times in the past for the same problem! Shows how much his customers mean to his business. We paid the amount that they charged to clean our pool and never missed a payment. What we didn't pay for was them keeping our pool "kinda" clean!

I would not recommend this business for anything involving pool cleaning unless you want to spend your summer aggravated! Avoid.

I was getting quotes for some basic pool work, replace a pump and add Jandy Automation. I was getting 3 quotes and Pinch a Penny was the 3rd. Apparently, they came out without ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door. I was called later to say they have pictures of my equipment and then told me I owed $125.00 for service call to come and look? No one communicated this to me and when they told me it was communicated in email, neither of us can find the email. This is ridiculous to charge so much just to spend 5 minutes to take some pictures. They refuse to even give the quote without me paying $125.00. This is racket, all they need to do is highball bids and guarantee themselves $125.00 for the effort. NO ONE ELSE I've called EVER charges me for a quote! These people are Charlatans! Stay away! It will be YOU pinching the pennies, not them!

10/28/22 pm. Produced a 10% off coupon for a purchase of 35lbs of Suncoast Chlorine tablets. Manager(s) denied coupon saying that it does not apply to 35lbs container. The coupon clearly states it cannot be used on 15lbs, 25lbs and 40lbs. I explained that I am not buying the size that is excluded. They said they do not carry 40lbs and that it "meant " to apply to all sizes. Even though coupon clearly stated cannot not be used on three sizes (15 lbs, 25lbs & 40lbs). Coupon they issued to me is no good. Left store with no chlorine.

I have been going to Pinch a Penny for 8 years, and constantly deal with the lady in the store 12608 Tamiami Trl E, Naples. The woman working there always has a smart-[censored] comment to say, never thanks, goodbye, nothing. My last straw was last week after the hurricane when everyone opened backup. I went into the store and asked is this cash only? She says can't you read the big sign on the door? The sign-really? The doors were open so you couldn't see it and it was on an 81/2 X11 sheet of paper written in a ball point pen.

I decided this week to start going to the other store on 2301 Davis Blvd in Naples. This was a worse experience. I waited out front for a minute or so then a young Lady came out and slammed her breakfast on the table and complained that every time she eats breakfast a customer comes in. She tested my water stated chlorine was zero, I said wow i just put it in, she yelled back what do you want me to do it's zero. The assistant manager called me back and she said go somewhere else. Also, there is a serious liability issue with the pit bull they have running around in the store. I am sure your insurance company would like to know that. Well, I want to but there is not a lot of pool supply stores around. Your customer service is among the poorest of any place I have ever been. I have purchased 2 pumps, filters, and lots of chemicals and yet feel hated when I go into any store, as if I have to apologize for asking a question.

So I dropped off my pool cleaner because it stopped functioning. I was told it was under warranty. I was called 5 hours later and was told it was ready. I paid $20 bench labor and returned home only to find out that the unit was still not functioning. In fact it was doing the exact same thing. I took the unit back and waited for 2 days. I called and was told once again that the unit was under warranty and that my cost would not exceed $50. I explained that I just wanted the unit to work or for the unit to be replaced. I was asked if I had just put pavers in. I said no. The rep stated that there was a lot of grit in the unit. I do not understand what that had to do with anything. Isn't grit and dirt what the unit will find at the bottom of the pool? I waited 3 more days and called again and was told that they were waiting for the manufacturer to email them back. 3 days later and a little more perturbed I called again and was t ok old they were waiting for the manufacturer to email them back. I stated that I would appreciate a call from the manager or owner. Next day I called again and was told that they were waiting for the Manufacturer rep to email them back. A little more perturbed I was told that I was acting unreasonable and that I should not be raising my voice to the rep that I was speaking to. I stated I was at my wits end with this situation and the lack of communication from anyone on staff there as well as the lack of response from the owner or manager. I Al's stated at that time that I was not calling anymore being that every conversation with them was initiated by me and I need a call from the manager or owner. Much to my surprise this morning I received a call for an employee who explained to me that they were waiting for the manufacturer to email them back ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I asked why the manager had not called me back and she stated because she was. I then tried to explain to this employee that I did not care at this point if the unit was under warranty or not. I just wanted to have it fixed and I would pay. I was told that the warranty runs out in a week. I stated that this was irrelevant. Are you going to fix.. every time I started speaking bnb or asking a question I was cut off shut down talked over. She had no intention of hearing ANYTHING I had to say and evidently neither did the owner or manger. She hung up on me. I jumped in my truck and went to the store and was greeted by a young man and told him that I was there to pick up my pool cleaner. It was quite obvious that the condescending little girl was the one who handed it to him because she had nothing good to say and just continued to be a pompous butt head as I retreated not saying a word with cleaner in hand. HAVE A NICE DAY! Unbelievable! I took the cleaner to another pool store at 11AM. The cleaner was returned to me at 3PM. $10 dollars later it has been running perfectly. I tell this story because I entered the store originally with the expectation of them having a staff that could fix the cleaner but instead was ignored by staff and managers and owners. Treated with an attitude of indifference verbally abused robbed of $20 and close to 3 weeks of my life that I will never get back. WHY? I will never know. All I have left is to post this all over the internet.