If you're looking for a pool company that actually pays attention, keep looking. We hired GL Pools in November 2023 to maintain the pool, spa, water rill, and fountain at our Carmel Valley vacation home, explicitly because we are only on-site every 2-3 months and needed a company that would be our "eyes and ears." For this, we have paid materially more than competing services ($4.5-5K/year) plus thousands of dollars in extra clean-ups over time. After an acceptable first year, the quality of service fell off a cliff. High staff turnover meant new technicians constantly cycling through, weekly visits becoming inconsistent, and basic maintenance being missed. The neglect became so bad that we ultimately had to drain and shut down our fountain entirely despite paying for it to be maintained. Since June 2025, our pool, spa, and rill have developed severe calcium buildup that any competent technician should have noticed and escalated early. Their own 10/13/25 "weekly service report" email includes clear photos of the spa and rill with obvious white calcium scale, yet the technician checked the boxes saying the spa had been brushed, the tile brushed, and the rill cleaned. When we asked about cloudy water and visible scale in those same photos, the service supervisor replied that "everything looks good" and blamed the cloudiness on a new phosphate remover, promising to run a full test at the next visit. No one ever told us there was a real problem, and no remediation plan was offered. When we finally returned in late November 2025, we found a pool that clearly had not been properly maintained: heavy calcium rings around the pool, the spa surface caked in white buildup, the rill in terrible shape, and debris sitting undisturbed. That condition forced us to delay serious work and personal plans and triggered an urgent email demanding explanation, immediate on-site management presence, and a plan to fix the situation. The pattern we experienced is consistent and very clear: * They do not proactively communicate problems. Serious issues developed over months, yet every report and email we received said or implied that "everything looks good." * They rely on templated checklists and photos that don't match reality. The checkboxes say the spa was brushed and rill cleaned while their own photos show worsening buildup. * Owners and management appear detached. In two years, no owner has ever visited the property to review the problems firsthand; everything is delegated to a rotating cast of technicians. * Billing is far more reliable than service. We receive aggressive, automated reminders and 30-day advance payment requests with impressive regularity, yet the same rigor is nowhere to be found in how the pool is actually cared for. Online, GL Pools markets itself as "San Diego's #1 pool service" and highlights glowing testimonials about consistency and catching issues early. (GL Pools) Our experience has been the polar opposite: inconsistent execution, serious neglect, and costly downstream damage. Even on employment-review sites, their own technicians describe the company as a "fun place to work, but management is toxic," with biased supervision--hardly reassuring given what we've seen on the customer side. (Indeed) In my opinion, GL Pools is an excellent marketing engine with very poor follow-through. If they invested half as much energy in supervision, training, and quality control as they do in automated billing, they might live up to their own advertising. Until then, I would strongly recommend that homeowners--especially those who are not on-site full-time and/or don't want to waste money and time --look elsewhere. read more