JUPITER, FL -- It’s hard to imagine during these tough economic times. Spending tens of thousands of dollars on a pool, and the job never gets done.
Jupiter resident Nancy Hopkins says she’s living through that nightmare.
She hired Pinnacle Pools out of Jupiter to build a pool and hot tub in her backyard.
“It was mainly it was for medical reasons,” Hopkins said. "Coastal Pain Solutions advised it would help with my back and my mother's back."
Hopkins is the sole caregiver for her 90 year old mother Grace. Both mother and daughter suffer severe arthritis of the spine.
"What the water in a pool does is it takes the pressure off the body and that helps us move easier,” Hopkins said.
To pay for their pool, Hopkins took a reverse mortgage on her home. Hopkins said she was told the turn-around on the project would be quick.
"It was supposed to take a matter of 3-to-6 months barring any weather problems," Hopkins said.
That was back in September of 2007.
"He came out, started digging,” remembers Hopkins. "We had a good rapport and then he started making excuses."
Hopkins says she was dealing directly with Pinnacle Pools’ President.
“He kept coming back and asking for monies and I foolishly thought well he's honest,” said Hopkins. “So I paid him. I paid him everything.”
She has more than $70,000 in cashed checks, made payable to Pinnacle Pools.
So Contact 5 started searching for the pool company. Their business had moved from the address listed in state records.
The Contact 5 Investigators tracked the company’s registered agent, Tom Rice, to a home in Jupiter. We found the license Rice has been using to build pools, is expired in Palm Beach
County, though it remains in good standing with the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulations.
The man who owns the construction license is David Dube. We tracked him to Tampa. Our repeated phone calls were never returned.
Tom Rice talked to Channel 5 by phone and told us:
“Unfortunately, the way the revenues are, there is no work,” said Rice. “Due to the fact of the shift in the economy and paying payroll and workman’s comp, our cash flow was depleted and I’m unable to get credit. I'm waiting to get some new work so I have the funds to finish her project."
So Nancy Hopkins is living with a concrete hole in her backyard. She says it’s a constant reminder of what $70,000 won’t buy you.
"It makes me very sick,” Hopkins said. I feel very stupid and foolish you know. I don't want any harm to come to anyone, but I do want my money back. I just want what I paid for."
Another clarification on this story:
There are several companies doing business as Pinnacle Pools in Southeast Florida. As we mentioned earlier, Nancy Hopkins hired the company based in Jupiter.
