California Pools – Palm Desert

First let me tell you, as a Director is Multi-​Family Housing I deal with several Contractors in several different areas of construction, so I understand delays and that unexpected things happen. What this Company has flat out neglected to do, is their profession. We have 3 pools we are scheduled to remodel, totaling well in the $ 100,000+ category… so we are definitely serious about this construction… The first 10 minutes of dealing with Bill Bellamy, he tells me that he’s not really going to have his team spend much time on us because we’re a large company and usually he doesn’t get the business from large companies. I can understand where he’s coming from, to an extent. However, I informed him of our commitment and seriousness to this project and that we were not looking for «the cheapest»… I have several Contractors to do the Job, so what I was looking for was quality and professionalism. Unfortunately I cannot speak for quality because it never reached that point, but I can speak for a serious lack of professionalism. We are now going on our fourth week and probably about 15 phone calls asking for a bid to do the job… All I kept getting from the sales guy was «im sorry I will have it to you in a few days, Bill keeps pulling me off the project to do other things». This company has a serious lack of customer service and commitment to their customers, they have yet to follow through on any aspect of their job and they pick and choose which jobs are the easiest ones to do. My suggestion, from someone that has extensive experience in working with Contractors and understanding business aspect surround such, utilize a different company! I have worked with several different companies over the years that have followed this very same trend and it’s never ended well. Also, look at the other reviews… for this many reviews to complain about the exact same thing…

My husband and I had a wonderful experience with Jim Bellamy and his team at California Pools! They were so attentive throughout the entire process. We never questioned what was being done in our backyard and they were completely kind throughout the whole thing. He, by far, presented the best design out of all the builders we talked to. They’re creative and kind and had our wants in the heart of it all. We would recommend Jim’s office in a heartbeat. If you need a pool in this area, even remodeled, you should DEFINITELY use California Pools. Thank you, Jim!!!

Do not use this company to build your pool or you will be sorry! They come across as very organized and professional but have no idea as to what they are doing. We have had nothing but constant delays and excuses for why the work is not getting done. We are three weeks past their contracted completion date and are still 2 – 3 weeks away from finishing the project. A typical pool should take approx. 8 – 9 weeks to complete. We are currently on week 12 with an estimated 2 – 3 more weeks to complete. Wrong pool size, wrong finishes, forgotten materials for finishes, workers not showing up, etc… you name it. Boulders that were in the plans and were supposed to be installed were not installed and cannot be since they were supposed to have done so before the pool was gunited. Believe it or not, we were offered a $ 2000 credit for this error on their part but in order to correct the problem, it will cost us approx. $ 15,000 to install the boulders… something is wrong with the math here. We also just found out that wiring was not installed for the spa and waterfall lights as well as the lights installed were not the lights we paid for! We paid for high quality lights and the pool company had the cheapest lights available installed. The spa leaks since it was not sealed correctly and the auto fill water line was not installed. It is buried somewhere in the yard and not tied into anything. The circuit board is missing parts, either they were not installed or removed by someone. There was no pool control panel installed in the house… did I mention they did not run a wire from the control panel to the pool equipment either. One would think that a big name such as California Pools would not allow this to happen but it did. Each day we find out more and more problems that have to be corrected which is costing us more and more money to correct.

WORST POOL CONTRACTO~ Beware of dealing with Jim Bellamy. Company has unethical practices and fail to complete pool according to contract, design layout and walked off of the job after NUMEROUS errors in building our pool, do not return phone calls, emails or texts, and are INCREDIBLY difficult to work with~ our designer repeatedly lied or mislead us or promised to fix the problems or errors that their subcontractors did due to zero supervision during the project timeframe. Several of the «problems or errors include»: 1.) shorted our pool length by 1.5 ft and tried to say it wasn’t shorted~ finally offered to rip out the gunite (we didnt take and/​or offer a measly $ 2K paver credit, then tried to increase the cost of the pavers per sq. ft price to compensate saying the cost went up! 2.) trenched up our entire ¾ acre lot and tore up all the existing sprinkler drip lines, then capped the irrigation to main lines without checking and stated they «checked to make sure» it was fixed properly, and my husband had to spend 17 hours trying to fix the problem himself due to plants, trees, and other tropical dying after having received NO water for almost 3 weeks when we figured out there was a problem (and in 100+ degree weather) in addition to running over fruit trees and other shubs with a bobcat and offering to replace them, then changed their mind stating «their contract states they are not responsible» 3) FORGOT to include several BOULDERs around our water features which were on the plans, on the drawings and in photos sent to them before their designer added them to the plans ~ a $ 14,000 error which they are still REFUSING to fix although they stated several times they were going to correct as they were supposed to be installed before the pool was gunited, and boulders built into the bondbeam, coping, etc. ~ after a month of saying they would fix them they sent an email stating they would not fix them: as it wasn’t cost effective for them and then offered us a $ 2,000. paver credit. ~ completely ridiculous since it has been almost 12 weeks since we started the process and we have lost 3 rentals already since they are a month late to finish the pool and correct the errors! 4} conveniently went out of town every time there was a problem or issue and had NO one supervising sub contractors who are actually not real subs but day laborers who have no idea of what they are doing. 5) put two completely different types and colors of natural stone around our 360 degree perimeter overflow hot tub and then tried to say it was the exact same stone, until one of their foremen came by and agreed it looked awful and that it was indeed the wrong stone. They started with one type of stone and then tried to complete the remaining stackstone using different thicknesses &colors which looked horrific~
I went to the stone yard where we originally (on 3 occasions) picked out the stone and saw that the pallet we tagged was still sitting there after a month and took photographs and showed them as the designer came with me and blamed the sub-​contractor when in fact we found out later they made the error — most likely they tried to use leftover stone from someone else’s pool project and thought that I would not be able to tell the difference. WOW, that is just the beginning.
Next, they charged us a change order to «move pool equipment location» because they wanted to put the pool equipment behind the pool although 5 other companies that bid the project bid it to go behind one of our guesthouses, saying that the runs for electrical and gas were too far and that there would be a problem heating the pool. More lies and deception~ we had an electrician come out who stated that was entirely not possible, and also a landscaping company came out & stated that if the equipment went in the place Jim had insisted on, there would be zero room to even plant any flowers, palm trees, which were on the original drawings– in fact there would be only a ft and a half~ which was the focal point of our property~ only when I insisted that there was NO way the equipment would be installed behind the pool, they came up with a solution to use a bit larger piping for the electrical and gas lines and said it would be an additional cost of $ 3600. We are currently working with the State contractor board as the company decided they cannot fix the errors and sent an email they wanted to just «close up the wall» and pebble tec the pool as-​is and we would have to pay them upfront for the remaining money they say is owed which is illegal per the State Contractor’s board ~ To date, Jim & Bill Bellamy/​California Pools owe for unresolveable pool design/​contract problems $ 16,700 + lost rental monies of $ 24,750 for contracts we have had to cancel for the pool being 30 days late and still another 2 – 3 weeks yet to finish it!
When you invest $ 90,000-$ 100,000 in your back yard you should be able to get a quality product and not have these problems, period.

We contracted with CA Pools in Palm Desert for a pool and landscaping because the designer, who has now quit, understood our vision and gave us a great design. We were assured CA Pools uses only the finest in trades people and that our project would be done on time and without extra charges (change orders). We were told the project would take 6 – 8 weeks to complete. We signed the contract back in August 2013, it is now the middle of February and the project is still not complete. We did have a great experience with the designer (who has now quit) and with the landscaper (recommended by the designer), but we had and continue to have many issues with the General Manager Dan Elkins. Our designer was to be our contact person, but was not filled in on any details by Dan, so he could not answer our questions. We were finally told we needed to go to Dan for any info. After sending several legitimate emails to Dan he did not have the courtesy of replying to ANY of my emails. There are MANY issues with shabby work we wanted addressed and he would claim the issues, such as large cracks in the plaster, were normal. When we went to the manufacturer of the plaster, Pebble Tech, we were informed that Pebble Tech was not used on our pool, even though it was called out for in the contract and we paid extra for the up-​charge. We also called out for features on the contract that Dan decided not to include in our pool. Many of these features we were not aware of until the final walk thought when I asked. I was told by Dan that he chose not to put them in. He also changed our pool design without consulting with us. We ended up getting a surprise bill by the landscaper for over $ 1,400 because Dan would not pay him. We are very easy going people, but, in my opinion, this man is a fraud. We have contact CA Pools corporate office and are waiting to hear back from them. We contacted them two weeks ago and were told the person to handle this was on vacation. We paid over $ 200,000 for a project that still does not have a properly functioning pool, specific features called out for in the project where not used, and we were given a control unit that is over two years old and does not function, plus MANY other issues. When I asked Dan about the many issues, we blamed the designer for offering us too much that could not be delivered, but yet, he is the one who reviewed the plans and costed out the project. Dealing with Dan at CA Pools has been a NIGHTMARE!!! We just finished building our new home and we were told they would return the house to the same condition as when they begin the work. Our house is now damaged in many areas. I strongly advise on not contracting with Dan at CA Pools.

I dealt with this company a few years ago for a total yard renovation and addition of a spa. the designer, and landscape contractor were excellent however the the contractor that took care of construction was absolutely horrible. Wouldn’t return my phone calls, when I asked him a question he told me I should mind my own business. He was INCREDIBLY difficult to work with. For that reason alone I would never work with them or recommend them. When you invest 50K in your back yard you should be able to ask a couple questions here and there. In the end I had to file complaints with the state regulatory board and file complaints with their head office. The head office didn’t care until I got the state regulatory board involved.
NOT RECOMMENDED AT ALL!