Playtime Pools

Wow great service! I was so in the need of a new pool company when my pump went down and they were there! I called Sunday and left a message to see if anyone could swing by Monday. Jackie called Monday morning and said they were booked but would see if they could swing by if not she would call back. A couple hours later Tim and another guy showed up to save the day! Hats off to you I now have a new pool company!

I cannot say enough good things about Jackie and her crew. If you are looking for an honest down to earth locally owned company then call Jackie today! Thanks playtime pools for helping me get my pool issue resolved. You have gained a loyal customer!!!

I have been coming to Playtime for over 11 years and they are great! I have had them install a liner and they have opened my pool with No complaints. They do the job correctly the first time and get it done quickly. My pool is older and they still stock the parts I need. If it wasn’t for them I would be lost on caring for my pool and I am greatly appreciative for that.

I have been very impressed with Playtime Pools. We just starting using them but It is a relieve when you go in there and they know what they are talking about. Not unlike some other stores who hire people in the summer and not know anything about pools (all they want to do it sell you chemicals). We had an issue with our liner and they have been pleasant to deal with. Playtime Pools will now be our pool store.

I was very disappointed by the severe attitude problem the owner had when I spoke with her regarding my liner pool. I was nothing but polite on the phone, and made her fully aware of what services we expected from them, yet she still was short and nasty. Not sure why she is in the pool business, where you knowingly have to deal with customers on a day to day basis. I think we are going to have go with another pool company or do the patchwork ourselves, because I don’t think I can deal with her nasty attitude again.

I’ve been using Playtime Pools for over 10 years to service my spa. Their service is great. I heartily recommend them to all spa users.

As a new pool owner, I didn’t do my homework well, and I ended up choosing Playtime Pools and Spas to both open and drain and clean my pool.
On the phone, I was quoted $ 300 to open the pool plus the cost of chemicals. This would come to about $ 350 total I was told. Then, when the pool guys came, I was told the opening charge (without chemicals) was $ 350. I paid it but then went to the shop the next business day and talked with the woman that runs the business and she said that I must have talked with someone at the other Playtime Pools and Spas location in Manassas on the phone. She did lower it to $ 300.
Since I bought my house in 2009 and the in-​ground pool had not been used for about a year and a half, the opening of the pool did not kill off the green algae in the pool (there was quite a lot). I was then told either I could try to kill off the algae myself (a very time-​consuming task and estimated to cost about $ 500 for chemicals) or I could have the pool drained, acid and power washed for $ 1000. Yes, $ 1000! I hadn’t done much research but knew it was somewhat high but believing that other pool companies would charge near that amount, I verbally agreed to have Playtime clean the pool.
What they did was to subcontract out the work to some guy named Fred who wasn’t even around when I came back to the house and two Hispanic guys were busy at work cleaning the pool. Fred was only reachable by phone and I asked how he was earning his share of this work and his answer was that he was the boss of these guys. Hmmm, sounds like he «hired» some day laborers and paid them a small amount while pocketing the lion’s share of his portion of the $ 1000 I paid. Playtime did nothing but make a call to the subcontractor. I am certain that Playtime probably pocketed about $ 500 for that phone call!
I later got in contact with the company that originally built the pool and happened to ask what they charge to drain and clean a pool and was told only $ 300! I had this company come over to inspect the pool since it was they built it and they took off the DE filter and said it had NOT been cleaned as it should have during the opening that Playtime did. Further, they «burst the lines» and a lot of sludge came out and I was told that should have been done as part of the draining and cleaning of the pool.
Do I feel taken for an extra $ 700? YES. Do I have any recourse? No. I made the mistake of going with Playtime Pools and Spas believing they were charging a fair price for the work. I was wrong. I am sure that one CANNOT find a company in the Washington area charging $ 1,000 or higher for a routine draining and cleaning of the pool. I dare Playtime Pools and Spas to prove that wrong!
Simply put, I was fleeced as a new, inexperienced pool owner.
If you are new pool owner, I do NOT recommend doing business with Playtime Pools and Spas.
Lastly, I was never sent an invoice/​receipt for the draining and cleaning of the pool for $ 1,000. It was simply debited using my debit card that they had on file from the opening of the pool.