Aquanotics Pools, well known in Polk County,
announced its filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closing its
doors for good.
And that leaves 60 unfinished pools and panicked homeowners.
And some of them now face threats of liens
against their properties by subcontractors who claimed the pool company
failed to pay them for completed work.
Homeowners knew they had better.
Call Bankin and let's go right to our consumer,
Bader Investigator Shannon Bankin, to tell us more about it.
J Keith Customers have been reaching out to me about
this for weeks,
complaining of excuses and failed promises by Aquanautics pools.
Now the state Attorney General's office tells me that they
are actively reviewing consumer complaints.
Meanwhile, the company owner insists that he is going to
make this right
when they find out you have a pool.
That's the place everybody wants to be,
especially in Florida. Arlene Bonds of Davenport signed a contract
with Aquanautics Pools on September 25th to widen her existing
pool and put in pavers.
She says she paid
$25,910.00 so far on her
$37,000 contract and questions why the company took her business
just months before sending this letter informing customers of bankruptcy
liquidation.
Where is your operating income?
Your operating expenses? What do you have in the reserves
that should dictate whether or not you should take on
a new job?
And so do I feel that there was some deceitfulness?
Yes. The Better Call bank and phone has been ringing
for weeks aquanautics customers complaining of unfinished pools.
I reached company owner Eddie Scarberry by phone,
and he tells me he's trying to work out agreements
with other contractors to get every pool completed.
He says, quote, I've never taken a dime without the
intention of finishing the pool.
The company owner is telling me that he hasn't defrauded
anyone and that they're going to make this right.
Does that make you feel better?
Well, I don't know. And the reason why is because
I bargained in good faith when I signed my contract
with them and look at where we're at.
They basically just want to be OK,
that's it. We can't finish it.
Go find somebody else in Lakeland.
Jack and Marifi Garcia signed their contract nearly a year
ago and say their pool was estimated to be finished
by summer.
Their finance company paid for work as it was completed,
but they have only
$25,000 left on their loan and a lot more work
to be done.
With so many pool companies abruptly closing recently,
the Garcia's question Who they can trust?
That's why we're hesitant to hire another company,
because who's to say that that company isn't going to
do the same thing or isn't going to file file
bankruptcy in a month or two months?
Company owner Eddie Scarberry tells me his company,
which has been in business for 10 years,
is now insolvent. He primarily blames his problems on material
cost increases,
and he insists that he's working to help customers sign
with new contractors before filing for bankruptcy.
He added that his house is now listed for sale,
and he plans to use part of the proceeds from
that to make consumers whole.
But still, these customers paid some money and they're all
sitting around going,
where's the money? I mean,
obviously this money was paid 4th.
Where did it go? That's the big question that every
consumer wants to know.
And I spoke with the bankruptcy attorneys handling this case
and I was told that they don't have specifics on
the financials yet,
but they said that they are mediating customers concerns.
So I will have all the information you need for
for that law office in my story on
wfla.com. So you can call them and get your case
mediated while they're offering to do it.
All right. Sounds good. I know you'll stay on it.
Thank you, Shannon. And if you have a problem that
needs solve and you better call bank at the telephone
number on your screen.
1855 banking. Or you can reach your own Facebook at
WFLA Shannon.