The Worst Client Ever

My pool

My choice of pool color

You know that ringtone on the I-Phone that sounds like an alarm for a nuclear disaster....alternating between the sound of a submarine sinking warning and car alarms?  Well I'm pretty sure that the Pool Company has that set for my phone calls. I think they hate me, dread me, and are actually afraid of me. If I was my own client, I would have a  nasty name made up for me, like Crazed Cow or Menopausal Canadian....

I think I have complained at least twice a week for the entire pool build. I've gotten hostile, defensive, apologetic and on the rare occasion appeased. It started with the entire plan getting nixed by the Inspector, a series of rather futile and pathetic re-designs sent my way hoping for a quick and uninformed approval by the client. I think this is where it all went wrong. After all, we knew through the Pool Cam that the Inspector wanted major changes, so when they offered minor fixes, we then knew they weren't upfront and we totally lost confidence in them. From the drainage not being installed right, the brick path missing the gate by a foot, the wrong coping selection recorded (that's my story and I am sticking to it) to broken sidewalks etc, I've squeaked about everything along the way. And they CC everyone in the office when I email so they all know how dreadful I am.

All I've wanted along the way was communication. Someone to send my an invoice for $$$ that doesn't say 2nd installment, but outlines what's been done. How about a line saying, "Tiling all done, looks fabulous, moving onto pool deck now". Instead of "Invoice attached, please remit". Or "the second inspection is done and all is perfect now"

And for heavens sake, could they have sent one lousy photo this entire duration.!

So when the water went in, I noticed it looked green. Not the blue I had selected. I waited 3 days and then I called them and sent a photo (friend took it) and said...."Hey my water's green, is that the right finish?", to which they just said, 

"it's the one you picked"
"it looks blue to me"
"it's the trees making it green"
"it's definitely a Quartz finish"
"maybe it was cloudy that day"

BLAH BLAH BLAH..

My pool day 4---day complaining started.

Tough guy that I am, I told them to send me a photo of the finish I got from the sample board. Still not believing it was the right color, I asked the foreman to take the sample board to the pool and confirm the right one had been installed. He did, and they all confirmed it was precisely my choice.They were very quick to email to tell me it was the right colour and I was wrong. The next day in another email I mentioned how disappointed I was that the pool looked green. To which she replied....

"It will turn bluer in about a week, it's just the chemicals and water settling. After a week it will be blue."

Do you think that someone, in the 5 conversations I had in a rant about that, could have mentioned not to worry it will go blue.....NO...they must enjoy my passive-aggressive phone calls. And now it looks like this.

So...today I just shut up when my Lawn Service guy text me to tell me they were pulling up the front end of the patio again (3rd time laying this part) to re-grade the property. 

And then, I have a new client...sweet couple, love my ideas, no complaining and I wonder if down the road they could turn into ME.

My brother from NJ and his girlfriend from NY are in town for the weekend which makes me so excited. Frenchie managed to vomit up the 2 socks he ingested on Tuesday, possibly avoiding an obstruction....so the weekend is starting well and I putting on my OTHER FACE now.