Blue Haven Pools & Spas, Colmar PA

Blue Haven Pools & Spas, Colmar PA

713 Bethlehem Pike - Route 309

Colmar, Pa. 18951

Just like so many others I have either read about or personally have spoken to...I have been experiencing major problems with this pool builder ever since I went under contract in early September 04. I hope to reach out to other potential consumers and make them aware of my ongoing experience with BLUE HAVEN POOLS & SPAS, Colmar, Pa.

1) Originally under contract for a * $49,000. pool/spa

(* does not include cost of concrete decking, gas lines, electrical work, fencing, retaining walls, water, etc) to be built early fall 04 and finished in early spring 05 under a 50/50 payment plan. Blue Haven kept delaying the start of project up till (End of November 04) then cancelled and recheduled for start in early spring 05 BUT IN THE PROCESS removed me from 50/50 plan and revised payment terms back into the standard pool payment contract.

The whole purpose behind having the 50/50 plan was to give me leverage if there were problems encountered while under contract. I was told by Blue Haven that I would pay 50% down upon excavation in the early fall and in return they would take the pool all the way up to but not including the application of plaster (including all plumbing, steel, gunite, equipment, coping, & tile). The final 50% payment would be due approx. March 1st 05 at which time they would plaster and then pool would be ready for water and start up. I guess getting 90% of your pool built for 50% down is just to good to be true!

2) Something worth noting: Read the Blue Haven contract carefully. Under your contract Blue Haven controls the excavator, steel, plumbers, gunite, mason for coping and tiles, & plaster. However they exclude items such as electrical, gas,cement decking, fencing, retaining wall etc from the scope of their contarct. In turn Blue Haven does their best to have you contract directly with their "recommended" vendors for these additional items. But ....here's the catch ....although Blue Haven is responsible for recommending and coordinating all outsourced work, (and probably receiving a finders fee), if you encounter a problem with these recommended vendors...you are on your own ...since they are not part of the contract thru Blue Haven.

Also read your contract carefully in regards to payments. Be sure the payments don't get to far ahead of the work being done. My experience was that Blue Haven bulldozed thru the parts of the contract such as excavation, steel,gunite so they could receive the big payments but then let the project come to a crawl or a complete stand still. You are left with a lot of work still owed to you by Blue Haven but you owing Blue Haven very little.

2) When Blue Haven did start in early spring 05, it took them over 16 weeks (4 months) of on again and off again construction in order to finish the shell to the point of completion so it could be filled with water. Sometimes they let upwards of 30 days go by without any work being done. As far as scheduling their work or keeping appointments....they are on their own time schedule not yours. I can not tell you how many timelines and or appointments they missed. It is very .. very frustrating waiting around for people who don't show!

3) There was a total lack of project management during construction which ended up causing all kinds of problems. Work was done incorrectly or not done at all. I attempted many...many times during the construction process to communicate the issues with Blue Haven but nothing was ever done. As a result they had to modify and patch the pool shell and piping to accomidate what was on the original contract. Despite my attempts to have them address the lack of coordination/project management which led to them modifing the shell & pipes, Blue Haven would never admit fault. All they would say was "yes there was a problem & we fixed it ....now let's move on".

4) Lack of salesman representation after the sale. During the purchasing phase my saleman took a keen interest in my satisfaction. I could expect many return phone calls from him following up on questions I may have had. I could reach him day or nite. But that all changed shortly after I signed my pool contract with Blue Haven. The salesrep quickly became unavailable or could no longer answer my questions.

I was directed to the construction office instead .. and was told they would take care of me. Well that was the beginning of the end. My experience with the contstruction office was and still is a major problem. They never return your calls, they take messages but they are mysteriously lost, at least 50% of the time you go into voicemail, no one wants to give you a straight answer, when they schedule an appointment there is a 50/50 chance it will be broken, when you visit their office to discuss a problem in person ...there is no one in charge who can help you. Despite many..many call into my sales rep. I never heard from him again. So much for service after the sale!

4)At the time of plastering Blue Haven still had outstanding work to be done with items such as electronic controls, fiberoptic lighting, mechanical adjustments and defective workmanship from their recommended subcontractors. We wanted to hold back our 5% final payment (due at time of plastering) until they completed all their work but Blue Haven basically said "No Final Payment then No Plaster".

By now it was mid summer and Blue Haven had us backed into a corner. If we wanted to swim this year we had to abide by the contract. We reluctantly paid and in return were promised all outstanding issues would be quickly resolved.

5) Dispite my many..many...many office visits, letters, phone calls and yes even picketing on route 309 these issues still remain unresolved. They still promise but don't deliver. Although Blue Haven may build a pool as good as some of the other national pool builders I don't recommend going thru what I am going thru. I feel I have been patient long enough (since July 04). Please spead the news and BUYER BEWARE -BLUE HAVEN POOLS & SPAS, COLMAR, PA.

James Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User

Comment On This

we had a similar experience back in 2000,went like gang busters till the inspector noticed a few things lacking,drug their feet for months after wards and much of the additional work was incomplete or not done according to our contract or up to spec, by the way most of the subs did excellent work, electrical and retaining wall contractors sucked big time.I had to do much of the electrical work myself, including fixing their ditch witch so they wouldn't leave. Can not recommend Blue Haven for anything