JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4JAX I-TEAM has been telling you about a pool company accused of taking customers’ money, and not finishing the work. A local veteran couple was affected, and after seeing our story on them, three Jacksonville companies came together to help them out.
Deltria and Derand Lee have dealt with an abandoned pool job for almost a year after contracting with Staycation Pools & Spas. The Lees hired the company to build their dream pool.
“This was supposed to be my accomplishment for 21 years in the Navy,” Deltria Lee said. The Lees have a combined 44 years in the Navy — that’s what compelled another local pool company to step up and serve them.
“We are a very veteran-oriented company. A lot of our employees are veterans so that did play a part in it honestly,” Dylan Mullaney, General Manager of Blue Haven Pools, said.
Blue Haven Pools is just one company responsible for transforming the Lees’ pool. The Screen Guys and Tempools helped as well and didn’t charge them a dime.
“I actually heard about it on the news. I reached out to these guys when I saw them on there and said, ‘I absolutely want to be a part of this as well,’” Cliff Carter, President of Call the Screen Guys, said.
“We supplied the material, the labor and finished the pool for them so they could have water in it,” Richard Hughey, Project Manager at Tempools, said.
Timely enough, the pool was finished just before Veterans Day and Mrs. Lee is already planning her retirement pool party.
“To be able and have them up and running pretty much before Veterans Day, I think the timeliness of it worked out great and again it’s just been awesome to kind of have a team effort here in getting this done for them,” Mullaney said.
“We try to put it past us, behind us, but you have to think about it, because it was real. Now we have this new reality and it’s awesome,” Derand Lee said. “Thank you. I have goosebumps, thank you.”
The license holder of Staycation Pools & Spas and other general contractor companies, Jordan Hidalgo, agreed to give up his nine contracting licenses in September as part of an agreement with the state’s Construction Industry Licensing Board. He can no longer do work in the state of Florida.