Swan Pools (Orange County) was one of our considerations, but even the bidding process was a joke. Their salesperson came over three times and each time failed to actually give us a bid with a number. And her plan was horrible. We finally gave up on them.

swim dude - my pool has been done for about a year and a half. We eventually went with a company called Elite Environments, referred to me by someone on this forum. :)

Good thing you didn't use Swan Pools. How did your experience go with Elite Environments?

Sorry to hear about your bad pool experience. Unlike Snookums (Hi Snookums!), we did have a good experience with Swan of Lake Forest. Our sales person was informative, contributed to our design, was honest and upfront about the cost, and kept in touch throughout the process. Although we had all the common pool building frustratios you find on this site, our overall experience was a good one. We added concrete and made a couple of other minor changes to our project and were not charged. Don't get me wrong, we paid a premium price for our pool, so by throwing in a little extra concrete, upsizing a pump, and a couple of other things, they still made plenty of money off our pool. We finished a little over a year ago and seem to have a quality product with very good customer service. In fact, they called a couple of weeks ago to come by and take a look at our pumps to insure they weren't from a batch of recalled units by Jandy. Much of our experience is documented on this site and can be found under my screen name mkfmedic. Snookums and I actually have similar sized pools and had many of the same issues during our construction process!

Having written this however, my positive experience does not help your negative experience with Swan of Napa. I understand that the Swan Co. is a franchised company, each area independently owned and operated. This site is full of wonderful resources, both builders and customers, so if you post some more specific issues, members on this site may be able to better assist you with issues. You hit it on the head when you spoke of doing your research and finding out as much as possible about these companies. Posts like these can be extremely informative for folks out there considering, or in the process of selecting a pool comapny.

Best Regards,

Mike

Mike - Swan probably would have gotten our business if the salesperson hadn't been such a flake, because we had heard a lot of good things about them.

Swim Dude - It went well with Elite Environments. We had a few bumps along the way as I think most people do, but they made good on all of the issues. So we have nothing to complain about. We love our pool :)

I am sorry that you had a bad experience. We used Swan Pools in Sacramento and would and have recommended them lots of friends. We had a couple hiccups as all jobs do, but they were addressed immediately and most important, the price was right.

We love our Swan Pool.

We just had a few warranty items go bad on our Jandy equipment (salt sensor/retaining ring in filter). It's been almost 2 months now since we notified Swan Pools of Napa. The only thing that has been fixed thus far is the retaining ring. I'm being told that Jandy was bought out and have been subcontracting out to small repair shops. The THUGS that showed up to replace the retaining ring in the filter didn't have a clue what they were doing. They were standing on my plumbing yanking on the filter wondering why the top wouldn't come off. The THUGS didn't drain the filter prior to taking the top off. When he finally gave it a big, hard tug, lots of water came gushing out and almost knocked him over into the fence. The Aqua Pure salt sensor still hasn't been replaced. It is currently stuck at 2300 PPM. Now I'm hearing that Swan Pools of Napa is laying off all of it's employees. They must be hurting for business and/or the economy is seriously slowing down. Beware of warranty work promised to you! It doesn't happen overnight and without numerous phone calls and follow-up. Pretty sad considering we sank over $100K into the build of our pool. I expected better after pool build service than what I am receiving. Swan pools of Napa still living up to their reputation.

Fishguy,
Do you know if Sacramento Swan Pools has any relation with Napa Swan Pools?

swim_dude,

I know that they are a corporation, so I would guess that their offices are independently managed.

Our pool is awesome and we have never had any problems and neither have our friends that used Swan. Sounds like this is an issue with their Napa office because Swan in Sacramento was awesome to work with. None of us have had anything but good things to say about them.

Swim Dude,

We were referred to Swan Pools by a co-worker in Roseville who has a Swan Pool. She told us to go with them that they interviewd 15 other pool companies prior to selecting Swan, 'she is a little an@l' Based on us trusting her we went with Swan. So far so good. We are at the gunite step of the pool, I will keep an update with you. We went with the Swan in Elk Grove, I don't think they are connected with the Napa office, the service we have had so far doesn't indicate as such

Oh, I see you used the "LOWEST bidder mentality...."

Remember you get what you pay for!!! Don't expect Mercedes service for Yugo pricing!

If you want a quality job be prepared to pay premium pricing!

Cheap ain't good, and good ain't cheap!

Who said anything about price?

O.K.,
I have to chime in again. We went with Swan of Lake Forest and have been pleased. Although we went through the normal "Trial and tribulations," of building a pool, Swan (Lake Forest) always responded promptly and professionallly to all of our concerns. We ended up with a quality pool and a better backyard. By the way, they are not cheap.

I know you have been frustrated with your service requests, as you should be, paticularly at these prices. To put your service in perspective, our Jandy PDA remote seems to be stuck. I called Swan last Thursday and left a message. On monday morning I was contacted by their service department, who apologized for not calling on Friday (Due to them being on vacation), and told me the problem has been referred. I received another call today to schedule their service person to come by. I don't even need to be home, I just need to leave the PDA out for them to access. I was told that if they cannot fix the problem, I will be provided with a replacement on that day. They offered me a complete replacement, five year warranty, for going with Jandy and they are standing by the promise. In addition to our SWCG, we have a DelOzone that had a problem a week or two after installation. They came over promptly to assess and replaced on the unit on the spot. Very good service!

Anyway, I am truly sorry you are having to deal with these types of issues. I just wanted to let others out there know that we did indeed have a positive experience with a Swan Pools, albeit of Lake Forest.

Best Regards,

Mike

Swan Pools was the worst company to use. The sales lady Joni, that helped up and filled out all the paperwork, contract with us had an old color chart of plaster color so it ended up that our plaster color was completely different. That held up the job a couple of weeks for them to "fit us back into their schedule". Our plaster is now very faded from dark to light gray just after three years. They installed the wrong electronic system/remote. Our heater was delivered to a house the next street over from where we live. They hooked our pool and spa lights to the same switch so we can not have only the spa lights on if we are not using the pool at night we have to light up the whole thing, so much for romantic nights in the spa. They installed the electric box where we asked them NOT to due to a fence that we knew we were putting up. All of the items I just mentioned were listed in the contract and blue prints of the pool plan they drew up themselves. Every time there was an issue we were told that we were mistaken that the error was not on their side. We had proof of everything that we ended up faxing to them to show the error was in fact on their side but they still were not happy to fix the problem and had no problem on telling us it was us "just changing out mind" even the owner himself was rude to us knowing it was their fault. I would never use this company again if they were the only ones out there. Stockton, CA office.

hello all.. Swan Pools in So. California was a nightmare also.. stay away from them guys.. Swan Pools West is the name their doing business under..

This is for all those who are looking for a pool company to either build a pool or refurbish a poolÂ..DONÂT go with SWAN POOLS of Glendora. My husband and I looked around at several pool companies but the salesperson (Charlie) of Swan Pools was so persistent that he sold us on the integrity of his company as well as getting the job done in a month (work stared at the end of May 2008). To make a long story short, Charlie stopped receiving our calls at the point when only one payment was left. The way it worked with us was that the pebble finish would be the last major thing but without it, your pool is unusable. I had to call every day directly to the office (his mother who is the office manager) since Charlie would not call us back and had to basically beg her to have someone come and do the remaining things. Then finally on July 3rd they came out and put the pebble finish. This was when we decided not to call Swan Pools for the minor touches (diving-board and coping seal) since the majority of the stuff was done. Then we get a call early September from Charlie wanting his final payment but we told him there were still things that were left unfinished plus we thought he had abandoned the job. He is suppose to come this week to finish the job but we don't think the amount owed is worth his time. Hopefully this is the end of hearing from him. Be warned! he may seem like a really nice guy but in the end, all he is, is, a typical salesperson with no scruples.

My husband and I live in Las Vegas and the Swan Pools here was wonderful. Our design consultant and coordinator was a sharp and knowledgable guy named Trinity. We did the usual checking around and to be honest, not that many companies have lasted 15 years in this town. We got a beautiful pool and spa with complete backyard. Landscaping, BBQ, mist system just everything and when ever we called he was right there for us. Price was fair for the excellent service we got.

Another voice in the growing alarm over the shocking lack of service, professionalism, and information Swan Pools of Napa provides. Owner Mike Willard is a very poor businessman, who's father would be ashamed. Hard to get ahold of, completely disingenuous, and just plaing frustrating. After several months of discussion over placement of pool equipment, not only did they decide without consulting me where to put it, but then put it in backwards. I ended up having to hire a strong handed general contractor to extract work out of them. I cannot say enough how awful Swan Pools was to deal with. The quality of their work is questionable, but their business practices would rank low in a third world country.

STAY AWAY.

what is a strong handed G.C. ? to Extract work? sounds like my cousen Guido in Brooklyn..

I just wanted to update my posting with, yet, another headache with Swan Pools. Apparently, Swan Pools of Napa, office who built our pool, has closed their franchise/office down. All warranty issues are supposedly being redirected to the Walnut Creek office. Our main pool pump motor is not working. Our contract says that all equipment is under warranty for 5 years. The last time we had an issue with our equipment, the Manager at this office said we only had a three year warranty and only on Jandy equipment. I exclaimed no our contract says 5 years! I said I could scan and email him a copy of the contract. He told me that he didn't care what my contract says and that he was only going to honor the 3 year warranty, which was through Jandy and not Swan Pools. Now our pump is out and I know he will say the same thing again. Short of Small Claims Court, does anyone have any suggestions such as contacting their main headquarters to get this resolved? I'm so sick of dealing with Swan Pools! It is so disheartening to know that you spent so much of your hard earned money to have a dream built, but to end up with a nightmare!

Swan pools are a joke, check other companies before going to swan pools.. Specially Glendora

I got my swan pool from San jose swan pools about 8 years ago. About two years after I got it it developed a small crack in the hot tub. Now it has a four foot long crack and my pool loses about two inches of water per day..the warranty is life time for the pool. When I called them out they say is not covered because I did not maintain the grout properly. The do treat you like your an idiot because you should know everything there is to know about pool construction. I will take this to the courts only on principle. I own a business and I would never treat my customers like this. I used swan from a recommendation. But everyone I know who used them would not recommend them again. For 75 k. You would think that you would be a valued costumer. Basically once the get your money they are done.

I don't know what "maintain the grout properly" even means..

Scott,

You can file a complaint with the California Contractor's State License Board. Swan has multiple complaints against them. I just recently did this because they didn't want to replace a pump that was still under warranty. The CSLB made it happen for me. You can fill out the form online...http://www.cslb.ca.gov/

I know how these people operate...very crooked business people!

Our pool was installed by Swan Pools San Jose location. After signing off all liability we had nothing but problems from the start. 3 years later we have been dealing with a pool leak that Swan never took responsibility as you sign a 1 year warranty. Because they hire sub contractors they release themselves immediately from liability . From the beginning of dig there was never a Swan Supervisor in sight. It was our landscaper who noticed that as they plumbed the pool the plumbing wasn't done deep enough. We had one issue after another . Having never built a pool , it is in the company you trust that things are done properly. Without a foreman you are at the mercy of the subs. Cannot express our dissatisfaction with Swan Pools . Read your contract carefully. Swan was the worst company as well as their Sub Contractors we have ever dealt with. Spent close to $100,000 on our pool which has been unsatisfactory from the start. DO NOT HIRE SWAN POOLS.

Anyone have feedback on Swan Pools in Sacramento?

I am in Sacramento County. I looked at Swan Pool's website and photos and thought they would be a great choice for my pool. The sales/pool design guy, Dave, was great. I thought I would get a very beautiful pool and for $70k, my expectations were high.

We were going to have an Acapulco ledge and I specifically said I wanted to put lounge chairs on the ledge [(it is supposed to be like a beach going into the water), a waterfall with additional "decorative" rocks around the spa overflow and the waterfall, a slide, and a spa, a slide, a spa, spa overflow, and obviously a pool deck (which was hideous, brown stain marks from day 1, that I was told would go away as it cured - they did not, and Tom didn't do anything about it). I stated that I wanted a tropical oasis in my back yard. I was not told that they use multiple sub-contractors, who are apparently not very skilled in their trade and don't care what the end result is - just that they get their share of your $70k. Tom, who is either the owner or the manager, does not appear to care either. His answer to the hideous brown stains in my pool deck, was that he can't do anything??

The rocks were NOT decorative at all! They are hideous! I picked out a beautiful tile to go around the pool, and I believe it should have been sealed or something and was not. It immediately developed a white film all over my dark blue tile, which even after multiple times paying the pool cleaner to fix this, the white film is STILL all over my blue tiles!

The worst part was that the pool decking was all cement (nothing like the pictures on their website AT ALL!! ) My pool decking is all splotchy and brown!! Not only that, there are multiple cracks in this horribly done pool deck! Tom's response is there's nothing they can do??? How about re-do it?! I paid $70k, and it looks NOTHING alike what is on your website!!!

To start with, we did NOT get an Acapulco ledge. I specifically said I wanted to put lounge chairs on the ledge [(it is supposed to be like a beach going into the water) but what I got was more like a kiddie pool within my pool and it was far too deep to put a lounge chair in]. I had checked in regarding my concerns throughout the job, and was repeatedly told, "yes, it will be shallow enough for lounge chairs"

The rocks that were installed were hideous as well, with globs of grout or mortar thrown on them. It was as though they purposely picked THE ugliest rocks they could find!

Our slide has continued to leak, despite them coming out multiple times to fix the issue and NOT fixing the issue! It STILL leaks!

I have since, because of Tom's failure to correct these issues, and my frustration with their failure to address these issues ever; had to pay another $100k to take the hideous pool deck out and replace it with pavers, to finally get the actual result (at least for the hideous pool deck issue ONLY) that Swan Pools advertises as what they do?? For $70k, I should have received THAT At the beginning and NOT have to spend $170k!!!! Tom should have done all of this correctly to begin with, or refunded some of my $70k, and he should still replace the rocks and the leaky slide, and for the Acapulco ledge that was done wrong, he should refund money as that was done wrong and he lied when he kept telling me that it would be shallow enough for a lounge chair - which it is absolutely NOT. I would NOT recommend Swan Pools, hopefully you can benefit from my mistake. I wish I had not chosen them.

I had the worst experience ever with Swan Pools of Orange county. $180k+ already for a tiny pool. They lied about half the things they said they were going to do and it looks like crap. NOTHING like the pictures they show.