False advertising
There is one born every minute, and I guess this time that one is me. We were lured by a mailer ad that offered a free tune-up, including free wings and free shoes for our Hayward Pool Vac Ultra (crawling vacuum). My husband dropped it off this past Saturday and also bought several items from them for our pool, since we didn't want to take unfair advantage of them when they were offering this deal.
Today, I went to pick it up. I presented the coupon and was charged $86 and change. I was surprised; I had expected to maybe have to pay $20-30 for additional parts, but I didn't know if my husband had requested that they do anything additional, so I paid it, asking what a "tune up" normally costs without this deal. I was told "about $120."
After confirming with my husband that he had not requested any additional services, I called to ask why we had been charged $44 to open the unit, if the tune-up was free. What I was told was this: there is no "tune-up," that basically the "tune up" is assessing what parts needed replacing. Silly me, I had thought a "tune up" included taking it apart, cleaning any debris that may have clogged it or something, and if anything additional needed done, they'd have called to let us know.
If it was, in fact, only a diagnostic, then we should have been called before any work was done. I did call Leslie's Pool Supply later, and found out that the same parts could have been replaced by them for about half, without the $44 charge for opening up the unit.
I have no problems paying for any repair or parts, but when I thought we were getting a free tune-up, it was a shock to discover that it was $86.
Perhaps the "coupon" should have said, "FREE diagnostic* (*parts and repair extra)"
Next time it needs servicing, I'll take it to Leslie's again. Last time, it was only $39 for everything, including the "free" wings and shoes that we got at this place.
I cannot recommend this business.
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