Homeowners Allege Swimming Pool Contractors Scammed Them
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- Inside Edition interviewed customers across Maryland who say Catalina Pool Builders took their money for new pools and never finished the job. The families say they each paid tens of thousands of dollars for what was supposed to be a backyard paradise. After months of waiting and with no refund in sight, they now say their dreams of owning a pool are officially sunk. Catalina abruptly went out of business, blaming its problems on pandemic-related supply shortages and rising costs. The company and its owners do not face criminal charges but the state of Maryland revoked the pool company's license after customers filed dozens of lawsuits.
That's not a scam; that's fraud and theft.
What... do you think a scam is?
What... do you think a scam is?
@@GorgieClarissa A scam is someone talks a gullible person into giving them money, and it's very hard to prosecute. This case is a contract that wasn't fulfilled, therefor its fraud and theft, (and a few other charges) and should be fairly easy to prosecute if the state backs consumers over companies, but that rarely happens because companies produce tax dollars.
@@bepriceless A scam....is a scam.....its Fraud and theft.....regardless of the circumstance or dollar amount.
@@bepriceless and a scam is a dishonest scheme; a fraud so interchangeable
There's no criminal charges? This is absolutely criminal fraud. The owner needs a stiff prison sentence.
Yeah, this is legit fraud
They gave kickbacks to the Government so nothing will happen to them
Its florida, sadly fraud is all over that state
@@slofool Cope
They need an asswhoopin
What's sad is that they weren't held criminal liable. No matter how many lawsuits, will the victims ever get their money back?
And they just gonna file bankruptcy and not have to pay back anything..should def be a crime
They should have taken out a loan from the bank. If they didn't have enough credit it's because they had too much savings in the wrong type of accounts & need to spend it. $30k for that pool on a huge hillside is way too cheap, she won't get anything back.
@@theoriginaltroll388 thats unbelievable. I knew someone also got scammed. And that was a house builder. Took the $350,000 and filed bankruptcy😢
@@SlackerU You actually have zero clue what you're even talking about lmaoo
@@ThatGuy7433 I'm suggesting a loan would have had insurance lawyers to manage the disaster.
How can they not be criminally charged?? They committed fraud and basically robbed people of their money
It’s nice of inside edition to give these victims a voice!
Right
It's nice of inside edition to give these victims a voice!
You can contact IE online with a form and your story
It makes them look dumb for not doing their research first
Ikr
Rule #1: Only pay for completed work.
Rule #2: Pull permits, the added oversight from the city or county will cause shady builders to run.
thank you
This company is about to get the biggest sueing ever
is not like that pay after complete the work lol no one dose , U have to pay at least %50 of the cost for workers , labors & order some parts & equipment's ...U cant do all that free & might "U" end up, cancelling the work, while half done is like singed up a contract at first ...But this f*n Corrupted country & justice system we have like usual ...none of the BIG brides gets any charges, like those Mother fathers running the country!
The problem with number one is that a lot of people will have the work done and they won't end up paying.
facts, pay in small installments. moniter their work closely. it’s pretty common that building contractors never finish the job. never pay them all upfront. if they suck, fire them and hire another.
Revoke their license means nothing. They'll go and get a license in someone else's name. I had something like that happen to me with a pool liner company. You have to go to the consumer affairs department and see if the company has a lot of complaints. That's how I found about all the complaints the liner company had, and all they did was get a license in someone else's name.
yup. opens up the next day.
i really don't understand how this isn't a criminal matter. sick stuff and im hoping the families receive compensation
Nothing is more disappointing than being scammed by someone you paid for
Yeah, obviously?
That's the definition of a scam. You paid someone and in return, that person cheated on you.
yeah just like your comment
Dafaq? What about being scammed by someone that you didn't for? 🤔
Nothing is more disappointing than being scammed by someone you paid for
How will there not be criminal charges!? That’s literally STEALING! It’s literal grand theft! Huge felonies, huge fines and prison time! If I personally stole $40,000 plus from someone, I’d be in jail for years! How is this any different? Ooh, I would push so hard until I couldn’t for prosecution. I’m so sorry to these victims.
How is this company able to get away with this
Honestly that's MORE than stealing! Not only did they take the money they freaking destroyed their backyards in the process!
bc this is american land of the free home, you have to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt
@@Rockymarciono731 ah thats true
@@jediskunk67 I'll tell you how. You pay me 40k to do a project, you pay my LLC that money and then my LLC pays me (the owner) a base salary of 35k per job, I do 5k worth of work and then go bankrupt, the company has no assets and because it's an LLC, you're gonna have a reaaaaal hard time suing me.
If the contractor asks for cash upfront, that should be a huge red flag. Never pay upfront especially for construction work.
So sorry this happened. I pray you get your money back with interest and your dream pool. Never pay upfront or very little until work is done.
Why isn't this a criminal matter? He scammed them, stole their money. This is felony charges.
More than that because he tore up their yards too
It's a contract that has to be handled in civil court.
Lol, felon charge.
This is why people should never pay more than $5,000 deposit to a contractor
What a about them the material is more than$5,000? The contractor pays out of pocket and hope you pay?
Exactly! 🙄
You’re a fool if you paid full, upfront in the first place. 🤦🏽♂️
I disagree. You can require a percentage for this pool it would be at least 35% up-front Once the concrete is poured then you require another 15% and 50% upon completion
@@pauls1003 you’re 12 right?
See I love inside edition! This is literally broadcasting at its finest!! Keep it up! Great work great video and great job getting deep inside the story.
I was scammed by a RV company. They did not tell me the history of the vehicle. Went to court and fought it in trial just to be devastated that they did no wrongdoing. What type of dealership is selling damaged RVs? Don't know how the jury returned a not guilty verdict. Literally might lose 20k on the deal and I'm 28.
Fraud like that should get you in JAIL! That slap on the hand is like telling him it's OK to do what he did! Sounds like the authorities have a backdoor deal with him or something?
It should get you buried under a pool.
I tried to use catalina pools during the pandemic in a newspaper ad. The estimate they gave me was way more out of my budget. I am glad haven’t used them for my pool.
I’m confused as to why ppl would spend their savings during a pandemic (knowing the economy would eventually crash, making rates skyrocket, gas prices ext) did they have a huge discount? What were they doing to get ppl to spend on a luxury item knowing how the future was up in the air? Did they have huge incentive’s?
Im glad that they didn’t scam you!
I’m confused as to why ppl would spend their savings during a pandemic (knowing the economy would eventually crash, making rates skyrocket, gas prices ext) did they have a huge discount? What were they doing to get ppl to spend on a luxury item knowing how the future was up in the air? Did they have huge incentive’s?
Im glad that they didn’t scam you!
@@Maybe.Its_Youbecause they probably took edd
I'm so sorry this happened to them :( I hope they get their justic
Poor people. I feel so bad for them. Too bad I don't know how to build pools, I'd volunteer my time to help them out if I did. 😔 Those thieves need to be brought to justice! No criminal charges, that's ridiculous.
PSA: do not use money from your life savings for something as frivolous as backyard swimming pools. If you have spare money or extra income that can go towards building a pool, great! If you have to dip into your life savings or retirement funds, please don't do it. (source of my comment: my mother's friend who has been a CPA for 37 years)
wish people listened. i have a parent that bought an above ground pool for over 6k... and used it twice and they're broke. No one listens to reason.
@@thebetaguy I've spent money of stuff that I didn't need before. I was young and stupid. Now I just tell younger folks thing that they probably won't listen anyway.(just like the younger me) 😥
But wouldn’t a pool add to property value?
First of all, people spend money on pools and room add-ons to help increase the value to their home. It's not frivolous, and sometimes you want to enjoy life when you have worked extremely hard for that money. What you should have focused more on, is the lowlife scum that took people's hard earned money knowing that they were just stealing it!
@@ColonizersBlow of course it will, but only if one can truly afford it to begin with. having said that, houses with existing pools may not be the easiest to sell, depending on the size or neighborhood. buyer do think about the high cost of maintenance of swimming pools.
I bet that the real reason why the pool company actually closed was because it didn't want to get sued by it's customers. I can't believe that this company actually got away with it. They shouldn't have been in business in the first place if the owner was going to scam people.
They go into the business to scam. There were already scammers in the buisness but Covid brought up wayyy more of them. Ive worked on pools since i was 12 and I’ve seen my share of sub contractors get ripped off after doing work and not getting paid as well as home owners get robbed and left with a messed up yard
@@ehc1999 I definitely wouldn't want to hire a contractor from a pool company to build a pool and then find out what the contractor has left behind. I hope that somehow these people can get their money back from the company.
@@Collector3476 man I’ve heard of crazy situations where a subcontractor puts a lien on a person’s home because they did work and the contractor won’t pay them. Imagine wanting a pool and some how you end up with a lien on your house 💀💀
Tbh it’s a well known loophole for business owners
More for labor work or general contractors
If something goes wrong or insurance is high cuz someone got hurt you can just file for bankruptcy n start again with a new company with little to no consequences
I’ve seen it a lot as a welder
Hearing stories of how many times they had to hire people to weld some stuff up only to break a month later
I will never pay anyone 1 cent until my job is completed and inspected after completion. Any contractor who refuses those terms is NOT someone to trust!
no criminal charges.... what a surprise.... absolutely disgusting that someone could do this to people.
They're not being charged??!!! Especially after they knew they were closing and still took customers money. That is so wrong
@@LostNEggsAisle-tm5zr Yeah, keep supporting this fraudster. Good on ya.
that guy need a cartel style motivation he will pay them back
I feel like this is a perfect opportunity for a class-action lawsuit, no?
If the business goes out their is no repricution. Nothing you can do. My guess is what happened is costs went though the roof and while demand was high they had a tough time raising prices and decided to continue selling even knowing they were going to go down as they knew the customers would have no hope in getting their money back. It has happend before. For example Artesian Builds a high end gaming PC builder did practically the same thing once they realized they were going under. Nothing you can do.
@@investmentking4022 Not to mention that, even if none of that were a factor and a class-action lawsuit was filed and successful, the payouts to the victims would be a pittance.
No
No criminal charges????? What!!!!! Why???? Outrageous!!!
Aw man. That grandma saying her kids keeps asking her about the pool…😢those scumbags need to be tracked down and prosecuted to the furthest extent
And Maryland lets them get away with it? Sue the state for not doing their job and backing you up against companies.
What do you think a scam is ?
And the state revoked their pool license, that’s a step lol 😅
Sue the hell out of them
I feel SO badly for them. 🥺
These reporters crack me up lol she was all up in his face 😂😂😂😂
No criminal charges? Wow.
I wouldn’t have agreed to pay all that money upfront. I’d pay in phases depending on where the project was at.
That is best.
I'm a general contractor and thats how it's usually done besides sometimes the initial small payment at the start for any materials
Ants Drone well said I give a quarter of the money upfront for material. Then once the job is completed you get paid I tell contractors I have nowhere to go and you know where I live so I’m not going anywhere and you will get your money. Once the job is completed.
I wouldn't have paid at all. I'd tell them build it then not pay them a single penny and enjoy my free pool. Lmao. Gotta scam the scammer.
I used the same company for my pool rehab, they did incremental draws for me depending on the phase of the project. This was the worst company I ever dealt with but I lucked out. My pool was 90% finished. I became such a pain in the ass to them they prioritized my $15k rehab. I live close by the office so I could stop in regularly. I feel bad for the people that paid tens of thousands of dollars and ended up with a massive useless hole in their backyard. Horrible company! Apparently, this family had done something similar to this a decade earlier. They changed the name of the company and put it under a different brothers name.
So we’re going to act like we didn’t see that sign that said “finesse marketing” 😮… that speaks volume’s 😫
Damn this is actually heart breaking.. and the fact that there will be no repercussion.. karma gonna be heavy with this one
Regardless of the outcome they still got away with the scam with little to no punishment
I was a store manager at Leslie’s pool supply in Baltimore. I had so many customers say how this company screwed up their pools and I stopped working this in 2015.
I see a commonality in those who were scammed, which may be the reason why he did it and the reason he's being allowed to get away with it.
I was thinking the same thing
@@Darknesssleeps that ⬜ jealousy is a m'f'ka
All states should require pool installers to be license and have liability coverage w/all in-ground pools
It amazes me how the owner doesn’t face criminal charges with all the clear evidence. Such a broken system
They have to take him to court, learn the law.
What disgusting people! Hopefully they'll be some pool companies out there that can volunteer some time to help correct some of these issues. They need to be locked up for doing this to people! You can't steal someone's livelihood and expect to get slapped on their wrist and if that's going to be the case then that state needs to change their laws
They have several companies offering. Read the other articles about this. They aren't being completely honest.
@@waxmax0 The couple you mean? Inside Edition is usually pretty good at vetting.
Isn't going to be anyone to donate time . Why so something that might not be right to begin wth can be a marriage to the customer because of someone else's shoddy workmanship.
I think most contractors would rather start over wth this then open up a can of worms then telling the customer well we didn't pour this and we use rebar here ,and the ground wasn't waited on and now it's settling . Yeah I highly doubt someone would donate time and wind-up being the bad guy after all
Oh no my license, let me wipe my tears with the thousands of dollars I made off of doing nothing but dig holes. What a joke of a punishment
Yanno? my goodness
Maryland laws favors businesses, not consumers. That is one of the biggest problems living in this state. I hope they can find a loophole and sue the owner.
DISGUSTING EXCUSE of a Businessman!!😡😡 It’s Obvious!He knew the business was going down soon, so he kept collecting Customer’s money before hand!! I hope they sincerely get that Disgusting Owner because that’s just Evil And Insanely Atrocious. My heart goes out to all those hard-working souls that deserve those Pool. I hope justice is served and they get their money AND pool. It’s NOT FAIR!! ✊🏻
Those crooks belong in jail definitely
Thanks inside edition. From an MD resident
How is that not a criminal charge?
I love her idea. Basically a getaway vacay in your backyard . Sad to see this happen 😢
They should still consider giving criminal charges. It is theft and fraud, wasting a lot of the families time.
This is despicable.
Never sign a contract till the job is finished! Wife and I just got our roof redone and they where adamant we sign the contract that they did the job and it was to our standards. We declined till we got it professionally inspected by a contractor and another from the bank themselves who gave us our loan. If we would have signed we would have never know we also get gutter replacement. So no the roofers did not complete their job. Always decline to sign until job is completed and inspected.
WHAT?! no criminal charges? thats insane. they should be in prison.
The company and owners do not face criminal charges??? Umm how?? You have a previous employee stating that pools were sold with no incline to be built or finished for that matter. Wow!
That’s a nightmare
inside edition never fails us
Either he goes jail or someone needs to take the rat out with street justice. That's sickening that those people have worked so hard for a reward and it's been taken away from them.
Yea if a guy screwed me of 75k im def paying him a visit
Id burn his house down while hes sleeping
Just find your local crack heads, give them some spare change, & send them to company owners house…
No seriously, don’t mess with my property, my things, my money & my family… violate those rules, I’ll have someone handle it ( legal or not). Crackhead route is cheaper than going through the law legally since the law is pretty much non- existing for criminals in business. 😅
As a small business owner who worked through the pandemic I totally get the increased demand, supply chain shortages, and rising costs we've all experienced. But any business worth their salt should be paying attention to things like that and take steps to restructure its priorities and absolutely NEVER knowingly take on more projects than they can handle. This company needs to be held accountable for taking advantage of customers!
Let this be a big lesson for everyone else. ALWAYS check reviews and research the companies you're thinking of purchasing from.
Why not pay after the pool is done? Would of make things way easy and harder for the scammers to get the money until they actually do something
Most contractors require some percentage of the money up front for big projects like this because if the client decides not to pay at the end or the check bounce’s they’re now out the huge cost of materials on top of missing labor costs for their workers until the legal battle is over. The work my mom has had done on her home usually requires 50% at the beginning and 50% at the end
Most businesses don't provide services or products before payment or at least a deposit and contract because they're worried about being scammed themselves
I wrote to Mr Beast and Markiplier to help buid them their pools!
@@swallowedinthesea11 lol ngl, kinda a good idea 😅
Usually u have to give them money for materials
Each state should have warrants for arrest issued to each of the owners for fraud
All these people need to get together and file a class action lawsuit against the company.
What company it's no longer in business and you can't sue the individual if it's set up as an LLC.
Unfortunately that pricing is super sketch. 30k for a resort style pool? That should have been way more than that. That's red flag number one.
Posters pointed out that a resort style pool should have been more like $75,000 the amount that the crying Grandma paid for her unfinished pool. They were like $30,000 is just the dirt evacuator process. Grandma who paid $75,000 definitely was defrauded and should have had a fully furnished and fully operational pool."
Why no criminal charges?
Why aren't these people in jail yet? How can people who do this and get away with it.
Bring back public guillotines
Chillllll 💀
Yes
The entire capitalist class goes on the wall.
I like that idea. I’ll build it.
75k for a pool now that’s just plain dumb that’s all you if you got scammed
No criminal charges that’s crazy
Put the owner of that company in jail. He literally knowingly defrauded his customers by selling them a product he never intended to make
It is so horrible that people can treat people like that, take their money, and run 🏃♀️
My mom's cousin did that to her ,gave him $1000 to go pick up a Stove I believe it was, and he never came back 👊👊👊👊
you mean your cousin? lol
@@YSFmemories lol yes
I’m a maryland native and i hope someone steps in to help these people. Lots of families here have big bucks and another company could get a lot of good business for helping to finish some of these jobs.
It literally says finesse marketing right next to the Catalina pool sign 😂
I saw that after you pointed it out! 😏 That's a glaring red flag right there! 😳
Can't they sue the hell out of these people?
This is absolutely disgusting. I pray these people get the justice they deserve. This is criminal, and they need to serve prison time. This is beyond a civil matter. You really need to research the person you decide to have work at your property. Never pay for the project in full.
How do these con artist not have charges put against them??? If I go into a restaurant and eat my food and then not pay I'm going to jail. Why do these companies get off so easy. Makes me sick.
Why weren't the police there to arrest the owner? They missed their chance to arrest him and make him pay
They never catch their best criminals when they’re missing them out.
This has been happening for years, even here in Virginia Beach in 2014 my friend had this issue and they did the same thing and left
Unless the home owners finish it, it literally would have been better if they did nothing at all. They just charged 75,000 to destroy their yard. They need to be sued for all they have, and the people responsible need to face criminal charges.
How is that not being prosecuted in criminal court?!
The best thing to protect contractors and customers is to have a thorough contract, which both parties sign, that describes the work to be completed, a total project cost, a breakdown of smaller portion costs (is applicable), a start and finish date, etc.
Unfortunately that guarantees nothing. Businesses routinely win over the citizenry--it's the Amerikan way. All the business has to do is file bankruptcy and open up under a different name and the victims still get nothing. Happens every day.
Why did she talk about Florida in the beginning when this is happening in Maryland?
Lol I didn't catch that until I read this lol
2:00 Grandma’s voice sounds like she inhaled Sulfur Hexafluoride💀😭
Crazy no criminal charges wow
Lisa with the huge microphone in hand on the hunt is classic
If I don't personally know a contractor or know someone close that could recommend a contractor....I would definitely do a reputation check ....If others complain of shady work, that's my sign not to do business.
thanks Lisa what a brave woman I could never get in someone's face
Yup. Here in SoCal the pool industry was booming during the pandemic
But yet you get caught with a small bag of weed and your as$ is hauled to jail.
dozens of lawsuits? Buddy wont be sleeping longer then 2 hours everynight 😂😂
How do these people not face criminal charges I don't understand this is so wrong Hopefully Justice will be served
Businesses like this should be held accountable for every dime! They took on to much and couldn’t keep up but kept the money!
Ah yes, Lisa doing what she does best
"He drove off.". Yes we can see that he did just that. Thank you for the commentary
😂😂😂
I hope he ended up in fatal wreck as karma.
No criminal charges that’s unbelievable
It happens in every state
I feel like the pool company is going to shutdown and restart again as a different company name and do the same scam over again
I feel so sorry for the victims of that scurrilous pool company, shame on them!
How can that not be criminal?????
This is a good example to why you should read reviews on multiple sites, especially BBB, before purchasing anything. I hope everyone gets their money back. It's ridiculous that there's no criminal charges!
Sounds like they scammed people for as long as they can, and then declared bankruptcy or something to the similar effect to try and runaway with all the ill gotten money they stole. Curious to see how all of this pans out in the end, given it sounds like their already weaseling their way into being legally protected from lawsuits and from having to issue refunds for destroying peoples yards and stealing their money.
It's the Amerikan way, here in the land of the fee and home of the slave.
Maybe it's a blessing in disguise? Many longtime pool owners find that their recreational asset quickly becomes a huge liability with overlooked time commitments for pool maintenance (cleaning filters, testing ph, monitoring chlorine levels, skimming debris, buying and hauling pool chemicals, winterproofing etc...)
But it’s Florida having a pool is a sign of luck in Florida
What is wrong with you?
I’m not sure about Maryland but Maryland is right by Pennsylvania and in Pennsylvania you have to have a fence around your pool if you do have one because it’s a liability which even offense alone cost thousands of dollars
And the one lady was in Maryland not Florida
@@moonshoes11 Just stating facts almost every single friend and family member I know after a few years thinks their pool is a burden if you haven’t had a pool then you probably wouldn’t understand it’s a lot of work and maintaining especially pertaining to the location you live in