TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — While under fire for leaving hundreds of homeowners with unfinished pools, and failing to pay subcontractors and vendors, Olympus Pools has announced a unique partnership with another pool company in hopes of getting the company back to “its pre-Covid standing.”
Olympus Pools has partnered with Jordan Hidalgo, a general contractor who owns Pools by Jordan in Pinellas County, The Pool Consultants, a management consulting firm for pool companies, and several other pool companies, according to a press release.
“My accounting team is off site.” Hidalgo said in an interview with Investigator Shannon Behnken. “We’re going to pick up the back end, we’re going to do the invoices, the balances, payables, managing cashflow.”
The news release states Olympus Pools owner James Staten will remain “onboard and out front, running sales, field operations and business development” and Hidalgo will have his team take over administration, accounting, permitting, purchasing and customer relations beginning Tuesday.
“I saw what Olympus’s customers were going through on the news, but I also know the high quality of Olympus’s 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.
“We’re each going to play to our strengths,” said Hidalgo. “There’s no denying a guy who built thousands of pools has got what it takes to make it in this business. Meanwhile, the vendors and some others in the media aren’t helping his attempts to right the ship. As a pool professional I can’t stand by and watch that happen without doing what I can for the clients and the builder. Every person should get what they expected and what they paid for, though it’s going to take some time.”
This news comes just days after SCP Distributors LLC, the largest pool supply company in the country, sued Olympus in Pasco County court for more than $1 million in supplies they had already delivered for homeowners’ pools.
Brian Leung, an attorney representing SCP told 8 On Your Side’s Shannon Behnken that the company decided to go after Olympus Pools in court, instead of filing liens on homeowners.
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies in three area counties have launched criminal investigations into where the customers’ money went. Numerous homeowners paid in cash for pools that weren’t completed.
In the news release, Olympus says the partnership will allow for “shared resources, equipment and subcontractors.”
The release also includes this progress report of work the company claims to have completed since May 10.
- 26 Pools passed final inspections
- 18 pools have had concrete work completed
- 13 job sites have been cleaned up by cleaning crews
- 12 pre-grades were completed
- 11 pools had electrical work completed
- 11 pools had brick and tile completed
- 10 pools had plumbing work completed
- 4 screen enclosures have been completed
- 3 pools had plaster work completed
- 2 retaining walls completed
Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken broke this story more than a month ago and will have more on this developing story online and today’s newscasts.
