I hired California Pools to build my swimming pool, and it was one of the worst experiences. The project took almost a full year to complete, with constant delays and poor communication. Once finished, the problems began: water leaks inside my home because they left a broken or poorly connected pipe. They "fixed" it, but the leak came back. I have tried calling them multiple times, but they ignore my calls. One of their own workers even admitted that they did not take responsibility for that part of the job, which is unbelievable. I paid for a complete and professional service, but what I received was a delayed, poorly executed project with zero customer support. I do not recommend California Pools. If you're considering hiring them, be very cautious: they charge high prices but do not take responsibility for their mistakes or the damages they cause. The attached photographs show two major issues caused by California Pools: 1. Water leaks from an improperly installed pipe, which has caused damage to my property. 2. Exposed electrical wires left uncovered, despite the company knowing that I have young children at home, creating a serious safety hazard. read more

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Finding a great pool contractor seemed impossible until I found Ron and Laron! Ron excels at turning your vision into reality, and both are reliable, trustworthy, communicative, and deliver high-quality work within your budget. Even after the project was finished, Ron remains available for any questions or advice. I'm extremely happy with my pool and highly recommend California Pools Temecula, especially Ron! You won't be disappointed. read more

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We recently realized that we needed to update our 24 year old pool. After hearing from a number of companies, we chose California Pools/Temecula. We chose this company for a number of reasons, but the presentation made by the two owners Ron and Laron helped us finalize our decision. Both men came to our home several times answering our questions, offering us new ideas based on what we wanted to see and then - not pressuring us to make a quick decision. Our research showed that Ron and Laron recently purchased the company after a time of "not complementary" reviews. We observed that since they took over the business the reviews dramatically improved. We want to add to that group. The entire process took less than a month and the company consistently kept us informed of what was happening and what the next steps would be. Our numerous questions were answered by a quick text or personal visit. We were told of what to expect when the various team members showed up and how long each process would take. Everything was done according to plan and the few minor changes were rare. Finally, the finished product. We were pleasantly surprised that the original timeline was met to the day. The work was well done and has made a dramatic difference in our back yard! The new tiles, StoneScapes Mini Pebbles and other changes are a dramatic improvement to our backyard. We look forward to having our family and especially our granddaughters over for regular visits. Even after our last payment, the team continues to check on the progress of the pool and answer any questions we have. The quick and professional responses of Ron and Laron, the ability to keep to the schedule, the quality of the work are just a few of the reasons Cherri and I give California Pools/Temecula our highest recommendation. We look forward to doing business with them in the future for additional projects. Thank you to Ron and Laron for their honesty, knowledge, workmanship and . . . to listening to what we wanted in our new pool. David and Cherri Koltovich Temecula read more

You must look at the dates of the reviews, our story was one of excitement, hope, despair, anger, optimism, redemption! Like the bad reviews from a few years ago, we started our project with CP with the owner Walt. He abandoned the project with 20K of our money in his back pocket and just a dirt hole in the yard. Find out later he was sued by a previous company for embezzlement. This review is about the new owners, awesome people with amazing integrity. They were chosen to take over this business because they are the ones who figured out that with Walt there were issues and tried to save my and other customer's projects. Even before officially taking over the location they had assured my family they would be doing what they could do to help us complete our project, and even doing some work for free to maintain the shape of the hole to save future costs. Our project was completed beautifully, and their reassurance was very reassuring. We are extremely pleased with our pool and interactions with the new owners. I am only telling a small portion of this story, I have permitted them to bring clients by so they can see the quality work in person, and via phone or in person I would be happy to tell you the full story of our project. The bottom line is the new owners are the best and they showed me they have amazing truthfulness and love building people's dream pools. read more

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Ron & Laron were awesome. There pool knowledge on pool equipment specs were unmatched. I truly would recommend California Pools for any upcoming remodels or new builds. read more

Took part of day off of work to set up an appointment with this company. The girl who was taking calls "Carrera" told me upfront that their company is a bit more expensive than other companies because they build "resort style pools". Wow I'm impressed, not. This is not the way to make a first impression. Should have just hung up, but I wanted to get multiple quotes for my pool build. I gave them my address and phone number should anything come up. I had an appointment set for today 5-26-21 1500hrs to 1600hrs, with "Walt" but he never showed. Thanks California Pools for part of my workday being lost because you cannot keep an appointment. I didn't bother calling them after 1700hrs because if you cannot keep an appointment or at least call, how are you going to build my dream pool? Needless to say you don't have my business. Maybe you should tell your staff to not say your are more expensive than other companies. Let's be honest its just a pool not a Space X rocket and cost is relative. Very poor customer service with my experience. read more

Beware future Customers! Don't be taken in! I do not know Casey D. and have never heard from this person during the process. To imply that customer service was involved in any way to mediate is disingenuous on the company's part. Sadly, bad pool contractors are all around and you can add this company to the List! This company is fired from my project and did not work to resolve any issues. They did not work in good faith, were consistently behind, failed to communicate, months without anyone on the job. I feel robbed, violated and I am having to spend more money to complete project myself. Shame on you California Pools. read more

NEW OWNERS ARE 10 out of 10 STARS!!!! Reviewers, please pay close attention to the dates of these reviews. My family began working with California Pools a few years ago and we thought the designer Ron was amazing and working with Larone on our dig - I loved them both - they are both legit stand up guys. Ron is a veteran and is as honest as they come. Little did we know, California Pools was unfortunately owned by a criminal back and he owes a lot of money to a lot of people (it's public record look it up - Walt swindled a lot of money out of a lot of people!). However, Ron and Larone who both worked on our project back then did EVERYTHING right! Once they realized what was happening - they not only worked with us and completed our project after Walt walked away from it, now THEY are the proud owners of California Pools! Everything we loved about the company a few years ago is legit because of these two guys and their team. Old owner who was the reason for the bad reviews is now long gone so if you want a pool done right, look no further - this team will make your dreams come true! This company is the real deal now. Ron designed our dream pool with us and Larone helped bring it to life - they are truly the dream team. Thanks Ron and Larone and California Pools for making our Family Oasis a reality! read more

We contacted California Pools about a month ago and Walt, I guess the owner according to Jeanette in the office, came out to look at our pool because we want to replaster/tile our pool, add an inground spa and a Pergola. It has now been a month and we have been totally ghosted. Have called twice and been told our file is being put on top of his desk to give us a call right away...that was about a week ago. This appears to be a repeat issue with them after reading some review. What really is a shame is that our pool was originally built by them and we had hoped to give them the business as they were the original pool designer. read more

Our pool build took place in 2018 under a different owner and we are still really happy with the way it turned out. However, communication during and after the build was a bit of a headache. We recently had a question and called California Pools Temecula expecting the previous owner and learned they're under new ownership. The new owner was able to answer our question and was very helpful. Based on our recent interaction, and our experience with California Pools' finished product, we will not hesitate to recommend California Pools. read more

l like expressed my dissatisfaction and disappointment with Walt the owner of CaliforniaPools & his organization in Temecula for lack of communication, deception, fraud and inaction. He failed to communicate and made empty promises multiple times. California pools has been hired to build my backyard pool with contract signed on October 27, 2022. I made my first payment of $61,440 on November 9, 2022 at start of pool excavation (30% of contract payment). This payment will cover pool excavation, reinforcing steel and all equipment/ Lighting cost. After two days, excavation work stopped. I was told by the excavator that you did not pay him the agreed amount when he started so he must pull off. A week later the excavator showed up to remove his equipment for nonpayment of previous jobs and he has stated he will not come back to finish his job until he get paid by Walt & his company, I reach out to Ron the project coordinator and he said he also had quit his job due to nonpayment. I called Walt and ask for an answer to this problem and he promised me to take care of this issue immediately and have the construction crew back to continue the excavation immediately. Since then he failed to communicate with me as when excavation would restart. He told me the excavation would start on a certain date multiple times and then no one showed up. The schedule has been constantly broken with no-show contractors on the job. I have made my first payment as outlined in our contract & every time I reached out to him I heard excuses week after week as to why there is no show and progress. I have exhausted all possibilities for the peaceful resolution, I feel being robbed, violated and this pool project becoming my biggest nightmare. I am having to spend more money hiring an Anthony to get my money back & to be able to complete my pool project. read more

We met with several contractors prior to selecting a builder for our new pool. California Pools listened to our needs and provided an amazing 3D video showing exactly what our new pool would look like. They were by far the best at actually incorporating our vision into the design. With the other builders who gave us quotes, it felt like they were trying to sell us a pre-made design they used for everyone. With California Pools, it truly felt like a custom made design that required a great deal of thought and effort specifically for our family. Once we decided to move forward with California Pools, the contract process was very transparent. We were provided with a clear-cut timeline for weekly progress on the job. Walt was extremely responsive to our many text messages regarding various questions or material changes, and he even met us at multiple vendor locations to help select the decking and waterline tile materials for our pool. Our project was completed on time, at an extremely reasonable price point. I would not hesitate to recommend this company to a friend or family member looking to build their dream pool. read more

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Our story is exactly like all the rest. We have been completely ghosted. Empty hole in our backyard with only approximately $4000 left to pay on our contact which was signed one year ago today. Subcontractors knocking on our door multiple times asking for payment (where our money went is the million dollar question)??? All we want is our pool completed. We've been referred to a "Casey D" to voice our concerns who we have never once heard of. Perhaps we all ban together, this is a classic class action lawsuit. If you look on the website it states this business California Pools Temecula is "temporarily closed." I think that answers all of our questions. read more

Beware new clients, you only sign contract with 'California Pools of Temecula' if you don't want to see your pool get completed for next 12-18 months!!! Our 90 days contract took over 12 months (still was not completed and we have hire our own contractor to finish the project). Way too many excuses at every point of construction, we have to babysit the schedule every week as they don't give any schedule or updates and if they give us any schedules they didn't not follow through for 99% of the time. Walt the owner is only one person show, therefore no timelines get completed. He left my project incomplete by not installing stones around the jacuzzi and finishing the cut out driveway. Got hundreds of excuses last six months since pool concrete was poured in July 2022 that he can't find the concrete and stone contractors but I was able to find a contractor who completed the job within one day. Walt promised that he will pay us for this work as it was part of contract and he will bring the check over but it has been over 2.5 weeks and nothing. We paid for this project (concrete and stones) from our pocket as we have already paid all contract money when they did shotcrete in July. We have gone through too much stress dealing with this company since last year. I know the bad contractors are everywhere but I no one has to go through what we have gone through last 12 months. read more

California Pools - Temecula - Unfinished jacuzzi, missing stones. - General Contractors Near Me - Temecula, California

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This Franchise has been revoked from the owner. Actual business name is STAYCATION POOLS & SPAS (formerly DBA California Pools of Temecula). This review refers to STAYCATION POOLS & SPAS, and the owner. The following comments do not reflect or refer to California Pools Franchise Inc (corporate.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ZERO STARS... in fact, LESS than ZERO. NEGATIVE FIVE STARS for the owner. Owner has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from well over 20 customers. He's taken over $60,000 from us. He owes vendors and subcontractors for work they completed, often months and years ago. Subs are now refusing to do work for him because of this and he has no staff in his office. He takes money before work is done and runs with it, often never to return to do the work and does NOT pay the subs. He draws from banks financing projects and uses the money for other things (who knows what!?) Our 3 kids were looking forward to playing in the pool last summer but it has been over 2 years since the project was started and still no end in sight. My husband is not happy. I heard from a neighbor that ALL employees have now left the company due to not being paid wages they were owed. It is now just owner WALT trying to hold together what is left of this pathetic business. Unless you want liens on your house, STAY AWAY FROM STAYCATION POOLS & SPAS. Your hard earned cash will be taken with nothing to show for it. Owner WALT is a CROOK and should be reported to authorities. read more

I made a HORRIBLE decision working with California Pools. 14 months into the project with no end in sight. Once I made the last Major payment my project turned into a ghost town. California Pools been hired to design and build my back yard including pool, hard scape, landscape, irrigation, patio cover. We signed the contract in Oct 2020 and we're told all work would be complete on or prior to June 2021. To this day the work has still not been completed. They have missed all performance deadlines as agreed in our contract. They have not stayed in contact and keep me informed. They show up and do 1 or 2 days worth of work and disappear for a months with no communication. We have made all of our payments to them on time as outlined in the contract. Every time I reach out to them they have excuse after excuse as to why there is no work being complete. During the build I have been told that the sales person employed by them lied to me about everything that was included including a major hard scape tree that was part of our waterfall feature, even after providing me pictures of the proposed design because they were not able to build it in the computer aid design. The owner Walt admits that it was included in our price per the sale man, but now says it was a mistake. Per the contract we have now paid over 98% of the total leaving less than $4000 owed, since our last $20,000 payment we have only been able to get them to show up a total of 9 days and it's been 6 months. Yes they have only worked 9 days in the last 6 months. With the $4000 remaining due on the contract I have been getting quotes to complete the remaining work and it's over $30,000 in work to be complete. I don't know why they are unwilling to continue our job. They have also caused damage to our house, block wall, irrigation, and the new customer rock work they completed 6 months ago. I have brought this all to their attention but have not been corrected. I have all documents including Contract, text, emails, pictures of progress, and lack of progress. My end goal is to have this work completed to the quality standards we agreed upon and in a timely manner. read more

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As first time pool owners, we had no clue where to begin when it came to getting our pool summer ready. From the first phone call, Walt was super knowledgeable and he was able to get us set up right away for needed maintenance to get our pool up and running in time for summer. We highly recommend California Pools for any of you pool service needs! read more

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Back in May Walt came out and surveyed our property. We were told our preliminary design would be ready in 2-3 weeks. After a month went by and not hearing a word from them, I started following up. Here it is 3 months later, and after speaking to Carrera several times over the months and her telling us she left messages for Walt to call because our design was ready, and leaving multiple messages for him to call us, we have been straight up ghosted. We even texted and called the guy ourselves, and no response. HUGE waste of our time. Had we gone with another company we would probably be swimming by now. If a terrible customer experience is what you are after, look no further! read more

I read all the "bad" reviews and all I can do is second everything. If you notice the good reviews STOPPED in early 2020. We started our pool in March 2020, here it is 19 months later and still no completion. We made the mistake of not demanding a completion bond and a date. Based on our experience I would not recommend this pool company. Look for someone more dependable. read more

Finally, OUR POOL IS FINISHED! Where should I begin, the positive or the negative? Well, let's just say, there is nothing NEGATIVE I can say about California Pools of Temecula! PLEASE KEEP READING: My husband and I just moved to Menifee about a year ago and had planned to add a pool since we had a large area in the backyard to do so. We had searched with other builders including Premier Pools in Temecula and don't get me wrong, they do some nice work, we know people that have had their pool built from them, but after interviewing Walt and seeing what his team could do for us and offer us, we felt more comfortable going with California Pools. We had informed Walt that there were some very important things that we were looking for in the builder of our pool: communication, honesty, good work and most importantly NO HIDDEN FEES IN OUR CONTRACT! California Pools was not like the other pool builders which outsourced some of their work to other contractors and stated that in the contract that they did not cover that part of the job! To us it was important that our contract showed exactly what we were paying for, that it was part of the warranty and that we would use California Pools as our middle man to pay everyone else. That's exactly what we received in or contract so they knew what our budget was and they created an amazing 3D pool video (by Becky their designer) that fit our budget! If you haven't ever had a pool built or used a contractor, there are some very helpful tips you showed know. Although we were given an APPROXIMATE time frame of completion of our pool, you CANNOT assume that the work will be done by then! Don't kill yourself counting down the days assuming that your project will be completed by that timeframe and better yet DO NOT PLAN TO HAVE A PARTY around the estimated completion date! They give you an APPROXIMATE date which it states CLEARLY AND EXACTLY that in your CONTRACT. You cannot expect good work to be done in such a short period of time, especially if you're starting a pool project months before summer time, which is when everyone else is planning on doing a pool. You are not the ONLY customer getting work done so be RESPECTFUL of the schedule and APPROXIMATE completion date AGAIN AS STATED IN YOUR CONTRACT! Trust us when the pebble sheen is in your pool and they fill THE POOL with water, then plan all the parties you want, your pool is almost completed! I want to thank Walt for putting up with my husband and I, text messaging asking a million questions! Which by the way, all questions were answered to the best of his ability! We also want to thank the excavator and other contractors that came out from beginning to the end, they were very nice and always cleaned up after themselves! Becky for designing our amazing pool and helping us pick great tile and pebble sheen. We gave her a vision of a natural/rustic look and she helped us accomplish it! Thanks Becky! Alan and Don, Walt's right and left hand help! Man, you guys really helped us out with copping and rock ideas, coming by to make sure the job was going "A" OK! Thank you guys so much! We have no complaints about California Pools of Temecula! We are very pleased with all the work they did! We would definitely recommend them to anyone in the area. Please take your time before jumping into the first sales pitch some other pool builders give you. I know you will not get that from California pools and you'll get s ome honest people doing your work! Feel free to contact me with any other questions! Attached are some photos! read more

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First off I'm really upset I didn't look at the reviews before contracting with California Pools. My story is the same as most on here. Contract signed in September, demo only thing complete. Paid for the tile/stone in October. No product delivered and nothing has happened since. Going to look into legal action at this point. read more

I called four major pool companies from the Temecula area to get quotes to build our new pool I have to say, I was so impressed with California Pools compared to the rest I called the Temecula location, they were very nice and explained the whole process to me. We scheduled an appointment I met with Walt, we discussed the back yard and what we wanted for a pool. We had a second meeting to show us the design on the computer, wow it's so cool to see your back yard in 3D with everything you want. I feel California Pools is the only company that actually listened to what I wanted and how I wanted our backyard to look like I highly recommend California Pools very easy going. I will update this post with our build process read more

Walt and the team at California Pools was so helpful with our pool renovation. After 17 years it was time for us to redo our Pebble-Tec pool and update our equipment. Walt was very helpful with his suggestions on products and organizing the different teams of workers that helped with the demo and new construction of the renovation. We love our "New" pool and we couldn't be happier with Cal Pools! read more

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Not responsivesaid would check and call back. No call for a month and so I emailed them no response. My wife bought a California Pool for her new home was beautiful but not going to use this company they are not doing as they said. read more

Alan, the owner totally knows his stuff. He has helped me multiple times with my pool and my pool was not built by their company. They tell you exactly what needs to be done, how to fix it yourself or what it will cost for them to do it. Having done it both ways you are better off listening to them and having them just do it. Great prices but more importantly they stand behind everything they do. read more

We contracted California Pools' Temecula branch to build our pool. We started the initial pool process about a year ago and fell in love with the design. They did such a great job incorporating our vision into their design. They hired quality contractors to build our pool and everything looks amazing. read more

We could not be happier with the job California Pools did on remodeling our pool. However, I'm even more impressed with their service after the project was completed. I recently noticed my floor system not working properly and contacted Walt Virack at California Pools who was able to troubleshoot the problem and install replacement parts at no cost even though the project was completed over two years ago! Now that's customer service!! If you're looking to have your pool remodeled or put in a brand new pool give Walt a call at 951-551-5619. You will not be disappointed. read more

California Pools - Temecula - General Contractors Near Me - Temecula, California

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California Pools did a beautiful job on our pool! It was built within the time line we were given and with no issues. Although our contractor Alan at the time is no longer with the company we are still able to get fast and immediate response from the company on any issues we have. Walt at the Temecula office has been great! Good customer service is important when your investing a lot of money in your pool. Thank you California Pools, we are very happy with our spool! read more

California Pools - Temecula - General Contractors Near Me - Temecula, California

Customer service was awesome, Walt & Carrera were great! We recently bought a house in Temecula and needed a couple things fixed on our pool. We had them update our pentair system. They came out to do the repairs right away and their prices were reasonable. Highly recommend, will definitely use again in the future! read more

Reviews based on responsiveness only.. not actual work.. no one called me back for a month but to be fair, this review does not reflect their work quality. read more

Called to get a quote. They came out and said a quote and renderings would be done in two weeks. I called them at the end of two weeks and was told they would look into what was taking so long. It's been a month since I called and I haven't heard back from them yet. If they can't communicate and tell me how much money to pay them for a pool, I can't imagine how bad they will be after I pay them. Don't waste your time go elsewhere! read more

For many years I have praise California Pools - Temecula and have highly recommend California Pools - Temecula services to my friends and family. NO MORE NOW... unless their do the right thing! You are going to lost a loyal customer! Now that I'm starting to see a structural gunite crack near the skimmer mouth... (which is always the one of the pool's weakest structure point for in ground pools); California Pools - Temecula does NOT want to fix it but rerecommendis a third party fix which this is not really acceptable to me...it's going to leave a "bad taste" in mouth. I not understanding why this is not cover by California Pools? When I got the pool installed, I was told that the pebbles with the Gunite was going to last 20+ years compare to a plaster pool installation, that was the reason we got the pebbles installed in the first place. I was never told about a water line tile option, which I would have done back during the April 3, 2003 pebbles installation. This appears to be more of the Gunite backing defect than pebbles. I need an acceptable fix by California Pools - Temecula..you guys need to take responsibility and do the right thing here. Please help me resolved this quickly!! read more

Tried contacting several times (both their local Temecula office and their corporate office) for a onsite survey and quote. Not one response. Be careful! This could be a direct reflection of what will happen AFTER you purchase a pool! If they won't respond to sales, how will they respond to support??? read more

California Pools did a very professional job on the construction of our pool. Alan and his crew were neat, on time and went beyond our expections . I highly recommend them. read more

COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!!! These guys are NOT the type to do business or major pool construction with. Thank goodness we didn't break ground and we could stop our plans in time. They were full of promises but came up short in every area. But they do have the nicest brochure. I'm glad we only waisted a month with them waiting to get things started. Fortunately there are many other pool companies to choose from, which we are doing. They use a TV show that they were sub contracted in as bait. I highly suggest you look at other companies. read more

I had California Pools build my pool with Allan Metzger, and it's a beautiful pool, The pool is under 4 years old and there is rust down the side of pool and around the intake, also there's an issue with the equipment. These are not major issues and I'm not expecting anything for free. After persistently leaving several message with Walt, he returned the call and said he'd call back to schedule a time to come out to inspect. I again had to continue to call to schedule, he did come out and said he'd come back. That has never happened, even though I've texted he's replied that he'll get back to me. It's been 2 months and nothin! I guess it's a good lesson learned. I'm buying another home and will be putting in a pool...guess who will not be getting my business again. Sad he won't stand behind their product read more

This company is amazing! Not only extremely knowledgable but excellent customer service!! Zach has continuously helped us! I cannot recommend somebody/company more! Refreshing to see every once in a while a business going the extra mile! So appreciated!! read more

There is not enough I can say about California Pools in Temecula. Very hands on from beginning to end. Very knowledgeable, exceptional service, caring, always available to answer any questions that the consumer may have through the process and beyond. It was so nice not to have to say to a company, "What about this? or this wasn't done or your guys didn't show up or you were late". NEVER an issue. Alan, Zach and Paige, THANK YOU! read more

We never got far enough to rate the construction quality, but as far as responsive... not good. We requested a quote for a pool/spa and two gentlemen came over as scheduled, on time. My husband had drawn out a rough idea of what we wanted and we were told the plans would be submitted to their architect to draw up in a program and someone would call us in a week to discuss. More than a month passed and we have yet to hear anything back. Obviously we moved on and are in the process of our new pool with a company that actually wanted our business. We are pretty fair and reasonable people. A phone call at least to let us know they weren't interested in our job would have been the professional thing to do. Instead, our valuable time was wasted waiting to hear back. We are in a new construction neighborhood with many neighbors looking into building pools. Blowing us off isn't going to get this company any good recommendations from us. read more