*Update: 12 days layer, no contact or out reach. $15k job and cannot get anyone to acknowledge the issues or come onsite. -- We contacted Pinch a Penny for a comprehensive pool renovation, including interior and deck resurfacing, financed with a significant loan. While the pool interior appears satisfactory beneath the water, the pool deck resurfacing, subcontracted to "Shine Bright 3 LLC" (one of several similarly named entities under common ownership as this Pinch a Penny franchise), has been a major disappointment and multiple non cosmetic flaws. The deck resurfacing was executed poorly from the outset. The primary contact, Randy, was consistently absent from the job site and failed to relay our concerns about the work to the crew. The drains were installed incorrectly, resulting in persistent pooling of water in various areas and a hazardous, significantly raised drain on a corner. Also, pre-existing safety net inserts were cemented over, leading to more damage of the new surface when a third party was sent to rectify this error. The texture applied to the pool deck is inconsistent, creating irregular surfaces with depressions and rises that will inevitably trap water, leading to potential mold and mildew growth. Alarmingly, after only three months, the top coat is already failing and cracking in multiple locations, exposing the underlying surfacing compound. The painting surface was flecked onto the inner decorative pool tile. Additionally, there was a complete lack of care for our property, with materials and debris left scattered throughout the yard and dumped in flowerbeds. Surfacing compound was carelessly left on numerous surfaces, requiring power washing. When we attempted to address these significant issues with the contractor, Randy became unprofessional and refused to inspect the substandard work. The owner Hardeep eventually visited the site and admitted they no longer handle deck resurfacing due to numerous complaints and that Randy had been terminated. While the owner offered to replace the incorrectly installed net inserts and drains, they refused to acknowledge the damage caused by the surfacing compound and struggled to provide timelines to repair the drainage issues. Hardeep simply offered to provide paint for us to repair the damage ourselves This experience has been incredibly frustrating and has left us with a poorly finished, deteriorating pool deck, leaving us to seek alternative resolution paths. read more

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LIED TO!!!!, i saw the pool guy basically sitting in his car playing on his phone instead of doing his job!, was told he would be here and we have a important family event!, Wasting money for no shows, I predict this location will close if this way of doing business where employees basically do nothing but dick around avoiding their job, if you don't want to work then quit this is embarrassing read more

Great Company and Best Pool Tech in Years.. Lou - just fantastic. thanks Steve Shirley

Avoid this shop at all costs. They are a disaster. The owners let the store manager treat customers terribly and do nothing to rectify the situation. I finally asked to cancel service at the end on the month that I already paid for and they immediately stopped coming and promised to repay me the months pay and every time I call or stop by the store they tell me the check is not there but it will be delivered within a day or 2. This has been going on for 2 months. Find any other store for your pool service needs or you will regret it. read more

If you enjoy your pool service not showing up and no one returning your call as to when the pool will be serviced Tom at Pinch a Penny Bearss Ave is your guy! If you enjoy being put on hold constantly while they grab a pen, really, and then again put on hold if you ask a question then Tom is your guy. If you enjoy the condescending attitude of most of the employees at the store, except for Sarah, then Tom is your guy..... As far as the pool cleaning service, I hear they pay minimum wage to their pool cleaners and that would explain the not showing up, the substandard cleaning service. If you put a camera to watch what they do verses what they check off on the work completed list you'll understand this!!!!! WORST EVER EXPERIENCE FOR POOL SERVICE STAY AWAY read more

BEWARE!!! Under new ownership and holy TERRIBLE!!!We have been customers for over five years and loved old owner Tom and the entire staff. What a HUGE difference now with new owners that can barely speak English. They break your pool equipment so they can charge you for replacement. Incredibly disappointing. read more

Husband called for a specific part needed and spoke to Sarah. Said they had it..Yes, ok coming over. Arrives at 4:30pm Saturday 6/15. So, he goes to the store to pick it up. Sarah and Roy help out. Roy doesn't know which of the two it was holds it up and asks Sarah "Which one?" She tells Roy this one. My husband buys it. Goes home spends an hour putting it in to find out he was sold the wrong item! Wow, husband calls they say sorry and that its too late they dont have the item now it was just sold! Wow, really!! He was so upset he didnt want to even come back to return the item. Why? Because he wasted his time, his money, his hard work trying to fix the pool with his oldest son teaching him how to put the O-ring on i the filter on Fathers Day Weekend. I then arrive at the store 20 minutes before closing to be greeted. Great, just need to talk to the manager on duty. Go straight to the manger to tell him. Manager says it was a simple mistake and what would I like to happen? Guess return the item unless there is any compensation for this. He says we are privately own and cant do that. Then why ask such a question. I said dont you think it was incompetent of your employees to sell the wrong item and have the customer then work an hour to try to put the Oring in the filter and realize he was sold the wrong part. Have to call you to let you know to then here "oh sorry sir we sold it just now". Then his wife comes back to return the item just because he was sold the wrong item! Thats a " simple" mistake. I said I disagree it was incompetent, he disagreed. Honestly, what would you call it? Don't come here so you dont feel frustrated and upset at the incompetence of these people. The lack of the ability to sell you the correct product! read more

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Your typical PinchAPenny store, larger than many with a lot of sales help. Friendly people. Prices are the same everywhere. Products do not always indicate what the actual content is. Pool service leaves something to be desired probably due to turnover of Tech staff and possibly resulting in pools not being effectively maintained. read more

Great place to get all your pool supplies. Friendly helpful never problem I'm going there.

Ownership change = price increase without ANY notice. Called the owner to inquire. No one calls back even after multiple attempts. Finally got ahold of one of the four owners. Super rude and won't allow you to speak, just speaks over you. Finally got a word in and he hung up on me. Actual pool guy shows up on his phone talking the entire time and barely pays attention to what he is doing. Our pool looks horrible. STAY AWAY!!!. read more

Worst customer service. The owner was very rude refused service due to a previous bad review from previous manager

I called for a specific part needed and spoke to Sarah. Said they had it..Yes, ok went over. Arrived at 4:30pm Saturday 6/15. go into the store to pick it up. Sarah and Roy help out. Roy doesn't know which of the two it was holds it up and asks Sarah "Which one?" She tells Roy this one. So I trust them and purchase the Oring. Spent an hour putting it in to find out I was sold the wrong item! So, I called to speak to the manger and he says sorry and that its too late they dont have the item now because it was just sold! I was so upset I didnt want to even come back to return the item. Because I just wasted my time and money trying to fix the pool. My wife arrived at the store 20 minutes before closing to talk to the manager on duty. Manager says it was a simple mistake and what would she like to happen? Guess return the item unless there is any compensation for this. He says we are privately own and cant do that. Then why ask such a question. She said dont you think it was incompetent of your employees to sell the wrong item and have the customer then work an hour to try to put the Oring in the filter and realize he was sold the wrong part? Then i had to call them to let them know to then here from the manger say "oh sorry sir we sold it just now". The manager tells her that it was a " simple" mistake. She said I disagree it was incompetence. Beware, don't come here so you dont feel frustrated and upset at the incompetence of these people. Their lack of ability to sell you the correct product! read more

The Best pool service we've ever had! Our pool man Dan always goes the extra mile making sure our pool is perfect and also very politely puts up with all my questions LOL . Very happy with Pinch a Penny read more

NEVER EVER USE PINCH A PENNY! The new owners are greedy but their manager SARAH is always 100% responsible, professional and will do all in her power to fix the issue herself BUT the service is HORRIBLE And the owners just take your money, say next time will be better and never clean the pool. My family has used the Pinch A Penny on Beaars since the 80's. Recently the rates went up and in the past 6 months my pool is not cleaned bc there's a no show, they don't do the full pool cleaning as listed on their pool service report that they leave behind but all the boxes are checked. Then I have to wait for another week and so my my pool looks horribly, cloudy, and sometimes GREEN. This last time I realized they were not cleaning the pump filter or basket and my line was clogged. They wanted to charge me for the repair. They also refused to refund my last month payment even after one of the owners admitted that they knew their employee was barely cleaning at all, cussing and yelling loudly, dumping leaves on my yard, and or not doing anything about it until they had enough complaints. Not our problem but they still want you to pay them $155 a month even when the work isn't done! They smile and say they will take care of what was not done or try to blame the weather. read more

Tom, Chris and the rest of the staff at pinch a penny were so very helpful and courteous! I showed up on a Sunday at 4:05 not knowing that they closed at 4. They still let me get my chlorone refills and were very friendly with me even though they were closed. Outstanding Customer Service!! read more

I called, they came out same day. Tim relieved my worries, now it's no longer a problem on my plate. Thanks Tim.

The staff is always friendly and eager to help. Whether it is checking on water samples, getting chlorine jugs or fixing my Polaris, they always do it with a smile! read more

Pinch A Penny - Hot Tub & Pool Near Me - Tampa, Florida

The staff at the Bearrs Avenue location are extremely friendly. We recently purchased a new motor, pump and vacuum. Less than a week we received their sale brochure to find that the motor/pump we purchased was on sale at 15% less than what we actually paid. Called to inquire if they would compensate our purchase and was informed that there was absolutely nothing that they could do. I have worked in retail for over 30 years in sales and we would always work with our customers when a purchase was made and then the item went on sale within a respectable amount of time. We would compensate them with the difference in price refunded or ask if they would like a store credit. Called the corporate office and was informed that the franchise manager of the store we made the puchase at would have the decision on compensating. The management at this store left me with a feeling that they are out to make money and do not value their customers. read more

In one word...condescending. jerked me around on sale items that they didnt have earlier this year. Recently wouldnt take an exchange despite it being an obviously faulty product. Done with them! read more

We have been a customer with this company for greater than 8 years now. We have 2 different houses for which they provided pool service for: 1) our personal residence and 2) a rental property. For the most part, the quality of their service was good, their prices were a little on the high end but still reasonable, they were more-or-less punctual for weekly maintenance, and they identified needed repairs to maintain our pools in near optimum condition. However, their handling of a recent matter is what caused me to terminate service with them and write this review and file a trespass order against them to prevent them from ever entering my property. In mid July, our personal residence pool turned a strong green color. The pool is less than 9 years old and we are extremely attentive to its maintenance. We contacted them and described the concern. Our regular technician spoke with us, and explained that he'd noticed a week earlier the salt system was not producing chlorine, and that a repair seemed inevitable. The special technician diagnosed the problem, and determined that a computer board would need to be replaced. The cost of the board was approximately $250 and labor approximately $300. We were informed that replacement of the board and all other services they were performing would resolve the issue at a higher level than merely a "band-aid". Four days after they completed the repair, the pool began turning green again. After about 3 weeks, our regular maintenance technician explained that the pool chlorine generation process was not working again, and that another repair was needed. They completed this second repair the next day, and sent us an invoice for near $250. We explained our concerns of this 2nd invoice to the owner, and his response was unusual. At first he argued in random terms about general pool parts and costs. I finally interrupted him, and zoomed in on the specifics of our situation. He then explained he had no knowledge of it, and after 5 minutes of searching, he couldn't find the work orders, and explained he would have to call us back. Approximately 30 minutes later he called back and described a work order from 2 years earlier. We explained again that the work orders were recent (2-3 weeks), and he again said he would call us back after he found them. Approximately 10 minutes later he called, and started ranting about how our pool system was the blame. I interrupted him, and asked that we stay focused on the specifics of the current invoice. At this mention, he went off into a new and different rant about how I was accusing him of being a dishonest person, and how he would send his technicians to my house and have them remove all the parts from the repair. We were concerned about all of this, with concern also for the fact that the 2nd repair did not fix the problem, ... it was now 3 days later and the pool was turning green again. I tried to calm him and bring sanity and resolve to the conversation. I explained that I didn't think he was being dishonest, but instead I felt his technicians made a human error in their diagnosis. I further explained that however the error was committed, it didn't matter. We paid for a repair based on their diagnosis, and expected the repair to be proper and complete. I find it suspicious when a person becomes defensive and starts ranting about how honest they are and "how dare" I question their integrity. These are the words of con-men. Furthermore, I was upset about the specifics of my matter, for which he had no knowledge of it whatsoever until the last phone call. I had concern over his threats to come onto my property and destroy my pool equipment by removing pieces of it. And, I no longer felt like he was worthy of my business. I had no value to him as a customer, even after 8 years. The $250 for the 2nd repair had more value than my continued business. In answer to the obvious, ... No. We are not a "difficult" customer. We are very easy going and reasonable and polite and respectful. NOTICE: Pinch A Penny is trespassed from any and all our properties read more

Bought chlorine from them added to pool on weekly basis as time went on pool started turning green check the chlorine levels in water very low, I always used HTH chlorine never had a problem switched back to HTH with two lbs. Of shock pool is clearing up never shopping there again big mistake read more

2 1/2 years after purchase, still under warranty, bearings failed on the pump. They looked at it and said is was because a seal failed, allowing salt water and chemicals on the bearings. They went through a litany of reasons the manufacturer could claim why it happened, and also acknowledged that the seal could simply have failed. Bottom line is they claim the manufacturer would not honer the warranty, and that there was nothing they could do. It's a closed unit. I bought it from Pinch a Penny with a warranty that they claim is not their decision to honor. I would have no way of knowing something was wrong until the bearings failed and I would assume a warranty on a closed unit would be honored for an internal failure. Bottom line is I'm paying 700 - 800 dollars for various parts to repair it. I have spent many thousand of dollars at that store and will now find someone else. read more

I have 0 idea what I'm doing when it comes to maintaining our pool. Thank the heavens Tom and his team are right around the corner. They are super patient when I ask the same questions over and over again, they are super knowledgeable and always treat me like I'm their number 1 customer. read more

Way too expensive. I need a light fixed in the pool and motor is missing a clamp. They want $125 per item. Total of $250 Plus material. For maybe an hour worth of work. read more

Having a pool as a kid you don't really pay attention to the work that goes into maintaining a pool. When we moved into the area we were fortunate to have such a great place so close to our new house with a pool. Tom, Ricky, Clayton and the rest of the crew here are amazingly friendly and knowledgable when it comes to pool maintenance. In the first several months of owning a pool this group has helped me with a valve repair, black algae, and a takeover of mustard algae. The patience that they have shown with a novice pool owner is a true testament to the service they provide. I would absolutely recommend this business to anyone in the greater tampa area looking for solid advice for any pool questions you may have. read more

The same thing that happened to Aaron, happened to me. After 3 weeks of terrible service in May, I found their tech had broken the valve that controls water flow to my sweeper, and then tried to charge me to fix it. Their service is poor, with leaves often left on the lanai in a wet pile, sides are often not swept, and when I terminated the service only 1 week into the month they refused to refund even a third of my money. I have complaints filed and awaiting investigations. Don't use them! They seem nice, but when it come to costing them money, all customer service is abandoned. The owner never even called me to see why I canceled their service after a year. By the way it says Edison, NJ (where I first joined Yelp) but I live in Tampa FL read more

Best pool store in the area. This is the only one that takes your chlorine to the truck/car. They always have plenty of knowledgable people on staff to answer questions. read more

Toms staff is great always helpful Nick and Kevin will save you money and will go the extra miles to take care of you

Terrible customer service. Avoid this store and don't be a victim. They broke my pool pump then tried to charge me to come out and fix it.

Always have plenty of staff to assist quickly. Helpful and knowledgeable when I have any questions. Only takes a few min from when I pull up to have my chlorine filled. read more

Used to go to this location since we live in Carrollwood but stopped secondary to rude management. My husband went into the store several times to purchase pool supplies and was treated like dirt. Not necessary to disrespect your customers. I can spend my money somewhere else. read more