The Great Escape Bloomington — Local services in Bloomington

In April 2021, we purchased a patio set which was to include a table, six chairs and an umbrella/umbrella stand. While we were shopping for the set, many of this store’s competitors were honest and told us that they would be unable to get the items for 3 months. Since this was our first patio set, we did not want to wait that long to make use of our new deck and decided to purchase from The Great Escape (who told us that all of the items were in stock and we would just have to wait about a month for delivery). We purchased the set and waited for delivery only to be called the night before the delivery date to say that they would not be able to deliver because the items were not in stock. We were told we would hear from a manager the next day to receive an updated timeframe of when the items might be in and delivered. After waiting 3 days with no call from the manager, we called them and were told they “might” be on the truck later that week. Although we requested that someone call to let us know whether or not they were on the truck, no one called us and the items were not delivered. Again, we had to reach out to them, and they stated that they could deliver everything but two chairs and gave us a delivery date. On that date, only the table and two chairs were delivered - nothing else. When we finally decided to just cancel the rest of the order and receive a refund since the process was becoming such a nightmare, we were left on hold for 30 minutes before we finally drove to the store to deal with the matter in person. We were then told that the other four chairs would be there in just a matter of days. This had never been communicated to us, which we were not surprised by since communication had been lacking since the first delivery failure. We decided that we still wanted to cancel the umbrella and umbrella stand, but were then told that those items should have already been delivered since they were in stock and in the store. Still wanting to cancel that portion of the order because we were tired of dealing with them, we were told that they couldn’t just refund the credit card that we had used to pay them, but instead we had to wait for a refund check to be mailed to us from the corporate office. After two months from our original order date, we finally received the rest of our patio set and also eventually received the refund from the umbrella and stand and well. Although we are very happy with our patio furniture, the deception, lack of communication, and horrible customer service we received at The Great Escape will keep us from ever purchasing from this...

I bought a pool from TGE Bloomington after my previous one was destroyed by weather. It was installed on a Saturday and the next morning the liner was ripped and the walls caved in. I sent an email with the photos to the Sales Manager, who had provided the original quote. Without sending anyone out to inspect the pool, he immediately chalked it up to the "weather" that had come through that evening. It wasn't long into our phone conversation that the Sales Manager quickly began yelling and berating me for complaining that the (not cheap) pool had not even survived 24 hours. He wasn't willing to send anyone to look at the pool to determine what was needed, he was very adamant about filing ANOTHER insurance claim.

After speaking with the installer (contracted by TGE), the lead installer offered to replace the liner free of charge, assuming I provided the liner. Naturally, TGE was only willing to offer me yet another liner at retail, since he was able to discern from photos only that the damage was not due to installation defect. I refused to pay retail for something that didn't even survive 24 hours, at which point he continued to yell and berate me for even asking for a free liner.

Having no other option, I purchased the liner and it was installed about a week later. The second time, the Unibead liner was installed correctly, and magically the pool is now full and swim-worthy.

Again, I would caution anyone to spend any money at this establishment. The Sales Manager was very rude and unprofessional, and even after all the money they made off of the pool, they were not willing to provide a new liner to maintain a reputation and earn a lifetime customer. I'll never be back, and I hope that no one else has to put up with the hassle and extra cost that I did for a pool that was worthless less than 24 hours after it...

My wife and I purchased a Viking hot tub because we read so many wonderful things about this American made hot tub. Well, as we know, nothing is perfect. We had an issue with the heater and it was causing extra power usage. We called Viking and they said, no problem, it's under warranty. They worked with Jim in Bloomington and Andy at corporate. Within a short time we were scheduled for service. The day of service we received a call from Justin Walls. He said I am about 30 minutes out, and I was told to give you a call about 30 minutes prior to arriving so I am doing so. He was professional and friendly. He said, as you know, I am replacing the power pack and you also asked for the Artic package to be installed. I explained to him that I had a meeting and will not be home but my wife would be. I asked him if he could send pictures of the hot tub prior to closing it up so I can see what he did. He said no problem. When he arrived at the house, he was very professional and explained to my wife what they were there for. After a short time, I received a text with several pictures of my hot tub showing me the installed Artic package. Justin said the hot tub was finished with the install and said he didn't anticipate any issues, but I now had his number and not to be afraid to use it if I had any issues at all. Justin Walls communication prior to, through, and post install was outstanding. I started the hot tub up when I arrived home and all is good! Also. Jim at the Bloomington store moved my appointment up in time at my request and Justin went out of his way to accommodate. An overall...