Good Online Store For Canadians To Purchase Pool Stuff

hope this is acceptable. after scouring the net for good places to buy for canadians online, i was directed by a us store to northwestwholesale.com. i have purchased stuff from stores in the u.s., but it's a hit and miss if they will ship usps as i won't deal with brokerage fees if at all possible that are ridiculous from the couriers. what i like about these guys are:

-easy to contact, no problem spending time with a customer talking about general pool advice, centrally located in canada for anyone who wants to buy from them and decent prices.

why not buy locally? well, i try to, but we have one store in the city with a monopoly and it shows..prices 40% higher than other stores. case in point, even after brokerage fees & duties, shipping fees, it was cheaper for me to purchase a solar cover, reel, coasters from the u.s. then locally! 500 canadian versus 700 canadian..sad but true.....

also important as i'll likely need a new furnace by next year and while i could buy from the u.s. the freight would be crazy..these guys are willing to ship a furnace to me (shipped to home) for $45 canadian which is simply incredible.

anyway, hope this helps fellow canucks..it's tragic, but even in big cities like calgary, toronto, vancouver, i found the websites terrible compared to the u.s. pool companies..no prices, low information. i already have a pool..i dont' need to see fancy graphics, java, shockwave pictures of pools!:)

I agree totally! I just order drop in pool steps, and they arrived within 5 days. I checked it out on the website, then phoned in my order as I had questions to ask. The salesman was very helpful and I am 100% satisfied. I also live in a city where there is only one pool store and similar steps would have cost me 350.00 and I only paid 160.00 from the northwestwholesale store!
only cost me about $35.00 to ship to my house.:)

great to hear,mary..my name is terry, by the way:) a place in the u.s. i bought from before i found northwest was intheswim.com. a solar pool cover, reel and casters and my first purchase from them. they are in the chicago area and i was blown away by their customer service..and their shipping..it was a 91 lb package sent fedex economy..8.99 for shipping and handling..i couldn't believe it..but i thought, i'm going to get nailed on brokerage fees..the package arrived at my office on friday..and nothing..no gst, no brokerage fees..i think i somehow dodged a bullet or they handle custom clearing through their own broker..it cost me 400 canadian for those items. the store in the city here wanted 700..double the price for the reel (not including casters even) and triple the price for a 12 mm solar blanket like i bought..and those of us who own motorbikes call bike dealers "stealers" when it comes to parts prices. the online service by the csr's for intheswim was also amazing..i had about 7 questions, got quotes on a winter net and some other stuff and they responded within a day everytime..very good service..

I'll have to point this thread out to the guys at Northwest Wholesale when I pop in there tomorrow. :cool: