As soon as Lori left (not sure if she was let go or left intentionally), the customer service noticeably declined. Up until that point, I would have rated Pate's 4 or 5 stars. I specifically emailed Pate's on September 13, 2024, before the pool closing, requesting that they ensure the hot tub was set up properly for the winter. I even flagged concerns about previous issues and mentioned that it was part of the process the team had consistently performed in the past. Despite this, the spa was not winterized, which led to a cracked filter cartridge when freezing temperatures hit. When I reached out in December about the damage, I was met with dismissive responses. They claimed the spa setup was not part of the contracted service and suggested that the issue must have been caused by factors unrelated to the pool closing. This was despite my email explicitly requesting the service, and their prior assurance that notes on my account should guide the process. The lack of accountability and dismissive tone made an already frustrating situation worse. What's most disappointing is that this level of customer care has become the norm since Lori's departure. I hope they can address these gaps, but until then, I cannot recommend them as confidently as I once did. A few observations which back up my original review: 1. Zero accountability. They don't respond to a simple email that was sent in advance of the closing to communicate with me any of the details that David is now communicating. If they were communicated before, problem solved. They just didn't respond instead. This is 2024. If you run a business and don't know how to respond to basic emails, then you probably should look at your own operations and take a little ownership of the problem. 2. People are busy. That's why we outsource these key elements of our home. We use our spa sparingly, thus the long lapse in time that went by (12 weeks). If David the owner wouldn't have been so dismissive and said at least "hey, we can do better...you can do better", I never would have felt the need to fill out this review. As I told him on the call, we both could have communicated better in this situation. However, I'm the customer, not the business owner. I shouldn't be the one to recognize that. read more

Finding a pool cleaning service for a rental home is difficult; many businesses are full and have had their clients for years. I called at least 5 places and got turned down! When first calling Pates I was told they were filling up quickly, but that they would try their hardest to get me in. I received a call less than 2 days later to schedule my weekly cleanings. I knew nothing about pools, chemicals, anything, which is needed to know what chemicals to bring, and how to clean it. The customer service rep took the time to help me get the details, and had me scheduled. I have been using them for three months and my pool is spotless even being covered by trees! I highly recommend Pates! read more

Pates Pool & Spa - My cleaned pool featuring a corgi butt - Pool & Hot Tub Service Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Pates is our go to place for anything pool related. They were the only company that answered our call for a safety cover installation in the middle of February to help keep our dogs safe when we bought our house. They later installed our heater. Always willing to help educate us and point us in the right direction. Dave and his crew are top notch. read more

Horrible customer service and shotty work that they won't fix. Once you pay them, they won't respond to emails as things fail very quickly.

I originally reached out to Pate's due to having an issue with a company breaking my Pentair Bio-Shield UV filter. I was assured that I would have no issue at Pate's as they were very familiar with this system. Last year the opened and closed my pool at the tune of about $800. I had no issue with the install or removal of the UV filter at that time. Prior to opening this year, I took the UV filter apart to clean the quartz tube, as required for regular maintenance (which I have done at least twice per year for the 5 years I have owned the pool. The company that installed the pool showed me how to take the product apart, service it if need be, and put it back together. NOT DIFFICULT AT ALL) and put it back together. This is when I found the plug for the power supply for the light to be laying on the ground behind my pool heater, unprotected. Shame on me for not noticing this last year. The next week, Pate's employees came to open my pool. I work from home so I showed them to all of the equipment and told them that I would be home if they needed anything from me. The 3 of them were here for about 45 minutes. The guys did not come tell me they were finished, they just got in the truck and left. They tucked an invoice in my front door. What piqued my attention initially is that the invoice stated the water was clear. It was cloudy. I opened the auto cover the day before to add chlorine. It was also cloudy after they left. This made me think to check everything else. I found the UV light not to be on. I e-mailed these issue to Pate's. Russell responded stating "The water was probably clear when the guys arrived, after getting the system running and adding chemicals could have made it a tad cloudy. The returns could have stirred up what settled on the floor but that will filter out and when chemicals are balanced it will be looking good again. Do you know how old the UV bulb is? The bulbs don't last a super long time so it could be the bulb is bad. You can also check the power going to the system and make sure there isn't a tripped breaker or GFCI." Upon further investigation, the light was not even plugged in to the power supply, the quartz tube had cracked during install, and the light was sitting in half a tube of water. There was also a sensor with a wire cut on it. I sent this e-mail with pictures to Russell with no response. I then notified the owner's, David and Becky Scheumann, of this and the owner David's only reply via e-mail was "We have refunded your payment for the 2022 opening." I requested to speak to him two additional times with no response. My wife finally called to speak to him and after explaining the situation to a lady on the phone, my wife was told that Pate's thinks that we should find someone else to service our pool. This is how you do business? What amazing customer service!?! I assume that working behind a computer in accounting did not prepare you to be retail business owners. It looks like the most recent reviews would collaborate my story since you have taken over ownership. Unfortunately, this is what your other employees have stated too. Please also find pictures to verify my story. PLEASE BEWARE OF DOING BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!! read more

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I am not one to write reviews, especially for a small local business attempting to make it in today's environment, however, the results, along with the required contract for service clearly show an individual who is running the business with solely profit margins in mind. Forgetting the customer experience is what drives sustainable margins. We decided to try Pate's after our normal pool company's installer made a mistake, which they happily took responsibility for, simply to 'test the waters' of another local pool company. Unfortunately, we chose Pate's and should have gone elsewhere after reviewing the unlawful and frankly comical "we take no responsibility for our work" contract. Pate's forgot that that in choosing said contract, you were to provide a service and if that service was not performed in the line with reputable, pre-existing comparative businesses in the local area, the contract is null and void. Normally, I would give the company a chance to take ownership, and redeem their reputation, at which point gaining my utmost respect for handling oversights and focusing on the customer experience above all, however, based on previous very public interactions between the new owner and other customers, I am choosing to publicize the situation and allow the circumstances to be posted where all potential clientele can see how David chooses to run his business. Having successfully run a service based business for years, I invite Pate's Pools to give us one reason why you agreed to winterize our pool, knowing damn well that you don't allow chemicals purchased elsewhere to be used in the winterization process, claim that you only bring enough chemicals for pools up to 25,000 gallons, go onto explain there will be additional charges for adding more chemicals to compensate for the difference in size, and then simply didn't do any of the above. If what I have found out this past 48 hours is even a sliver of your business ethics, I wish you luck in the immediate future. If for some reason this turns out to be a situation where Pate's chooses to meet and exceed our minimal expectations, I will gladly post updates and change my stance, however, until this happens, I urge you to seek other services from more reputable businesses in the Indy area. read more

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Pool owners beware. The owners, David and Becky Scheumann, have proven they do not care about their customers and seem unwilling to discuss any issues or problems. I have used their services for five years and was quite happy until just last year (2023) when I had some billing questions. I was treated very rudely by the owners. I hadn't run into any problems working with them in the past and I thought that maybe Pates was going out of business because of the careless attitude they had. But when I asked them they told me they were very much in business and if I didn't like working with them I could find another company. I was really surprised by this response. Russell, Bob, and the other employees are wonderfully helpful, but David and Becky don't seem to care about holding on to their customers. I find this attitude strange for a service company. read more

Reliable. Your pool maintenance products in stock. Great commitment to service as well. Instrumental in helping me resolve an imbalance issue. Highly knowledgeable and helpful in instructing me to self-perform many maintenance steps. read more

Service department didn't answer, when they returned my call they couldn't get out and didn't know when they'd be able to.

Just opened. At the northwest corner of E 62nd and Binford Blvd. Enter from E 62nd street, right next to the Exxon gas sation. They closed their store at 43rd and Shadeland. So now they just have this one and their store on W 96th at Michigan Rd. read more

Pates Pool & Spa - July 2014. - Pool & Hot Tub Service Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

We have used there services for years was completely satisfied. This year the price of the closing went up over 100.00 an increase was expected I felt this was a bit much. To make things worse they needed to use extra chemicals above the usual that we have used over the last 10 years this added an additional 38.00. Needless to say we will not be using there service again. There is a saying in business pigs get fat hogs get slaughtered. read more

I would give them more stars if allowed! We had the absolute best experience with Pate's Pools and highly recommended them to anyone with a pool! They did work on our sand filter, Hayward Heater and pool cover. They were excellent communicators, extremely prompt and did wonderful work at a fair price. We used a different pool company and had the worst experience. Pate's has earned our business from here on out! Lori and Russel were fabulous to work with and even followed up to make sure everything was working in time for a birthday party! read more

All of the gentlemen's previous comments were true. They do not return phone calls. Lori or Jason. I'm fed up with that kind of treatment as we have been nothing but good customers. I don't usually leave reviews but this seems necessary. Beware! read more

I called all over Indianapolis looking for a replacement liner for my above ground pool and a conversion kit to change it to a beaded liner from an overlap. Kris at Pate's was able to find one and have it available to be picked up within 3 days! It was great that they actually answered their phone and called me back when they said they would. They carried the liner out to my car when I picked it up, and were so friendly. I highly recommend! read more

Great prices and service! Open all weekends and best chlorine price. Chris is super knowledgeable and helpful.

Worst communication, customer service, ect. They serviced us last year, closed and opened the pool (opening alone was a whopping $800), told us we needed a new chlorinator, which we approved to be fixed right away, but they never came back after opening. They said we should have known to fill out another contract (#3). 6 weeks later, after numerous phone calls and filling out another contract within the hour of them sending it, they owner was hiding behind his office manager Lori, finally got a call back today, that they are not interested in servicing us. If you had told me this before you opened it, I would have found someone else. Now I have renters and an extremely green pool. I have called every day for 2 weeks... what is your problem? Too much business? read more

I used Pates Pool service for almost 2 years. It started off great and then slowly deteriorated. The company was sold after my first year and things changed. First change was they would no longer would store my winter cover. OK, I figured out a place to store it. Not a huge deal. They opened the pool in April and I pre-purchased all the chemicals. I had weekly service. Every time they serviced, I had to hunt for my receipt. Sometimes in the back door, side door, front door, on my storage box, and sometimes it vanished. I emailed Lori about this. She said she would add notes to my profile. Nothing changed. My pump was making a louder than normal noise since opening. Nobody could figure out why this was happening after a few service calls. I was concerned it would fail. Finally, they said change it out for $800 or so because they could not figure it out. I decided not to as it did work, just made loud noises. They came to service on 8/12 and Lori emailed me that afternoon saying my pump housing had failed and they were unable to service that day and would come back 8/13 to repair which I replied 'thank you'. Jason, their service tech did come back the next day to make the repair. Interesting note when this was fixed, the loud noise that I have been hearing all summer stopped. Hmmmm..... Anyway, we do not use our pool during the week so Saturday morning, I opened the pool to find the water level below the tile line, the water cloudy, and the bottom filthy. I emailed Lori, no response. I called Jason. No response. I texted Jason. No response. As the morning progressed, it got worse and then the pump lost its prime. I began to panic a bit as we were having a party that evening. Called and texted Jason again. No response. I then decided to call their shop hoping to get some emergency number but they answered. The lady, I forgot her name, was great. I explained the situation and she said she would call me back. When she did, she said she talked to Jason. (Why he wouldnt talk to me I dont understand) she said when he left, it was working fine. I understand Jason may have been off that weekend but all I was looking for is his suggestions to fix the issue. He chose to ignore my calls for help. The receipt he left me said nothing about low water. Had he left a note or called me the day of service asking me to add water, there would have been no issue. Anyway, I filled the pool back up, I was able to reprime the pump, and all was good other than my filthy pool floor. I again emailed Lori and I asked her to call me Monday to discuss the situation. No call. I emailed again. No call Tuesday. I emailed again asking if they still wanted me as a client because nobody was calling me back. I received an email from David saying they no longer would work with me and would not come back to clean my pool they were supposed to clean the week before. I guess nobody likes to hear complaints. I, also being in the service industry, love to hear complaints as that is the only way I can fix things. I can guarantee that when my clients call my techs, they answer and help them over the phone. Pates obviously does not. I was disappointed in the communication. I was a good client who paid their bills each week without question yet when things went bad one weekend, they couldn't handle it. Not sure if this would have happened with the previous owner or not. read more

Such wonderful customer service. I have never bought one thing from them and yet they still help me every single time I need help. They are extremely knowledgeable and professional and all around very nice people. They have saved my pool when others could not! read more

Pate's has been servicing my pool for 9 years. They are experienced & knowledgable. The staff in both service & retail are friendly & helpful. Though the years I have needed their help with special circumstances & they have been willing to work with me. I have learned a great deal about pool maintenance thanks to Pates. Just finished a great season with clear balanced water:) Looking forward to working with them in the spring. read more

Thank you to Pate for taking care of me tonight. I fought to get there by 6PM when they close and arrived after their computers had shut down. I had to get water test strips tonight and drove long to get there. Very grateful that they took care of me. read more

Had a spa winterized by Pate's last two years. No problem 1st year but this year after opening the spa experienced a leak from one of the lines. I contacted Pate's & was told to contact the manufacturer as they didn't have the parts. Royal Spa sent a technician who stated the spa wasn't winterized correctly & there hadn't been antifreeze adder to the water feature causing the plastic joint to freeze & crack. Pate's claimed it had to have been damaged before they did the winterization and would accept no responsibility. Right up to the day before winterization the heater remained on. The air temperature did not drop below 40 degrees in that time between. $189.00 for winterization & $188.15 in repairs. I have learned my lesson. Pate's does not stand behind their work. read more

I called Pate's pools for an appointment for a pool inspection. It took me 3 days and 5 phone calls to reach the scheduler. I was told the date I needed was confirmed, only to find out the next day- there was no confirmation. I was told that they could not even guarantee a date or time when I needed the inspection. Their customer service was HORRIBLE. I had to make 5 phone calls to follow up, when I was told they would call me back. They did not follow through on anything they promised. I am NOT satisfied and went with another comoany- I WILL NOT ever use Pate's poos. read more