At least it's only $200. File in small claims and get a reference for a more reputable builder.

REFERENCES REFERENCES REFERENCES

my advice to you" cut your losses and run". he did my pool and refusing to honor warranty work. obviously he did a horrible job.NOT A GOOD BUSINESSMAN MR GABE YOUNG. do not let him built your pool at any cost. I do have his cell number, but he never answers it. what kind of businessman does not answer cell phone.that will tell you a lot. I been calling for more than a month for warranty work, finaly got an answer from the rudest receptionist that my pool is not under warranty any more.All my papers show that my warranty is not up until january 2009.
he also did my neighbors pool at athe same time he did mine,he ripped him badly.

P.P.S. Another feedback site is InsiderPages.com

yamaha_2000, you can also post your review at Live.com.

I still have not received a refund of my $200 deposit (for absolutely NOTHING done on their part except cashing my check). Haven't had time to file in small claims yet, but I will soon.

Speaking of which, Gabe Young of Viking Pools GV has hired an attorney who sent me a letter demanding $900.00 by 9/23/08 or they will take me to small claims court saying I owe them this additional money because now they are accusing me of canceling the contract.

I'd love the opportunity to obtain justice in a court of law, so I am anxiously awaiting notice of a hearing date since of course, I have not given them the $900 they asked for. We'll see what happens next, I'll either be filing suit or a countersuit!

I am almost sorry for reading this thread as it is just more confirmation that you have to be so careful with who you hire as a PB. We almost hired a shady company our first go at this pool thing and that put things on hold for a while.

Anyway, two things I like to share . . .

"Aaron can't force the issue, I guess)" --- Oh yes, these folks at Viking corporate can do something. They can revoke his dealer privileges to sell their product. Get on them BIG TIME. If they don't just care about the sales at their end they will act responsibly. Send them your documentation too(see below).

If you go to Small Claims Court -- don't, I repeat DON'T waste your money on a lawyer. You don't need one (Check with your county courthouse for limits on the dollar amount, but if you don't file the big case -- just for the $200 you should be fine). First, they hope they will scare you off by even suggesting you go to any type of court or by them making the suggestion of any type of legal action. You think you're the first. This guy probably has some sleezebag lawyer on retainer. (Wow--I'm in a fiesty mood.) Second, they will postpone and reschedule your appearance date multiple times at the last minute (perhaps even after you're already sitting there paying your attorney by the hour. It's a tactic. Just go through the hassel of showing up at court otherwise if they show and you don't the judgment goes in their favor it they are bringing the case against you. -- BUT here's the thing -- Have all your documentation (and extra copies for the court) and your facts clearly laid out and summarized. Be prepared to fight for every penny (out of principle) although you will find an overcrowed court system that will ask you to compromize as the first thing out of the Judge's mouth. I wouldn't go the route of trying to get a real counterclaim and sue for damages with an attorney unless you are ready for a long haul and lots of aggravation and expense upfront. Again, document, document, document. The three things to winning your case will be (1) You show up (they don't) --try to get the case dismissed with Prejudice so they can't reschedule, but you may have to wait until the 2nd go around of the same (2) You can document the facts and they are in your favor (3) You are persistant and pursuasive. Having the truth on your side helps, but doesn't assure your success alone.

Just my $ .02 --- a whole lot less than a lawyer would charge you (which I am not). Best of luck to you.

I can't help but think of your predicament every week that I drive back to El Dorado Hills from working down in the South Bay, and pass that fiberglass pool with his signage next to 205.

Of all the nerve to take you to court over canceling a contract which he never acted on.

Good luck with your efforts !!

I wasn't at all impressed with Viking headquarters when I was having issues with my builder. They just blew me off and told me it was between me & my builder. And all I was asking them was a couple simple questions about correct installation techniques because I was concerned about my warranty being void. Headquarters was of no help to me.

njfolks, thanks so much for your input and recommendations...points well taken! Perhaps Gabe Young felt the need to hire an attorney in lieu of refunding my $200, but I think it doesn't make sense to obtain counsel over such an insignificant amount of money. My attorney charges more than that per hour!

richman_poorman, thanks for your post. I believe in karma, so what comes around goes around. People like Gabe Young simply can't go around taking deposits with no intentions of fulfilling the contract because sooner or later, they'll run into someone like me who finds that sort of fraudulent practice unacceptable. My instinct tells me that eventually, we won't be seeing that fiberglass pool along the 205 with his signage anymore...he probably was already on his way out long before we even hired him, explains why he ignored yamaha_2000's warranty requests, won't give out his cell number anymore and maybe by not returning my calls for 9 days, he just expected me to go away and forget the whole thing.

sharla, sorry to hear about your issues with Viking Pools. I hope you have a better installation than yamaha_2000 did and maybe you won't need the warranty after all. I'm just glad I am not getting a Viking Pool at this point!

I'll post my updates on this thread.

Aloha,
Leilani

Due to their professionalism Viking Pools of the Greater Valley has not commented on the slanderous postings in regards to their business practices. Although their personal names were used in a slanderous manner, they refrained from comment. Time has proven that the complaintant in this this matter has no grounds for the complaint. Both the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU and the CONTRACTORS STATE LECENSE BOARD closed the claims filed as "INVALID". Viking Pools of the Greater Valley wishes all of thier past, present, and future clients happiness.

Dana (aka honestyfirst),

This is the definition of slander: "Slander is an untruthful oral (spoken) statement about a person that harms the person's reputation or standing in the community."

I have written nothing but the truth and have every bit of documentation to back it up.

Regarding "time", I have 4 years to file in small claims court.

I was not aware that the BBB closed the claim...but thank you, I will follow up with them to let them know that you still have not sent my $200.

The CSLB only closed the claim because they said they are not authorized to conduct investigations on a contractor who has NOT STARTED ANY WORK.

Viking Pools GV took my deposit and did absolutely nothing, so it is a civil matter and beyond the CSLB's jurisdiction (they investigate workmanship issues).

More information and customer reviews can be obtained by simpy doing a Google search using the terms:

viking pools greater valley.

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Sorry, GardenWeb, I had posted Aaron's phone number in a post above on 9/11/08 at 12:23, so here it is without it:

yamaha_2000,

Thanks for sharing your story, I guess I should be "thankful" that Gabe Young of Viking Pools of the Greater Valley is guilty of non-performance on our contract, after finding out what poor workmanship and customer service they represent to you. How awful!

My last communication with them was with Dandi (yes, she must be the "rudest receptionist" you were referring to, as she's always the one that answers the phone and all she wants to do with me is argue, deny and blame others!) on 9/4/08 and she confirmed that they have not and were not going to do anything. They never applied for my permit, they never ordered the pool, they have done absolutely nothing...so I told her my next step was to file a complaint with the CSLB (Contractors State Licensing Board) for non-performance, which I have done. This morning I received a fax from Gabe's attorney in Redding, saying he was "retained by Viking Pools of the Greater Valley to assist them in dealing with your complaints" so apparently, they've chosen to hire an attorney in lieu of installing a pool...interesting.

I also spoke with the owner of Viking Pools, Aaron in Sacramento (800-XXX-XXXX, ext. XXX) who seemed to be very receptive to my situation and even offered to ask Gabe to return my $200 deposit for a job he's done nothing with for one month now (we'll see what happens, Aaron can't force the issue, I guess).

Anyway, I highly recommend you contact Aaron and have your neighbor contact him if they have any issues, it really needs to be brought to his attention that one of his dealers is representing the company so badly. If your warranty is up in January 2009, I'd contact him right away to get the ball rolling.

I also suggest that you file a complaint against Viking Pools with the Stockton BBB (Lathrop is part of their territory) for not honoring his warranty. They already have one complaint filed against them in the last 12 months.

Hope everything works out for you...keep us posted if Aaron was able to help you out with your warranty issues.

Leilani

Here is a link that might be useful: Viking Pools of the Greater Valley

We have a small claims court hearing date scheduled for the end of April.

May justice be served!

go get 'em Vineyard.
People like this deserve what is coming to them.
Please continue to update here... Having the truth out here is worth a lot.