TULSA, Okla. — Since the end of last summer, Regina Crouch said her family sees piles of dirt and a hole in the ground every time they walk out their back door.
"It's horrible," Crouch said. "We like to keep our yard nice and neat. That's just a mess."
She said it is a constant reminder of a pool job gone bad.
"We kept trying, trying, trying," Crouch said.
For years, the family dreamed of a backyard pool, an oasis in the middle of Rogers County, as a way to enjoy the sweltering summer season that Oklahoma always seems to serve up.
"It's extremely frustrating," Crouch said. "You save money for an expense like this. This is like buying a house. It's that expensive."
Crouch said they signed a contract with Dolphin Pools at the end of last June and put all the details in that contract, including the $35,000 price tag and $7,000 down payment. She said everything was in the contract except the completion date they wanted and were verbally told would've been last October.
"We understood we could not get in the contract, that we wanted the date of October, due to COVID, but COVID had nothing to do with this," Crouch said.
She said that became painfully evident as the calendar turned from June to July, then August to September, and finally to October. Crouch said she's convinced the delays have nothing to do with COVID or the rain or the snow we've had since October.
"For it to linger on, and you don't know if they're coming. They won't return your calls," she said. "We've called and called and called. No one returns our calls. There's no communication."
At last count, Crouch said they made at least 25 calls and sent emails, too. They had chats with managers and even the owner, but very little has changed since the work contractors began last July. She said they would show up unannounced for a couple of hours here and a couple of hours there.
"I want people to understand, get everything in writing in the contract," Crouch said. "We tried to get everything in the contract."
Now, they pin their hopes on a wish that before the calendar turns to summer and the temperatures start to sizzle, and they can walk out that back door, take a dip and cool off in the pool of their dreams.
"I'm hoping," Crouch said. "That's all I can do is hope."
After hearing Crouch's story, 2 News got in touch with the company. The owner told Crouch he only recently found out about her situation and a manager said he'd find out what was going on with subcontractors.
2 News will follow up with Crouch to find out when her pool is finally finished.
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