SO, JOHN, JUST HOW WIDESPREAD ARE THE COMPANY鈥橲 COMPLAINTS? SURE. WE UNCOVERED UNFINISHED POOL INSTALLATIONS IN 13 CITIES, INCLUDING TWO IN GARDENDALE AND ONE OVER IN JASPER. IN FACT, GREG KIRKS TRAIL OF UNFULFILLED SWIMMING HOLE HOPES STRETCHES ALL THE WAY TO THE TENNESSEE STATE LINE. IT WAS A HOLE FILLED WITH WATER. ABOUT 15 MONTHS AGO, CHAZ BUCHANAN FAMILY WAS DREAMING OF HOSTING BACKYARD POOL PARTIES. AFTER A BIT OF RESEARCH, THEY SETTLED ON A CONTRACTOR WHO WAS INSTALLING A FIBERGLASS POOL FOR ANOTHER GARDENDALE FAMILY. YEAH, IT WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL, VERY NICE. A GENTLE INDIVIDUAL, AND I THOUGHT, HEY, YOU KNOW, THIS GUY SEEMS TO BE A PRETTY, PRETTY GOOD GUY. SO I TOLD HER, I SAID, HEY, I THINK WE, YOU KNOW, WE MAY HAVE FOUND OUR. YOU KNOW, POOL GUY. AFTER PAYING GREG KIRK AND PRISTINE FIBERGLASS POOLS NORTH OF $50,000, THE CONTRACTOR DUG THE HOLE FOR THE POOL SHELL. A POOL SHELL WHICH NEVER ARRIVED. SO ABOUT EIGHT MONTHS LATER, THE BUCHANANS CANCELED THE CONTRACT AND DEMANDED A REFUND, WHICH THEY NEVER RECEIVED. WE HAD A TEN FOOT, A TEN FOOT BY 25 FOOT HOLE THAT WAS. 9.5FT DEEP THAT YOU HAD PAID HOW MUCH MONEY FOR $54,000? THE BUCHANANS FILED THIS LAWSUIT CITING BREACH OF CONTRACT AND FRAUD. GREG KIRK鈥橲 LAWYERS DENIED THE CLAIMS. IN THEIR RESPONSE TO THE COMPLAINT, BUT THE BUCHANANS EXPERIENCE IS NOT UNIQUE IN THIS BANKRUPTCY. PRISTINE FIBERGLASS POOLS FILED LAST FALL GREG KIRK LISTS THREE DOZEN REJECTED POOL INSTALLATION CONTRACTS, 33 CREDITORS HE CLAIMS TO OWE $1.4 MILLION. WE PLOTTED ALL OF THEM ON THIS MAP. MOST WERE IN NORTH ALABAMA, WITH NINE OF THEM IN MADISON COUNTY, INCLUDING THREE IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD. AND SO OUR DREAM WAS TO HAVE LIKE A BACKYARD OASIS FOR OUR KIDS. SHAYNA AVERETT WAS ONE OF THOSE THREE AND HIRED GREG KIRK WEEKS AFTER THE BUCHANANS. SHE SAID KIRK HAD BEAT THE PRICE AND INSTALLATION TIMELINES OF HIS COMPETITORS. IMAGINE THE EXCITEMENT THAT WE HAD GOING FROM TWO YEARS TO TWO WEEKS, SO WE AND HE WAS CHEAPER AND HE WAS A LOT CHEAPER. THE AVERAGE PAID PRISTINE FIBERGLASS POLES $44,000. THEY DID RECEIVE A POOL SHELL THE FOLLOWING APRIL, SEVEN MONTHS AFTER HE DUG THE WHOLE SEVEN HOLE MONTHS. SO YOU HAD A HOLE IN YOUR BACKYARD FOR SEVEN MONTHS? SEVEN MONTHS? ROB MY KIDS OF OF THEIR OF THEIR SUMMER. THE ABBOTTS GAVE KIRK A FEW MORE MONTHS, BUT AFTER FAILING TO COME BACK OUT TO FINISH THE JOB, THEY TWO CANCELED THEIR CONTRACT. SO WE DECIDED TO TRACK DOWN GREG KIRK FOR HIS SIDE OF THE STORY. WHEN WE SHOWED UP AT HIS MUSCLE SHOALS DOOR, HE TOLD US THROUGH THE DOORBELL CAMERA TO CALL HIM LATER. WHAT鈥橲 THE BEST TIME TO CALL YOU? AND WHEN WE CALLED HIM, THIS IS JON PAEPCKE WITH 米兰体育. 13. WE SPOKE. WE HAD TO LEAVE A VOICEMAIL. HE NEVER RETURNED OUR CALL. THIS POOL LINER HAS BEEN IN THE GROUND SINCE APRIL OF LAST YEAR. THE AVERAGE CHOSE TO PAY ANOTHER COMPANY $36,000 TO FINISH INSTALLING THE POOL, WHICH THEY HOPE TO SWIM IN A YEAR AFTER KIRK DUG THE HOLE, HE鈥橲 CALLED A LOT OF HURT. HE鈥橲 CAUSED A LOT OF FINANCIAL BURDEN. IN ADDITION TO THE BUCHANANS LAWSUIT AND TWO OTHER CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS TO WHICH HE HAS NOT RESPONDED, THE ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL IS PROSECUTING GREG KIRK ON CRIMINAL THEFT AND FRAUD CHARGES LINKED TO TWO FAILED POOL JOBS IN MADISON COUNTY. AND THEN YOU HAD TO PAY HOW MUCH TO FILL IT BACK IN ABOUT 7500 BUCKS TO FILL IT BACK IN. ULTIMATELY, THE BUCHANANS FILLED IN THE HOLE ONCE DESTINED FOR SUMMER FUN BECAUSE PAYING SOMEONE ELSE TO FINISH THE JOB WAS TOO EXPENSIVE. ARE YOU EVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO PUT A POOL IN YOUR BACKYARD? NO. NOT NOW, NOT NOW. NOT WITH THE PRICES. THE WAY THAT EVERYTHING IS NOWADAYS. THEIR PLANS CRUSHED. THEY鈥橰E COUNTING ON. THEIR EXPERIENCE TO HELP OTHERS. OUR HOPE IN THE END IS TO AT LEAST GET WHAT WE鈥橵E PAID OUT FROM HIM. AND FOR NOBODY TO JUST EVER USE HIM AGAIN AND POSSIBLY AVOID THE SAME BACKYARD DREAM DISAPPOINTMENT. RIGHT NOW, THE FIVE CRIMINAL CASES KIRK FACES HAVE ALL BEEN FORWARDED TO THE GRAND JURY AND RIGHT NOW, THOSE PENDING CIVIL LAWSUITS ARE ON HOLD WHILE HIS BANKRUPTCY PLAYS OUT IN COURT. WE WILL BRING YOU UPDATES ON ALL THREE OF THESE FRONTS WHEN THEY HAPPEN. PLUS, IF YOU鈥橠 LIKE TO SEE THAT MAP SHOWING THE TRAIL OF KIRK鈥�
Embattled Alabama pool installer owes 33 customers $1.4 million
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Updated: 1:24 PM CST Jan 25, 2024
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About 15-months ago, Chaz Buchanan's family was dreaming of hosting backyard pool parties.After a bit of research, they settled on a contractor who was installing a fiberglass pool for another Gardendale family.鈥淗e was very professional, very nice. Gentle individual. This guy seems to be a pretty good guy and said, hey, I think we've found our pool guy,鈥� Buchanan said.After paying Greg Kirk and Pristine Fiberglass Pools north of $50,000, the contractor dug the hole for the pool shell.That pool shell never arrived. So, about eight months later, the Buchanan鈥檚 cancelled the contract and demanded a refund, which they never received. 鈥淵ou had a ten foot, by 25-foot hole that was 9.5 foot deep,鈥� Buchanan said. The Buchanan's filed this lawsuit citing breach of contract and fraud. Greg Kirk's lawyers denied the claims in their response to the complaint.However, the Buchanan's experience is not unique.In a bankruptcy Pristine Fiberglass Pools filed last fall, Kirk lists three dozen rejected contract creditors he owes a total of $1.4 million.We plotted all of them on map.Most are in North Alabama, with nine of them in Madison, including three in the same neighborhood.Shanna Averette was one of those three and hired Kirk weeks after the Buchanan鈥檚 did 90 minutes south in Gardendale. She said Kirk could beat the price and installation timelines of his competitors.鈥淚magine the excitement that we had going from two years to two weeks. He was a lot cheaper,鈥� Averette said.The Averette鈥檚 paid Pristine Fiberglass Pools $44,000.They did receive a pool shell, the following April. 鈥淪even months. It robbed my kids of their summer,鈥� Averette said.They gave Kirk a few more months.Then, after failing to come back out to finish the job, they too cancelled their contract.So, we decided to track down Greg Kirk for his side of the story.When we showed up at his Muscle Shoals door, he told us through the door bell camera to call him later.When called him back, we had to leave a voice mail.He never returned our call.The Averette鈥檚 chose to pay another company $36,000 to finish installing the pool.They hope to swim in it a year after Kirk dug the hole. 鈥淗e's caused a lot of hurt. He's caused a lot of financial burden,鈥� Averette said.In addition to the Buchanan's lawsuit and two other customer complaints to which Kirk has not responded, the Alabama Attorney General is also prosecuting Kirk on criminal theft and fraud charges linked to two failed pool jobs in Madison County. Ultimately, the Buchanan鈥檚 filled in the hole once destined for summer fun, because paying someone else to finish the job was too expensive. 鈥淣o, not now. Not with the prices they way things are nowadays,鈥� Buchanan said.Their plans crushed, they're counting on their experience to help others. 鈥淥ur hope in the end is to get out what we've paid him and nobody to ever use him again,鈥� Buchanan said. The five criminal cases Kirk faces have all been forwarded to the grand jury.His pending civil lawsuits are on hold while his bankruptcy plays out in court.
GARDENDALE, Ala. — About 15-months ago, Chaz Buchanan's family was dreaming of hosting backyard pool parties.
After a bit of research, they settled on a contractor who was installing a fiberglass pool for another Gardendale family.
鈥淗e was very professional, very nice. Gentle individual. This guy seems to be a pretty good guy and said, hey, I think we've found our pool guy,鈥� Buchanan said.
After paying Greg Kirk and Pristine Fiberglass Pools north of $50,000, the contractor dug the hole for the pool shell.
That pool shell never arrived.
So, about eight months later, the Buchanan鈥檚 cancelled the contract and demanded a refund, which they never received.
鈥淵ou had a ten foot, by 25-foot hole that was 9.5 foot deep,鈥� Buchanan said.
The Buchanan's filed this lawsuit citing breach of contract and fraud.
Greg Kirk's lawyers denied the claims in their response to the complaint.
However, the Buchanan's experience is not unique.
In a bankruptcy Pristine Fiberglass Pools filed last fall, Kirk lists three dozen rejected contract creditors he owes a total of $1.4 million.
We plotted all of them on map.
Most are in North Alabama, with nine of them in Madison, including three in the same neighborhood.
Shanna Averette was one of those three and hired Kirk weeks after the Buchanan鈥檚 did 90 minutes south in Gardendale.
She said Kirk could beat the price and installation timelines of his competitors.
鈥淚magine the excitement that we had going from two years to two weeks. He was a lot cheaper,鈥� Averette said.
The Averette鈥檚 paid Pristine Fiberglass Pools $44,000.
They did receive a pool shell, the following April.
鈥淪even months. It robbed my kids of their summer,鈥� Averette said.
They gave Kirk a few more months.
Then, after failing to come back out to finish the job, they too cancelled their contract.
So, we decided to track down Greg Kirk for his side of the story.
When we showed up at his Muscle Shoals door, he told us through the door bell camera to call him later.
When called him back, we had to leave a voice mail.
He never returned our call.
The Averette鈥檚 chose to pay another company $36,000 to finish installing the pool.
They hope to swim in it a year after Kirk dug the hole.
鈥淗e's caused a lot of hurt. He's caused a lot of financial burden,鈥� Averette said.
In addition to the Buchanan's lawsuit and two other customer complaints to which Kirk has not responded, the Alabama Attorney General is also prosecuting Kirk on criminal theft and fraud charges linked to two failed pool jobs in Madison County.
Ultimately, the Buchanan鈥檚 filled in the hole once destined for summer fun, because paying someone else to finish the job was too expensive.
鈥淣o, not now. Not with the prices they way things are nowadays,鈥� Buchanan said.
Their plans crushed, they're counting on their experience to help others.
鈥淥ur hope in the end is to get out what we've paid him and nobody to ever use him again,鈥� Buchanan said.
The five criminal cases Kirk faces have all been forwarded to the grand jury.
His pending civil lawsuits are on hold while his bankruptcy plays out in court.
