On 5/31/2014 11:40 AM, DannyD. wrote:
sms wrote, on Sat, 31 May 2014 07:25:48 -0700:

Yeah, it's a pain in the butt. They said it was because Hasa changed
ownership and the new owners aren't offering the stores the same
promotions as in the past.

Hi Steve,

You know, those two guys who work there? They scare me. I don't know
if I believe a thing they say. But, they told me that HASA didn't
like them undercutting everyone else, so, it's a relatively similar
story to what they told you.

LOL, they are some strange dudes that's for sure.

What I believe is what they tell me they use in the pools that they
service. Ask them what's in those ginormous plastic tanks on the
pallets, it's the bulk chemicals they use for pool servicing. Orenda
CV700 or PR10000. Depending on lunar tides they might sell you some in
your own container but they have no idea how to price it.

I think that their pool service business is based on liquid chlorine,
liquid acid, phosphate remover (PR-10000), and borate (Pool Perfect).

I've learned never to show up at 10am opening time for them.
About half the time, they don't arrive there until 11am. So you
(and a few others) wait in the parking lot for them to arrive.

Yep, I've run into that exact thing. They have no set hours for the
store. My feeling is that the retail store is almost an annoyance and
that the big money is in pool service. Once you have a pool balanced,
and you've got Pool Perfect or borax in the water, there's very little
work to do for weekly service, especially if the owner has an automatic
cleaner, and especially if they have a chlorine feeder or salt system.
Yet in Saratoga not a lot of people want to maintain their own pool and
$75/month is chump change.

They tell me they do that when "Dave" (whoever that is) is on
vacation. Dunno what is going on, but it always seems fishy.

Also, when I pay cash, the cash register drawer opens, but, nothing
gets rung up. Now, you don't have to tell me what that means, but,
if they're not paying their taxes, they shouldn't be charging *me*
the $1.80 for the tax on the case of "free" chlorine they're giving
me (for buying many gallons).

Yeah, see the same thing at a lot of small restaurants.