Update: A week since my email and post. I have had a few emails back and forth with the owner Robert Guarino. He back pedaled on his offer to resolve things and I filed a complaint with the AG's office today. read more

The all around work and the help you get all along.....30 years or 2 years they will be their for you... if a pool company has been in business as long as SSG it speaks for the pool business. read more

SSG owner says we should "maintain" our pool better. Our pool has been maintained weekly since we put it in-6 years by SSG and 2 by a new company. This efflorescence has occurred since then. Please see below why efflorescence occurs. Our spa was never built properly. Water seeps through the tile. "Hard-to-remove white or yellow crusts, mostly around the grout lines White or yellow crusts are often technically referred to as 'efflorescence', which simply means mineral carried by water. This indicates that water is getting under the tiles, generally through a crack in the tile, grout, or silicon. It is also possible if the area has not been waterproofed underneath that the moisture is coming from behind the installation, which is harder to resolve. When under the tiles the water picks up this efflorescence mineral, which can come from the screed, concrete, or sometimes even the grout or glue. As the water returns to the surface it carries the mineral with it, leaving the mineral on the surface of the tile or grout when the water precipitates away. The process is very similar to the creation of a stalagmite as it grows slowly over time." read more

We have used SSG from our first idea to put in a pool, through design and installation and now 12 years of maintenance. They have been wonderfully cooperative, helpful and professional every step of the way. Great company! Nancy D. read more

Complete scumbags...the owner never once returned a phone call. Do not get scammed into SSG...there are MANY options available and most of them can get your job done before SSG...at a much lower price and MUCH better quality and service. My only hope is that everyone reading this NOT do business with SSG read more

SSG is the BEST. No horror stories to tell about this company. Wish all construction projects could go as smoothly. All the clientele were delightful to work with. Our pool was finished on schedule and it is PERFECT. Their cleaning company (Guardino) services us every 2 weeks. Our pool always looks pristine and properly operating. read more

Our pool turned out looking beautiful. It was NOT FUN to get to this point. While the crews that turn up to work are very good and they work very hard, it is NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE to communicate with anyone at the home office. Calls are not returned. Emails are not returned. You cannot get a feel for when your project will be started or finished. Delays were many and unexplained. I still have a few items that need to be addressed and I am not getting anywhere. The two different sides of the company (Guarrino's on the mechanical side and SSG on the constuction side) do not communicate with each other and this caused problems. Long story ~ find a more local company that wants your business. SSG does not really seem to care. read more

Had our pool renovated with new gunite and all new tiles, very happy with the outcome, once the work was started it went very quickly and the pool was up and running quickly, any questions were answered quickly and Gary checked on the work as it was being done read more

We worked with SSG on a very high end project in Weston, MA. From the sales phase with Rick, though the installation and Project Management with John, the process and scheduling was virtually flawless, with every step and phase going exactly as planned. We had some permitting delays with the Town and SSG was very patient and worked with our schedule. I would recommend SSG to any other builder or homeowner that is looking for a great pool experience. read more

They had me hire a landscape architect who they recommended here in Maine. After having him design a pool at the cost of $1,700+, they sent me a quote. John from SSG sent me a quote. We communicated for a month on options while our landscape architect racked up another $750+ talking with contractors to prep the site. John from SSG came to our place finally and discussed the pool location. We actually had two possibilities. All seemed like it was progressing well. The next day he emailed and said SSG was looking to do projects "closer to home". He would not respond to any of my questions as to why they dropped us. So...after paying $2,400 on their advice and stinging us along for a moth and a half, we have nothing!!! I have heard since then that they notoriously under quote and then back off. We were willing to spend over $100,000 alone on the pool. Watch out!!! read more

WILL NEVER USE SSG POOLS AGAIN. Was told in my quote process that they would not perform any work in my pool until after a new safety valve (which is not required by any law) was installed and that it added $700 to the cost of the work. The crews have been out three times already: demo of tiles, install of new tiles and final clean. The valve has not yet been installed and now they claim it will be installed upon start up of the pool (4th visit). So they lied and sent crews into the pool without the valve installed yet, but now say that they wouldn't agree to any work unless the valve was included in the deal..... Complete scam to get a customer to agree to pay them the extra $700..... read more

Don't bother. Hired them for weekly service. Pool has been open a month and has not actually been cleaned properly once. Dirt in the bottom, cloudy water and "somehow" a bunch of tiles were broken in the open that we now have to repair. Horrible. Avoid. read more

Do not use SSG for your pool installation. You will spend a large amount of money, not get quality product and this will be coupled with horrible customer service. I have been going back and forth over my wet edge installation (which was done wrong) and they refuse to admit it was done improperly. I am now left with a 5000k surface which is inferior to a plaster. read more

I purchased a pool years ago by this company. They did a great job selling me on the pool and did a great job installing the pool. The problem came when we had them open our pool one year, they open and close every year. This year it had been a snowy season and when the pool was opened it had many stains in pool and around concrete decking running into pool. When I called and asked for reason and could they look at it , I got the run around. Finally someone came out and he couldn't diagnosis stains. He never followed up and I called frequently and never heard from anyone for a solution. We had spent a lifetime savings to have this pool completed but now it's an eye sore. Years later and I'm still trying to have something done to fix this mess. Be very leary of hiring them because once it's done,they are gone. I can't imagining them owning up to lifetime warranty. Terrible customer service. read more

If you are looking to have your pool renovated, look no further than SSG. We needed to have our pool completely stripped back and renovated due to years of neglect. Gary was fantastic about sitting down with us and explaining the entire process. He was clear on cost and timeline. He also came by regularly to check in the progress, which was greatly appreciated. Brenda was amazing at keeping us up to date and answering the many questions that popped up along the way. The crew was the hardest working crew we have ever experienced. They were always on time, very respectful of the property and always pleasant. The result was amazing and we could not be happier. read more

Do not use this company. They lied, were incompetent, and left as soon as the check cleared, but before they were finished. A problem from start to (not) finish. The stone work is falling apart and they left the deck full of stains. Run! read more

Decided to give SSG Pools a try based on the excellent reviews. Started off well, someone came out and we had a design discussion. But things started going downhill from there. First, was told I'll get the design and quote in a week. Had to follow up a couple of times and finally got a design and quote after two weeks. The design didn't match what we talked about during the meeting so asked for a few updates which resulted in a price decrease as well. Had to follow up once again and was told that an updated design and quote will be sent later in the afternoon. That day came and went, didn't hear anything for almost a week. Finally received the updated design and price. The price was not too far off from my budget, not talking a lot of $$s and something I could have worked with. But based on the fact that I had to follow up multiple times, being told that the design and quote is on the way and never arrived, I can only imagine the follow ups I would have had to do once the actual work started. Overall just a bad experience, poor customer service. read more

I recently had SSG complete a pool renovation - coping stone and brick. They were not the cheapest quote I got, but gave the longest warranty and have been around the nearly the longest. There were some mixed reviews so it was somewhat of a leap of faith, but were were glad with chose SSG. Brenda, the renovation coordinator, was very pleasant to deal with, scheduled all her various crews to come is and out without missing a beat. Yes, they have demo guys, masons, service, etc. The same crew was not there from start to finish, but with the good scheduling, we didnt miss a beat. We were thrilled with the results. They were very clean, cleaned up after themselves each day (the masons couldnt but they were as neat as they could be given that they were there for three days), and all very nice. We ended up with a job that we were thrilled over. read more

I recently used this company do replace a pump and replaster my pool. It was one of the worst contracting experiences in my life. Currently, I am working with another pool company to try and fix the ongoing pump issues, and in addition, have had to contract an electrician to fix the electrical safety hazard they introduced into my pool shed. I have filed a complaint with the BBB, and am investigating legal action. Originally, I had reached out to the owner of the company expressing my displeasure and that I did not think the remaining 900.00 of the 15,000.00 job was warranted. Despite the poor quallity and service I received from this company, the response I received from the owner was unbelievable.unfortunately, I will exceed the character limit if I put the entire email chain in this email. I will paraphrase some of his responses so you can get the gist and I will be more than happy to forward its entirety to anyone that wants the full transcript as I do not want to inaccurately portray any of the information From the owner of South shore gunite and pool "Pain, suffering, stress, loss of use of the pool for weeks? Next your will be telling us you wife left you and your kids started to use drugs because they missed a pool day...You sound foolish, self righteous and petty...I read your letter to think how pathetic of a world you live in, if missing a few pool days is as catastrophic as you make it sound..." read more

Don't use them! PROMISE you the world and they don't deliver. I paid $100,000 for my pool it hasn't even come close to working correctly. The owner is arrogant and rude and the sales people will just yes you to death, Please look else where, before you make your decision. read more

SSG does not live up to the promises made by the sales people. First don't get fooled by the promise of the 6 to 8 weeks that the sales agent will give. When talking to someone who actually KNOWS how long it takes they will confirm it is more 8 to 10 weeks when they explain the process. Our pool was started first week of May 2014 and today Sept 9th we can still not say that we have a finished product ! We are over TWENTY weeks ! Pool is paid in full because they make sure to let you know that they need a check when they finally show up to work on the pool. You will find out that it is just so wrong having to pay without even getting the promised product. Good luck chasing the managment to get an answer to one of your FIVE requests or to talk to one of them on the phone. Anything that you order during the building process to upgrade your pool needs to be signed right away paid immediately. We changed our waterfall from 5ft wide to 6ft wide because it would look nicer ; the sales guy Brett Benoit was right there to make us sign for the change and present us with the bill to pay the extra. The waterfall was getting installed 4 weeks later but had to be paid in full already. Same for the 'amazing and top notch" Pentair control that is supposed to operate the pumps, lights etc from inside the house on a wired control pannel, from a remote control and through an app on the iPhone.... Duh !!! Not really ! The wired part doesn't work at all, there is no signal and it appears the wires are not properly done. The app doesn't work either for an unknown reason. The module that is meant to allow us to connect through the internet is sitting in the cabinet and is connected to our wireless router but ... there is no power adapter connected to the device. The breakers in the electrical board by the pumps keep jumping when things are running. The heat pump would not run because the breaker jumps. That got "solved" but now we have the pump that filters and operates the ozonator and the chlorinator stops working so we can not leave for 48 hours without coming back to a green pool. All these issues have been addressed to Mr Vincent Campo, John Fitzgerald and Mrs Karen McPherson and even the sales agent (who doesn't give a crap anymore). We requested a refund of the cost of the Pentair system that was about 5.000 USD till the system has proved to work but they ignore to answer the question, meanwhile they have collected 100.000 USD but do not deliver a finished product.The pool has still not been inspected either since it is not finished. We reported SSG to the Better Business Bureau and have seeked legal help. Neighbours and friends have been asking how SSG is doing and we can only get more upset each time we have to tell our story. Given the price of the pool they provide a horrible costumer service and lack a minumum of common curtesy to reply to our request for the temporary refund for the value of the product that is not working. But they are so eager to send someone to take pictures of the pool to use for marketing purposes. There are a lot of pool companies out there that build gunite pools and can install a pool under the cost of what SSG charges. We would NOT recommend SSG Pools to anyone, not even to our worst enemy. read more

I have never seen a harder working company that this one. We had a pool put in on our property over this past summer, shoehorned into the edge of our lot and in between some old growth trees. The result was fantastic, but the process was really first rate. After we spent time designing the pool and all the features, we were put on a schedule and they really kept track of us. I'd heard stories of pool companies forgetting about you until it was convenient for them to finish your pool, but SSG was on top of everything. They coordinated all the trades and the best part was that virtually all of the people (plumbers, tile, excavation, deck, steel) were employees so they weren't at the mercy of other people and their schedules. These guys worked really hard, too. They came early and stayed late, every day, until their job was done. That way there was a clean hand-off to the next group. Everyone was friendly and they knew all the aspects of building a pool so they could be helpful in preparing for the next team or picking up where the last one left off. Construction is hard and pools are harder and they made it look easy. The resulting quality is fantastic. read more