Quote Originally Posted by Jeffski View Post
Hold on everyone...

You can argue that he didn't need all those chemicals and I would agree (in fact I'd like to know where the leftover chemicals are). But the PB is running a business. If you're going to hire someone to go to the store for you then you are going to pay more for it. Yes, those prices are high, but not when you consider that they're delivered to your doorstep and put into your pool for you.

Next year let them open the pool for a set pre-negotiated price and then handle the water balancing on your own.
Your point is well-taken, but that delivery charge should be built into the pool-opening charge, not by charging like a hospital--$10 for an aspirin. You don't build a good reputation by padding the bill by 20% (approx what the added premium/surcharge for the chemicals stuck on the bill--over $100 extra from what those chems can be purchased at.

I also think that a service would test the water before adding chemicals they charge for, and will show those tests to their customer, too. Not to do the former is irresponsible, possibly criminal, and not do the latter is bad business.

I also think, with an IG pool, closing is more worth the investment than opening--getting the lines blown out, plugged and full of anti-freeze has got to be trickier than removing the cover, pulling the plugs, and turning on the pump, then vacuuming.

For me, I cannot fathom allowing someone to open or close my pool. When I open, while I have lots of dirt on the bottom, the water is always clear, with no green.

Even more so, though, I cannot see why our denizens here should ever allow a "professional" to add any chems to their pool.

But to each his own, and I think if you choose to have a service open and close your pool, you should still handle all the testing and chemicals yourself. We TRY to make understanding pool chemistry easy for our fellow home-owners.