A class-action lawsuit has been filed against a Dorchester, South Carolina, pool building company accusing the company of breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
Indigo Pools, a fiberglass pool installer located just outside Charleston, stands accused of both unprofessional conduct and workmanship after a series of dissatisfied customers took to social media and learned that they had something in common.
Frustrated with his own pool installation process, Dan Anessi started the Facebook page, the “Indigo Pools/River Pools customer form,” a forum that currently has 284 members communicating about their installation problems and questions about their pools.
For his part, Anessi signed his contract in June of 2021 — a project that didn’t get completed until July 2022. He said that throughout the installation, workers drank beers and crashed into his fence, his home, and then left a gravel driveway in his front yard after the work was done.
“When they came through, I noticed damage to my property that didn’t need to be done,” Anessi said. “This isn’t stuff that was right around where they were digging, this was just not caring. They just destroyed my front yard, and I had no idea. I’m calling them saying, ‘What’s going on with this?’ ‘How come I wasn’t told?’They responded with, ‘Sorry about that, somebody should have told you.’” After signing up for their new pool in October 2021, the Lockard family experienced similar damages to their property during the installation.
Doug Lockard said that prior to November when they tried to use their newly installed but nonfunctional pool heater, they had been pretty happy. They contacted the manufacturer of the heater, Pentair, as well as Dominion Energy to take a look. The contractors quickly explained that the way the heater had been installed posed an explosion risk.
“That’s what pushed me over the edge. My exact words to him [Josh] was that was unforgivable. It’s not like a crack in the concrete: That doesn’t risk my boys’ lives, my wife’s life or my mom’s life. That could have blown up; it could have killed my neighbor, like everybody,” Lockard said.
More than 30 people have recently joined the class-action lawsuit against Indigo Pools.
Brandy Sutherland, who spent $93,455 for a pool that she cannot swim in, is the representative plaintiff named in the case. After her pool was “completed”, she hired a certified pool builder to come clean the pool and was then informed that the saltwater cell installed was not the right kind, the filter was too small, the gel coat was in danger of deterioration, there was an explosion risk at the heater due to its proximity to the salt cell, and that she would need to build a retaining wall to prevent the pool from moving because it had been installed too high.
Josh Ingram, the owner of Indigo Pools, has said most of the issues had to do with subcontractors and said they have a written plan to work with past customers to fix issues that they have a problem with.
The owner learned that a lawsuit had been filed against his company on December 5 and he issued the following statement: As of today, we have not been served with a class action lawsuit. We were made aware just a few hours ago that this lawsuit has been announced. Leading up to this point, we had agreed to work with every single customer to address their concerns, and we are saddened to hear that customers feel they need to pursue litigation.
We had a written plan in place that was communicated to every customer who had concerns with their project and were diligently working to address those concerns. The allegations that have been filed in the complaint are not true and we are working to continue fulfilling all contracts. Customer satisfaction has been, and remains, of paramount importance to us.
The suit was filed in the Dorchester County First Judicial Circuit on November 30.
The plaintiffs are asking for relief for all damages, attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages.
Indigo Pools/River Pools Customer Page
