Intex Recreation
Reviews and Complaints

I bought an intex pool light, havent had it in my pool for more than 3 months and it has rusted the side of my intex pool enough to put a hole in it! How does a plastic light rust enough to put a hole in the side of a rubber pool liner? Dont think it is right or fare, now i need to let out the water enough to patch my pool that i didnt even damage...where are the warnings on the box for this product? BUYERS BEWARE, never had a problem with intex products befor, but this is definatly a problem...keep a close eye if you have one. If the company reads this and wants proof, i do have pictures...its the darndest thing ive ever seen!

i have only had this pool for only 8 mos. and where the liner slides on the poles that hold it two of them riped an know its no good. im not very happy about this it took us awhile to save for this pool for our grand kids an know its ruined. an as i see its gonna cost almost 300.00 for a new liner.how right is that? that is almost the price of a new one. but i guess that how companys make money...

This is the second year I have used this pool. It has been nothing but a big
pain. The filter is too small for the pool size and has to be cleaned every
day. This is not an easy task and is not user friendly. The plunger valve
assembly which turns off the water from the pool to the pump broke and the company is out of stock for the part. This makes it even more difficult to clean the filter and screen in the pump. And the parts department was not very helpful when I called to find out when the part would be available and what I was supposed to do in the meantime.

I am writing to explain an ongoing problem that I have had in trying to obtain a replacement pump Model 635 from an Intex 24 X 12 pool set that I purchased June 3rd, 2007 at a Canadian Tire store in Canada.

The pump only lasted approximately 2 weeks before it ceased to function any longer and I immediately contacted the INTEX service department in California for a warranty replacement, detailing the circumstances in a letter and faxing the information as requested. I called after I had faxed the letter (and original proof of purchase receipt) to confirm that the fax had been received. I was told that it had been received and the warranty claim approved and that I should be receiving my new pump within 2 weeks.

On July 31, 2007, having not received the pump I contacted the consumer department again to be advised that they had no record of my original claim and that I should send the information again. I promptly did so and followed up with another phone call to confirm that they received the fax. Upon confirmation I was told that the fax was received and approved and that I should anticipate my replacement pump in about 2 weeks. I advised that I would follow up with another phone call to obtain a confirmation number which I did on August 01, 2007.

I contacted the company again in mid August to be advised that the pumps were “back-ordered” and it would be approximately 2 week before I received my replacement.

Today, September 5, 2007, I contacted the company again to determine the status of the pump. In mid August I was directed to the website to confirm that the company was out of stock on the model 635 pump but noticed that it no longer indicates that as of this date. I was advised initially today that no record exists of my warranty claim but when I gave the woman my confirmation number she then put me on hold and advised upon returning that it would be another 3-4 weeks for my pump to arrive because they are “back-ordered.” I pointed out that I was advised of this before and directed to note the “out of stock” claim on the website but now the website makes no such claim. She then told me that “Canadian’s are different.” I politely told her that I will have been waiting almost 3 months based on her estimate for a replacement pump and that I needed to contact someone else in the company to lodge a formal complaint. She told me that the supervisors were on discrete extensions and that there was no one to contact. When I questioned this and asked for her name, she promptly hung up on me.

I have been patient, I have been polite, I have been willing to be stroked along with all of the mishandling of this very simple claim, but frankly…that is the final straw.

I work in aviation as a supervisor of 10 and if I allowed any of my staff to behave this way towards any of our stakeholders or to not honour the company intent for customer satisfaction I would lose my job. I have NEVER been party to such carelessness or disdain in customer service relations before in my life. I purchased the swimming pool in good faith and was only able to use it for a very short time, even planning my family’s vacation around it.

My intent is to contact the major Canadian retailers of INTEX products and advise them that their customers should beware of false warranty information and lack of commitment by INTEX to expedite simple claims. It would appear that this company DOES NOT stand behind it's warranties. Perhaps the major retailers might reconsider stocking INTEX products. INTEX is a HONg KONG based company and it would seem another in the long line of Chinese companies with production, warranty and service issues.

I purchased an INTEX inflatable airbed at Shopko on March 7 for 39.99 which was a 20% off the regular price. I also used a $10 coupon which I had from purchasing 10 presciptions from their pharmacy.
On March 10 the same INTEX airbed was advertised as 40% off. I took my receipt to Shopko to get an adjustment / refund since the airbed was on sale for even more off than I originally paid.
I was told I couldn't get an adjustment/refund because I had used the additional coupon from business in the pharmacy.

WE R SO TIRED OF MESSING AROUND WITH INTEX. WE R WAITING ON OUR THIRD PUMP . FIRST WORKED FINE FOR A WHILE WE PLUGGED IT IN ONE DAY AND SMOKE CAME OUT CALLED INTEX THEY SENT OUT ANOTHER, THIS LASTED MAYBE 3 TO 4 WKS. CALLED INTEX WE HAD TO SEND IT BACK AND PAY FOR S & H $25.00 NOW ITS BEEN 3 WKS NO PUMP YET . CALLED THEM 10-11-10 THEY SAY THERE OUT OF STOCK DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY WILL BE IN. NOW WE ARE REGRETING BUYING FROM INTEX AND SHOULD HAVE PAID A LITTLE MORE AND WENT TO A REAL SWIMMING POOL BUSINESS. SEEMS LIKE THEY DON'T WON'T TO STAND BEHIND THERE PRODUCTS.

I purchased an air mattress and tried to use it for the first time on Saturday. Imagine my surprise when I blew it up and it's defective. It has a bulge and a small hole in it. I called Intex and they told me too bad they have no warranty for their mattress products. DO NOT buy an Intex spend a little more and buy an Aerobed, they have a warranty! They were soooo rude, I was not asking for a refund, all I wanted was a replacement bed. Their product is defective and THEY don't care!

We purchased a 15 ft. metal frame pool mid June. Less than two months later we had to replace the pump. When we drained the pool to take it down for winter, it couldn't withstand the lack of water and collapsed. In doing so, folded over on itself and broke the metal frame.
I called Intex and was told it wasn't covered under warranty. When I asked if they were not going to stand by their product that wa made to be set up and taken down every year I was told that it wouldn't have happenend if we had taken it down right, even though the rep didn't ask how we had taken it down. She then proceeded to hang up on me.
I called to speak to a supervisor for whom I had to leave a message in his voicemail. I have yet to have a returned call.
Warning to anyone considering purhasing this product...we had a mild Summer, not warm enough to swim more than two months, the now trashed pool was not worth the $250 paid for two months of fun. Dealing with rude reps at their call center and replacing a broken pump decrease the value even more.

We bought an intex air mattress new from cabelas. Used it maybe a dozen times over six months, carefully, adults only, never traveled with it, etc.

Now it has an undetectable leak that renders it useless. Called intex cust. Svc [protected]) and they literally tell you they will do nothing. What a joke.

The punch-line is that intex bills themselves as "the best customer service department in the industry." seriously, check it out:
http://www.intexcorp.com/consumer_service.html

Will never buy a pos intex product again. Money down the toilet, beware.

I'm on my 3rd Intex pool in 6 years. None of them have ever wear well and not only is their quality poor, their company's Customer Service Dept. is inept and purposefully obtuse.

The Filter:

For the smaller pools the filter was adequate. My latest pool, the 14'x42" Model# [protected], bought at Sports Authority has a filter that is listed online as 2500gal capacity, but customer service insists its a 1000 gal. It operates that way too because keeping it clean is a full time job.

Hoses:

I placed 3 orders from Intex for replacement hoses and received the wrong size each time. The hoses needed for this 2 y/o model are apparently not available anymore. I spent $50 on 3 orders for $8 in parts that don't fit due to non-refundable shipping costs. Further I have to pay for postage to return the parts which close equal to the cost of the parts. That basically equals ZERO refund and I never did get my money back OR proper replacement hoses.

Pools:

The pools themselves are poor quality lasting on average for me 2 years before the vinyl dries out and the holes become impossible to keep up with. I clean, dry and fold carefully along welded seems when storing in my basement in a Rubbermaid box. Holes develop in pool's skin regardless. If the pool could last even just 3 years it might be worth the retail price, but the landfills are being littered with them at a prodigious rate because of this. I have several friends who've replaced theirs; none lasting more than 2 years and all of them vowed to never buy another Intex pool.

The only time they're "worth it" is to buy at the end of the season when you can get them from Wal-Mart or Target for 30%-50% of their retail cost.

Intex Corp. appears to be a company big on ideas but not on execution or customer satisfaction. In a rush to grab your money, they sell pools which are essentially disposable and their company won't satisfy simple and reasonable customer complaints.

I purchased one of Intexs pools last summer and used it for approx. one month, they drained it, cleaned it, and properly stored it according to the instruction included. This summer, only a few days ago, I start to unpack and set it up again, only to find that the top ring had rotted away and was full of holes and will no longer hold air. I call Walmart where I purchased the pool, and they tell me they only have a 90 day warranty, that Intex offers more, so I purchase another pool from Walmart, set it up, and fill it, then I call Intex to discuss the rotted unit. They tell me in a most ignorant fashion, that the pump only has a one year warranty, and the pool is only 90 days, and I am on my own. I never would have spent this kind of money on these pools had I been informed there was only a 90 day warranty, I could have combined the money from both purchases and bought an actual hardside above ground pool which would have lasted years. I feel that Intex is providing garbage at top dollar and once you bouhgt it, your stuck with the problems.

We purchased the 18" by 48" pool from Samsclub ($449.00) last year and the pool started out with no problems. Then the pump started overheating and we could only run it for 8 hours per day. We had it covered from direct sunlight also. This year we found that the impeller was loosing its fins. My husband glued them back on and the pump worked for 3 weeks. Now he has cut off all of the fins and made new fins from plastic toilet shims. If this thing catches on fire because their are so many of us out here trying to modify a $2.00 part so that it will last more then 3 months out of each yeaer then I think Intex should ultimately be held responsible.

We purchased an Intex 18' x 52" Ultra Metal Frame Pool in late May 2010 from Toys R Us. The timer feater on the filter pump that came with the pool (Intex Pump Model 635T) stopped working after 3 days. I contacted Intex and submitted my claim, and they sent out a replacement pump immediately. However, the timer feature didn't work on the replacement pump either! So I called Intex back, and they said since this is my second warranty claim, I need to ship back the filter pump (at my own cost) and they will repair or replace as needed. I told the operator that I shouldn't have to pay anything to ship their FAULTY parts back to them, and she said that is their policy. I asked to speak with a supervisor and she said they don't take calls. What? I said there has to be someone you report to, and she said she can have someone call me back within 24-48 hours. Whatever. It will cost us about $40 to ship the faulty pump back...why should we have to pay anything extra to have them repair brand new parts? Seems like Intex has poor customer service, and we've only owed our product about 1 month!

My husband and I bought a 15' X 48" Intex above ground metal frame pool from Walmart about a month ago. We couldn't wait to set it up so our family could enjoy it. Our water company does not give credit to its customers when filling a pool and 5000 gallons does not come cheap. We get it all set up, filled, put the necessary chemicals in, and wait for it to heat up a bit. My husband leaves for work the next morning and I go out to check the pool, only to find that we have a puddle of standing water in our yard.Apparently, the pool has such a small leak and it was on THE BOTTOM. As instructed on the pool, we called Intex and told them about it. We also told them that the pump did not seem to be adequate enough for the size pool it came with. Model 637R is the pump that came with it and you can barely feel any suction when it is running. How is a 1000 gallon pump supposed to work for a 5000 gallon pool? We were told to use the repair kit that came with the pool that by the way, does NOT come with the glue you are supppose to use with it. You have to pay for that out of your own pocket. The other option they gave us if the patch kit didn't work was to cut the liner in four section and mail it to them. My response to that was "You have got to be kidding me. We have to take more money out of OUR pocket to send the stuff back? Then after we cut if up, there is no way Walmart will refund our money then. The response from Intex when told that we do not get credit from our water company when filling pools was dead air...nothing. The response we received about the pump not be larger enough was "that is the pump that goes with that pool. It is sufficient." The reason Intex wants you to call them instead of going to the place you bought the pool from is because they do not want these stores that carry their products to know how many of these products were really defective or they would quit doing business with this company. Something needs to be done about this company. They sell junk products to consumers and do not back their products. Maybe everyone that has had problems with these junk products needs to pull together and sue this company or at least put them out of business.

Intex just crook me out with their defective pool.
The inflatable ring on this (otherwize interesting) pool has a slow flat that makes it hard to use since it will flood my backyard every night I have the misfortune of refilling the tube and the pool... So I tried to contact the company a few times over the last two weeks, to finally talk to someone today. The guy simply send me on my merry way since we are now the friday august 7th and my purchase was made on may 2nd. I agued that I had been trying to reach them for the last 2 weeks without any result.
So my conclusion is simple: they are the kind of company that will steel your money without remorse so I will strongly suggest that anybody avoid from buying their products until they decide that customers are more then pawn.

The Intex 530 pump stopped working after the second season. Seems that the impeller malfunctioned, a very common complaint I understand. The impeller appears to be a replaceable part and has easy access. The impeller, however, is not available. I refuse to buy another pump from Intex, they should have that common wearable part available.

HERE IS A SOLUTION:
I bought a Clear Water Pump from Harbor Freight for $39.00. It has 1 inch inlet and outlets. The impeller is made out of brass and the pump instructions include a replacement parts list, this is the way to go.

Buy one inch pipe nipples, attach to the pump and route them to your Intex filter pump, via your existing pool hoses… you may need an extra hose or hose extension to run from the Intex filter pump to the Clear water Pump inlet. Remove the impeller from the Intex pump and throw it away! Be sure to put the two plastic retainer parts back on though, the ones that would have held the impeller in there. Anyway, cut the cord off of the Intex filter pump and install it on the Harbor Freight Clear Water Pump, per the enclosed instructions, follow the other instructions as well for priming the pump.

The pump is VERY, VERY quiet and heavy duty too, I’m sure it will out last the pool. This is a much better option than buying another Intex pump that will no doubt fail in one or two seasons.

I bought a intex pool last year and put it back up this year and the pool pump doesn't work. the impeller is broken and have heard many compaints about this company. we cannot buy parts from a retailer because intex does not sell to dealers. i think we should open a class-action suit against this company. with all the complaints on alot of websites something should be done to stop these people from ripping us off.

I will never ever buy another product with the name INTEX on it. I bought my pool May 27th 2008 from Zellers for 447.00 Canadian dollars. A 15' round metal frame pool. We got it set up, had all the chemicals correct because I took a water sample to the local pool and spa guy. Pump did not work (Model # 637 FILTER PUMP). Intex replaced the original pump which took three weeks to arrive. So we had to drain the pool (16, 000+ litres), cause short of me getting into the pool daily and stirring it with a large stick, we had nothing to push the water around to filter it. We had to re-tamp the ground, which cost yet another 45.00 dollars in rental fees...cause like I have a tamping machine sitting in my back pocket. So, now it gets better. We set our pool up this year, pool took about 10 hours to fill. Put the pump in, check the skimmer, new filter, chemicals were added, and low and behold...the pump doesn't work! I phoned Intex, June 14th, 2009. They were closed. I phoned back on the 15th the Monday, spoke with a lady, and she told me that because I purchased my pool on May 27th 2008, I was just outside the warranty. I explained that this pump was the replacement pump, and I even had a file number with INTEX, you know what she told me? Oh, I am sorry Ma'am, you are one day past your warranty on that pump! So they wouldn't warrant it.
So you can imagine, I was completely choked. So I get some guy friends to take apart the pump to see what's wrong with it. The impeller is made of plastic. It had worn through...now let's keep this in mind, I live in Canada on the west coast. We get a lot of rain here. The pool was only up from mid June '08 (remember-replacement pump didn't arrive till mid June) to mid September '08 and was properly dried and packed away in a dry shed for the winter...So i phoned Intex, have you guessed it? The impeller is the only part that YOU CANNOT buy!
So the pump only worked for 3 months. I made a report to the BBB, which they attempted to contact INTEX, but INTEX would not respond. I tried putting in a call into the manager at INTEX, and was told that i would recieve a phone call back within 48 hours, I got no response back.

I had to go buy a Hydro Force Pump for my Intex pool, cause why would I buy another Intex product? I would have to be nuts.

Rude customer service representatives, cheap and crappy products. Just stay away from INTEX Pools. They do not back their products. Next time I buy a pool, I will save my money and get a real above ground pool from a quality pool/spa place.