I just got a pool installed about 3 weeks ago. I have had hot tubs before but never a pool and I'm clueless. My neighbor recommended that I go here and get my water tested, even though I tested it on my own to get their recommendation. I have to say I got there about 20 minutes prior to closing and Jackson was there helping a customer but he acknowledged me and said he'd be right with me. After the customer left Jackson asked how he could help and I explained how new I was. He was so friendly and acknowledged all my questions. He also gave my guidance on some other things to look for in the future. After the test was done we only needed 2 inexpensive chemicals to get us on track. Jackson cared and takes pride in his work. I noticed alot of negative reviews on here and they all seem to be from many years ago. I think things have changed. As a business owner myself I understand how you can't ever get rid of negative reviews or feedback. I hope someone reads this and decides to give them a shot. read more

This 1-star review reflects the recent decline in Butcher's to what it is now: The company has very high staff turnover and as a result the person showing up to service the pool is always different, and often not suitably trained/qualified, this probably explains why the quality of Butcher's pool service has now deteriorated to the point of being a waste of money. Furthermore, Butcher's indifference to security means that Butchers employees can sign out keys to customer properties whenever they want, including weekends, without first checking with the homeowner. The improper cleaning and lack of security are the main reasons I terminated my relationship with Butchers. read more

Sonja, the maintenance scheduling coordinator at this company, reports that Butcher's is currently short-staffed two maintenance employees, which I understand given present economic circumstances. What I do not understand is how this is my fault. PJ, the weekly maintenance supervisor, took it upon himself to call the landlord for my business property and falsely accuse me of giving his new employee COVID and keeping him from working. PJ did not call me at all to discuss this matter, despite my being listed as the primary contact and the responsible party on the account for my business with Butcher's, never mind all our previous interaction wherein he knew I was the account holder. I had to call him myself to confront him about the issue, and he fired off a barrage of questions without allowing me to answer them, and then HUNG UP on me. PJ's new employee, Juan, showed up for his first day cleaning the pool alone, and I politely greeted him from a distance and let him know right away I had COVID at the time. I wanted him to understand why I was keeping my distance from him. From a safe distance (and outdoors!) I showed Juan where chemicals and equipment were. This occurred on a Friday. Juan then decided to call in sick the next week, which also happens to be the week of July Fourth, and has NOT tested positive for COVID according to Sonja at Butcher's office. PJ, in his infinite wisdom and discretion as a leader and representative of Butcher's, intentionally called the elderly and ailing owner of the pool that my business rents--not me, the owner of the business who has contracted Butcher's--and told him that I gave his employee COVID, and that he didn't know who would clean the pool as scheduled this week. My business contracted Butcher's for weekly maintenance, receives the invoices, and pays the bills. The property owner has nothing to do with the weekly maintenance of the pool. Please understand that if you choose to do business with Butcher's, not only will they breach contract on the terms of your maintenance, but they will falsely accuse YOU of being the cause of their ineptitude. And they will stand behind their gross unprofessionalism as a matter of "policy," as did Sonja defending PJ's disgusting nuisance phone call to a poor old man who has nothing to do with my pool maintenance contract. I fired Butcher's today. They clearly cannot keep the terms of their business contract with my swim school and consistently keep the pool safe for my young students, but also went out of their way to falsely point fingers and deflect all responsibility. Good riddance. Beware! read more

We used Butcher's for a long time when we bought a house with a pool. They were fine for basic buying of chemicals. When we had them redo our pool filter, they did the required and our pool filter has never worked properly since then. We bought an upgraded version of the pool robot and they were less than helpful in getting our rebate. When you have to call them every week or so, to get this done and they promise you that they will and it still doesn't happen well that speaks volumes. They promised to help us get the weir fixed and they never did. We went through them to find a man to redo our pool and that was a disaster. No one did what they promised. I can honestly say that we would not recommend them for any service. read more

Unsafe and aggressive drivers. Purposely almost caused an accident. If you don't take operating a vehicle seriously, I would not except you to handle a pool install seriously. I would suggest talking with your crew that operates your company vehicles with your company name all over it to avoid more negative reviews. I am choosing to react to his horrible driving this way instead of road rage which I feel he was trying to engage in. read more

I was in the process of purchasing a new house and had the pool professionally inspected. The inspector noted issues, for which I got quotes to repair from a 3rd party company. The home seller also got a quote from Butcher's, which stated that they would repair everything that needed to be repaired, but that a few items from the inspection were in fact not broken and needed no repair. Butcher's won the bid for the work because they were obviously cheaper than the other company since they claimed less work needed to be done. After moving in, I noticed that two items that Butcher's claimed didn't need to be fixed (despite the professional inspector noting that they did) not working, or working intermittently. I reached out to Butcher's and was told that since they were unable to replicate the issues in their inspection that they did not see a reason to fix the issues. This is despite the fact that both I and the professional paid inspector noted the problems. Butcher's refused to remedy their oversights and stated that they would only come out if I paid them to fix things that they initially claimed didn't need to be fixed. Moral of the story: Butcher's will low bid your projects so they look better than other companies, but will only do 70% of the work that needs to be done. Expect to pay for that extra 30% out of pocket. Very dishonest way of doing business. read more

Several months ago, I stopped in to Butchers Swimming Pools for the first time. I went in there really just to ask their perspective on different plasters and their opinions on the finish, colors, brands, etc and what tends to hold up overtime. Jon was super informative and even pulled out samples to allow me to touch and have a closer look. Sometimes it's nice to ask for someone else's option versus the pool company you're "buying from." Fast forward months later, our pool is now complete and our pool company went through a school of how to take care of our pool. I asked the instructor his thoughts on pool companies that will help maintenance our pool and he suggested Butchers off Richmond. He spoke very highly of them- their customer service, and how they always have product, etc. Happy to hear that, I told him that I had already had a previous good experience with them. Today, I stopped in to look at some different pool vacuum cleaners, such as the Polaris. Jon was there again, greeted me at the door, and was gracious to walk me through the different models, what they do, warranty for each brand, and was overall super informative just like last time. He went above and beyond and was happy to finally make a purchase with them and support their business! If you're looking for a great business to support, you've come to the right place! read more

Updating my review to a 3 since all other experiences with the company were positive it was just the one tech they sent out that did not measure up. I am sure all businesses have had this issue and like I said before they are nice and usually do good work. read more

First I will say I'm not a Yelper. This is the first time I've ever posted a review. Like everyone I've had good and bad customer experiences. I've never felt compelled to give public feedback. But my experience at Butcher's today is the first time in a long time I've ever left a place of business feeling so upset about customer service. I purchased a leaf rake a few weeks ago. It was expensive--$50--so I wasn't sure it was in my budget. But I provisionally bought it after asking the employee who sold it to me about their return policy. He assured me I could return it within 30 days if it wasn't used. I was good with that so I bought it. Ultimately I decided I couldn't justify the leaf rake purchase in my budget for the month. I never took it out of the trunk of my car and went to return it today. The manager of the store, Stephen, handled my return. I could sense immediately from the way he greeted me and his tone that it wasn't going to be a smooth return -- no smile, no warmth, no attitude of customer service. I was immediately treated with suspicion. After asking if I had my receipt (yes) and why I was returning it (change of heart), he quickly commented that the rake was missing an accessory, which I explained I didn't understand because nothing extra was included with the rake. He then asked if I had used the rake, and I told him "no," that it had sat it my trunk since I purchased it. I told him the employee who sold it to me could confirm that the accessory wasn't provided to me and I was aware I couldn't return the rake if it was used. That employee was in the store that day and his name was on the receipt. But Stephen never called the employee over to discuss his transaction with me. Stephen then thoroughly combed through the leaf rake net and again asked if I was sure I hadn't used it. I repeated that I was absolutely sure, and pointed out their clean, undamaged price sticker still on the rake, which would have been ruined if gotten wet in a pool. He looked at me and told me that wasn't necessarily true, implying that I could have removed the price sticker, used the rake, and put the sticker back on. The sticker had clearly not been touched and the rake was completely clean and new. It felt like he was looking for a technicality to refuse the return. Fortunately for me he decided to process the return. I was honestly surprised he did after the way I was being questioned. He firmly informed me there would be a 20% restocking fee. I was surprised because at no point was that policy transparent to me during my purchase. My receipt didn't state it and the employee who sold me the leaf rake didn't tell me about a fee when I asked about returns. I also didn't see any posted signs around the register about the policy. I told Stephen I wasn't informed about the restocking fee and that if I knew about it, I wouldn't have purchased the leaf rake. Stephen didn't ask the employee who sold it to me for clarification--I had to go find the guy myself and confirm that he didn't tell me about the restocking fee. He shrugged his shoulders and said Stephen was the manager. I was obviously very unhappy about the fee and let Stephen know it wasn't reasonable to apply it since I wasn't told about it. But he elected to continue processing the return with the restocking fee, explaining he would be fired if he didn't. I will point out again that he is the store manager. Bottom line: It was more important to Butcher's to take $10 from a customer than provide positive customer service or satisfaction. I left the store feeling ripped off. Whether it was Stephen's approach to customer service or Butcher's culture, my experience at this store from start to finish was a "gotcha!" instead of being heard and receiving good service. I was also very unhappy to be cynically approached like a scammer trying to swindle Butcher's with my return. I am an honest person and have no need or desire to lie to or scam anyone. It is difficult to explain how icky it felt to be treated as someone trying to pull a "fast one" while doing something completely normal in retail: returning an unused item in accordance with the store's return policy. I didn't walk out with a good feeling. Butcher's, you took (stole) $10 from my wallet for nothing in return. I guess I'm just a dumb customer because I didn't know from the receipt, the point of sale, or the employee who sold me the rake that you charge a 20% restocking fee. You got me. You took advantage of me. But you've lost a customer for life. Hope it was worth my $10. In my book that would have been a small price to pay for a customer to leave your store feeling good about your service. My advice to Butcher's customers: Thoroughly inspect an item before you buy it and document anything that is less than perfect/flawless before you leave the store or be prepared for suspicion and scrutiny if you try to return it. And understand that 20% of your money will stay in their cash register. read more

I've had my pool for over 20 years and used two pool companies for regular weekly service before trying Butcher's. Both of the previous companies were problematic. They occasionally would skip a week without notice, left the pool in bad condition, did shoddy repairs, etc. Speaking with other pool owners it became apparent this level of service is not uncommon. After a couple of months of particularly poor service by the last company, I looked for another provider and came across Butcher's. Their prices are competitive but, more importantly, they are reliable and do great work. A locally owned family operation, they act like that. Six months in and I'm still impressed. {I've been clients of Butchers for nearly five years now. I still find that they provide exemplary service.} read more

Here was the problem; Pentair Challenger pool pump went bad. I opened up the case and found only one screw in the housing the other two were gone and the impeller bolt was out as well. Thanks for the job Leslie's! Anyways I brought my pump into Butchers shop, within 30 minutes they had diagnosed, repaired and placed the unit back in my car. Very knowledgeable people there; Greg Butcher and his son Collin. Collin repaired my pump and explained all that was going on with it. Prices for the parts was very competitive with online pool supply companies and the labor was very nominal. Great knowledge and great service! Leslie's no more for these repairs. I would recommend them in a second. read more

Boy - talk about absolutely bad service - it was NO service. This is after making an appt and then waiting a week for them to show. The only reason I contacted these guys - is coz of their ratings on Google. Talk about being duped. Whoever wrote ""They treat every one of their customers like they are their best customer."" - that's a complete lie. Service was setup about a week or so ago. Seemed like an good company, good ratings. The service lady was nice and cheery. So the day of service, I had called them about 45 mins before the end of time window, and i was informed by the lady who answered for the service that she doesn't know when he will come. So why give me a window ? And apparently calling the tech to see how far behind he/she was - wasn't an option. I am just suppose to wait !!! So the time window came and went, and the day ended. No calls from anyone at this company. No call to inform that they'll need to reschedule - nada. Is it because they take your credit card info so they can charge it immediately ? I refused to give it to them. I have now made appt with another company. Hopefully they show up. This is to the owner of the company - hopefully you are reading it. Remember, bad customer service, will only hurt you. read more

I had been with a pool company for years that never was reliable, they would come on different days of the week, etc. and sometimes they couldn't get the pool clear for weeks. I called Butcher's and the service was great, very professional and they got my pool turned around and it has been great since. I can expect the service the same day every week which is a nice change. Glad I changed. read more

Butcher's does not care at all about customer service. I called to complain about my pool still being green after service. The service staff was already gone for the evening so I had the pleasure of speaking to the store manager. He could care less about my problem and told me that he was not in the customer service business. I couldn't believe my ears! I do not want to do business with a company that does not put their customer first! read more

I've had the same customer service issues as the others. It is AWFUL. They don't care. My pool has been green off and on all summer thanks to them. They come out and charge me to "fix" some equipment, I get the pool beautiful again, and then it turns green! They come back and the cycle starts all over. Now it's $1200 later and they could care less. I called and asked to speak with the owner and was put forever on hold. I'll be going to Sweetwater Pools from now on. read more

Butchers reliable weekly service has maintained our pool beautifully for the past couple of years. From out experience with a 24kg pool that is over 10 years since it was plastered...they are experts at pool chemsitry. It is not that they are perfect, as they are human...but iIf I ever have a problem, they have solved it on a timely basis! I have trusted them in selecting a replacement for my polaris and pool heater. I want quality products that last without maintance issues. I have not been disappointed read more

Unfortunately, I must agree with the most recent negative posts re Butcher. This year has been unacceptably incompetent service. In the past I could tolerate the miserable attitude of the office staff' as long as my pool was taken care of; however, additional attempts at dealing with Butcher in hopes it can redeem itself is simply masochistic. read more

I had my first appointment with Butcher's scheduled for 10:30 this morning. It's 11:30 now and nobody has shown. Just called the main number and receive a dial tone in response... Have they gone out of business? read more