Problems with Wilkes Pool Warranty - 15 x 24 Genesis Pool Collapsed

Good Afternoon everyone

I guess I'm feeling everyone's pain about dealing with Wilkes/Gibraltar. Our 15' X 24' Genesis pool collapsed last week!! On the side farthest from the wooden deck, the corner collapsed and took down the side of the pool. The original owners of the house had the pool put in 1999, and has not moved on the property. It was properly filled and we were in the process of opening it for spring. Woke up one day to find the corner blown out and water drained. I don't think i'ts under warranty since I'm not the original owner. I know Gibraltar installs these Wilkes pools so I'm wondering who to contact. The pool really shouldn't be collapsing after 15 years, regardless of wear and tear. I'm sure each of these companies are going to say the other is responsible, so I might just file a complaint with the BBB.

Any suggestions?

It took me a few minutes to research this one. I'll summarize what I found + my opinions, point by point. I'm sorry for how things have worked out for you, but please read to the end before you decide to get mad at me.

1. You have no warranty! Sorry, but the Wilkes pool warranty apparently applies to the ORIGINAL purchaser, only.

Quote:

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Who and what is not covered under the standard warranties for Wilkes Pool products?

Only original owners of Wilkes products are covered under the terms of our warranty as long as the pool is still in its original location where it was first installed. Subsequent owners, who inherit the pool with their new property, as well as relocated pools are not entitled to the benefits and protection of the original warranty.

wilkespools.com/pages/cust_faq.php

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2. Your pool has lasted 14 years. Certainly AG pools could last longer than that, but I doubt anyone in the pool business would give you a *REAL* warranty that it would do so. But . . . see the next point:

3. I can't find the exact terms, but the Wilkes "50 year warranty" is a pro-rata warranty! Pro-rata warranties are almost always, in my opinion, a deceptive marketing tool, rather than a real warranty. Without getting into the details of how the 'scam' works, let me just say that, it's unlikely that the warranty -- even if it WAS still active -- would save you any money. Pro-rata means you pay part, and they pay part . . and they get to do the calculations on what the warranty amount is.

It's not just Wilkes that does that. LoopLoc covers, which I sold for years, have a 10 year warranty. But I always told my customer the 'real' warranty was only 3 - 4 years. And LoolLoc covers usually DO last 10+ years. But, if you have a cover that dies after 10 years . . . it's cheaper to buy a new cover than to mess with the warranty. And LoopLoc is a pretty good company, with pretty good product quality.

4. Don't bother with the BBB -- Wilkes is just going to show them the terms, and tell the BBB you have no case. I don't think you are going to find many in the pool industry who would agree with out that "the pool really shouldn't be collapsing after 15 years, regardless of wear and tear.". I know some AG pools last longer, but most don't.

5. I can't tell whether Wilkes is basically a good company or not. The one brochure I found online flogged the warranty angle pretty hard -- and I tend to think of that as a mark of a dodgy company. There are also a fair number of complaints out there mostly about the warranty. And, I say pools being sold on Craigs List as having 10+ years remaining on the warranty . . . which of course is not true, since the warranty ends when the pool is sold. It looks sorta like it may be an OK product, but one that gets some bad press when the pool fails after 10+ years, and the customer (or used pool buyer) ends up discovering what the 'fine print' said. On the other hand, I saw a fair few complaints indicating that Wilkes was not all that helpful in working out parts replacements and the like.

6. To put things in perspective . . . most concrete pools don't last 50 years! I could design and contract a 50-year 'Olympic-sized' pool, but it would cost 10 - 15% more than standard, and would require me to constantly look over the shoulder of the soil-testing firm, the concrete finishing firm, the gunite company, and the plumber. For example, standard concrete finishing methods will NOT produce a deck that lasts 50 years in areas with repeated freeze-thaw cycles. I'm very pleased that the 2 large commercial pools I designed have decks that are still in excellent condition after 15 - 20 years. But one has some settling on one corner, because I didn't babysit the company that was doing the compaction.

7. Your options are limited: remove the pool, replace the pool with a new one, or try to repair the pool. I'd recommend looking at replacing the pool. If you inspect the pool's structure, and it's in EXCELLENT condition, you could consider a repair. But I'd think twice, and then inspect and think again, before repairing a 15 year old AG pool.

Consider this pool:

Intex 54983EG Rectangular Ultra Frame Pool Set, 24' x 12' x 52"

You can buy that on Amazon for $1400 (July 2013), have it next week, and be swimming by week's end. From what I can tell, it will probably last 4 - 5 years if you take care of it. And you'll have 90% of the function of your Wilkes. Keep that option in mind, as you look at the cost of either repairing or replacing the Wilkes, and the fact that with either of those options, you can probably forget about swimming this summer.

Also, if you DO decide to get another Wilkes, you can probably sell a 2 year old Intex Ultra for 25 - 50% of the original price.

One caution: it appears that, like most Chinese made products, Intex quality control is not the best. Probably 10% of their pools have something wrong with them. Usually, it's minor, but occasionally you'll encounter a pool that's unusable -- maybe 2 - 3% of sold pools. Intex does stand behind their products . . . but slowly, and you have to talk to a customer service rep who speaks 'Chinglish'. On the other hand, if you purchase directly from Amazon, you can return the product immediately, and get a replacement. I know it's very easy with UPS packages, but the pool would be a motor freight delivery, which is probably more complicated. And repacking the pool in the original box is probably impossible. You'd have to get some additional boxes in order to return every thing.

Good luck, whatever you decide.


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Hey thanks PoolDude!! or PoolDoc....That's quite a lot of information you were able to pull in a short amount of time, so much appreciated. That is certainly quite schemey how these companies get around their warranty if ownership has changed hands. But if they did stand by their warranties every time a customer had structural issues with their pool they wouldn't be in business. My father in law suspected there may have been a sink hole at one end and he was probably correct. The following is a link to my FB page with a shot of the damage

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

On a lighter note, on the morning after the damage was discovered and the initial shock passed, my wife remarked, "Well, hmmmm....I've always wanted a jacuzzi!!!" ha! I did call our local pool people to get an estimate on breaking down the remains of the pool and disposal. We should get some $$ back for the aluminum and hardware. Even though it may be cheaper to have our guys replace it, we really can't afford a replacement right now, we're just going to let that ride for at least this season

You'll have to change the Facebook permissions to 'world viewable' on that photo, for the link to work.