Popped Pools, Leaking Profits & the Commercial Account From Hell

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Happy, happy Thursday, and welcome to Thursdays with Stephen Wayne with the Talking Pools Podcast Group.
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As always, I hope everybody had a safe and good week since we last talked.
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I'm gonna talk about a couple quick things before uh let Steve kind of take over the podcast and he can tell us about his life over the past few days.
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But um I know that the past couple episodes we've talked about Leslie's and what's been happening, and they finally came out with a list of stores across the country that are going to be closing.
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And in our little talking pools uh group that we where we talk amongst ourselves, Steven mentioned what there were 15 stores, Steve, altogether.
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There's 78 stores altogether throughout the country.
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I don't think this is finished by any means.
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They said they were gonna close up to 78.
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So I'm sorry, they said they were gonna close up to 250 stores.
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78 isn't even isn't even half of that.
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I know.
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I know, so hold on.
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I just think that they're that's just kind of like the first round of of layoffs or whatever you wanna whatever you want to call it, you know?
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Yeah, yeah.
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And the other thing I so so be on the lookout for for that down the road.
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The other thing I wanted to talk about is kind of a a shout-out issue, a shout-out thing.
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I just got my copy of Aqua's you know, best awards kind of kind of deal that they have every year, most outstanding, and a lot of different variety of categories.
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But I encourage everybody, if you uh don't have a hard copy, go to their website at Aqua and take a look.
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There are some fucking impressive pools out there all across the country and not just you know one coast or another coast, but all over.
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And they're absolutely gorgeous.
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It and and they've done this, God, they've been doing this for geez, as long as I can remember, but it's only been recent that that there's been a lot of entries and and a lot of um a lot of winners.
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And I and I know that it's a tough thing to to pick you know the best among among a certain category, but you know, it's done.
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It is what it is.
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So take a look at that, see what's out there in the in the industry.
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And if you're in the contracting business, you know, there's some good competition out there for you to try to match what they came up with.
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If you're in the surface area, you can see what you have to go up against as far as uh you know how to how to maintain and and and and deal with these these pools and spas and commercial properties all over.
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So that's all I really have to talk about.
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You know, you've heard a my you heard my voice enough.
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Steve, why don't you go ahead and and uh take over from now?
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See what's on.
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A couple things.
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This is also a therapy session.
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October, this is October 6th, so I want to say happy birthday to my mom.
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So it's her birthday today over in New Jersey.
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It's also like super, super, super hot here in Southern California.
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So we've just been dealing with like a lot of issues that just don't normally come up.
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So we're always we've we've been dealing with like a lot of algae and a lot of phosphates, which I've talked about before.
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But the thing is with algae, and the thing is with going, you know, to somebody's home once a week, is you're trying to play this game, right?
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And the game is that we want to shock the pool to 10, you know, and we we want to put in enough chlorine to get us through the week, right?
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But we don't want to put in so much chlorine that it's not safe or healthy for, you know, the family members or whoever to go in and into the pool.
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And like once you get into commercial pools, it's a it's a whole different ballgame, right?
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Because now that equation of like one gallon of liquid chlorine should take care of a 10,000 gallon pool for one week.
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That whole equation goes out the the window because now you may have 50, 60, 70 people that are now using the pool during that one day, you know?
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Yeah, and or more, or more, right?
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And you know, I was at a commercial, one of my commercial possible commercial accounts that we're trying to pick up, and I was at the deck and we were just kind of going over a bunch of different stuff, and I was like, is this like normal for you guys?
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Like, you know, how many people are out here?
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And they were like, Oh no, this is super slow.
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And I was like, Well, there's 40 people out here, you know, there's there's three different spas that they have, and then a pool, and like the the pool is kind of like in the middle of the hotel, and the hotel is kind of like a U around it, right?
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So it's kind of like the centerpiece of the whole hotel itself.
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But I went out to a few different commercial clients last week, and uh everyone that took care of them was including chemicals, and again, it's just really, really hard to pinpoint like how much you're gonna use at all of these pools, right?
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Because like with a residential pool, again, I can kind of gauge out like, all right, I'm gonna use X amount of gallons of chlorine during this 52-week week year or whatever it is, and my worst case scenario, so I know that I'm not gonna lose money.
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But you know, going out and looking at these commercial jobs, like you really could shoot yourself in the foot in a sense where now all of a sudden you aren't working for free, but you're putting in a lot of hours for something that is not, you know, where you could be making more money elsewhere, elsewhere, right?
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Right.
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And I always, you know, in the cost of commercial bidding and stuff, I always mention that, like, hey, you know, we're gonna be here for three hours, or we're gonna be here for three and a half hours.
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Like, how many residential pools could we go and clean in three and a half hours?
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Like, you can pretty much clean a pool in like a half hour, you know, like you could be in and out of there in 35 minutes if nothing is like wrong and you don't have to like backwash the filter or you know, whatever.
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But with these commercial pools, you could wind up being there for a really long time and you kind of have to gauge it of like, you know, we gauge it off of like our hourly, like, hey, like this is how much it costs if we were to come out and do a service call or something like that.
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And it's you know, basically all time.
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So you gotta go and you gotta walk these places and you gotta, you know, see how long it's actually going to take.
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Because through with one of my walkthroughs, they they were like, hey, like this seems really expensive, like your you know, your bid.
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And I'm like, Yeah, it is.
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I'm like, my guy's gonna be there from 9 a.m.
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to to noon, you know, it's gonna be three hours of him walking around.
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I'm like, you guys have golf carts to get around here.
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I'm like, this isn't, you know, this isn't like a small little thing.
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So I've just been, and it's not that I'm having trouble with it, it's just that it's not as easy as it is with a residential pool where you're like 20,000 gallon pool, we're gonna charge you$40 a week or$30 a week or whatever.
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And if you're charging$30 a week, that's crazy.
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But I'm just throwing, I was just throwing numbers out of my ass.
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Threw a number, but but there are guys out there that are doing it for you know thir thirty dollars a a visit or whatever it is, but it winds up that you know they're just bringing the business down, everybody else's business is down, you know.
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And I know we talked a little bit about Facebook, and I know that like Rudy has uh, you know, some stuff coming up in the next couple weeks that have to do with Facebook and like you know, with what happened with 14 PSI and all that stuff.
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And I'm not gonna get I'm not gonna get too much into it.
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I'm gonna let him spearhead that.
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But you know, it was a pretty bad few weeks for social media, especially throughout the you know, Talking Pools podcast, where everybody was kind of like not souped up on you know what was going on in Facebook and all that stuff, and and rightfully so, right?
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Because like uh it's just the outlook of everything, it was just getting to the point where you know people couldn't say what they really wanted to say because they would basically get stuffed right, you know, into a garbage into a you know theoretical garbage can in and out, you know.
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But I I do want to talk, you know, on the on the flip side of that with Facebook, because I know that I've said this before on the show, but it's it's worth mentioning again that my biggest client came from from Facebook.
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And when I had first started the certified pool operator, and if you guys are out there and you're CPOs, um we have this group that I that we that we started in 2010, and it's got like 3,500 CPOs.
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So if you are a certified pool operator, you're eligible to get into the group.
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So all you have to do is go just answer the questions.
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You need to send a copy of your CPO certificate to us.
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And then the correct address for that when you go to Facebook is so pool operators-cpo.
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It's important to put that dash CPO at the end because there's another group that just says certified pool operators, and that's not yeah.
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There's a bunch, there's a bunch of different groups out there.
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Some of them are really good, some of them are just okay.
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And like I said, uh I just think that from this group, I think it started spawning a bunch of other groups, which was pretty cool.
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Yeah, because now there's a lot of good groups out there, but it's a really cool place for you to go and you can get good information.
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And uh, you know, I myself, Wayne, and Rudy are the administrators, so like we have a pretty short lease with the bullshit, so like uh you don't have to fear that like someone is gonna attack you or you know, say some crazy shit.
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There are some keyboard warriors out there where they're always cracking jokes and stuff like that, but that's just the internet and it is what it is.
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But back to you know, in 2010, I started this group, and then in 2015, I moved to California and I started my own company.
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And one of the guys in the group, he was like, Hey, he's like, I just bought a franchise, and he's like, I have no fucking idea about anything with this.
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He was like, How can I find someone to basically guide me through the process of what I have to do here?
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And it's crazy because and it's it's a swim school franchise, and the way that they work is a bit most franchises, they want you to buy a building and then they put a pool in that building, and they basically have it around this centerpiece, which is like your office per se.
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Right, right.
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This has a whole different level of what they do, so because of their insurance, they have insurance all for everybody, so it's called umbrella insurance.
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So everybody's under this big umbrella, and the way that that works is basically they lease all of the pool from the HOA or from the hotel or from the city or whatever it is, like they're leasing, they're coming in and saying, we would love in the afternoons to rent your pool.
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Like this is a school, you guys have school from 7 a.m.
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to 3 p.m.
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We would love to come in and start classes from 4 p.m.
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to to 9 p.m.
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You know, we'd love to rent it for five hours.
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So they pay to rent it, but they don't take care of the pool.
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They are not no, so they're not even allowed to backwash the filters, they're not allowed that they're they have to test the water because in New Jersey you have to test the water every two hours.
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So there's like different levels of people that they have where they have like deck attendants, those are the ones that are like like bringing in the kids and like showing them where the locker rooms are and getting everyone in and out of the pool and stuff.
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And then there's instructors that are just in the pool, right?
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But like there's someone there that's always in the morning before that class, uh like a manager's coming by testing the water, but they're they're just not allowed to like put in chemicals or or do anything like that.
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So they had to get kind of uh just creative with what they were with what they were doing, right?
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But my whole point is that at the beginning, my buddy, he really needed some just guidance on on how to take care of these pools, and he actually was flying me out from California to where he is just to do like sand changes and stuff like that, because there's you know so many pools, and like he wasn't able to actually touch any of this stuff.
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So that was like eight or nine years ago.
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Um, and now when I go to where he's at, I stay at his house.
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Like I literally stay in his apartment.
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He's cut he came to my wedding.
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I went to his wedding, and we're like the best of friends, you know, and like we're we're we're business partners and we're you know, we're friends.
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And that's really you know my whole point with that.
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That like all I did was answer his questions, and that became, you know, one of the biggest clients that I've that I've ever had.
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So again, you just never know who you're talking to online or what that person does, or you know, what what they're capable of doing for for your business, you know, and everybody out there that's super helpful.
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Um, there's a lot of guys and girls out there that are very, very, very helpful.
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That's cmahc.org.
00:16:38.310 --> 00:16:43.509
Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Insurance Interlude with your host, Steve Sherwood.
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And as always, our co-host and guest, Pat Grignon.
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So, Pat, thanks for coming on with us.
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We always appreciate you being here.
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Thanks for having me.
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So we left off in the last interlude talking about like uh you got into an accident and like uh you spilled chemicals in the road, and now they call hazmat out and EPA and a bunch of other people.
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And before you know it, boom, you just you just maxed out your coverage at 50 grand.
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Yep.
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I did, you know, I thought during the week about that a lot, and I was like, what happens if it's more than 50 grand?
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You know, like what like who pays for that?
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So that was my first question.
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And then I wanted to, you know, talk a little bit about I was thinking like, what are some other things that could happen where you might pay full coverage, but like the total cost of it blows it through the roof and is three times more expensive, right?
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And like that brought me to the thought of like, what's the most expensive thing that could happen to a swimming pool?
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Fucking pops out of the ground.
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Right.
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There's no hydrostatic relief valve, pressure builds up underneath the pool, and literally the pool pops out of the ground.
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So it's the worst thing that could happen to a pool because now you're basically paying someone 20k, 40k, you know, depending on how good they are, to demo this pool because none of that stuff is useful anymore.
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You can't reuse any of it.
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Or maybe you could like take off the Traventine coping or pieces or something, reuse them or something.
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But like at that point, like what the fuck, right?
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So it doesn't matter.
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You're paying for it.
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Yeah, now you're gonna pay for a brand new pool, too.
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So now you're in for 40 grand, and like in LA, you can't get a pool done for like less than 65-ish, 85-ish, I would say.
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And I don't even build pools, but like I know that those are kind of somewhere in the ranges, and like you could spend$3 million on a pool if you wanted to, right?
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So my question is how much coverage do we get for popped pools?
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And is there a situation, you know, that happens in both of these where that coverage goes way above the coverage that we have?
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You know, what happens next and who has to pay for that?
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And how does that all kind of play out?
00:18:59.589 --> 00:19:00.549
Yeah, yeah.
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Good, uh, all good questions.
00:19:02.549 --> 00:19:11.269
Yeah, I mean, it's you know, and that's pool pop is not common, you know, it's mainly around Gulf and Florida specifically, but but yeah, it is the most expensive.
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And not only that, but like generally speaking, if you're a service company, you may not build pools, right?
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And so to be able to go in and yeah, you pay someone to demo it, but you've also, yeah, unless you can, you know, tell the client it's just you know par for the course for where you live, like this can't happen.
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Sorry, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna pay to rebuild your pool, you know, like you're you're kind of on the hook for it.
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So, you know, we have the service company, not the builder.
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Correct.
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But okay, so here in California, nobody builds with uh hydrostatic relief house.
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Right.
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I could say that 90% of the pools that get built don't even have sumps in them.
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Yep.
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For residential pools.
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For commercial pools, they've changed the laws a little bit.
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So now they have to have dual hydraulically balanced main drains that are three feet apart, center to center.
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And in order to make that happen, you actually have to put a sump in there because you're tying them together, right?
00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:04.309
Yeah.
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So that, you know, as we go along in time, you know, less and less of these pools will exist.
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But let's say I'm in the Gulf Coast and I pop, you know, I'm servicing a pool and that pool pops, and uh it does I can prove that it doesn't have a hydrostatic relief valve by going down there and you know, taking off the cover and popping a picture of just a pipe and a cover sitting next to it, you know.
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Like, would that it like if we took that to court, like would I come out on top of that, not having to now, you know, by proving my innocence of like that shit was gonna happen, whether I was taking care of the pool, the teenage mutant ninja turtles were taking care of the pool, or God himself was taking care of the pool, right?
00:20:47.589 --> 00:20:48.869
Like, so yeah, yeah.
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Sure, short answer is yes, it should.
00:20:50.869 --> 00:21:00.229
It shouldn't go back to the builder who built it and didn't meet that that seems like automatically though, or would it, you know, the service company is obviously gonna get embroiled in this, right?
00:21:00.309 --> 00:21:01.349
So yeah, yeah.
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I I would think that that would get you excused.
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I every it all depends.
00:21:05.829 --> 00:21:10.949
Like courts are just like it matters how many bullets you have in the gun, but there's generally not one silver bullet.
00:21:11.029 --> 00:21:13.589
But that's a pretty clean that's a pretty good one, to be honest with you.
00:21:13.750 --> 00:21:21.829
If you can show, like, yeah, like it was it was a a builder defect that caused this, and I just happened to be the one that drained the pool or whatever.
00:21:21.909 --> 00:21:23.909
I was working on the pool and then it happened.
00:21:23.990 --> 00:21:25.750
I uh you got a good case right there.
00:21:25.909 --> 00:21:29.269
Nothing's really automatic, but I would think you'd be you'd get excused from that for sure.
00:21:29.429 --> 00:21:33.829
You'd just still have to pay your lawyer bills and whatnot, but you likely wouldn't be found liable.
00:21:34.069 --> 00:21:42.949
So I don't know if I've ever told you this, Pat, or if we've ever talked about it on the show, but if we have, it's it's worth an another another go-around.
00:21:43.189 --> 00:21:47.990
And this was like the most expensive mistake that I had ever made.
00:21:48.149 --> 00:21:50.869
And it wasn't just me, it was my team.
00:21:51.269 --> 00:21:57.509
Uh, we were at a commercial pool, and it was like a 375,000 gallon commercial pool.
00:21:57.829 --> 00:22:15.029
So there's a 15 horsepower pump, there's a like Merlin horizontal sand filter that has like 8,500 pounds of sand in it, and then there's a balancing tank in the basement, which is a 20,000-gallon balancing tank, and it's got six-foot inlet and outlet, right?
00:22:15.109 --> 00:22:25.909
And the whole thought process with that is it regulates the pool water if there's too many people that get in the pool, because like you know, you're allowed to have like 270 people or 300 people in this pool at once, right?
00:22:25.990 --> 00:22:27.829
So it's like displacing a lot of water.
00:22:27.990 --> 00:22:34.949
So the water goes into the tank, and then once it goes, you know, once these people get out, it goes back into the pool and regulates the pool water right at the gutters.
00:22:35.109 --> 00:22:41.109
And uh, you know, the main point of it is that it it basically holds that water in in reserve, right?
00:22:41.349 --> 00:22:41.750
Mm-hmm.
00:22:41.990 --> 00:22:44.229
And uh we like open and close this pool.
00:22:44.309 --> 00:22:45.990
We didn't even service the pool.
00:22:46.229 --> 00:22:51.990
And we, you know, when we got there, we had like three days to get the pool up and running.
00:22:52.149 --> 00:22:52.869
And this is something.
00:22:53.269 --> 00:23:00.069
That I would never normally do, but we totally shut off the gutters and we pulled strictly from the main drains.
00:23:00.309 --> 00:23:01.429
No one was going to use the pool.
00:23:01.509 --> 00:23:02.629
It was still halfway filled up.
00:23:02.709 --> 00:23:04.389
It's like filling, but we wanted to get the returns.
00:23:04.469 --> 00:23:05.509
We wanted to get chemicals in there.
00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:07.909
We wanted to get it up because they wanted it up for that weekend.
00:23:08.069 --> 00:23:11.269
And like, I had already been there for like six hours or something, right?
00:23:11.349 --> 00:23:19.829
So we're like putting the cover away, and like these guys still have like another hour's worth of like going around putting the returns in, putting shit away, whatever.
00:23:19.909 --> 00:23:21.589
And like, I got other stuff I gotta do.
00:23:21.669 --> 00:23:22.469
I'm the manager, right?
00:23:22.549 --> 00:23:23.429
I'm running the company.
00:23:23.509 --> 00:23:24.389
I'm like, okay, cool.
00:23:24.549 --> 00:23:25.429
I'm like, I'm out.
00:23:25.509 --> 00:23:26.469
You guys need anything else?
00:23:26.549 --> 00:23:27.029
They're like, no.
00:23:27.109 --> 00:23:29.509
I'm like, okay, I'm like super, super, super important.
00:23:29.750 --> 00:23:34.629
I'm like, you must, before you leave, like this has an autofill in it.
00:23:34.869 --> 00:23:43.189
You must open up this gutter when, you know, when you leave, you know, and then it'll, it's gonna, it'll be fine because it's flooded suction.
00:23:43.269 --> 00:23:43.909
It'll be okay.
00:23:44.149 --> 00:23:45.429
And they're like, all right.
00:23:45.829 --> 00:23:50.069
So they they didn't shut, they didn't open the valve.
00:23:50.389 --> 00:23:56.949
And the tank, it filled up and it pressurized and it blew up.
00:23:57.109 --> 00:24:05.750
And by blew up, I mean like it cracked, like it busted and the top cracked, and like it's you know, hundred thousand gallons of water now just went into the pump room.
00:24:05.909 --> 00:24:06.229
Right.
00:24:06.389 --> 00:24:11.829
And they had like a couple sump pumps down there and stuff, but like that wasn't enough with all of this water coming in there.
00:24:11.990 --> 00:24:14.309
So basically, everything was underwater.
00:24:14.469 --> 00:24:21.750
And uh, you know, they had their lawyer contact us and they were like, hey, we're gonna have a meeting.
00:24:21.909 --> 00:24:30.229
So, like, uh, I went to the meeting and I'm like in my mid-20s, and I'm like, we're gonna get fucking just rigged through the leaves here, we're gonna get sued, you know.
00:24:30.309 --> 00:24:33.429
And I I started doing some research on the balancing tanks and stuff.
00:24:33.589 --> 00:24:44.389
And I in New Jersey, the the law states that if you put in a balancing tank, you know, for this specific reason, you have to put on it this thing called the blow-off valve.
00:24:44.549 --> 00:24:48.389
And what the blow-off valve does is it's fucking idiot proofs it.
00:24:48.629 --> 00:24:54.309
And uh, if you closed one of the valves and left it closed, it wouldn't bust the tank.
00:24:55.189 --> 00:25:00.709
It would literally just start spraying water onto the the grass up top or whatever it is, you know.
00:25:00.949 --> 00:25:03.109
So no harm, no foul with that.
00:25:03.589 --> 00:25:22.229
But I had to, you know, go into this meeting and basically, you know, nicely tell these older gentlemen in suits that I was like, look, like I understand that you know, we definitely closed the thing and the thing pressurized and it blew up, and like we're really, really, really sorry that that happened.
00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:27.349
But like, you know, it says here that this should have had this.
00:25:27.589 --> 00:25:31.189
And I'm like, can you show me where that is on this thing?
00:25:31.269 --> 00:25:31.829
You know?
00:25:32.709 --> 00:25:35.029
And there was just silence.
00:25:35.269 --> 00:25:39.509
And I was like, okay, does anybody have any questions before I get out of here?
00:25:43.349 --> 00:25:45.829
One of those things where like it didn't make it to court or anything like that.
00:25:45.909 --> 00:25:49.990
And if they did try and make it go to court, like it would have been 100% not our fault.
00:25:50.149 --> 00:26:01.349
But that's a situation where an unfortunate accident, you know, turns into you know something where hey, like uh that that actually should have had like a safety feature on it, and and it didn't, right?
00:26:01.509 --> 00:26:10.309
Yeah, and that's what happens a lot of times where things happen and then they find out later on, like, hey, this was supposed to be there with like uh the backup systems and different things like that.
00:26:10.549 --> 00:26:19.909
So reeling it back in to the popped pool situation, so how much coverage do you get for the popped pool?
00:26:20.149 --> 00:26:28.869
And you know, who's responsible for it if the if it goes above what that coverage, above what coverage is afforded?
00:26:29.109 --> 00:26:30.629
Yeah, yeah, good questions.
00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:40.709
Yeah, and look, that's a you know, that's a good example of probably how the conversation would go if they didn't have you know the valve, the correct valve installed for you know, draining a pool.
00:26:40.789 --> 00:26:48.789
And and you know, like it would probably almost 100% of the time go like that, like, well, hey, isn't this supposed to have a like silence, right?
00:26:49.189 --> 00:27:00.869
Correct me if I'm wrong, but uh and some of my clients, some of my clients used to do that too, like where they would call me and they would like already know the answer to what they were gonna ask me, but then they would ask me just to see what I would say.
00:27:01.189 --> 00:27:07.029
I would like lie to them or like whatever, and I would just tell them like exactly what it was, and they were like okay, yeah, that's what we thought.
00:27:07.189 --> 00:27:07.750
Yeah, you're right.
00:27:07.829 --> 00:27:08.389
That's our fault.
00:27:09.349 --> 00:27:11.109
I'm like, yep, yep, exactly.
00:27:11.269 --> 00:27:21.029
So so we have on on our standard policy, we've got a 50,000 per occurrence, 100,000 max for the policy term for pop-up coverage.
00:27:21.269 --> 00:27:34.869
So generally speaking, you know, the thing with insurance is, you know, yes, you would be responsible if you're the service company and you didn't pop the valve and you drained it and the pool came up out of the ground, you'd be responsible for all of the damages there.
00:27:35.029 --> 00:27:38.389
So, you know, we have a sublimit there that would cover a chunk of the cost.
00:27:38.469 --> 00:27:45.269
And a lot of times, if there was lawyers involved, they would take max limits and they take the 50 and then they'd write off into the sunset.
00:27:45.429 --> 00:27:47.429
Sometimes not, they can see you for the rest.
00:27:47.509 --> 00:28:02.469
But uh, you can also get a separate policy for up to a million or millions of dollars if you wanted to, that would cover, you know, not just not just pop-up, but like property damage because of faulty work, basically, which is excluded under standard policy.
00:28:02.549 --> 00:28:04.229
And I know we've talked about that before.
00:28:04.469 --> 00:28:06.629
So, you know, it's the same as like acid.
00:28:06.789 --> 00:28:13.269
What we have acid wash property damage coverage, 25 grand each occurrence in case you, you know, you got a replaster a pool.
00:28:13.349 --> 00:28:14.949
We've got the I that happened to me.
00:28:15.429 --> 00:28:18.229
That happened to me too one time, but I just decided to eat.
00:28:18.309 --> 00:28:20.309
I think I think I decided to eat it.
00:28:20.549 --> 00:28:21.269
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:24.389
If you can get it done for five six, it wasn't our fault though.
00:28:24.469 --> 00:28:27.349
Like the pool was really, really, really stained and it was mini pebble.
00:28:27.750 --> 00:28:36.149
And like uh my guys called me and they were like, look, they were like the staining isn't coming off, but if we start acid washing it harder, like the pebbles might start coming out.
00:28:36.389 --> 00:28:36.869
Right.
00:28:37.109 --> 00:28:42.469
And I was like, all right, I'm like, well, let's just do it use it a little bit stronger, you know.
00:28:42.629 --> 00:28:46.469
And it didn't matter what the strength was, it had already started coming apart when I went there.
00:28:46.549 --> 00:28:47.829
I was like, oh shit.
00:28:48.069 --> 00:28:56.069
And sure enough, like, you know, we have a robotic vacuum cleaner there, and it was like picking up all of this, like other like, you know, these beads and pebbles and shit.
00:28:56.229 --> 00:28:56.389
Yeah.
00:28:56.469 --> 00:28:58.789
The client was like, Well, like, what are we gonna do about this?
00:28:58.869 --> 00:29:05.189
And I'm like, Well, I'm like, I had you sign that acid wash disclosure that told you that this could get effed up.
00:29:05.509 --> 00:29:10.309
But again, like when something like that happens, it's wasn't just a one-off job.
00:29:10.469 --> 00:29:16.389
He was my client, he was my weekly client, and like we've been with him for two years already, and we were like, All right, we're gonna do this in six months.
00:29:16.549 --> 00:29:22.469
Like, so I just we went back and we we redid the pool, and he paid for some of it too.
00:29:22.549 --> 00:29:23.029
You know what I mean?
00:29:23.109 --> 00:29:33.349
It wasn't like it was like a full loss or anything like that, because he understood as well that like you know, basically we're at a stalemate here, and we both were willing to move a little bit with it.
00:29:34.709 --> 00:29:49.029
Now, we gotta finish up this segment in in a minute, but I wanted to ask you if you had seen a few weeks ago there was a pool on a hillside in the Hollywood Hills, and someone overfilled it.
00:29:49.189 --> 00:29:50.789
And this is my worst nightmare.
00:29:50.869 --> 00:29:58.229
Yeah, that someone overfilled the pool, and you know, basically it it caused like a a landslide.
00:29:58.389 --> 00:30:05.990
Yeah, and you know, I wanna let's let's think about this one because I got more stuff with it, because I've got stuff that have happened that's happened to me with that.
00:30:06.069 --> 00:30:08.389
So let's just let's let's talk about that one next week.
00:30:08.549 --> 00:30:20.869
But there's just so much stuff that could happen that's out of your control that now puts you in the middle of all of this BS that goes on with this stuff, and now you're getting sued, right?
00:30:21.269 --> 00:30:29.909
So I always say to everybody, like when you're at a swimming pool and dealing with a swimming pool, the people that you work with could be the best team in the world.
00:30:30.149 --> 00:30:43.589
You guys could love coming to work, you're compensated monetarily, everybody's happy, you have an awesome pension plan and a retirement plan, and they pay for your 401k, and everything is, you know, everything's dandy duty.
00:30:43.750 --> 00:30:49.269
And something, you know, you're not gonna stop kids from running around acting like crazy people.
00:30:49.509 --> 00:30:58.309
And like if you work at a hotel, like if people are gonna drink and do drugs up in their room and then come down to the pool and wall out, like you just gotta deal with the aftermath of that.
00:30:58.549 --> 00:31:01.429
So there's just a lot of things that can happen out of your control.
00:31:01.509 --> 00:31:08.149
And like, I'm trusting that like the engineering department at the hotels that I'm at are gonna be taking care of the pool when we're not there, right?
00:31:08.229 --> 00:31:09.750
Like, we're only there three days a week.
00:31:09.990 --> 00:31:15.429
Something could happen on a day on Sunday when we're not even there, and we had we had nothing to do with it.
00:31:15.589 --> 00:31:24.469
We weren't on site when this happened, but because we're the guys coming on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, guess who they're trying to you know get in trouble?
00:31:24.709 --> 00:31:33.269
So you could have the best run company with the best employees in the world, and shit's still gonna roll downhill, and this is the reason why we have insurance.
00:31:33.429 --> 00:31:43.029
So, guys, if you're looking for your insurance needs, please reach out to California Pool Association and at least reach out to your insurer and make sure that you're insured for all of this stuff.
00:31:43.269 --> 00:31:48.629
Where with California Pool Association, it actually comes included in your general liability policy, right?
00:31:48.869 --> 00:31:50.469
So um give them a look.
00:31:50.549 --> 00:31:56.949
And if you decide to come on for an annual policy, they will give you a uh a month free if you mention the Talking Pools podcast.
00:31:57.189 --> 00:32:00.229
So, Pat, thank you again so much for the insight and being here.
00:32:00.389 --> 00:32:01.589
We always love having you on.
00:32:01.750 --> 00:32:04.389
And guys, listeners, thank you so much for tuning in.
00:32:04.469 --> 00:32:08.309
This is the insurance interlude, and we will chat at you next week.
00:32:08.469 --> 00:32:08.949
Thanks.
00:32:09.349 --> 00:32:10.149
Thanks, Steve.
00:32:11.189 --> 00:32:14.149
This episode is brought to you in part by Pool Brain.
00:32:14.309 --> 00:32:20.869
Pool Brain gives pool professionals the tools to run smarter, more efficient, and more profitable service businesses.
00:32:21.029 --> 00:32:23.429
Check them out at poolbrain.com.
00:32:24.229 --> 00:32:28.149
There's this one girl, and she's from the East Coast.
00:32:28.389 --> 00:32:31.189
I'm not gonna name her name because I'm not sure if she'd be comfortable with that.
00:32:31.269 --> 00:32:36.949
And I don't, we're friends on Facebook, but like uh basically she's top-notch leak detection.
00:32:37.109 --> 00:32:49.990
And I'm pretty sure that like her father also did it too, and like they kind of own the company together, and they're always asking super awesome questions, but they're also giving really, really, really top-notch information.
00:32:50.229 --> 00:32:58.149
And I just wanted to to talk about this one specific post that was made, and I like was blown away by her answer.
00:32:58.389 --> 00:33:04.309
And basically, the question was, you know, anybody have any issues with the basic hydrophone setup from Anderson Leak Tools?
00:33:04.389 --> 00:33:10.469
You know, he wants to buy it, but it's wants to make sure that it's like working properly, and like what's everybody's thoughts and has anybody used it?
00:33:10.549 --> 00:33:13.829
And you know, what was your success or not success?
00:33:14.069 --> 00:33:22.309
And what she said was, you know, the Anderson thing is really good, but not all leaks, you know, make enough sound to be picked up.
00:33:22.469 --> 00:33:25.990
So she said it has to do with vibrations and velocity of the escaping water.
00:33:26.149 --> 00:33:28.789
She was like, I've tested it on hundreds of confirmed leaks.
00:33:28.949 --> 00:33:33.990
She said, if you find a leak that you can hear, practice honing your skills with that one.
00:33:34.549 --> 00:33:37.509
Go back and forth, up and down and across the pool from it.
00:33:37.589 --> 00:33:40.549
Notice the changes in volume and any echoes across the pool.
00:33:40.709 --> 00:33:44.309
The best way to learn is just to play with it on your confirmed leaks.
00:33:44.869 --> 00:33:48.069
And she said, if you still aren't hearing much, make sure the volume knob on the headphones.
00:33:48.229 --> 00:33:53.429
And she goes, you know, basically, like, hey, take some picks, um, feel free to PM me, you know what I mean?
00:33:53.589 --> 00:33:58.149
And I just thought that that was such a fucking humble answer for her to say.
00:33:58.309 --> 00:33:59.829
And I just never thought about it like that.
00:33:59.909 --> 00:34:01.909
And I used to do leak detection.
00:34:02.149 --> 00:34:11.829
And, you know, I never thought you know, you spend four hours at this pool, five hours at this pool, and you finally find the leak, and you're like, fuck yeah, I found the leak.
00:34:11.909 --> 00:34:13.510
Like, let's get the fuck out of here, right?
00:34:13.670 --> 00:34:13.750
Right.
00:34:13.990 --> 00:34:17.750
And you you leave, you mark it, you leave, you go back, you fix it, and whatever.
00:34:17.990 --> 00:34:26.949
But yeah, that's what you should be doing is if you find then you bring your other guys there and you say, Hey, I've already found the leak at this place, let's get to work.
00:34:27.030 --> 00:34:28.550
I'm not gonna tell you where it is.
00:34:28.710 --> 00:34:32.869
Yeah, you know, and you be like, hey, you're getting a little bit hotter, you're getting a little bit colder.
00:34:33.030 --> 00:34:33.750
Can you hear that?
00:34:33.909 --> 00:34:51.750
And you know, as a guy who had the whole Anderson kit, with I had the thing that went over the light, and I had the one, the thing that goes in the this little T thing that goes into the pool for vinyl liner pools, and it'll start beeping when you get close to where the hole in the liner is.
00:34:51.829 --> 00:35:07.750
And then also we have these hydrophones, and man, the hydrophones were just really, really, really hard to work, you know, like, and that's why I always say to everybody, like, if you're thinking about getting into leak detection, you can't just go and buy stuff.
00:35:07.910 --> 00:35:14.550
Like, I would go and like work for a leak detection company or work for somebody who does leaks and be like, yo, do you need a helper?
00:35:14.630 --> 00:35:15.910
Like, can I come help you?
00:35:15.990 --> 00:35:17.190
Or or whatever.
00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:21.670
Because this stuff is time consuming.
00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:28.870
And a lot of times, like uh if you're not properly trained, like you're gonna go out there and you're not gonna find the leak.
00:35:29.030 --> 00:35:39.349
You know, so now you're and I've had this happen a couple times where like guy goes out, doesn't find the leak, and now we're at this, like, okay, like uh, do I pay you?
00:35:39.510 --> 00:35:41.110
Like, what what happened what happens now?
00:35:41.269 --> 00:35:48.550
Because you said you were gonna confirm that we had a leak and you you didn't, you know, so now it gets into a sticky situation.
00:35:48.710 --> 00:35:51.910
But my leak detect my leak detection days are are over.
00:35:52.150 --> 00:35:55.430
I like I said, I don't want to do leak detection anymore.
00:35:55.590 --> 00:36:09.269
I actually send someone out to do leak detection, and he was like, Hey, I couldn't find the leak, but the next steps are like, you know, we gotta label all of the valves because there's like 20 different valves at this pool, and then isolate like the trough, then isolate the pool, then isolate the skimmer.
00:36:09.349 --> 00:36:11.349
And I was like, Who's doing that?
00:36:11.670 --> 00:36:14.230
You know, I was like, I I gotta be completely honest with you.
00:36:14.309 --> 00:36:18.470
I was like, I thought I was paying you to do that shit, you know what I mean?
00:36:18.550 --> 00:36:25.430
But the guy lives really far, and I understand like it's he's not gonna come back five times for for one price, you know, and I I totally get and understand that.
00:36:25.670 --> 00:36:58.710
Um, but I'm kind of at like a stalemate here where like this pool's losing water, and like now we have to do a bunch of work to even get it to isolate it because all of the valves are not labeled anymore because the UV rays have like uh you know basically taken them off, you know, like it used to everything used to be labeled, but now none of them are labeled because it's five years down the road, and now we have to like go back and relabel everything, and that's like uh pretty hard because we're gonna have to blow air into like all the lines and stuff.
00:36:58.789 --> 00:37:10.309
So like me and my service manager are gonna have to go back and basically spend like two, three hours at this pool just to kind of get everything squared away, so we now can start doing leak more leak detection at this pool.
00:37:10.789 --> 00:37:22.550
But you know, my whole point here is that you know, if you're not out there doing just leak detection and you want to get into leak detection, that there are different ways that you can do it.
00:37:22.710 --> 00:37:31.269
You know, Darren Merlobe actually owns leaktronics, and it's uh that's like uh you know one of the competitors from Anderson.
00:37:31.510 --> 00:37:37.349
And what he does is he actually has a program where you can he'll fly you.
00:37:37.510 --> 00:37:40.070
Well, I don't know if he'll fly you, but you gotta pay for it, obviously.
00:37:40.150 --> 00:37:42.070
And like the whole program is is money.
00:37:42.230 --> 00:37:44.710
You know, you gotta call you gotta pay money to get into the program.
00:37:44.870 --> 00:37:49.030
But you come to his, you know, his office in California here.
00:37:49.190 --> 00:37:51.910
I'm pretty sure it's in like Newberry Park or something like that.
00:37:52.230 --> 00:38:10.070
And it's like a week-long training where every day like he has these pools that are leaking, and he takes you to them with his equipment and shows you how to find all these leaks and how to you how to actually use his equipment and all the plugs and stuff.
00:38:10.309 --> 00:38:12.950
And also, like, this shit can become dangerous too.
00:38:13.030 --> 00:38:25.990
Like, you're putting air into the lines with these plugs and stuff, so like you got to make sure that everything is secure and like you know, basically that you're not gonna hurt yourself when when you're doing this, and if you just go or create more damage, right?
00:38:26.070 --> 00:38:29.670
And that is definitely possible that you can that you can do something like that.
00:38:29.750 --> 00:38:39.190
Um, but again, you know, the thing for me always is like I just I have a couple leak detection guys that I'll use if if we have a leak.
00:38:39.430 --> 00:38:43.190
But the first thing is like you always have to confirm that there's a leak, right?
00:38:43.269 --> 00:38:51.430
So you you do the free bucket test and basically fill up the bucket, Home Depot bucket, five gallon bucket, and you make the water level even on the inside that it is on the outside.
00:38:51.670 --> 00:39:02.550
And then uh you you wait a couple days, you know, 24 hours you check it, 48 hours you check it, and now if you have more water loss outside the bucket than inside the bucket, you know, you tape it off or do whatever you gotta do to remember where it's at.
00:39:02.710 --> 00:39:08.550
And uh, you know, if you go to the shows and stuff, American Leak Detection actually has these buckets that have a ruler on the outside, which are pretty cool.
00:39:08.630 --> 00:39:10.309
So I've got a bunch of those, which are kind of nice.
00:39:10.470 --> 00:39:15.110
And it's crazy, Wayne, but like we're coming into trade show season already.
00:39:15.990 --> 00:39:23.829
You know, I actually just had my RayPak rep call me and he was like, Hey, he's like, I just wanted to make sure that you were going to the show because we want to take you out to dinner or whatever.
00:39:23.990 --> 00:39:25.190
Um, and he's really great.
00:39:25.269 --> 00:39:31.670
His name's John Maloney, he's with Ray Pack, and uh they do a really good job with with their support.
00:39:31.910 --> 00:39:34.470
I want to talk about one other thing too.
00:39:35.269 --> 00:39:40.150
I'm just having this really unique issue with this commercial pool that I have.
00:39:40.309 --> 00:39:43.750
And part of the problem is it's uh it's a historic property.
00:39:44.070 --> 00:39:49.750
So with historic properties, you can't just go like ripping shit out and changing stuff and like uh process.
00:39:49.829 --> 00:39:52.390
Yeah, yeah, there's a process that you have to follow.
00:39:52.789 --> 00:40:12.150
So whoever built this pool like wasn't really thinking when they built it because the pool is on the fifth floor, and the equipment, like the heater and the pump, and the filter, and all the plumbing and valves and stuff, that's in the basement.
00:40:12.390 --> 00:40:15.750
So it's six floors down, right?
00:40:15.910 --> 00:40:20.710
So it's the street level, and then there's three levels down from the street, yeah.
00:40:20.870 --> 00:40:31.750
And there's like a room where this filter is and all this stuff, and basically uh, you know, we installed all the stuff that we we we regularly install, right?
00:40:31.829 --> 00:40:49.990
So we have like a like a pent air, you know, TR100 or TR140 or whatever it is, and then we have like a regular multi port, and we were like blowing apart buttresses off the top of the filter, and like the multi port, like the gasket was actually like getting pushed out from the inside.
00:40:50.150 --> 00:41:09.349
Um, like the bell gasket on the pump would sometimes come out and shoot out of stuff, and then like the how the front housing would get all warped and stuff, and it's a combination of the water being super hot because the spa's at 104 degrees all the time and the pool's at 90 degrees all the time, and head pressure.
00:41:09.829 --> 00:41:16.870
So the head pressure on this when the pool is not on is at like 38 psi.
00:41:17.269 --> 00:41:17.590
Whoa.
00:41:17.829 --> 00:41:22.950
So once we turn the once we turn on the pumps, it immediately jumps to 45 psi.
00:41:23.349 --> 00:41:26.390
All of this stuff is max rated for 50 psi.
00:41:26.710 --> 00:41:30.070
Well, actually, those other filters, I don't even know if they're for for 50 psi.
00:41:30.309 --> 00:41:34.870
So what we had to do is we had to change out the filters to like the 75 max psi ones.
00:41:34.950 --> 00:41:44.550
So we had to get the smaller pent air ones, and then now we did like uh instead of having a multi-port, we have like a push-pull valve, like a commercial push-pull valve on there.
00:41:44.789 --> 00:41:49.910
And that was like the worst decision in the world to put in because it's plastic, and guess what's happening?
00:41:49.990 --> 00:41:52.710
It's warping and it's leaking constantly all the time.
00:41:52.870 --> 00:41:57.190
And we're and look, like I it keeps us in business, you know what I mean?
00:41:57.269 --> 00:42:21.829
Like we're constantly going back there, but like I don't want this, like, I do not want this thing leaking all the time, and it's leaking all of the time, you know, and we're constantly having to come back and just mess with it and change out like little internal parts and stuff, and like uh there's nothing that anyone can really do because the ultimate fix for this is to put in a four-valve manifold, you know, but like uh it's a process to do that.
00:42:22.309 --> 00:42:27.349
So we're in the process of like going over, hey, like this is what needs to be done to get that fixed.
00:42:27.430 --> 00:42:34.870
Uh, but like our options right now are like cut out this push-pull valve and put in a new one, which is gonna take four or five hours anyway.
00:42:35.030 --> 00:42:42.550
Um, we you know cut out the whole thing and put in a four valve manifold, but again, now the now the spa's gonna be down for two days.
00:42:42.789 --> 00:42:48.950
This is like a pretty intense hotel, you know, pretty it's like five, six star hotel.
00:42:49.430 --> 00:42:55.269
So they're not souped up on you know changing, you know, putting the spa down for for any amount of time.
00:42:55.510 --> 00:42:56.150
Right, right.
00:42:56.390 --> 00:43:00.950
It also puts us in this weird position of like uh we're constantly having to go back.
00:43:01.110 --> 00:43:09.829
And uh I don't really know what to tell them at this point, you know, and there is no answer for this, like we just have to go and put in the four valve manifold, but it's like when do we do that?
00:43:09.910 --> 00:43:11.990
And like when is the best time for us to do that?
00:43:12.150 --> 00:43:21.030
And then also like their director of engineering, uh he just had a baby and he's like on paternity leave right now, and he's like usually the one that kind of spearheads everything.
00:43:21.190 --> 00:43:27.750
So there's like a sister property that's across the street, and that guy's kind of taking the the lead on that, which is fine, like they're all great to work with.
00:43:27.990 --> 00:43:33.030
It's just like uh the approval process is like uh not so straightforward, yeah.
00:43:33.110 --> 00:43:46.309
You know, so it just puts us in like a weird position, you know, and I don't want to waste their time or money or energy like and give them this proposal, and it's half the price of the other proposal, and we're gonna put this in, and then in three weeks we're gonna put in that other thing.
00:43:46.390 --> 00:43:48.230
Like, I'm not trying to do that either.
00:43:48.550 --> 00:44:00.150
But like right now, what we're left with is the engineers that work at this hotel, they are multiple times a day having to put more water into the spa because that's how much it's making, you know.
00:44:00.230 --> 00:44:05.990
So it's one of these things where it's like usually we'll just pull a full stop and we'll just fix it.
00:44:06.309 --> 00:44:12.150
But with something like this, you know, this isn't a we're not buying a pizza here, you know.
00:44:12.309 --> 00:44:13.590
Like this is a shortcut.
00:44:13.829 --> 00:44:21.750
Yeah, well, not just that, it's like we're we're changing around stuff, and it's uh it's not that it's that super expensive, it's just more time consuming for us.
00:44:21.910 --> 00:44:30.470
Um, and there's just a lot of things that can go wrong in this situation where like I don't even like to backwash the filters myself anymore.
00:44:30.550 --> 00:44:39.670
Like, I usually bring someone with me just to make sure because there's like you have to like hit you have to like take all these valves and like close them and then make sure that they're back open.
00:44:39.750 --> 00:44:42.870
And like if you didn't, literally the filter would blow up.
00:44:43.190 --> 00:44:58.470
Um just because like I've had before where everything was fine and open, and all of a sudden the bulkhead pops, and we're like uh it's just shooting water out of the Bulkhead, you know, and to fix that, you have to take all of the sand, you basically have to do a sand sand change out of the filter.
00:44:58.630 --> 00:45:02.870
And at this point, we've done that like uh six times in the last two years.
00:45:03.910 --> 00:45:07.829
So it's just like every day is another another issue with this place.
00:45:08.150 --> 00:45:17.110
And again, um, one of the first clients that I had when I came here, and we've had a great working relationship for nine years, um, and they're great people to work with.
00:45:17.190 --> 00:45:21.829
It's just uh it's one of these battles that I just constantly feel like we're losing.
00:45:22.070 --> 00:45:24.630
Some people would call job security, yeah.
00:45:24.870 --> 00:45:37.910
No, and I get I get that, and that's that's always cool too, but it's just still right, it's just really awesome that that they're really cool about it too, because like a lot of people, um, I'll give you an example.
00:45:38.230 --> 00:45:44.150
The director of engineering that's there, he left and he went to to another place for a few months.
00:45:44.309 --> 00:45:54.070
And when they replaced him, I was like, oh man, we're gonna lose this account because the new guy that they brought in was just like, why is this not working?
00:45:54.150 --> 00:45:55.430
What like what's this here?
00:45:55.590 --> 00:45:59.030
Like what you know, basically like questioning what we were doing.
00:45:59.110 --> 00:46:01.030
And he was like, Why does this stuff keep breaking?
00:46:01.110 --> 00:46:02.390
Like, isn't this under warranty?
00:46:02.470 --> 00:46:04.309
Like, why are you not fixing this under warranty?
00:46:04.470 --> 00:46:15.190
And I was like, hey, I was like, you know, we had pent air come out, like we used to be able to warranty stuff, and then we had pent air come out, and they were like, You see the PSI gauge?
00:46:15.269 --> 00:46:16.550
Like they were like, Do you see that?
00:46:16.630 --> 00:46:17.910
They were like, Is that normal?
00:46:18.150 --> 00:46:19.030
Is that broken?
00:46:19.190 --> 00:46:21.670
And we were like, No, like that's just the head pressure.
00:46:21.750 --> 00:46:24.230
And they were like, Okay, well, now I see your problem.
00:46:24.390 --> 00:46:26.550
Like, you have too much head pressure, you know.
00:46:26.710 --> 00:46:30.230
So, like, they're not gonna just keep continuing to give you parts and stuff.
00:46:30.390 --> 00:46:34.070
So that you know, he was trying to like blame us and stuff, and I was like, No.
00:46:34.230 --> 00:46:39.190
And luckily, the it didn't work out for the DOE at the other place.
00:46:39.349 --> 00:46:43.910
He was like, I he actually found out that that was not the place that he wanted to work, so he came back.
00:46:44.070 --> 00:46:54.710
So now, you know, it's just really awesome when you work with a client where they they truly do understand the problem, and they're not looking at you like, hey, this is your problem.
00:46:54.870 --> 00:46:59.510
Like they kind of look at it like, hey, like this is our problem, and how are we gonna all fix it together?
00:46:59.670 --> 00:47:07.110
You know, and basically anything that we tell them, like, hey, we should do this or hey, we should do that, like they know that we have their best interest at heart.
00:47:07.269 --> 00:47:28.230
And that's why it's always so, so, so super important that with your residential clients and your commercial clients that you just communicate with them so they understand and you give them the facts, just because a lot of times it's just it gets like misconstrued or they don't understand, or they think it's your fault, or they think that you know your guy's doing something wrong or or whatever.
00:47:28.390 --> 00:47:37.030
Um, and then also like on the other side of the coin, too, like I didn't realize one of my service techs, he kept skipping this pool.
00:47:37.190 --> 00:47:42.710
And I thought he was going to it the next day, but he was going to it the next time he was in the area, which was like three days later.
00:47:42.950 --> 00:47:46.230
And I just, as I was looking through his stuff, like it didn't make sense.
00:47:46.309 --> 00:47:50.390
And I was like, hey, like why, why, why, like that's not the right day to do this pool.
00:47:50.470 --> 00:47:51.990
I'm like, why are you doing this pool on this day?
00:47:52.070 --> 00:47:56.950
And he's like, Oh, he's like, you know, basically like I just couldn't get to it and whatever, and yada, yada, yada.
00:47:57.349 --> 00:47:59.430
And I was like, Well, we we can't do that.
00:47:59.510 --> 00:48:04.710
I'm like, if you skip the pool, you have to go, it has to be the first pool that you go to the next day, you know.
00:48:04.870 --> 00:48:07.430
So I was like, okay, I'm like, you're gonna go there tomorrow.
00:48:07.590 --> 00:48:11.750
And I texted the client and I was like, hey, I was like, sorry, this was an oversight for me.
00:48:11.829 --> 00:48:14.230
Like, I didn't realize that we were doing this every week.
00:48:14.390 --> 00:48:18.070
But basically, what's gonna happen is I'm gonna have the service tech come.
00:48:18.150 --> 00:48:20.070
We're gonna do your pool for free today.
00:48:20.230 --> 00:48:24.230
We're not gonna charge you for any of the extra chemicals that we put in because the pool had algae.
00:48:24.309 --> 00:48:30.150
Um, he's also gonna come back over the weekend to check on it, and then he'll come on your nerve normal service day on Monday.
00:48:30.309 --> 00:48:35.349
And then I text them on Monday, and I was like, hey, I'm like, pool still looks kind of crappy.
00:48:35.430 --> 00:48:44.630
I'm like, we're gonna put in extra chlorine and we're gonna come back on Thursday, and that visit on Thursday will also be covered by us with whatever chemicals we need to use.
00:48:44.870 --> 00:48:50.309
You know, and that changes people's attitudes from like, what the fuck are these guys doing?
00:48:50.550 --> 00:48:53.590
to like they're really going out of their way to take care of me.
00:48:53.750 --> 00:49:13.030
And like, I, you know, I gotta pay the service tech to go back, and then I gotta pay for the chemicals, but you know, it would have if it's 50, 60 bucks or or whatever it is, or you know, 80 bucks or whatever, just to keep my client happy because I know that we're the ones that kind of fucked up a little bit, you know, like because we weren't doing what we what we said and what we were supposed to do.
00:49:13.110 --> 00:49:17.110
Like we weren't making it on our, you know, on our regularly scheduled service day.
00:49:17.190 --> 00:49:23.510
And that happens a lot, where like something happens with a commercial client, hey, all hands on deck, stop what you're doing, go over there.
00:49:23.750 --> 00:49:31.030
And you know, now he goes back to his pools, but instead of starting his pools at 6 a.m., he's starting it at 11:30.
00:49:31.269 --> 00:49:36.789
And if you have 13 pools, there's no way you're getting to 13 pools if you're starting your day at 11:30.
00:49:37.030 --> 00:49:40.230
You know, so those pools at the end of the day, what do you do with them?
00:49:40.309 --> 00:49:42.470
You gotta you gotta shove them to the next day, right?
00:49:42.550 --> 00:49:59.269
And that that happens quite frequently, especially in the summertime, because now you're finding yourself at these pools for an hour and 15 minutes, or you have a pool that has algae and you're there for 90 minutes or whatever, because you're you're brushing and you're putting in extra chemicals and you know, this, that, and the other thing.
00:49:59.590 --> 00:50:02.710
So day in the life.
00:50:05.269 --> 00:50:19.190
Well, I mean, and and it also points out to something that I know that you and I have talked about both on the podcast and and privately, is that effective communications between you and your clients, uh, between you and your staff.
00:50:19.430 --> 00:50:23.590
I mean, you you can't put a price on how valuable that is.
00:50:24.230 --> 00:50:26.390
And I'm talking about good communication.
00:50:26.550 --> 00:50:39.910
And and I mean, you you've talked about it before where you know you talk to your customers and you tell them something, and you tell them the truth, obviously, and you tell them, well, this is why we couldn't make it, this is why we're doing this, this is whatever.
00:50:40.390 --> 00:50:48.070
And by having a really good relationship like that, I mean that that's that's money in your pocket down the road.
00:50:48.230 --> 00:50:53.590
You know, uh it it's it's worth every effort that y'all put in.
00:50:53.670 --> 00:50:58.150
And and I I can remember my time with Taylor it kind of the same way.
00:50:58.309 --> 00:51:09.030
I mean I think I mentioned this, and we tried to figure out how many people I've taught something to over the whole time I was there, and it was well over 10,000 people.
00:51:09.510 --> 00:51:11.190
That's a different kind of communication.
00:51:11.349 --> 00:51:22.309
That's more teaching than it is, you know, trying to trying to figure out a problem or service a customer's account, but it's still communication, so incredibly important.
00:51:22.710 --> 00:51:24.950
Speaking of communication, that's it for today.
00:51:25.110 --> 00:51:26.870
We stopped communicating with you.
00:51:27.110 --> 00:51:29.349
Well, also, just one more point, Wayne, before we go.
00:51:29.590 --> 00:51:29.910
Sure.
00:51:30.309 --> 00:51:43.430
You know, there are people out there that are willing to help, you know, and with all my CPO students, I always tell them, you know, my door is always open for you, and this is the beginning of your journey, not the end of your journey.
00:51:43.670 --> 00:51:49.030
And a lot of those people later on will call me and they'll say, Hey, like I'm having a problem, can you help me?
00:51:49.110 --> 00:51:55.590
And you know, with those people, I have no problem, you know, mentoring them and you know, helping them out how however I can.
00:51:55.829 --> 00:52:02.070
I've also had people where they were like, Hey, like, can we do like a ride along with you?
00:52:02.390 --> 00:52:19.269
And when I was doing pools myself, like I would do that, where I would have someone come out and like I would show them like physically actually how to do pools, you know, where this is this is why we're doing the route this way, this is why we're you know, starting on this side of town first, or you know, whatever it may be.
00:52:19.750 --> 00:52:24.230
But as our company has grown, I've stopped doing that.
00:52:24.309 --> 00:52:26.789
And I had someone in my last in-person class last week.
00:52:26.870 --> 00:52:29.590
There were, he was like, Hey, he's like, I'm more of a visual learner like you.
00:52:29.670 --> 00:52:35.430
He's like, after class, he's like, Could I come out with you guys and you know get some hands-on training and stuff?
00:52:35.590 --> 00:52:39.269
And like, I was like, I was like, we don't really do that anymore.
00:52:39.590 --> 00:52:48.390
Because also, like, I don't want to send someone out with my like service manager or one of my service guys because they're trying to work.
00:52:48.630 --> 00:52:49.110
Sure.
00:52:49.349 --> 00:52:57.910
You know, and what I've found is like if I need to meet with Carlos, my service manager, I don't meet with him when he shows up.
00:52:58.070 --> 00:53:03.349
Like, I used to meet with him at the beginning of the visit, like, oh, oh, you're gonna get there at six, like I'll meet you at six.
00:53:03.590 --> 00:53:07.510
And then the whole time, like he's walking around, then I'm following behind him.
00:53:07.590 --> 00:53:08.950
I'm like, yo, like what about this?
00:53:09.030 --> 00:53:09.910
Like, what's up with this?
00:53:09.990 --> 00:53:16.150
You know, and like it turned into like a where he just was like, Can you just shut the fuck up?
00:53:16.230 --> 00:53:16.950
Like, you know what I mean?
00:53:17.030 --> 00:53:18.630
Like, I I I want to work.
00:53:18.870 --> 00:53:21.030
Like, I'm like you're actually holding me up.
00:53:21.190 --> 00:53:25.190
And he didn't, you know, it was he didn't say that, but like basically that's what it was.
00:53:25.269 --> 00:53:27.910
It was like, bro, like you stop coming while I'm working.
00:53:28.070 --> 00:53:34.309
Yeah, you know, you want to meet with me, like meet me at the end, you know, and then I'll take him out to breakfast or you know, whatever.
00:53:34.470 --> 00:53:39.750
So we can sit down and he's not working, and we can go over the stuff that that we need to go over.
00:53:39.910 --> 00:53:48.630
Yeah, you know, and that was a really important point that I didn't understand until it kind of kept happening, you know, and I was like, it actually doesn't make sense.
00:53:48.789 --> 00:53:55.510
Now, you know, that's not saying that you shouldn't go out with your guys and do the work with them.
00:53:55.750 --> 00:54:04.789
Like, you know, I still go out with my service text every once in a while, and if they have 13 pools, I don't need to go on your 13-day run with you.
00:54:05.030 --> 00:54:19.430
But like, I'll meet you in a section of town where you have four pools or five pools within 10 minutes of each other, and you know, I'll do the pool with you, you know, and you take the lead and you show me what you're doing, and you know, you'll find out.
00:54:19.510 --> 00:54:22.870
Like, uh, I'll be like, hey, like, why are you going back to the car?
00:54:22.950 --> 00:54:25.349
And he's like, Oh, like I I need to get this.
00:54:25.590 --> 00:54:28.950
And I'm like, Okay, well, you didn't test the water yet.
00:54:29.190 --> 00:54:31.670
I'm like, why don't you test the water first?
00:54:31.910 --> 00:54:34.710
And you figure out, oh, what do I need to put in the pool?
00:54:34.789 --> 00:54:35.030
Yeah.
00:54:35.190 --> 00:54:39.990
And now you take your test kit and whatever shit you don't need to clean the pool, right?
00:54:40.070 --> 00:54:43.670
Because now you see, like, oh, I don't need the leaf vacuum or whatever, because there's no leaves.
00:54:43.750 --> 00:54:46.710
Boom, I bring the leaf vacuum back, I bring the test kit back.
00:54:46.789 --> 00:54:55.110
I at the car, I do my little calculation, and I know that I need 1.5 gallons of liquid chlorine and you know, four pounds of baking soda and whatever, right?
00:54:55.430 --> 00:55:04.870
And now you can grab whatever you forgot, your brush or whatever it is, and you can also take your chemicals and make that all in one trip.
00:55:05.030 --> 00:55:05.590
Right.
00:55:05.750 --> 00:55:24.470
You know, and things like that where you don't understand that, like, hey, forgetting something at the car five to seven times during the day, and it takes you two minutes to walk back to the car, and it takes you two minutes to walk back to the pool, you know, and you check your phone when you're at the car or whatever, like that could be a seven-minute thing.
00:55:24.630 --> 00:55:30.950
And, you know, seven minutes at five, you know, five pools, six pools, like that's uh that's a lot of time, you know.
00:55:31.030 --> 00:55:35.910
That's over a half hour that you kind of just just just kind of wasted, you know.
00:55:36.070 --> 00:55:41.349
And I've I've done that before where like I'm in the car and I have to take care of something or I have to call someone.
00:55:41.510 --> 00:55:51.430
And that was part of why I needed to stop actually doing pools because it wasn't really worth it for like if I was out doing pools, I was actually losing money.
00:55:51.590 --> 00:55:51.990
Yeah.
00:55:52.230 --> 00:55:56.950
Because it would take me so long to do the pools because I'm taking care of so much other shit.
00:55:57.110 --> 00:56:08.470
You know, I'm I'm returning phone calls, I'm talking to people about CPO, I'm doing this, I'm doing that, and it's just it's just a lot to do while you're cleaning the pools, you know.
00:56:08.550 --> 00:56:13.590
Like when those guys are out cleaning the pools, like I just want them to be cleaning their pools, yeah, you know.
00:56:13.750 --> 00:56:16.070
So I'm gonna leave it on that note, I guess.
00:56:16.309 --> 00:56:18.230
Okay, gang, that's it for today.
00:56:18.390 --> 00:56:21.510
Um, hope everybody has a safe upcoming week.
00:56:21.750 --> 00:56:31.990
As always, if you have any thoughts, concerns, questions, whatever for us, you can reach us at talkingpools at gmail.com uh and directed to Steve or I.
00:56:32.070 --> 00:56:36.550
And if we decide to use it on on the air, I'll send you a little thank you present.
00:56:36.630 --> 00:56:37.430
We appreciate it.
00:56:38.070 --> 00:56:39.110
Steve, have a good one.
00:56:39.269 --> 00:56:41.430
Try to stay cool out there in southern Sea.
00:56:42.230 --> 00:56:43.910
Um don't sweat too much.
00:56:43.990 --> 00:56:44.950
Ha ha ha ha.
00:56:45.349 --> 00:56:48.870
Like I guess I can't say it's it's 52 degrees here.
00:56:49.750 --> 00:56:50.550
No shit.
00:56:51.110 --> 00:56:52.870
Bright and sunny, but 52 degrees.
00:56:53.110 --> 00:56:56.150
It got down got down to 41 last night.
00:56:56.390 --> 00:56:57.750
You know, hello October.
00:56:57.910 --> 00:57:08.230
Yeah, it's been like uh I mean it's it's it was 86 degrees at like eight this morning, and it was it was 90 92 at like uh eight o'clock last night.
00:57:08.710 --> 00:57:09.990
Okay, well I'm leaving now.
00:57:10.470 --> 00:57:12.390
So we'll uh we'll we'll see you guys next week.
00:57:12.470 --> 00:57:12.870
Thanks so much.
00:57:13.190 --> 00:57:13.590
Take care.
00:57:13.750 --> 00:57:14.390
Bye bye.