Leslies sales tactics

[poolaris]

I had my water tested at Leslies as lately I had been using a lot of acid. 4 gall in only two weeks and still had high ph. I have a salt system and realize that contributes to high ph, but this recent acid demand was much higher than usual. They told me that my phosphates were 2500 which is what was causing my problem, and sold me a $30 jar of phosfree, My water is sparkling clear with no signs of algae.
After reading some of the comments here on Leslies I decided to return it unopened. They told me that they do not make refunds, even after a couple days and with a receipt. I told them I would not be coming back and that as far as I was concerned they had misrepresented the product. After going back and forth they allowed me to change it for other items which were of more use to me. In spite of their generous offer, I shall not be returning to Leslies. Beware when you take your water in for testing!

[CarlD]

I had my water tested at Leslies as lately I had been using a lot of acid. 4 gall in only two weeks and still had high ph. I have a salt system and realize that contributes to high ph, but this recent acid demand was much higher than usual. They told me that my phosphates were 2500 which is what was causing my problem, and sold me a $30 jar of phosfree, My water is sparkling clear with no signs of algae.
After reading some of the comments here on Leslies I decided to return it unopened. They told me that they do not make refunds, even after a couple days and with a receipt. I told them I would not be coming back and that as far as I was concerned they had misrepresented the product. After going back and forth they allowed me to change it for other items which were of more use to me. In spite of their generous offer, I shall not be returning to Leslies. Beware when you take your water in for testing!

You know what? This is the way pool stores just are. Leslies pushes phosphate reduction because it makes money. It's their lastest scam, and that's what it is, a scam. If they are the only ones that have what you need, just buy it. There's only one pool store I know where the nonsense level is down to a dull roar. Everywhere else this is what they do. It's like blaming a cockroach for being a cockroach. I don't listen to them, I get what I want and need. If you let them, they'll tell you about "Chlorine lock" and how bleach does "bad things" to your water (but what they cannot tell you) or how it raises your TDS (Yes, but 5 years of bleach STILL won't raise your TDS as much as setting it up for a chlorine generator).

Heck, these are the people that will HAPPILY sell you Nature2 chem-junk.

[chem geek]

poolaris,

If Leslie's had sold you the PhosFree with 500 ppb of phosphates, then I'd agree they were just pushing product. At 2500 ppb, you *might* be getting closer to the edge of where a higher FC/CYA ratio is needed to prevent algae growth. There are so few pools with really high phosphate levels that it is hard to tell, but even for such pools the solution is the same: shock the pool (with chlorinating liquid or unscented bleach) to get rid of any nascent algae growth and then run the SWG slightly longer such that the FC is somewhat higher. If it turns out that there is indeed algae growth and you wanted to lower the SWG on-time to lower the rate of pH rise, then Borates can be used as another alternative.

The "normal" FC level for an SWG to prevent green algae growth is about 4.5% (say, 5%) of the CYA level compared to the minimum for manually dosed pools which is roughly 7.5% of the CYA level. However, as one approaches 3000-4000 ppb it seems that *maybe* a higher level might be required. So since your pool is one that is getting close to the "edge" (assuming Leslie's number is accurate), it would be an excellent case for figuring this out in more detail. Can you post your normal pH, FC, CYA numbers? Also, did you increase your SWG on-time prior to seeing the increase in acid demand?

Richard

[Skillset]

Leslies won't take back pool chemicals, but they need to make the return policy more clear. After I switched to BBB, I tried to return unopened pucks and could not.

[waste]

Skillset, I hear you! It is against the law in Ct to take back chems... I assume that it's because the person who bought them may have tampered with them, so they are no longer "pure'.