5 On Your Side

Pool job leaks with broken promises

AB Pool & Spa promised but failed to deliver on fixes to a Triangle woman's outdoor escape.

Posted Updated

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Furry-faced Chester has the life! "He uses the pool more than I do," said the dog's owner, Susan Smernoff, as he paddled across her new above-ground swimming pool. "He goes in probably three times a day and gets his exercise," she laughed.

While Smernoff loves her dog and the pool, she would love it even more if the job was complete. "This is the liner that he's supposed to be trimming," she said, pulling at the rumpled liner that stretches more than a foot below the top ledge of the pool. "He's supposed to trim it way up to the top here."

She's talking about Chris Fazio, owner of AB Pool & Spa. In April, she paid him $1250 to install the pool and filter she bought online. Along with the liner issue, she says Fazio still needs to attach a hose to the filter and fix a constantly dripping leak.

Smernoff also paid Fazio $325 to remove and replace the water-logged cover on her hot tub. "If I wanted to take the hot tub cover off completely, it's just full of water. You can't even pick it up," she said.

Fazio claims the new cover was delivered in June.

Smernoff thinks that's ridiculous. "I told him that I think I would notice a hot tub cover being delivered to my home. There is no hot tub cover,” she said.

Smernoff says just contacting Fazio has been tough. "Anytime I would call him it would take him like a week and a half to call me back. And he would say, 'I'm in the hospital. I don't have the gas money.'"

5 On Your Side called Fazio. Even though Smernoff says she never got any notice from a delivery company, Fazio stands firm that the hot tub cover was delivered. But he told 5 On Your Side it was returned to the manufacturer because Smernoff wasn't home.

He promised he would finish everything more than two weeks ago. He did not! When we called to ask why, he hung up on us!

The Better Business Bureau gives AB Pool & Spa a C rating. 5 On Your Side went to the Apex home listed as his business address, but no one answered the door.

Smernoff just wants everyone to know about her experience with Fazio. "If you say you're going to do something, then I would expect you to do it," Smernoff said. "It's not right. It's not right."

 

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.