There’s no doubt that it’s been a difficult several months for Olympus Pools, the swimming pool contractor that has built more pools in the Tampa Bay area than any other company.
Following a flurry of complaints on Facebook by a plethora of Olympus customers with unfinished pools, which prompted a number of investigative news reports on several Tampa Bay-area TV stations, followed by pending lawsuits and even reported investigations by local law enforcement agencies, Olympus owners (and long-time New Tampa residents) James and Alexis Staten knew they had to do something.
And, considering that there were close to 300 customers reported to have partly or (in many cases) fully paid for, but unfinished, pools, and so many of them were complaining about a lack of communication from the company, the Statens had to not only act quickly, they had to seek help.
To that end, according to a news release sent on May 25, a highly-rated Tampa Bay-area pool company had jumped in to help Olympus Pools, thanks to a new partnership between the two companies and their owners.
Specific terms of the partnership were not disclosed, but Jordan Hidalgo, a general contractor who founded Pools by Jordan, a high-end pool construction company based in Pinellas county, has partnered with Olympus to help assist and help restore the company to its pre-Covid standing.
“I saw what Olympus’ customers were going through on the news, but I also know the high quality of Olympus’ work and their capabilities. So, after weeks of negotiations, I’m happy to say we’ve reached an agreement, and we’re excited to get to work on sorting this all out,” said Hidalgo.
Hidalgo, who also runs a management consulting firm for pool companies called The Pool Consultants, and his team have taken over administration, accounting, permitting, purchasing and customer relations for Olympus.
James Staten, who founded Olympus Pools, will remain on board and out front, running sales, field operations and business development.
Olympus Pools, which was founded in 2010 by Staten, has generated more than $150 million in revenue over the last decade and completed more than 3,000 pools.
The release also promised more direct access to ownership, improved customer relations, and those who have been waiting for their pools to get started can expect work to begin sooner, thanks to the new partnership.
“Some things are going to happen immediately, and (others) are going to take a little bit of time as we dig into things, but we’re ready to get all of these pools done as quickly as possible and work on rebuilding the positive image that Olympus worked so hard to achieve,” said Hidalgo.
The news of the partnership comes amid a flurry of recent work activity, including reports of dozens of pools finally started and/or completed.
“I’m looking forward to putting this chapter behind Olympus and showing what our talented teams are capable of accomplishing together,” said Hidalgo in the release.
I told the Statens that I would pull their advertising until things improved for them and that rather than jump on the media bandwagon maligning the company, my primary concern was trying to help those customers, especially those who still had unfinished holes in their yards.
Some will say that despite the new partnership, it’s all still too little too late for Olympus (which is still taking some lumps online), but the Statens’ promise to complete every unstarted/unfinished pool and not take on new customers until those pools are done is definitely a step in the right direction.
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