The Great Escape

Doing business with the Great Escape and their manager Noël have very good customer relations are very concerned with your needs and want to make you 110% happy it’s a very great place to do business with and I will always meet your needs customer relations is very important now and they do a very good job at it and their staff

I’m discouraged. We decided to splurge and buy high end (to us) patio furniture because we wanted it to be sturdy, last forever, and really love it. We picked a set that had a 7 year guarantee. We’ve had it for 2 summers and it has never been exposed to the elements (we have a covered patio). In May, I was sitting on a chair and the slat in the bottom broke off. I am 5’1″ and 120 pounds. We contacted the Great Escape immediately. I won’t go through every bit of this but we’ve had countless phone calls with no follow-​up. The staff is relatively polite with each encounter but then nothing happens! It is nearing the end of August and our chair is still not fixed. Chicago weather is finally beautiful, our patio is like an oasis, and one person in our immediate family has not had a chair ALL SUMMER! I checked the return policy because at this point, I’d like to return the entire set and start over.
Their return policy is «un-​used in original packaging within 30 days». I guess I am spoiled by the Costco return policy but I would NEVER shop the Great Escape again. I prefer companies that guarantee and follow through. I don’t see a long a fruitful life for this company. I give it 3 more years, tops. People want, expect, deserve, and can get a much better experience elsewhere.

Such poor service that I’m glad they (apparently) did not have what I wanted so that I could take my business else where. When I came in I had to approach the young woman at the desk to ask if they had any pool covers. While «talking» with her I noticed two other (I assume) sales people who could not interrupt their game of chess to help a customer. When I asked the woman if she had any pool covers she struggled to answer without me giving further prompts. I finally asked her to just point me in the direction of covers so I could look for myself, but then she told me they were in the back. She did not offer to check to make sure they did not have what I was looking for, or offer me any other assistance. I simply walked out. Not sure where else I can go to look for a pool cover, but the (lack of) service here was RIDICULOUS!!!

Bought a patio set and a Weber grill couldn’t be more happy with the price. Quick delivery and set up. The patio furniture is some of the best quality I’ve seen.

I had a few hiccups with the fire pit I purchased but the hiccups were with the product itself was defective and the warehouse delivered the wrong item when they tried to fix the problem. During this I spoke with the manager Noël, who was very understanding and helpful. Beckie from customer service was also very helpful. The end goal was to make me the customer happy and I believe that will happen when my new replacement firepit is delivered next Wednesday. Again a huge shout out to Noël and Beckie for all their personal service!

I have bought a pool, pool heater, spa, plenty of chemicals, and lawn furniture from the Great Escape. Sadly though the pool is gone after many years, the spa has had a few repairs and probably needs to be replaced. lately though I’ve been very disappointed with their service. The latest leak in a fitting didn’t hold and had to be repaired again. Eight months ago I found the heater was leaking, and right on top of the circulation pump. I had both replaced. There was a major leak two months ago but the tub was surrounded by two feet of snow. Too bad I didn’t call for service then! Upon recent inspection I found the heater that I had just replaced had literally melted and split open. Upon calling for service I was told that there was only a six month warranty and that I would have to pay for parts and labor. Too bad they couldn’t offer up something because now I figure I’ll just replace the spa, it’s 15 years old, but I can tell you it won’t be one from The Great Escape.

The worst «sales people» in the business. Rude, incompetent and ignorant.
I called from ½ hr away to ask if they had the specific size pool hoses that I needed. A very rude idiot told me on the the phone «yeah yeah we have all of ‘em». I asked if he could get them ready, put them at the desk, and I’d pay over the phone. He rudely said, «NO, YOU CANT PAY OVER THE PHONE! And we aren’t even OPEN!» (It was 5 minutes until their opening). I said fine I’d come in, have them at the desk. Okay. I arrived not only were the hoses NOT at the desk, they DIDNT EVEN CARRY 2 OF THEM! I told the guy at the desk (another rude moron) that I had I called and was told that they DID carry the hoses, I called first because I was over a ½ hr away! He said he had no idea who I spoke with and he «WASN’T GONNA, go looking around for him!» then he refused to get a manager for me. All this occurred on a Monday morning, the place was empty! No excuse for this lack of service! I will never return!

A while after I wrote this review, I was contacted by this location’s new manager, Noël. He had apparently read my review and wanted to discuss my experience at the store. He was apologetic, refunded my delivery fee, and offered coverings for my patio set. It was a nice gesture, and obvious Noël considered customer service important.

A huge gust of wind caught my patio umbrella and it flew into the pool and speared the liner. It caused a tear in the liner which made me lose a lot of water.
When I called to inquire how much it would be to replace the liner. He suggested I use a $ 2 patch instead. The patch is holding up, and saves me a lot of stress and $$$. Thanks.

I bought a pool from Dan at the great escape in the spring, well it has been nothing but a head ache.
The delivery guy dropped and kicked boxes, I took video of it.
The ladder was missing the parts that keep it from floating up, after going to the store and Dan looking in other boxes said they are all missing this and he would order this and get back to us.
Well now it is fall, my motor is making a winning noise, still no part for the ladder, and went in to get the winter cover that was told was part of the package I bought, and Dan who was eating chips, said no you have to buy that,
I think this store needs to have a better more caring person running it, I left there and will never step foot in there again, I will go on the inter net and pay more.

I purchased a replacement pool for my 20 year old above ground pool. I wanted a good liner so I paid an extra $ 90 for an upgraded liner. I had a pool guy that I wanted to use for installation, but they discouraged me from doing that stating it would cost me more and they would not fix anything if there were problems so I went with their professional installers. The pool has been up about 3 weeks and I have had to add water several times. Have only used the pool twice. I finally discovered that the liner is leaking. I contacted the store manager, but thet refuse to replace the liner and indicated at one point that I must have damaged the liner while vacuuming, but I informed them I have not had to vacuum yet and have only been in the pool twice. (I have never heard of a pool liner being damaged by vacuuming, if that is true of their upgraded liner, what is the standard liner like?) They still refused to come out and replace the defective liner. They did offer me a $ 4.00 patch kit for free if I wanted to go there and get it. I purchased the same size pool I had but the new one is at least 2 inches shorter than my previous pool and the quality of the pool is not half what the old pool was, I will be surprised if it lasts more than a couple of years. I finally filed a complaint with the better business bureau and am waiting for a response. I would never purchase another pool or anything else from this store, their products are cheaply made and their customer service is terrible.
Received a call from the store in response to my complaint with the BBB. Their solution is for me to purchase a new liner from them, get it installed and cut out the bad spot from the existing liner and bring it to the store and they will refund the cost of the new liner if the leak is in the seam. If its not the seam, they again offered a patch kit. So it will cost me at a couple hundred dollars to buy a new liner, $ 400 to get the new liner installed and I might get back the liner cost. This is a brand new pool and should not be leaking and I feel they should fix the problem regatdless of where the leak is. Why would anyone be willing to purchase another liner from them that may or not not leak. I recommend that anyone in the market for a pool, stay as far away from the Great Escape as possible if you want a pool that actually holds water. Their products are cheap and they do not stand behind them, you are on your own if there are any issues.