Anthony & Sylvan Pools

This has been the best pool experience!  Building a new house, and the pool part was by far the easiest.  Sales rep and manager have been nothing short of amazing and professional!  I highly recommend them!  Ask for Phil :).  I have 4 more friends that have built pools with Phil and we keep on referring.  Great experience.  A+++++

The pool experience overall was very easy. My project manager very nice and easy to talk to. Always very concern that I was O.K. with everything. Also always called me when I was trying to get a hold of him.

They talk a lot about customer service but don't provide it. The sub contract all aspects of project, even the start up. You really aren't hiring Anthony Sylvan just a bunch of subs that they don't have any control over. They also don't give signed lien releases after each phase as required by law. To get signed lien release had to threaten to turn them in to the state contractors board.

The concrete crew did NOT speak a word of English.

(I have emails and recorded phone calls to support everything in this account of my experience.) In February 2013, we reviewed several pool contractors and came up with our top three:  Rainey Pools, Sabine Pools and Anthony & Sylvan Pools. All three came to our home and gave us their sales pitch and estimates for what we were looking for.  Anthony & Sylvan salesperson was initially knowledgeable and friendly. First meeting had us convinced this was the contractor to put in our pool.  We signed our paperwork on March 31, 2013, before "spring pricing increase". We discussed specifics of our pool and he told us he would send us a drawing.   Once we signed and paid first 1/3 of contract nothing happened.  This went on for awhile.  We finally got the drawing and it was wrong.  We corrected the architect drawing (using Visio) and sent it back.  Nothing.  We called our salesperson several times.  He sent us another drawing (still wrong).  He came to our house and we went through the issues with the drawing again.  He told us what we originally asked for and said  it couldn't be done.  (We had requested a 3 step drop into the 4 ft. end.)  He said we had to have a 4 step drop.  We said ok. He left, nothing happened. We continued to send emails and call.  We finally got a corrected drawing back with changes. (and more cost) We heard nothing for several days.  Our salesperson who told us specifically that he would be with us the entire project would not answer my emails. We called the main office to find out why they weren't digging and they said they were waiting on permits.  We waited.  We called.  They said they were waiting on approval from our HOA. We stepped in to help expedite permits for our HOA . We waited.  Nothing happened. We called.  We told this is the busy season for pools - we'll get there as soon as possible. May 3, 2013 I sent another email and the salesman replied he would check the schedule.  The main office finally sent us an email on 5/17/13 and said excavation would start on 5/18/13. They showed up on Saturday and dug the hole.  We were happy. Steel installation was supposed to happen on Monday. It didn't.  We called.  My neighbor down the street (who I had recommended A&S to before the trouble began) had his pool dug right after ours even though he signed the paperwork at least a month after we did.  He said he went to their main office and Houston and bribed the scheduler to get moved ahead. It worked. I kept calling the main office to complain that no one was communicating with us and was told we should be dealing with our project manager during the project. This person was a ghost and stepped on our property maybe twice during construction. Would not communicate.  When he finally did he said he was sick and couldn't return calls.  The office said he had about 35 projects going on and couldn't be everywhere. The least they could do was keep their story straight. The steel was finally installed in June. They finally came to gunite the pool around the 3rd week in June.  There was no mention of the handrail we had requested and no response again to emails or phone calls. I knew the handrail had to be in place before after the gunite and before the final plaster. I finally blew up and asked for whoever was in charge.  I was called by the general manager 6/18/13 who tried to explain away everything as a normal part of construction. (By the way, I am a project manager and handle major construction projects every day.  Ignoring requests and non communicating is NOT a normal part of construction). The General manager, Bob Horn, assured me they could put in a handrail as we had requested.  He said he would do it at no charge.  He promised the project manager would bring it out and make sure that it was what we needed.  He said if we needed a different hand rail they would comp that too.  Whatever we needed to make everything right and make us happy. Today is Sunday March 16, 2014.  As of today, I have not seen a handrail, had any response to communication or anything else from A&S Pools.  They were paid in full and I as I expected, we have not heard from them again. I have documented some of the major items of complaint I have and don't have enough time to go through every detail.  I will put a bullet list together with everything someday to share with anyone who wants it.  I don't know if all pool companies are jerks and don't communicate. I can't speak to them.  I only know that I don't like to be lied to.  I like people to answer my questions.  Maybe spending $50,000+ is nothing to these companies but it is a whole lot to me and I work hard to earn everything I have. I will never use or recommend A&S Pools to any one EVER.  I always volunteer my experience and opinion of A&S Pools wherever and whenever I can:  Poor Customer Service, No Communication, No Consideration for Customer Time, Average Product, Above to Average Cost.  Big thumbs down to Anthony and Sylvan Pools. 

Seamless operation from start to finish. Highly recommended.

We installed a fiberglass pool Not concrete. Very pleased with their work and every subcontractor, they recommended or used was excellent. Good experience with this company.

BILL WAS ON TIME. TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING FOR ME. AND I'LL DO IT AGAIN.

We built an Anthony and Sylvan pool in League City about 9 years ago, and when I called to get a quote at our new house in Fort Bend County I was surprised to get the same salesman.  Long-term employees says allot about a company in a high turnover industry.  Just like 9 years ago, Ron was great to work with, and is so experienced he knows what works and what doesn't.  We took his advice on much of the design, and are very glad we did. The excavation, concrete and masonry sub contractors were all experienced pros.  A&S builds so many pools, they have the size and volume of business to build relationships with the best crews, and it showed.  There were some questions on how to integrate the foundations for the deck and wall we wanted built, so the A&S construction manager had all the subs meet at the house and put their heads together and figure it out in about an hour one morning.  No fuss and no confusion.  It all worked. I gave a "B" for responsiveness only because our foreman left the company half-way through the job, and he had been a little difficult to communicate with.  Their construction manager took over, and finished things up pretty quickly. So overall, an "A". We had two small warranty issues that they have corrected, and we love the pool.  We've had some big parties, and lots of positive comments on how it looks, and the quality of the fit and finish.  

Once they are 2/3 thru and have most the money they drop the ball. And quit with any service to the customer