Intex Recreation review: problem with pool pump size! 102

I need the t-bar for the intex pool. I went on the website and it is out of stock. I spent $700 on this stupid thing last year, and now I can not use it. The wind blew my pool over bending and cracking the t-bar on the legs. I do not know where to go to over parts other than the intex website or the 1-800 number. It is hard getting through on the phone, as they hang up on you. Also the representatives are not friendly. Why would they be out of stock on something that they just made last year? I am thinking about welding my own parts and putting the damn thing back up. We should all get together and sue them.

For today I am neutral only BECAUSE Sams Club (affiliated with Walmart) had the intext metal frame pools for $270. I should have read this site first. It is still in the box and I have the receipt - if my printer was working I'd copy all the complaints and send them to Sams Club.

I'm wondering now if I should just take it back. What brand metal frame pool would someone please recommend? I noticed by the picture the pump looked as small as the aqua leisure 3 ft x 12 I had - but I fig'd they knew what they were doing. I got an Aqua Leisure 3.5 x l8 and the pump with it is great - it has turn off/on valves hooked right to the pool and is BIG and cleans good. I knew my pool was not completely level last summer - and I still winterized it so this summer - almost immediately the glue at the seams that was stressed on the HARD DIRT / ROCK came loose - thats why I bought this one.

I purchased an 18x52 Intex Metal Frame pool from Costco in late April. It's now the first of June and after leveling we are ready to put the pool up.

Turns out the plastic spring pins that fit in the metal tubes are missing.

I have to get a new printout of my receipt from Costco and fax it to Intex.

It took me 4 hours to get through to them on the phone. The catch with Intex is that they use this sneaky phone system. You hear a "Menu" but it's really not connected so the call is dropped.

Your phone reads the call as a "ring" but you hear the Intex menu which is simply a ruse.

I knew something was wrong when after 33 (3) minute calls to Intex, my cell phone carrier said I had used ZERO minutes yesterday. Hmmm.

If you call the 800# on your cell phone, watch the phone LCD screen. Intex message plays but your phone shows that the call is still being attempting and "dialing" even though you think the call is successful. It is not until you hear a click and the menu voices change completely.

Touche, Intex.

I spent $440 with taxes on this pool and it's just sitting flat at the bottom on my yard because some doof forgot to put the $.80 worth of plastic clips in the box.

We've been through 2 intex pools because we had more bills than income and it was a great alternative to nothing which was what we had before. With the first pool it took us about 5 minutes to realize the pump doesn't have enough power to clean the water, we tried everything and finally a friend gave us his used sand filter and wow what a difference. That was the easy set pool and I will NEVER own another of those, my daughter went flying right over the side.

We got the metal frame 18x52 and got the same size pump. We never even used it, we used the sand filter and pump from the gitgo and sold that 1 on ebay. We had to replace the sand filter 1/2 way through the year and we again went with a sand filter, it's works a ton better than intex stuff. We just bought a used real pool because I was unwilling to waste more money on another intex. We will be able to used our sand filter we bought last year. The downside is that it is a lot harder to set up than the intex. Good luck everyone!

Yep. Whole heartedly agree with all the complaints here. We bought the 18x48' pool last week. The pump is clearly pathetic. It started out functioning very poorly and ended up doing absolutely nothing within 30 minutes. Turned out a few strands of glass had blocked the inlet filter
in spite of using the skimmer. I cleared that and it kind of worked again for another 30 minutes. The pump sounds horrible and is clearly not strong enough to cope with 5000 gallons. Now I don't know if mine is faulty given the sound it makes but looking at the comments above my experience is identical.

Try getting through to intex support, impossible. I get a message saying that id's get cut of after half an hour. I didn't even make it that far, each time I called I'd get about 1.5 minutes into the message and get cut of.

I completely agree with Rick Sitler. It's yet another example of more ### from China. Here's a thought America. Start making stuff here again! Sure it may cost as much as 20% more to make but who cares, charge me 30% more for the product. I'll be more than happy to pay the extra.

You know why...

A) Someone American will be employed to make it.
B) There's just a chance that it won't be a piece of s**t.
C) Because American's will be employed, Americans will have some money in their pockets and maybe just maybe they'll commission me to do their photography for them cos they aren't all broke! And then I'll be able to pay someone American to build me a real frigging pool!

Could someone tell me how this god damn rope is supposed to be secured. I have tried intex, but an answer out of them one way or the other takes an act of congress and a priests blessing. Any help would be appreciated. I can't figure out if the rope was cut or there is a crimp connector that is missing.

OMG, I am so glad I found this site... I thought we were alone in our problems with INTEX pools. We have the 18 x 48 and our pump never worked right. I called and was told to send it back and it would be replaced...when I called back for the exact address I was was told no I would have to purchase a new one... we did and it still is not enough to pump all the water... The water is hard to keep clear... we have tried everything. If you have any hints or clues please e-mail me... I live in Alabama and its hot here, we want to swim so bad but worry about the water being clean enough because of the not so good pump. Oh yea and today I was changing the filter and the damn handle broke off, when I looked up the replacement 129.00... (on top of the 89.00 plus tax for the pump last mo)... WONDERFUL!

I'm going to go buy one of the itty bitty 8 footers today (it's on sale...and I only want it to last maybe three years for my little ones)... but it's good to know not to waste my money on the larger ones when the kids outgrow this one.

I'll just save the money and buy a real pool. Thanks!

We too bought the Intex pool with the 635 pump. It made horrible sounds and died within a month. It's a shame the pumps are not stable and the filters are hard to find. The size of the pool is nice and I like being able to take it down at the end of the year.

Fyi... Intex is now recalling the ladders that go along with these pools. They have had nearly 200 complaints and injuries filed! Something is seriously wrong with this company and its products!

Intex said... "Did you buy the pool from us?" I said, I bought it at Walmart. He said, "Well, you called the wrong number, you need to call Walmart." I called Walmart and they said bring the pool and your receipt back. The pool WONT fit back in the box no matter HOW HARD WE TRY! Either way, we've recovered only $300 of our $600 screw up with this pool.

Bought the 18 x 48, pump makes a terrible noise, doesn't work, the top won't stay inflated, and it's leaking about 1/3 of it's water over a 24 hour period. We bought the pool on May 9th. Today is the 15th. I called Walmart, they said call Intex. I'm waiting to call their customer service department... But I'll be d@mned if I am going to pay for any shipping to return their defective product. I'll dump the whole d@mn thing in the Walmart parking lot. I had to pay someone $100 to put it together, it costs $100 to fill it with water, and I paid $297 plus tax for it. All together, it has cost me $600 because I've had to completely fill it TWICE already and it's only been 6 days. I seriously want my money back... I can only recover HALF of what I've spent and it's not near enough to cover the frustration! I have 20 minutes before their customer service office opens. I'll update this story when I figure out what is going to happen.

We also bought the 18 x 48 ft pool. We got it in and intex sent us the and after getting everything ready for set up, we realized Intex sent us the wrong liner. We called Intex and they told us to cut up the incorrect liner and send back pieces of it to them and they would send out the correct liner. We did so. ABOUT A MONTH later, we get the correct liner only to get set to install it and notice all the tubing sent to us with the pool is cracked and unusable. We once again contact Intex, (as several others have said... NOT AN EASY TASK!) We finally get the tubing about another month later... Keep in mind, we are in New Hampshire. By now we are heading into fall/winter. So we are unable to set up the pool till the warmer weather comes, much to our disappointment. So in comes spring of 2007. We decide its mid may, we are safe to get things started. We get everything together and start filling the pool only to find the liner is riddles with leaks all along the seams! Very angry and frustrated, we once again call Intex. The rep tells us, they have a 90 day policy and can't help us. We request a manager and are told we will receive a call within 48 hours... (SOUND FAMILIAR?). We actually get a callback! And the manager refuses to accept liability for the piece of crap! If it wasn't for their poor packaging and quality of product we would have set it up last summer and realized we needed to send it back. But by the time we received it, the weather was too cold. THE MANAGER ACTUALLY SAID... AND I QUOTE, "IT WAS ONE OF YOUR OPTIONS TO SET UP THE POOL IN WINTER!" So my husband says, you are actually telling me I should have set the pool up in winter? The manager says, he wouldn't suggest it but it was an option! What nerve this guy has! I felt like jumping through the phone line and strangling the wise ###! Long story short... INTEX IS A HORRIBLE COMPANY, SELLS FAULTY PRODUCTS AND HAS VIRTUALLY NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ALL THE REPS ARE ROBOTS REPEATING THE SAME BULL CRAP! We are going to make a complaint with the California Better Business Bureau and have contacted a lawyer. It may only be a couple hundred dollars but it is the fact of the matter. It angers me to no end that a company can run a business this way and get away with it! It is in a sense fraud and theft! FOR ALL THOSE CONTEMPLATING THE PURCHASE OF ONE OF THESE POOLS, FIND ANOTHER OPTION, THIS COMPANY IS NOT WORTH DEALING WITH AND IN TURN THEIR PRODUCTS ARE DANGEROUS AND FAULTY!

Well, I got my Intex 520 pool pump from Good will. I only paid $5. So I aint complaining. But it is interesting to see these comments as I also notice that I get the bum steer when trying to get a little motor part for it.

Some small black switch part of the motor burned up inside. I never had it running yet, but was hoping to replace that part. Looks like might be for changing from starting voltage to running.

I got one of those cheapy above ground pools too. Bought that at local flea market for $40. Came with small pump like they all do. I know that sucks and when I seen this large 520 model I thought I was in buisness.

I think if I can find manufacture of motor, I will try to get part from there instead. You know generic.

Anybody got any information. Please let me know.
RJ

Although I do understand the frutration.
I also bought the 18' X 48".
The product is good to look at. THE filter is not the right size for this amount of water.

I believe that so much customer service is aimed at what we accept. I purchased this from Wal-Mart in Callaway, FL.

So I not only hold INTEX responsible I also hold Wal-Mart responsible. They choose to do business outside the USA--UNLIKE when Sam was alive.

Pump 635 is incorrect size and they knew what they were selling.

I no longer shop at Wal-mart or will I ever buy another Intex pool.

I tride to call Intex for almost three months.

I am no l0nger angry I just choose where I shop better.

Intex has nothing to say because they knew these issue ahead of time.

Rick Sitler - nicely said! Really enjoied reading your Story :)))

Just another piece of ### from China. What do you expect. sacrifice good quality control for cheap labor. Good old American businesses. We bought one Intex Easy set pool three years ago. first season it bursts. We decided it was because of the shifting of the pool. Ok. benefit of the doubt. We invest in a larger one. Next summer filter does not work we call Intex (no easy task) and they send us a bigger and better filter for free. Great we think. I redistribute and level the existing sand base. Alright, we decide to leave it up for the winter, we winterize it and two weeks into November the rope tie in the cover dry rots and breaks leaving us with a useless tarp that blows off every time a little wind churns up. Oh well just a little more time spent cleaning it up next spring.

Here we go April, May ,June ,July. Aug time in Houston Texas... HOT ! Cant wait to come home and jump in that pool.School starts early in Texas. Wife gets up for School. We both teach, It rained last night the porch is flooded, she tells me, Ok storms are heavy along the coast, I look out after she leaves and guess what,no rain, Just one very flat F#@k%ng piece of useless hunk of vinyl Chinese crap. No more I'm done, anyone out there same experiences Let me know.

"F**K INTEX CORP". Try getting an answer from them, Good Luck Oh You say its my fault for leaving it up in Winter, Intex:Warning do not leave up in less than 40 degree weather, Give me a break It's TEXAS not N. Dakota I intend on rolling mine up in a big ball and pouring gas all over it and lighting it on fire. Than I am going to get incredibly drunk on beer and piss the fire out. There take that Big Bulls76t American Business Bast...ds and your frickin cronie Commie Little Pr=2ks. Buy American ..oops I cant. Will the last American company off to China and parts far east please turn out the lights.. Oh spit "Stick A Fork in Me...

..I'm Done" and so is the USA. First train to Mars and I am out of here. I'll save you a seat.

That 635 pump couldn't clean a fish tank! I bought the 18'x48' size pool thinking this is the best invention since slice bread. But when I took that pump out of the box I was like, "Oh Sh#$!", This thing is tiny! It doesn't take an engineer to figure out pushing 4000+ gallons of water is going to take a little more than this piece of crap. It doesn't clean nothing! No water circulation at all! I went to a pool supply store and the guy was super helpful, he showed me a replacement pump I could buy for $250 that would do the trick nicely. They had it hooked up in the store and it was working a much larger pool and turning into a whirlpool! I figure invest a little more money and at least get a working pool out of it. You have to figure, that's how Intex sells these things so cheap. The pump/filter system is just as important as the pool itself.

Pretty much the same thing has and is happening to me. I recently just purchased the 18' x 48" pool with pump model 635. When I first switched the pump on it swiched on but did not turn. Being a Licensed Millwright and Eletrician I knew to shut it off right away. I followed the procedure such as opening the valves in sequence, bled the air, etc. So I went through it again and switch the pump on. Same thing but this time I gave on top of the motor a slap with my hand and it started. Right away I knew something was wrong becuase it didn't sound right. I drained it all removed the pump and called Intex. They told me the same thing they told you. I decided to have a look at it. When I remove the filter I found approx 1/8" x 3" ceramic shaft. I thought this is not right or good. Called Intex explain what I found. Recieved the same answer I got the first time. I figure this is crap. So I decided to open up the front of the motor casing to have a look. Here I find that the shaft inside the motor is broken and that was the other half of the shaft. For the way these motors are set up I find it impossible for this shaft to break and where I found it to get there. I think this happened during the assembly of the motor. I put shaft where it is suppose to be and the pump runs, mind you the shaft is still broken. The pump runs but does not sound good nor does it pump very much. I do believe the pump is under sized. It does not circulate the water enough causing all kinds of problems, disheartmanship and not say extra money. I won't even talk about the filters. My kids wanted to go swimming and this is why I did what did. The water is and has been so cloudy you can not even is half way down. I been on all kinds of web sites trying to figure out how solve this problem. I'm glad I found your site. I always felt this pump is not right. I was and still might have to buy a different pump that is going to cost me as much or more then this whole pool set up has cost me. Very very disappointed with this pump issue and Intex. I too want justice.