Total Confusion - Last summer no probs but this summer big problems

Winter of 2012 I purchased a short sale home with an in-ground gunite pool approx 25,000 gallons so have very limited information on pool. Here is what I know: Hayward 450 Smartfilter, Hayward two-speed pump and separate Hayward pump for water falls, a big box that has very confusing timers and all breakers, pool lights that change colors, a Polaris Vac-Sweep 380 FE Pressure Side Automatic Pool Cleaner with new Halycon booster pump and newly installed Raypak P-R407A natural gas heater. Last summer I had few problems except polaris wasn't working so i purchased Polaris 380 as replacement and controller on jandy heat pump failed so I decided to upgrade this summer to natural gas. Problems started this year and now can't seem to get anything right. Entire neighborhood uses same pool guy who is very nice but seems way too busy and willing to come when needed but never completes job. Contacted him in Feb about new heater and finally April 19 got an estimate and on April 26 agreed to new heater, jandy automated system to work on i-phone and salt generator--I paid in full for heater and jany automated system and said i would pay balance when he confirmed price on salt generator. Heater installation was nightmare b/t plumber and pool guy no communication. It is finally working but old heater still in yard. At pool opening (April 30) pool guy removed chlorinator b/c of salt water generator, which i still don't have, and set filters to manual high speed and kept telling me to run 24/7 and to put chlorine tabs in skimmer basket until he had time to install jandy system and salt water generator. Now over a month later with no jandy system & no salt water generator that i am going to ruin my new pool heater. There have been numerous problems since pool opening. After pool opening when he said everything was ready to go, I could not get a chlorine reading and pool was dirty, pool guy came and adjusted chemicals and tried to vacuum but bubbles kept coming out and appeared that dirt was flowing back into the pool. He left with pool a little better but not much and still not eta on salt water generator. Five days later when pool getting dirtier i ordered new filters, and after 4 days no show on pool guy, asked my father to change them. Keep in mind since opening, pool filters turned to manual on becuase Finally i ordered new filters hoping that might be it and my father (commercial plumber and pool novice) changed filters. Still lots of debris on bottom so I started Polaris, set old-fashioned timer for 2 hours, and went to work, which is how i ran Polaris last summer with no problems. Next morning went out to check on pool before leaving and Polaris was still running; burned up booster pump. Had pool guy come and vacuum before party and told him i fixed problem with new filters, which he never cleaned on post-opening visits. Said he would fix polaris booster pumpt but two weeks later ordered new booster pump and had dad install it. Still waiting for salt water generator but pool turned black 5 days ago. Pool guy said filter manifold in backwards, debris flowing back to pool instead of being trapped on the otuside of filter elements, need new pressure gauge for pump and new check valve for return line. This was 5 days ago; pool guy put heater in bypass, shocked pool 2 times and turned filter on high. Yesterday it finally started clearing up but I have no idea if I need to fix gauge and vavle; pool pump has been running nonstop on high for almost a month. I am a total pool novice and don't know what to do becuase I like the guy a lot but i am afraid that his sporatic help is going to cause additional damage similar to Polaris, but i have been patient because as soon as I am firm i know something is going to go wrong and I am going to need help. What to do? If I keep being patient on salt water generator & putting chlorine in skimmers and don't fix the gauge and valve, am I going to ruin my new heater or my pump or something worse?

Nicole, I'm not going to try to read what you most of what you posted, and I'm going to caution you that few other people will either. I know it's easier to write stream of consciousness, but it's hard to read. James Joyce wrote that way, and is considered to be one of the greats of 20th century literature, but even so few people actually read much of what he wrote.

You need to re-organize that into paragraphs and lists, if you want to have many people respond. Also, you've included lots of things we can't possibly help with: "old heater still in yard"

The PoolForum can help you
1. Learn to manage your pool chemistry effectively and inexpensively.
2. Learn some of the principles of pool equipment operation.
3. Solve specific individual problems.

We can't help much if
1. Your contractor(s) have done a runner.
2. Somebody is not doing what they said they would, or what you expected.

For starters, here's what I'd recommend (besides re-writing your post above):
1. Get a local OTO/phenol red (yellow/red drops) test kit. Make sure your chlorine is above 2 ppm, and your pH is between 7.2 and 7.8.
2. Order a K2006 kit from the link below, and learn to use it.
3. Turn off the salt system and heater, till you know what to do with them.
4. If you aren't sure what else to do, pour 2 gallons of plain 6% household bleach in every evening, unless the chlorine level is above 5 ppm.
5. Vacuum manually, as needed. (Think of it as a free aerobicize and tanning session, all rolled into one!)
6. See if can find a second knowledgeable local pool service guy -- if you can, hire him to show you just the basics, and get his opinion about what's fixable and what's not, and also about what's critical and what's not. Offer a good price ($200?) for him to come promptly, and spend a couple of hours with you. Be aware that anyone who is still in the business, and who is good, will probably have very little free time till after July 4th.

Good luck!