Buster Crabbe Warranty

by John
(NY)

I own a Buster Crabbe pool with 30 yr limited warranty. The aluminum wall is corroding and several leaks have "popped" around the pool.

I have contacted my retailer and they tell me because the pool is 6 yrs old I'll only get 40% of cost of a replacement wall. (The costs will also include tearing down pool, new liner, reinstalling pool and water...$2000+).

A limited prorated warranty seems unfair. If it were 40% of reinstalling cost. I could live with it.

Seems like their defective pool wall is going to cost me a new pool.

Do you know of anyone that has won a small claims case against Manufacturer?

Hi John

It's all in the fine print so I doubt if you would get anywhere in court.

That's the thing everyone needs to understand about these wonderful 30 plus year warranties. They are prorated, parts only.

We used to go through this with liners all the time. After five years the prorated cost of the liner was about the same as a new one could be ordered online. There was nothing in there for water, chemicals, labor or anything else. It was prorated parts only.

Put another way, a liner that was expected to last five years could easily give a twenty year warranty. After five years all the manufactures costs were covered, the prorated price was equal to their cost, so replacing it was not a problem.

I wish I could help more, but that is the way it is.

Lomart Pool Warranty

by Joy Raley
(kentucky)

Our pool is 14 years old this coming August. We need some help, the top rails are rusting and we need to replace the original liner.

We have a deck built around it and most pools are 52" now, we still want a 48" because of our deck.

We live in Brandenburg Kentucky 40108. Do you know of anyone around our area that has Lomart pools?

We bought it at All America pool Dixie highway Louisville 40216. Of course everything had a warranty like 30 year but that is not worth the paper it is written on, nobody stands behind the warranty or wants to talk about it. I think it's been a good pool just wish we could get another one like it. Any help would be appreciated.

thanks joy, joy316@bbtel.com

Hi Joy

Those prorated warranties are like that. Lomart is one of the better companies out there so a good Lomart or Doughboy dealer should be able to help you out. I don't have one to suggest in your area. I am pretty sure the Lomart site has dealer locator on it.

48" walls are still made so that part should not be a problem.

Pool Contractor Damaged My Pool

by Dianna Ruen
(Angels Camp, CA)

I am having a Doughboy 16 x 32 pool installed. The pool is partially sunk. The contractor ran into the pool with a bobcat while moving sand base and badly damaged the whole end. Should I let him try and repair or demand whole new pool?

Hi Dianna

Now that's a tough question. Yes, he could structurally fix the pool so that it would be fine. The only damage that could possibly cause problems down the road would be the possibility of rust developing in the areas where the wall coating has been compromised.

Visually it will never be the same. You can pound the dents out but you cannot make it look like new again. The cost of a new pool wall is expensive and I can understand the contractor not wanting to do it. He would probably be loosing all the profit he hopes to make on the job.

If it were my job I would order the parts at cost from the dealer and replace them. I don't make money on every job, it's just part of doing business. If you agree to let him fix the damage, instead of replacing, you would be entitled to other considerations to make up for the cosmetic look of the pool that can't be fixed.

Certainly a reduced installation fee is in order, somewhere along the lines of close to free. Maybe paying enough to cover his out of pocket expenses might be fair. That's something you will have to work out with the contractor and hopefully come up with something that is fair to both of you.

Accidents do happen, but a good contractor stands behind everything he does. Hopefully he will make it right for you.