Illegal Immigrants

I have an employee who her husband is an illegal immigrant.  I sat down with her because they paid a lot of money to this guy that said he worked for immigrations.  He took the money and now they have a letter from immigrations and his license that he has been using is ready to expire.  Needless to say this is a sensitive issue with the news and everything that is going on with the boarder situation.  I had a strong opinion that people should go through the process but have softened after hearing her story. I guess at 16 his father said cross the border if you want to make some money.  He ran across and made it through without getting caught.  He came over found a job and has been working for many years in the US.  He married and has two children that are young.  He does not have a record and has had no problems with the authorities.  They’ve paid and been scammed and it appears that this is not uncommon because people are desperate. I had several thoughts after talking with her and trying to help.  How did they get married? I’m required by law to have everyone of my employees complete an I9 and verify identification.  The state of California married these two individuals?  Are they really married? If they are married does that make him legal?  The state of California recognizes him as a legal citizen.  He has two children that are US citizens.  They don’t make a lot of money so how do they go through this process?  The attorney says that he needs to go back to Mexico and file the proper paperwork.  If he goes back how does he get back where does he stay and what happens to his family here? He is afraid to go back because the process can take 3-10 years.  He needs to support his family what does he do?  He was an adolescent upon entering the states and now that he’s in his late 20’s early 30’s he only knows this life.  He has family but they are being invaded by the cartel.  I did not understand some of these details when I formed an opinion about illegal immigrants.  I would love to get your feedback regarding her situation and any advice would be appreciated.  Now that we have a home in AZ I know that this is a hot topic in my new home.   

Cameo Pools

Cameo Pools

Dale was a great guy and apparently lives in the same subdivision.  This company was very responsive to all of my questions.  We exchanged tons of emails back and forth.  It really came down to the conceptual drawings and my overall gut with this company and California Pools.  I liked that Dale lived in the community but I liked the California pool design much more. 

Dolphin Pools

Dolphin Pools

On 6/20/11 I sent Adam the bid solicitation.  Then I received an email back from Chris on 6/28/11 saying that Adam had pursued another opportunity and he would be handing the project.  On 7/3/11 I sent an email to Chris following up. 7/3/11 Chris emailed me back and said that he was sorry that he had a medical situation and was in the office.  He said that he is working on two other projects and that we were after that. On 7/16/11 Chris emailed me the 2D drawing and bid and said that he had sent the conceptual drawings earlier.  I could not find any drawings in my email. Chris continued to send me emails following up. On 9/6/11 Chris sent conceptual drawings. 9/23/11 Chris sent an email wanting to talk about the project. 12/1/11 Chris sent an email saying that he had seen the construction going on and was confused. Please see my response to Chris:

Hi Chris,

We changed the parameters during the process. Both my husband and I have an extensive purchasing background and we bid out the pool to 10 pool providers in AZ.  The company we selected was based on the following criteria.

1) Responsiveness

2) Depth of detail

3) Design

4) Price

5) Feedback and research on the internet

We planned on spending $100K that was our budget to do the yard.  We were not in AZ until just recently moving my father so communication was key.  The company we selected was XXXXXXX and so far we have not been disappointed in the project. 

I really appreciate your effort and your time in providing a bid and design.  You were the runner up on our project out of the 10 providers. I will be doing a website and discussing purchasing a home in AZ and my pool project.

Thank you,

Melissa

We did not go with Dolphin Pools because again I lost interest between the time delays.  I had already accomplished so much with the other companies before I received the conceptual drawings from Chris.  He seemed very nice however if the service was the same as the construction it would take months to get the backyard done. 

 

Presidential Pools

Presidential Pools

We received a reference from our realtor Rachele Funk who understands how picky that we are and again high maintenance.  Rachele said that Mike installed her pool when he was with Paddock Pools and she said he’s the best but now working with Presidential Pools.  I emailed Mike the same day which was 6/15/11.  Mike emailed me back immediately and said that he would have Sean the pool/landscape designer contact me directly.  While waiting for Sean I emailed Mike back and forth with several questions that I had and he always responded immediately.  My husband and I found a great design that we liked and apparently Mike had installed that pool in Las Vegas.  We are still waiting for Sean to contact us but nothing.  On 6/22/11 I emailed Mike and ask him for a status.  I received an email on 6/22/11 from Sean and I guess he had the wrong email.  I’m unsure why he did not go to Mike and figure out the discrepancy because I had been going back and forth with Mike.  I received email on 6/22/11 from Sean letting me know that they will review my notes and get back to me.  On 6/28/11 Sean sent me an email letting me know that he would have the pricing and conceptual drawing this week. On 06/29/11 I received an email from Stephen who said that he is Sean’s partner however I’m a little confused because his logo and company name is not Presidential Pools it’s Flo Concepts.  He advised me that they will be getting back to me in the next few days.  I emailed Mike on 7/6/11 to give me a status because I had not heard anything back from Sean or the new guy Stephen.  Mike again emailed me immediately letting me know that he was going to get the VP of sales involved right away. On 7/7/11 I received an email from Stephen with the Flow Concept logo letting me know that he was assembling costing.  Finally on 7/8/11 I received from Sean the costing, conceptual HAND DRAWING.  Sean continued to follow up after sending the bid and conceptual drawing but by this time I had decided that they were not the right pool company for us.

My thoughts, experience, and finally concerns:

1. Mike is awesome and from his communication skills, customer service, and responsiveness he was great.
2. The responsiveness of the rest of the company was lack of.
3. The team was not communicating internally.
4. The other construction company getting involved told me that they have some internal things to work out. One company needs to be in control of all subcontractors. 
5. The hand drawing was concerning. 

Would I recommend this company no, not with someone who lives out of state and requires communication.  I know nothing about the craftsmanship of this company.  They may be a great small company however I’m not in Arizona I need communication on a regular basis.  I will again say that Mike was great and I’m sorry that I could not trust spending $100K dollars with the experience that I had.  I will say they were better than my experience with a large company such as Shasta which is still baffling.  If I had to select between Presidential or Shasta it would be Presidential because, of Mike. Again let me reiterate that this may be one of the best companies however when you are on your honeymoon everything is absolutely perfect it’s not disoriented.  Once you are married the crap can start. So was I about to enter into a long term contractual agreement involving $100K with this company no.