Pinch A Penny Reviews 120

Last January I hired the Pinch A Penny Boca Greens Store to remarcite my pool using Diamond Brite. The pool came out great and only rook three days to start being refilled with water. After reconnecting my Dorado Pool Cleaner up, I discovered a very vexing problem that I have been having problems with ever since. Without notifying me that they were changing the bottom drain cap from a flat, recessed version to a raised cap safety version, my Dorado gets stuck on top of the cap and can't work itself off. I have been in touch with the prime contractor who co-manages the store with his brother Eric, Brian, asking for his help, and his stock answers are 1) It's required by code; 2) I have a Dorado in my pool and it works fine. Instead of helping me find a solution, he instead goes on the defensive and attacks me by saying why did I wait so long to call! This is very unhelpful because he hasn't declared any difference between his pool and mine. I have asked him to come to my home and look at my pool to see what the cause might be, but he is ignoring my calls. My poor service man Brian (not related) attempted to help by adjusting the vacuum pressure which did help a bit, but today the head got stuck three times within one hour on the cap, so I lowered the vacuum further to see if that would help,
This event is totally random in occurrence, but when it gets stuck, it stays like that until it is moved physically by the hose. It appears that when the Dorado head is dead center over the plastic cap, the brushes no long come in contact with the pool bottom, preventing a circular movement of the head to occur and move off of dead center. I have called Pentair, the Dorado Manufacturer, about this problem, but they haven't had any complaints about it from customers or were familiar with the bottom drain safety cap. Had I known about this when the pool was being remarcited, I would have inquired then when steps could have been taken to find a recessed substitute drain cap. My pool's bottom drain has been shut off so that no one can get stuck in it and become a fatality for lack of oxygen. Brian is apparently mad at me for bothering him with this matter by demanding a visit, so I see no hope that he will cooperate. Please have a senior manager call him at (561) 866-5032 to solicit his assistance for me to fix a problem that immobilizes the pool head indefinitely until outside intervention occurs, It has been going on since the pool was filled in January.

Terrible service at this location 1020 Sw 6th Ave. The guys running the store have very poor customer service and communication. In addition, now they will not service any homes that are For Sale, as if those homes are not important and even though I have had service for years. 😡 Definitely skip those franchise companies.

They tried to charge me $300.00 for a the part that I was able to find on line for $100.00 but unfortunately was on manufacturer back order. I was able to garner some hardware from Lowe's for a fix that ultimately cost me $12.50. It may be temporary but at least my filter is working again. The tie rod rotted out and was told first that it was not replaceable, then it was but not worth it and then he was trying to sell me a new filter ($500.00+). I lost a lot of trust and credibility in Pinch A Penny after this.

Bird Road Miami location. Completely unprofessional. No disclosure. Little to no assistance. Store manager Raymond avoided my call for a week about gift card refund. Clerk did not inform me of no refund policy prior to purchase. Corporate headquarters main number is wrong. Terrible, awful way to do business.

Wow, finally I found a store that can really help me look like I know what I am doing when taking care of my saltwater pool.
I was lost. I had murky water and algae build-up on my walls that I couldn't get under control. I was able to figure out how to clear up the water, but I just couldn't get the algae under control. I tried recommendations from two other stores. Bought some product from Leslie's, Home Depot, and Amazon. No luck until I found the new NRH Pinch A Penny location near my home at Remington Park in Colleyville. They are awesome. I took my water sample in and Russell analyzed it and gave me a very exact regime with product descriptions to get it back in order on my own. It seemed complicated at first, but I followed his guidance and over the next few days, my pool walls and water look the best they have in years. Prices are competitive also. I highly recommend you check this place out.

Store is very clean and service was excellent. Staff were very informative and polite. Highly recommended.

If I could give them a zero I would I spent $150 in two weeks and my pool is still green and very cloudy went back to the store and ask them to check my water again they said I needed another hundred dollars worth of chemicals but I did not put them in correctly $250 to get a pool cleaner is not anything I’ve ever had to pay before I think they’re trying to

I am disappointed, had a contract for over a year, at the beginning the pool service was awesome, for about 3 months ago the pool service decreased its quality. I have a brand new salt water pool, and Pinch a Penny company was the first pool service that I used. the pool guy was adding a lot of chlorine in the pool, I asked the pool guy how was the salt levels and he said “I don’t know “, and I told the pool guy “this is a salt water pool and he said “I did not know it is a salt water pool”. Called the owner of store from my cell phone right away and the pool guy said to the owner “I did not know this is a salt water pool, and it does not show on my phone” the owner said ok, I will fix it. …
, so I called Juan Alvira (owner of the pool service), and told him about my concerns and requested it to be fixed. My concern was: there is a water mark all over the pool tile and lots of white spots on the tile , the pool tile was not being scrubbed (I have a camera in my backyard)
Today about 3 months later, the same water mark and the white spots are still there. I texted Juan Alvira and complained second time , and per Juan Alvira “I am dropping the pool services since I am not meeting the expectations “, and told him, I never had any problems paying $120 per month for pool services, but you are breaking the contract for not providing me the services that was in the contract when I signed over a year ago. And now I have the ring mark and the white spots all around my pool. It does jot make any sense to me, lazy, lazy job!
I am not sure what happened to his pool service or why he is not honoring the contract that I had with him for scrubbing the tiles.
Very disappointed! I will not use the pool services anymore, and please check you pools and make sure it has been scrubbed, or your pool will end up like mine. See pictures below.

My pool pump motor shorted out, so I filled out Pinch-A-Penny's form that came up on their Wellington Web Site under their Pool Cleaning & Maintenance get a quote icon on April 12, 2022. I received an email response that was a copy of the filled-out form. FYI in the form that I filled out, under message, I had provided all the front plate information on my shorted pool pump motor, so their technicians knew from the get-go what to expect!

On April 13, 2022, I received another email stating that I would hear from them in 24-48 hours. Today May 9, 2022, and I have yet to be contacted. At a minimum I had expected to be contacted, an appointment made for one of their technicians to come out to confirm that the motor was shorted and the cost for this visit.

I contacted Pinch-A-Penny because of their so-called excellent reputation but based on my experience I believe that this reputation is extremely overrated. A professional company would at least have had the common courtesy and decency to contact me and advise that they were not interested in performing the required repairs/motor replacement. FYI in the form that I filled out I had provided all of the front plate information on my shorted pool pump motor, so their technicians knew from the get-go what to expect!

Englewood FL store
Customer service POOR. Paid for their monthly maintenance for almost five years. Waited a year to get someone to tell me they don’t do pool ladders or railings. Recently, they had changed our “pool cleaning guy” a few times. The most recent gentleman we had apparently has no personality and goes back to his boss and “cries wolf” about all his daily issues and co-workers. Told us that our last pool guy was a “pothead” and that he complained to his boss about him as well. He misread a voicemail that my husband left on his phone and went back to his boss so that his boss could hear the message. Again, acting like a “2 year old baby. Oh…. Don’t want to forget to remind him that we tipped him $20 a month for cleaning our pool. Recently he notified us that he had health issues and wouldn’t be cleaning our pool. Upon contacting Pinch-a-penny to see who would be continuing cleaning our pool, we were advised that they were cancelling our service immediately for a “message that was left on our pool cleaners phone”. Pinch-a-penny went on to say that “they refuse to do business with “people like us” and that “we were not their kind of people”. Who does pinch-a-penny think they are. They are RUDE individuals. I don’t recommend them to anyone.

I had a great experience with pinch a penny, they came out and installed the pool pump and the gentleman by the name of Matt was great. Matt had a lot of knowledge! I've had like 6 gentlemen come out to my house to fix my poor bump, they didn't know the problem but Matt was great.

JUST HAD MY POOL RE SURFACED JOSH AND CREW DID A GREAT JOB LOVE IT AND A GREAT PRICE HILLSBORO STORE

We have 3 Pinch-a-Penny stores in the Miami area. I buy all my pool chemicals from them (at a premium price) because they provide the service of testing my pool water. I also test my water using Taylor brand test kits, some will provide very accurate results. After using Pinch-a-Penny for a year, here is my conclusion regarding their pool water test results. For all 3 stores, the results can be correct or it they can be wrong, it depends on the day and the individual performing the test. There are no controls to make sure that Pinch-a-Penny is reporting accurate results. The training must be poor, when performing the various tests, it seems that the goal of the test is to perform the test at a lighting speed rather than to report accuracy test results.
I am very disappointed with Pinch-a-Penny and will not continue paying a premium for chemicals when I cannot trust the pool water results they are giving me.

516 NW 75th St. Gainesville, FL - Poolside Service is exceptional! Huge shout out to Jay, lead service tech. She came out prepared for everything I needed done and adapted to needs on the fly. I needed a pool light replaced because it was tripping a breaker and I had several leaks that caused my pump to lose prime and a ladder that needed to be removed. She and her team arrived on time and introduced themselves. We discussed the work and she kept me informed of status through out the day. She found my spa light was tripping the breaker and not the pool light saving me about $600 off the bill. I admit I plied her with questions about other options and scenarios and she handled them like a pro. She helped me troubleshoot other issues with my pump as it was going bad and my salt cell was going bad. She installed them both and reset the panel for the salt cell and it is all running without leaks and the pool is well lit. If you need service, ask for Jay. She will be your service champion!

... there is something wrong with the service office. I was able to schedule a visit for a checkup once and the guy was competent and professional. After that, they never replied to my emails and never return my calls for the installation of a heater and to change the pump. The shop located in South Miami is nice, everybody is friendly and they've got everything you need.

A month ago I stopped into the Ft Myers location and worked with store manager “Danny”. He came out to my pool and gave me an estimate. Over the next month I called around for quotes and decided to go with Pinch-a-Penny. When I called back I learned they would be having a 4 day sale starting on the 16th. I live in Orlando so I decided to stop in a couple days before the sale while in Ft Myers to get the order set up. Danny worked with me and honored the install quote price he gave me the month before. I had everything set up to process on the 16th. After setting up the deal I realized that Leslie’s Pool across the street was selling the same equipment (VS Pump, Filter, & Chlorinator) for $133 less. I called Danny today to ask if they priced matched. He told me no, which I understood. I then asked if I bought the equipment where it was cheaper would they still do the install. He told me yes but it would cost more and to call the Bonita store to inquire because they would do the install if I didn’t buy from him. I then asked if I bought the pump from him (since it was on back order at Leslie’s) and bought the filter & chlorinator elsewhere would he then be able to do the install. He again told me to call Bonita. I said ok. He then said “So you just want me to cancel all this out then”. I said “No”, that I just want to call Bonita to see what my options were. Before I could finish my sentence he hung up on me. I had two other people in the room with me that witnessed the conversation. I thought it was very rude and unprofessional for him to hang up on me, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe the line just got disconnected. I called Bonita as he suggested and spoke with Carla. I told her the situation, even mentioned him hanging up on me. She said she would need to call Danny in Ft Myers to get me pricing… This confused me because Danny said Bonita would get me the pricing. At that point I just left it alone and waited for Carla to call me back. When she did she told me the cost to install would be $320 if I bought the filter & chlorinator elsewhere. She also advised me that the pump was out of stock. I told her Danny said it was in stock. Because of the confusion I decided to go to the Ft Myers store to see if the pump was in stock. Danny showed me the pump was in stock and was pleasant. I told him I’m probably still going to go with Pinch-a-penny and that I was waiting for one more estimate to come thru by tomorrow at 2pm. I said I would let him know for sure tomorrow so I am not holding him up. (The sale starts tomorrow so nothing was going to be checked out until then anyway). He mentioned “it’s been a rollercoaster”, I wasn’t really sure what he meant but I just agreed and thanked him for his time & working with me, then I left. Less than 5 minutes later I get a phone call from Danny telling me that if I do go through with it the install will now be $100 more. He then said “if I hadn’t cancelled the order and had Bonita call him the price would’ve remained the same”. I told him I never canceled the order. He said “yes I did” and that the manager was standing next to him to witness it. I again told him “no I didn’t” and reiterated the conversation to him, even mentioning him hanging up on me in the middle of my sentence. I said I had witnesses to my conversation too. He said “it doesn’t matter now that it will be the new price”. He told me that if I hadn’t made the other phone calls he would’ve gave me the price and then realized it was wrong after the fact and just “eat the cost”. But now that he knows he misquoted me that he would have to charge me more. I was appalled that a store manager would be speaking like this to me & blaming me for his mistakes. I then told him if he doesn’t want the sale and to work with me to let me know. He then said “at this point I am giving him anxiety and that he didn’t care whether or not he got the job” and “he hopes they come in cheaper”. I politely ended the call with Danny, called Bonita & requested that the store owner for Ft Myers, Adam, call. Nothing yet

Horrible experience will never purchase from Pinch-A-Penny again.

I am a very supportive of local businesses and trying as much as I can to purchase from small stores.

I was convinced by Rennee Bonnard (one of the store owners) at store 117 in Hillsborough Tampa FL to install a new expensive pump.
The installation took days since they didn’t know how to instal it. The pool became full of allege which took them weeks to fix and they charged me for it.
Since this pump was installed I am having many issues (I called multiple times to the store, they always blame something else and will never return calls)
Now, only after less than two months, the Jandy Pro Series pump is dead. Paul Bonnard will not come and fix it yesterday and promised to come today, after phone calls and driving to the store they told me they will come next week, by then the pool will be totally green with allege again. I drove to the store and asked to speak with Paul Bonnard, I saw him in the back moping a table. He came out and started yelling at me and being very rude (I was very calm), he yelled at me that I am a demanding customer (yes, I did asked him to fix the issues).

Now I have to order a pump from a different company and pay again installation after I spent on this pump over $2,000 (which is more expensive that any other stores which I checked).

I will never buy anymore from Pinch-A-Penny and I will recommend anyone I know not to use them any more (myself and other neighbors are using their weekly maintenance service).

Store 139. 19064 Bruce B Downs Blvd
Tampa, FL 33647.

Did a "repair" to my pool cleaner and it stopped working completely. Argued with me and told me I either didn't know how to use the cleaner or that the one who broke it was ME. Manager was not on site and clerk claimed there was no way to contact him. Filed a complaint with corporate. Manager instructed clerk to refund my money. When I went back for the refund the clerk was still extremely rude.

Prices are outrageously high, people are the worst. Will NEVER use this location or any other, EVER again.

Went to the store in Pinellas Park Fl which has new owners and I had a chorine jug that I paid a deposit on and rather than just returning it and getting a full jug I advised the owner it had a whole in it -he then told me I had to pay another deposit - ended up leaving without anything- it wasn’t about the money it was the principal that I didn’t need to tell him about and I won’t be shopping there EVER

I contracted with Pinch A penny to replace my existing pump & filter with a new salt system from Hayward. The system worked fine for several months after I resurfaced my pool. The Hayward monitor would show when me where my salt level was so that I could correct it. After about 60 days, while still well within my Hayward warranty, the LED mets became stuck at 3500ppm. I had my salt tested at Pinch A Penny and it read 2650ppm. after 45 days and trying to contct Hayward calling six different numbers, the product still failed to perform and customer service failed to perform. Do not buy Hayward products or shop at Pinch A Penny for any devices. Buying chemicles is fine. I am extremly unhappy with the performance of my Hayward products and my Pinch a Penny installer in Orlando FL.