The Great Escape Batavia — Attraction in Batavia Township

Terrible customer service! I was blackmailed and bullied by Frank Guadio to not call his boss for resolution for the mess ups from the Batavia store. His boss, Reid P wouldn’t return a call after four attempts. I sent an email to corporate with dates and times explaining the lack of customer services. Here are a few things. Wrong pool equipment, manager refusing to listen (even once he realized in a legal binding document we paid for and ordered a certain product). Frank insisted it was normal to have employees selling pools who did not know about the products. Such as Christina telling me they are not trained on salt water pools. I tried to explain to Frank I could have ordered the pool from the Great Escape website, Frank insisted again, the pools on the Great Escape website were not as the same quality sold in the store. How is this possible? I asked several times to make sure I understood. Even during a pandemic, when the world is shut down, the Great Escape is selling poor quality on line? Per the district manager himself? Frank was frustrated and said for the inconvenience he would give us “free chemicals” for the pool. I asked how if Christina stated the chemicals for a salt water pool where not sold in the store. He said that I was lying. I explained that it was in emails and asked Christina (she confirmed). Christina stated in an email on March 25, 2021 she was not sure where I could get these materials as they are not kept in the store. Once Frank realized the store actually sent the wrong parts for saltwater he said he would send the new equipment but was no longer going to give us chemicals for the inconvenience? I asked for his boss (Reid P ext 1101), Frank said he would not send the correct equipment if I called his boss. That’s blackmail! Blackmail is bribery and bullying. I have all documentation, dates, times of everyone I have emailed and spoken with. I recommend spending the couple of extra dollars and paying a private business for peace of mind and customer service. Please note the owner responded but we did not have a pleasant conversation. No resolution. BBB advised me to contact the government...

I waited a while before posting this review, but I still feel the review should be posted a week later so here it goes. I always try to give people the benefit of doubt and chalk issues up to someone having a bad day—but this disappointing experience at great Escape Batavia was more than that.

To clarify, I’ve owned and cared for swimming pools for over 25 years, so I’m not new to pool maintenance. I had a concern about a product I purchased and whether it could be causing chemical issues in my pool. When I brought this up in the store, the manager, Chad was disrespectful, dismissive, and condescending. He didn’t listen to my concerns at all. After he walked away, two of the three other employees were also rude (one was very nice and helpful), but I guess if it is OK for the manager to treat me that way, why not?

I was getting conflicting information from the staff in-store and the person who originally sold me the chemical, so I followed up by emailing Great Escape directly. Their response confirmed what I was told when I purchased the product and contradicted what the manager told me. That’s when I lost confidence—not just in the product, but in the advice, I received.

The overall attitude in-store made it seem like questioning anything equated to being completely ignorant, or worse, offensive. Honestly, the way I was treated, you’d think I accused them of intentionally sabotaging my pool.

Later that day, I did speak with the manager on the phone. That conversation was more respectful— after a rough start, he took the time to listen, ask questions, and even offered a store credit. I appreciated that effort, but the in-store experience had already left a lasting impression, and I still do not have a solid answer to my initial concerns.

This wasn’t about the money—it’s about trust. When it comes to pool care, I need to rely on consistent, knowledgeable information, and I simply don’t feel I can get that here anymore. I’ll be looking for another pool store where my concerns are taken seriously and I'm treated...

Extremely poor service after sale.

I purchased a new patio set, the furniture is amazing and my wife and I love it except for the missing piece. The set delivered the following week but it was missing the glass top for the coffee table (wouldn't be a problem except drinks fall over without the glass). I called the store the same afternoon after the delivery, someone answered with a rude "Hello?", I responded "Hi, is this the Great Escape?", they responded "Yes." After an awkward silence I explained my issue, the person said that the sales associate who sold me the set will need to take care of it and they aren't in today so they will leave a note and I'll be called back tomorrow. I was never called back.

After some time I just assumed the mistake was on my end, perhaps I was supposed to purchase the glass separately so I went into the store to do so. I explained my situation to the sales associates, I was confronted with "Why did you wait so long to bring this up?". I explained I called the same day but was never called back, I showed them the work order with pictures showing the missing component. After some digging on their end they determined the glass top should have come with the coffee table and didn't need to be purchased separately. They said that I will receive a call from the service department sometime in the following week and I left the store.

Fast forward to today (6 days later), still no call from the service department. I called the store again to explain the issue, I was told that the person who sold me the set will need to look into it and give me a call back.

I understand mistakes can happen, but my treatment and observations lead me to believe this is the culture of the business. There is no sense of urgency in addressing the mistake (they already have my money). I'm also not surprised I was never called back because of how messy and unorganized the sales desk area is, the note was probably lost under one of the piles of paper laying everywhere. I will not be coming here for my...