"Have had a bad experience with SPE. First, of all their prices are on the high side even though they claim to be a discounter. Be sure to shop a number of sites and providers. Second, if you get the wrong item the restocking fee is in my opinion exorbitant even if you want to do an exchange. Last, they don't seem to have a technical staff to answer questions. I was refered to the manufacturer when I called with a problem. "

"They processed my credit card multiple times for the same transaction creating a fraud alert. They refused to undo it saying it was up to me. cc company said they had to validate they were only running it once and they refused. Leaving me with a maxed card and forced to file a fraud report. VERY RUDE WOMAN."

"I bought ten water bags through this company. Four of the ten had defective seals around the valve cap. I emailed asking for resolution and they never replied.
Fortunately I was able to glue most of the seals myself. But when I went to reuse the bags this year, four had failed in such a way that they were irreparable; not around the cap, but in areas where the plastic was molded or stamped.
So: shoddy product and no customer service. Don't waste your time."

"The only thing I can say is good luck. I have never had the urge to file a negative review, but people need to be aware of this company. PLEASE make sure you read the terms before you click on accepting it. That is how they get you. They only accept Fedex as a return, and then charge 25% to put it back on the shelf. If you have a return, don't expect for them to accept it. They even gave me the wrong return address, then complained that they didn't receive it. I found out that they did receive it, held on to it for 3 weeks then refused the package. That was the first and last time. Not only did they ship me the wrong part, they also told me to get lost, and I am stuck trying to sell it on Ebay.I JUST HOPE THIS REPORT KEEPS AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON FROM BUYING AT SWIMMING POOLS ETC AND NOT MAKE THE ONE MISTAKE I DID. Good luck."

"RUDE AND CRUDE! I purchased a pool alarm that was supposed to be a universal pool alarm. It wasn't universal, and when I tried to explain this and return it, the customer service rep was rude and told me to "F - OFF! Nice huh? Do not waste your time with this store."

"Buyer's beware... They have a 'up to 25%' restocking fee that you only find out about if you try to return. When I tried to return my item I received a VERY rude e-mail that my request was being denied. Said that after I paid the restocking fee(which they never said what it was on the products I ordered...) and shipping, I would not get that much money back anyway. Told me I should sell on eBay or Craigslist! I asked for a manger to contact me and of course got no response...."

"I was a first time customer ordering from this company, and I will never order from them again. They are rude, and can not deliver on the Gold, Silver plans as they indicate. I ordered a liner (purchased the "Gold" plan) to ensure my liner was received in time for the install and not only did it not come but I had to call (to not get a live person, but to leave several messages) and send a lot of emails to find out the status of the liner and the ETA. Not only did they not contact me, but when I FINALLY did get a hold of someone they were so RUDE!

They did refund me the Gold price additonal charge, but with the experiance received as being a first time customer I feel they should have at least apologized for the horrid experiance with their customer service and the delays they caused on this end with the installation of the liner already scheduled and had to cancel due to them not being able to follow through on their OWN plans (that we, the customer pay additonal money for).

PS: Most importantly...after the liner was installed the seam was not done/produced properly and cut off half of our design (right in the middle of the picture)! This company is riduculous and I wanted to express personally the awful, stressful, experiance I had with them to other cunsumers.

Regards,

100% Not Satisfied

"

"I got my pump cheap, and had no problems with them. Nice on the phone. I don't see how they "ripped off" the people below- they don't really say just posting angry messages."

"Buying online can be daunting - especially if you've been burned before. Researched Swimming Pools Etc. for weeks before deciding to purchase. I made a few phone calls to them, and sent a few pre-purchase emails - each time, my questions were answered promptly and professionally. I ordered my almost $400 LED color-changing pool light at 4pm on a Friday, it was drop-shipped from the manufacturer, was on my desk at work at 1pm on Monday, and installed in my pool later that evening. Brand new, in the box, straight from the manufacturer. Because there were so many mixed reviews, and because people are usually quicker to complain than to praise, I thought it was only fair to leave positive feedback to help you make your decision. I received A+ service and would not hesitate to buy from them again."

"BEWARE don't buy anything from these CROOKS. They sent us a faulty product then REFUSED to give us a refund or a simple exchange! They also LIE about warranties. If you buy from these CROOKS, you deserve to be taken! Don't be misled by their act; "we have the lowest prices" (yeah, because they are damaged and don't work!)"

"Lied about having parts in stock: Swimming Pools Etc. took my money and sold me parts they did not actually have in stock! One of the 2 parts finally arrived, but the second they have claimed should be sent directly from the factory. They have told me that 3 times over 3 months in response to each of my emails. However, they have not returned my most recent 2 phone calls and 3 emails. Apparently they took my money and ran with it. WARNING! After research, I found they have a history of this type of service. DO NOT BUY from these guys!
Update: After writing this review, they finally issued me a refund for the part that was not sent. Quite a hassle and significant delay getting my spa up and running."

"I have bought many products from Swimming Pools Etc and have not had problem 1. When you are buying on the web you need to know exactly what you want!
If your not sure go to your local high dollar pool store and touch it,feel it and buy it there."

"So far, bad service and bad product. Order a Dirt Devil Pro-V Automatic Inground Pool Cleaner from them which they've advertised in Craigslist of all place. Bad design and defective product. Submitted a return authorization request from them but didn't receive any reply back for a week. Called to see what's going on and they don't have a reason why they haven't review it. Going to call my CC company (Amex) and let them deal with this shady company. Avoid at all cost. You may save a dollar or two but you'll pay for it in headaches.

1/11/10:
They (Shelly) tried to contact me indicating that they have no record of RMA request and phone conversation with me about my request for RMA returns. So sure, go ahead and buy from them. You'll be happy. Shelly will take care of you. "

"Swimming Pools Etc.com (SPE) should be avoided at all costs. You won't get a fair shake if something goes wrong. I recently placed an order with SPE for a Thermostat (89.00) and simple LED Bulb ($42.00). By the way, the "free shipping" is offset by a "handling fee". Using the info. posted on their web site, I confirmed its compatibility with my lighting system. The bulb shipped to me was not even close. I called and spoke with a representative whom looked at the web site and agreed with me, but still required that I submit an email to their support group. Over the course of the following week I was stone walled with regard to how to resolve the errant part. Not once did they even offer to exchange the part for the correct one. Instead, when pressed they essentially reverted to blaming me for ordering the wrong part. I eventually called again and was finally told to submit an RGA Form, only to find out that they were going to charge me a 25% restocking fee + shipping. And this was clearly their mistake. I confirmed the errors on SPE's site by later searching and viewing other web sites which provided detailed pictures and definitive specification of the the bulb I was shipped. They were clearly wrong but were willing to screw me for a mere $42.00 bucks. As a matter of principle, I plan to work my protest through MasterCard and vow that I will never do business with them again. "

"Do not recommend. I purchased the eliminator sand filter from swimmingpoolsetc for my inground pool 6/7/2007. I did some research and found this to be the best deal. Unfortunately the old adage "you get what you pay for" applies here. I had what I thought was a minor problem immediately with the seal leaking between the valve and the tank. So I disassmbled the thing and retightened it which solved the problem for the rest of the "07" swimming season. We live in the Chicago area so we do not have a very long swim season. Let me say that there was no problem with the order or time to get the product. The problem was that the design of the filter itself must be flawed. I have had nothing but problems this year with the seal blowing out between the valve and the tank. I even ordered and replaced the seal and that didn't fix it. So I decided I would email support to both the company whom I purchased this product and the company which manufactures the product. They are swimming pools etc and the company which makes the filter waterway plastics. It was a very polite email with the subject line " Filter problem-Need help"
Well evidently either of these companies cares about the problem because I have not received any response now for 14 days. This leads me to believe they are aware of a possible design problem and are not going to respond. I do not recommend either one of these companies. Take my advice. Pay the extra 100 bucks and buy a brand name such as Hayward. I've already done it."