After months of deciding if I wanted to get a steel sided above ground pool, I made my move in May. I live far south and drove up north to make a purchase somewhere else. I passed TGE on LaGrange road, and decided to turn around and check them out. Well, I met Dave V on the sales floor and couldn't believe the great deal I was getting on a 15x54 Nassau with installation! I signed up and had my pool installed shortly afterward by Adrian & Sons out of Northwest Indiana. They came down over an hour drive to me and did a great install. I'm happy with my pool. If you're in the market, go see Dave! read more

Run away from this place. Don't let them install your pool. Go to a different company that will provide you with good service and information. It's unbelievable how many issues we had with our new pool installation. The installers were drinking on the job. They burnt out my outlet, literally is burnt. They destroyed my deck that they weren't supposed to touch. They never cleaned up the dirt or sand they dumped and compacted on my new driveway. The list goes on and on. All the equipment that was setup needs 220 electrical to power it and the heater needs 3/4 gas pipe ran from the meter. Not one thing was mentioned until the new pool installed. Oh and the city said the permit that was supposed to be pulled wasn't and inspection was supposed to take place prior to installation. These people are a rip off go somewhere else read more

See all

Customer service was awful. I bought a new pump that they sold me to flip up the direction of the water return. It is a 5 minute job. They said I had to wait until after Memorial Day because they were so busy. They had my pump for a week. They never called. U could not get through on their phone. I had to stop by a week later only to find they had not taken the 5 minutes to do the job. I will never go back there. Even one of the employees said they would never shop at Great Escape. read more

I tried. I gave this location many, many chances to do the right thing, respond to my requests, etc... and over and over they failed. We purchased a patio set in April for approximately $3500. We were told they could not guarantee a delivery date but likely we'd receive the furniture by Memorial Day. Because they had not promised a delivery date I did not call or inquire or bother them knowing eventually the set would come in. In July I received a call from Jennifer, the patio manager stating that most of the set was in and asking if I'd like a partial delivery and set-up now and when the remaining missing chairs and cover came in they'd call me and deliver. I agreed and the entire set less 1 chair and the cover were delivered. The set was in good condition and the delivery company was friendly and all was great for the 1st portion. I waited approximately a month and decided to call the store to inquire about the remaining items. First, when u call, anyone other than Jennifer seems to not be able to assist and always indicates that a message will be given to Jennifer. Jennifer is not good at returning calls at all. When I was able to finally speak to her she seemed surprised that I had not gotten the whole set and then agreed that "it rings a bell" in her head that maybe I didn't get the whole set. She agreed to look into it and call back. She is good at promising a call back on a specific day but the call never comes. So, again, I call, and am given excuses why she didn't call back as promised and she again agrees to look into it. I do get a call back after calling her twice over 2 weeks and she promises a delivery. The chair and cover are delivered but the delivery people refuse to unpack and set up the chair. We paid for and were promised full delivery and set up. So I unpacked the chair myself as the delivery person watched as I would not sign for the chair until I was able to look at it's condition. The chair was in good condition but the cover was opened, dirty, and missing the bag that was supposed to hold it. I refused delivery of the cover and the delivery company said I could not refuse. They ended up leaving without any signatures from me as I guess the delivery person was tired of waiting for me to unpack the chair. So...again I had to contact the Great Escape. Of course, Jennifer was not there and they had no idea of her schedule. The gentleman I spoke to indicated there are no more covers which is why I received the one I did. I asked for Jennifer to return my call as I intend to get a refund for the money I paid for the cover. She was to call me back last Thursday. It is Monday. I do not expect a call back as I normally do not get one. The moral of this story.... The furniture is nice, find what you want and maybe order it online. Do not accept partial deliveries as you pay for the whole thing regardless of the fact that you don't have the whole set and you may never get what you paid for. Jennifer Peters, while I am a patient person, I would have been happy if you called as promised and just either left me a message, texted, anything to tell me you were at least working on it. Constant excuses why you couldn't make a 2 minute call is just bad service and you do not represent your store or the Great Escape very well. Get an assistant or empower the other employees to assist if you are so busy that you cannot provide standard customer service. read more

Buyer Beware! We were excited to order our new pool which we did in January. The install continued to be pushed out, but the installation was horrible. They had us cut too much out from the existing deck, did not center the pool, then we had to backfill the home and repair our deck. Manager was disrespectful and could care less, nothing but excuses. read more

Updating my review of June 21st - who could have guessed that the furniture will not be available to be delivered in July as per the last "95%" promise. A betting person would have picked "not". Now it's expected mid August. Riiiiight. Dropping my review to 1 star and hoping that when August rolls around I can happily report the items have surfaced and been delivered. read more

We bought a pool from the Store Manager, last fall, they installed it in October. Now after 2 1/2 months of use the liner is leaking. There is apparently no warranty for a $10,000 pool! They advertise their great customer service, we are not experiencing that! I wish we would have purchased from a more reputable company. read more

NEVER was greeted, NEVER was asked to be helped. FINALLY, I asked a young man to assist me in purchasing a patio set. He said that wasn't his department but would send someone. That NEVER happened. I will NEVER go back. read more

I am shocked that it took me to call this location to see how my order was doing that was placed 6 weeks ago. I come to find out that they never thought to call me to let me know that the order would not be filled because of the manufacturer. Why didn't they call me?? John the manager had no remorse what so ever and said that they would refund my money and to go elsewhere. So dissapointed with the service and the way they take no responsibility. read more

9/7/2022 We get a referral from the great escape for a company to close our pool This company is Just In Time Pools Just in time comes out to close the pool and pumps the water out of our partially in ground above ground pool I come back at lunch and the pool is drained below the ground line I turn off pump and call just in time to relay a message to them that they can not drain any further due to the ground I leave and Just in time comes back finishes pumping the remaining water out of the pool and closes the pool and puts in the garden hose It rains downpours I hear popping in the house go outside and see that the pool sides are buckling my son in law and I start digging around pool in an attempt to save it Half of the pool panels buckle we call Just in time and they send a guy out to fix The gentleman states that he can not fix it he needs a machine After repeating calling JIT and the great escape , who claim they are not responsible for the people they refer, they come back out this time only send one guy with a shovel and he says there is not way he can fix it We call JIT and TGE dozens of times and ask for the insurance company so we can file a complaint after months of these calls we get an adjuster from Just in Time to come out The adjuster uses The Great Escape to quote the removal and replacement of the pool after a few months they make an offer of 60% of the replacement cost quoted by The Great Escape we settle after calling the great escape to verify that they can replace the pool for the costs they quoted We sign a contract with the great escape to replace the pool and upgrade some items add a furnace filter etc. The great escape hires a contractor to replace our pool and they schedule it on April 28, 2022 They show up and remove the old pool and say the bound need to dry out and recommend that a retaining wall and concrete ring be install or the pool could collapse I agree they say it will be $2,500 They send a couple of guys to the house with a machine that can not do the job and they need to get another machine they come out on a Sunday when I am out of town and totally ruin the yard and pile debris on the lawn they say they will be back to finish and set forms on Monday they pick up their machine on Monday and do not return We are left with a pond in our yard and a pile of mixed debris I hire a company to removed the debris that has sat there for six weeks I call the Great and the contractors and no one accepts any responsibility and I keep calling until finally they come back and set the pool they then arrange for the concrete guy to pour the retaining wall he starts and they disappears comes back and pours the walls I purchase all the materials including rebar he forgets to put the rebar in the wall He comes back and puts in the drain tile that was suppose to be part of the contract with the great escape but I am billed separate They order the wrong stone for the drain tile and need to hire another contractor to redo it and backfill the pool And hear we are the costs are below Agreed to price to replace the pool from The Great Escape $17,329.00 Pool cap is still incorrect, base of pool has rocks protruding through liner bolts are protruding through liner no return calls or responses to emails or texts. Total costs to date 41,000.00 read more

Bought a foor model catalina hot tub and was assured it would be clean and in top running condition. came to inspect before delivery and saw the cover was ripped. Spoke to Rudy..was told no problem we'll get a new one...just be sure to tell the delivery guys. 10/14 Tub was delivered with the ripped cover..a broken air valve and a non-working air valve....delivery guy noted it on his delivery and told me to call the store. Called the store..was told to leave my name and # and someone to return my call. Friday 10/16 i call back...again left my information and someome woule call me back. Now 10/23 I have made a 3rd phone call and was now told they can't help and i need to call service. A week and 1/2 into this & am I'm ready to return it. This after already waiting 6 weeks for delivery. read more

Super disappointed with my above ground pool. They got it here in a timely manner and got it up quickly, but the wall skimmer is placed so high it's almost impisdivle to keep the pool full of water and the pump running without burning it out. I wish I'd seen them doino this before I wound up with this disaster on my hands. read more

Can't say I was completely impressed after the purchase the delivery company that is a 3 party damaged my wall and rail bringing my shuffle board table to my basement. We told the individuals that they couldn't make it down the stairs the way they were doing it and continued without listening to us which caused the damage. Not only did they damage the items the table wasn't assembled correctly. I went to the store and they said I had to file with their online system to get the repairs completed. Easy enough and they responded within 3 days had the table fixed but they said the 3 party will have to repair the damaged items they will call you well it's been 3 weeks and no call. I know have to file yet another claim with the online system. It sure would be nice if the company would take responsibility instead of just taking our money read more

I had gone in there to inquire about purchasing a part from an umbrella I had only bought the year before from this same store. I understand aftermarket items are a pain in the butt to get. I deal with the same situation in my job, but I never got a call back after trying to follow up. Just ignoring the situation is no different than treating the customer badly in the store. It shows you just don't care. The best thing the employee whom I was working with on this situation could have done at least was to call me and tell me that she can't get the part. Period. Now, I'm left with the feeling that the store only cares about up front sales and don't bother them with after sale problems. BTW, the employee I was working with asked another one for a little help on my situation. That employee simply said I should search on Amazon! Really?!?! In todays day and age, Amazon is always the option, but when you contact the store that sold you the product it is your duty to at least reach out to the mfr for guidance. Like I said, I have to do it in my job daily. If this is how they're employees are trained to handle after-sale inquiries then I will recommend other people to avoid this store. read more

I spent $5000.00 purchasing a pool with just a liner and pergola from Great Escape. After using the pool three times, I had a gaping hole in the liner. I emailed Jason the manager to ask if it were under warranty or if not could he sell me a new one at a discounted price. No response!! I sent a second email stating how upsetting this situation is and if he could answer my question and recommend a solution. Again No response!! I will never step foot in a Great Escape again. I was merely looking for answers not complaining and I could not get any help. I ended up spending another 600.00 for a new liner and install for a brand new pool. Unacceptable behavior, Jason read more

Bought a pool here in 2017. The kid in the store was nice enough during the sale and we purchased exactly how they advised us to. Once we bought the pool the horrible experience started!! They hook you up with an external installer that is just a nutjob and overcharges everything. Installation was not as agreed. The Great Escape does not take any responsibility for any of this or does not try to help you in any way!! Now i have the pool for 2 years, the pool itself is good quality but it being a 33ft pool they should've sold me a different filter system. Now 2 years later and a lot of advise further I have to get a new pump system. Do yourself a favor and pass this store and find a family owned store which there are plenty and pay a bit more for someone who helps you from beginning to swimming. read more

Pray to the pool heater gods that it works after you hook it up! If not, you'll have to schedule a warranty repair call and wait for warmer water. I was one of the less fortunate patrons of this store when I purchased my Hayward pool heater. The display unit would not light up which prevented the heater from working, brand new and right out of the box. When I called The Great Escape and told them about it them immediately gave me the name and number of the authorized warranty repair company - that was it. They didn't even offer to exchange it for another one which could have easily been done. They genuinely did not seem to care that my brand new $1200+ heater didn't work. Great customer service, in my opinion (NOT). Luckily we have another pool store in the area that we can patronize instead. Best of luck to you, Customer Service! By the way, the authorized warranty repair company fixed the problem with 10 minutes by replacing the display printed circuit board. They are awesome and kudos for them for the fast repair! Thank you, TFM! read more

If your planning a pool, shop elsewhere! The worst service possible is what you get at The Great Escape. They used an installer named "Tom" from Aqua Installs. The man is a habitual liar at best. To make matters worse, to date the store has not been able to have him make the needed repairs. Rod C read more

My wife was just in the Schaumburg store buying chlorine, when asking the price she was told 200 dollars!! She questioned the price of the salesman and he checked and it was 125.The man before her just bought the same amount of chlorine and it was 125!! The salesman new that but tried for 200?? WTH!! Then didn't even bother to assist her in carrying it out!! I've been shopping there for 20 years!! Never again!! read more

Extremely disappointed with the customer service I received with my purchase of Lloyd Flanders wicker furniture . My salesperson had a ton of excuses about how he was unable to get any info from Lloyd Flanders , I guess I was expecting a lot better service from a high end wicker furniture manufacturer and my salesperson at Great Escape read more

Fantastic sale and customer service. My husband and I worked with Ryan and Jason. I highly recommend working with them. They were very attentive and helped us pick out a great piece of furniture! read more

This store has the friendliest most helpful bunch of employees, kinda like it use to be when people cared, remember those days? I do, you'd be foolish to make a purchase anywhere else and then there's the store manager Jason, now if I owned my own company I'd do whatever I could to get him on my payroll...honest, patient and ever so helpful. This store is the real deal folks, don't be foolish by going anywhere else! read more

After posting my review on Yelp, the manager offered his email for follow up. He did follow up with me and scheduled the delivery that week. We bought another piece of furniture and they gave us a discount on it for our troubles. For that reason, I am increasing the rating to 4 stars. read more

Terrible, I purchased a pool from them and they sent out an installation contractor (Sundown Pools) who in turn sent out a dirt haul away contractor (Mark). After the pool was installed, I now have foot deep ruts in my lawn that will require $1,200 to repair. I contacted the Great Escape and they keep passing the buck onto the contractors. There definitely could have been better ways to install a pool without causing $1,200 in damage to my property. I wish I could post pictures to show exactly the quality of work The Great Escape contractors completed. Find another pool company because once they have your money, they are done with you. As you can see from their response, the Great Escape takes zero responsibility for the contractor's they send out. read more

See all

Horrible. Fiance and I just bought a Home in March and had an Existing POOL : I will NEVER recommend them. maybe just was Location? not sure anyhow, pool stuff was Delivered and all. OK. then we had a day of Friday @ 7:45 am to come & Install pool. Fiance stood HOME from work and well what do you know they never came and called him later that day to say they would be another 2 hours til they arrive. and well It rained, so now they cancelled. Said they would be out Sat. am 7:45 - they came out removed Existing pool and state will be another $400 Dollars to add more sand and because it was so wet & Needed to pull roots out from weeds growing in existing pool they took down. ! MIND YOU GREAT ESCAPE NEVER SENT ANYONE OUT TO LOOK AT THE EXISITNG POOL!!! Well Duhh had they been there at 7:45 am BEFORE the RAIN maybe it wouldn't have been so wet. anyhow once all was said and done they had to reschedule ONCE AGAIN for Monday @ 7:45 - well they didn't get there til about 5:30 so they start, well now we realize Great Escape didn't send the damn PUMP / Filter.. Pum just came Yesterday Evening. NOW LET'S SEE HOW LONG WE HAVE TO WAIT TIL THAT GETS INSTALLED AND REALLY BETTER NOT ASK FOR MORE $$ AS THIS SHOULD BE APART OF THE INSTALLATION!!!! Absolutely ridiculous.. I am so Unpleased on their service and ESPECIALLY the 3rd Party of Installers they send out. Installers said they had Severall appts also. WELL sorry not SORRY if you cannot meet your deadlines then DO NOT OVER SCHEDULE yourselves. Great Escape is horrible on Following up. As long as they have you locked in I gues that's all they care about!! Very Displeased. Nothing even sent as a credit for the DELAY and Missed Time Frames! I would have expected Better from them.. (((((RANT OVER)))) Great Escape - Get it TOGETHER!! YOUR REPUTATION IS NOT AT A GREAT STANDING RIGHT NOW. read more

Cannot reach customer service department. Salespeople in store don't want to deal with the issues and give you phone number which has a message that they cannot answer your call because of "high volume of calls", then hangs up. That alone tells you that they have a real problem. read more

Needed to get a hot tub repaired. Charged me $150 Before they would come out to give me an estimate. Came out and said They Could Not Give me an estimate until they took it to their shop! What?? It was $400 just to take it to the shop and back. I took a loss on the $150 and used Lighthouse Spas who were Fabulous! read more

The Great Escape has declined significantly over the past 15 years. I have purchased two pools there, one in 2003 and one just recently. The experiences turned out to be very different. With the 2003 pool, the staff worked hard to address any issues that arose during delivery and installation of the pool. This time around they couldn't care less. I had to hound them to get missing hardware and accessories. I was shorted two fence panels and posts; it took TWO WEEKS to get the panels, and they arrived without the correct posts. They never delivered the correct posts (which are finished for the opening for a ladder). They kept telling me that the posts were on order for several months, then switched their story to saying that the posts had been delivered. read more

I bought my pool at the Algonquin location and it was installed last week. The installers worked through the rain to get the job done in 4 hours. They were very nice. This is my first pool being installed and did not know how to use everything I received in the pool package. I called the store for 3 days in a row and they said they were too busy to answer my questions. They took my number and said someone would call me when they can. Nobody called. Nobody there cares. They always seem to be short handed. Customer service after you buy is terrible. A friend of mine walked me through on how to use what I had. Not a good experience. The worse thing you can do in business is tell clients you are too busy to take care of them. read more

The Great Escape does not follow up when there are issues. I had several problems from the beginning with the installation, the installers put the pool together wrong and instead of looking into it they cut all kinds of unnecessary pieces which now looks terrible. The electrician was extremely rude and was all upset the the filter motor would turn on which ended up being his fault. My concrete guy had to finish the grounding of the pool because the electrician's grounding did not pass inspection. The final major issue was they plumbed the pool with pvc that was never checked for leaks or anything, backfilled and upon opening the pool the pipes were a mess. I had to have the entire pool redone with all new plumbing. To this date I still have not heard from Great Escape. BEWARE! read more

So far I have had the complete opposite experience than the other two reviewers. I originally was looking for a filter because mine took a dump and I had gone to American Sales and their outlet store to get some prices and they tried to up sell me EVERYTHING! All I wanted was a filter but no, I needed a pump and the Frogger and goodness knows what else, not to mention the man at American Sales talked over me the 3 times I tried to speak while he was putting algeacide in my arms. When I went to The Great Escape I was greeted very nicely and was listened to. I was NOT being sold a $300 pump that I didn't need (just a filter) and Chris took the time to actually explain a lot about the filter to me as I am still new to owning/maintaining a pool. Come to find out I had a hole in my liner too, I decided screw it all I'm just going to get a new pool. I really didn't know how old the original pool was as it was there when we bought the house. Mike tried everything to save me money, telling me he could have someone come out and find the hole and repair it... are you getting this, he DIDN'T TRY TO SELL ME A POOL!!!!!!!! In the end I DID buy a pool, they made the process beyond easy, and believe it or not as I am typing this the Manager Jason just called to make sure that I knew he was on top of everything to get my pool in within the next 12 days (I'm having a graduation party in 17 days)! Thank goodness for heaters!!! All in all I have had a good experience with The Great Escape in Orland, and I don't feel like the sales people are vultures. read more

This place is a joke! They will sell you anything you want but if you have problems later down the road, don't expect a phone call back or anything to be done about it. Go to American Sale or another pool store for your pool or pool supplies!!! I do not recommend The Great Escape at all!!!! I only give them one star because it wouldn't let me post without giving them one. read more

Loved this store. They were friendly and went out of their way to help me and my husband. Great customer service. They had what we were looking for. I will definitely return. 10 STARS American Sale in Orland Park, IL lost our business and MONEY. read more

Our pool was delivered May 5th. Today is June 11th and it is still sitting in our garage! I have no idea how the pool is because the Great Escape won't get anyone here to put it in!!! Very disappointed. Our last pool was from American Sales and I wish we went with them. Maybe we would be able to have a pool this summer! read more

Bought a replacement pool from the great escape and the main problem was with Richards pool service who is their installation company. I had a great deal of problems with them and went back to the great escape to see if they could help. The store manager whom i spoke with just kept stating what they don't do according to their sales agreement. I informed him that we paid Richards extra for work that was not done to what we agreed on. he was of no help to resolve the issues I had with the installation company they sent to install the pool we purchased from them read more

Decent price for a hot tub but difficult to get any follow-up info after you put your money down. I would not buy again from this place. In May 2020, we ordered a Catalina hot tub. Salesman was nice and down payment was made. It was difficult to get in touch with the salesman after that. When I called for additional information regarding install and details of the hot tub, it was a pain in the butt to get any information. Every person who answered the phone said they needed to pass me to my salesman who was either not working that day or busy with a customer, even when I was asking for the phone number for the service department. Prior to delivery, I went into the store to determine where I needed to have an electrician drop an outlet for the electrical and another salesman and trainee gave me the wrong information which made me rotate my hot tub after they delivered it. The manual they gave me is not for the control system that this hot tub has. Problems with the hot tub afterwards took days to resolve as I had to wait again for my salesman to respond. Service guys who came out from another location were informative and helpful. read more

This place is garbage! From the sales staff to the manager to the customer service department. Lies.. lies.. lies.. Had pool installed spring of 2017. Opened pool (lifetime warranty) 1st week of June this year and there was a problem with the side buckling. Have made 25 phone calls trying to get something resolved, no luck. I should have went to American Sales! Don't know what I was thinking! This place is pathetic! read more

I bought my pool from here 11 years ago. We needed a new liner so I ordered it in January and was told to call early March to get on a waiting list to have it installed. I called on the first day possible back in March. They do not have their own installers but gave me the numbers of 2 guys. The first was Shane. He canceled on me a couple of times and then when he did show he said our pool was caving in and he gave me the number of a different guy Rob who said it's just a bottom track that needs to be replaced but he canceled on me many times and never called when he didnt show. So I gave up things and rescheduled to be home for no reason. It's now mid June and still I can't use my pool. Also, The Great Escape would not order that piece for me. They told me I had to go online and order it. When I called a local pool company they said they have their own guys but can't help me since I didn't buy my pool from them. Lesson learned... use a pool company with more personal help and care. read more

We bought a beautiful outdoor dining set, and a pavilion with an acrylic window on top. No doubt it's beautiful. But, the window had 3 cut marks in it, and was installed like that. We were afraid with with expanding and contracting due to different weather conditions it would crack. I took several phone calls, but it was finally replaced today. Yay! But, after the guy replaced it, it has glue residue on it. Don't you think he would have cleaned it off, before installing it, since it would be very difficult to reach in the middle of an 11 by 11 foot pavilion, and it looks like it has smears on it!! read more

I just recently purchased my first pool with the help of Jason, he helped me and my family with so much I couldn't ask for a better salesman. read more