TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It took two long years of delays, but Kim Apthrop is happy with her pool built by the now-defunct Staycation Pools & Spas.
The screened lanai, though, was never provided even though she paid all but the final $3,168 payment for the whole project.
“Tons of live oaks around here and during pollen season, it is crazy,” Apthrop said. “The whole pool will be floating with nothing but the pollen. To have the screen enclosure would have really helped us to keep that under control.”
Staycation abruptly shut down last month, after the license holder, Jordan Hidalgo relinquished all of his nine state licenses.
Apthrop and her husband couldn’t afford to pay someone else again for the screen. So, imagine her shock when a letter arrived from a collections company, saying she owes $3,168.50 for a debt to Staycation.
Hidalgo, a pool contractor responsible for six companies in the Tampa Bay area, voluntarily gave up all of his licenses, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
This comes after a growing number of customers of several pool companies complained to the state about unfinished pools, liens on their homes and poor communication.
One thing that connects them all is that the companies have the same state-licensed contractor, Hidalgo, and he’s the one who is legally responsible for all of their projects.
Hidalgo’s licenses represented the following companies: Modern Pools, West Bay Pools, Staycation Pools & Spas, Pinellas Construction Services, LLC, 30 Day Pools, Pools By Jordan and A to Z Gulfcoast Service. He had two different licenses for two of the companies.
Licenses for Staycation Pools & Spas and West Bay Pools are officially relinquished now and the rest of the licenses are good until Nov. 1, according to the state.
