Olympus Pools is back in the media again and now facing a $1.1 million dollar lawsuit with the country’s largest pool supply distributor SCP. A recent lawsuit filed in Pasco County by SCP Distributors LLC is suing Olympus Pools for over a million dollars in equipment delivered and installed in customers backyards. This is yet another challenge Olympus Pools, a once prestigious and well known builder faces amidst an onslaught of bad publicity due to allegations of unfinished pools and ongoing lawsuits.

It appears that SCP intends to go after Olympus Pools rather than begin putting liens on homeowners. This latest recent development has begun to make many trade partners and subcontractors extremely concerned.

Brian Leung, an attorney for SCP, said the distributor agreed to a promissory note with Olympus recently last month in April to settle the debt. In it’s lawsuit, SCP said that Olympus Pools had 6 months to pay off the $1.1 million dollar debt owed to the supplier. To date, Olympus has failed to make the first installment payment of $191,000 which prompted the recent litigation.

Leung said that when Olympus Pools failed to meet the agreed upon installment payment, that triggered the litigation which now seeks the full amount in addition to 18% interest.

Response to recent SCP Lawsuit

We reached out to Olympus Pools owner James Staten for comment about the ongoing issue with SCP and received an official statement via his public relations representative .

“Even though we continue to do business with SCP daily, they felt after the media reports it was in their best interest to secure our credit line.”

Olympus Pools – Public Relations Representative

“In my opinion, it is disappointing that despite being one of their best customers for many years, they chose to make things more difficult for our clients and team instead of supporting us during this time. However I’m sure we will get it resolved with them soon enough.”

In a statement a month ago to Pool Magazine, Staten responded to allegations directly and listed a variety of reasons why Olympus Pools had fallen behind on jobs. Staten cited the recent shortages of labor and materials impacting the pool industry.

“The conditions that arose during the pandemic, instead of increasing 20 to 30 percent we doubled in size.” said Staten.

While the pool industry itself may understand Staten’s plight, homeowners and investigative reporters have been much less sympathetic. Staten has faced virtual non-stop calls, picket lines and visits from reporters since the story first broke roughly 2 months ago. Backlash from customers has been brutal on social media. Consumer watchdogs and investigative reporters said hundreds of pools currently remain unfinished.

Staten admits that he and his staff sold way too many pools last year. Ultimately, he said that he “takes full responsibility” for the situation. However, homeowners have been livid at the waiting times as their projects have lingered. Many customers have complained that Staten continued to take on new projects while their backyards remained an ongoing construction zone for months and months past their promised deadlines.

Homeowners are increasingly concerned they could get stuck footing the bill for Olympus Pools unpaid subcontractors. Some homeowners have begun receiving liens in the mail.

Rumors of Criminal Investigation

Olympus Pools may face worse problems aside from the million dollar lawsuit filed by SCP. A spokesperson for the company responded to Pool Magazine inquiring about a recent report by ABC Action News that indicates 2 separate Florida counties have opened criminal investigations into allegations of fraud and misuse of funds.

“We have heard through the media that it is actually Hillsborough, Polk and Pasco counties. While we won’t speculate on behalf of law enforcement, what we can tell you is that we have not broken any laws and we are working to get these pools finished. There are a few people out there, however, who have become obsessed with seeing our company destroyed, despite their pools being finished.” said Olympus Pools in a statement to Pool Magazine.

Staten himself says that no wrong doing took place. “I know we have committed no crime. Just because someone makes a report or tells a story it does not mean that it is true.” said Staten in a statement to investigative reporter Jackie Callaway.

Many Olympus Pools customers have reached out to Pool Magazine over the last few weeks, sending us photos of their job sites, complaints and the various stories and news articles that have been written about Olympus Pools. The amount of negative attention in the media has surmounted to the point where Staten has brought in a professional press relations consultancy firm to help communicate with the media. In a statement released to Pool Magazine, an Olympus Pools representative said:

“Individuals have coordinated attacks on our company through a private Facebook group. They’ve coordinated physical pickets and protests on the street, coordinated efforts to reach out to the media and coordinated efforts to reach out to law enforcement. As a result, authorities clearly have to take those claims seriously, however, as I have said before, we have not broken any laws and we are still here. We’re completing work every day. We are not hiding and we are not going anywhere. We will finish all of the jobs we started, so long as our license remains intact.”

Olympus Pools Responds to Subcontractor Complaints

We questioned Olympus Pools point blank about recent allegations made by local subcontractors that are complaining to the media that they have not been paid. Recently Humberto Jimenez made a claim that he was owed over $380,000. Another contractor Brian Wagner had claimed he was owed over $73,000.

“$73,000 is huge for us. We could potentially lose half our employees,” Wagner told investigative reporter Jackie Callaway. “Our last resort is to file a lien. It is something we have discussed and really don’t want to do.”

“I didn’t want to speak out because I don’t want to start trouble and not get work from other builders.” Jimenez told Pool Magazine Editor Joe Trusty, “Many other subcontractors are owed money too, and they are afraid to speak out for the same reason.”

We inquired with Olympus Pools as to both of these particular contractors that reported to the media they had not been paid, a public relations represenative for Staten said the following:

“Regarding Mr. Jimenez, his statement that he is owed $380,000 is flat out false. Last week, he told the media it was $300,000 and we provided proof of payments to the reporter. We spoke to the person who handles Mr. Jimenez’s accounting and she told us that there is an issue on their end and that they failed to apply payments we made to their invoices. According to his own accounting people, they haven’t recorded our payments. As soon as Mr. Jimenez has his accounting in order, and it is accurate, we will review his invoices and determine the accurate amount to see if in fact there is a balance to settle. Regarding Brian Wagner, we have paid him $47,512 in the last 6 weeks and now owe him less than $24,000.”

It is important to note that Olympus Pools has made some headway with subcontractors since our last report. Pool Magazine Editor – Joe Trusty, was in communication with Aaron Allen of Paver Solutions who recently reported that his firm had finally reached a resolution with Olympus Pools.

Can Olympus Pools New Plan of Action Reverse The Damage?

In a phone call back in April with Pool Magazine, Staten insisted that he fully intends to finish each of the projects Olympus Pools has been contracted for. He also said that he would not take on a single new project until his company was caught up on their current jobs.

“We’ve cut off taking deposits, we’ve cut off starting excavation. all we’re focusing on is the jobs under construction,” Staten said.

As far as the homeowners who are afraid their jobs will not be completed, Staten said “Their pools are going to get completed. We are working tirelessly. I promise you, you won’t find anybody, any company out there working harder. We doubled the size of our in-house construction team so we can be more self-reliant and give better service.”

While the lawsuit and criminal allegations aside may prove to be nothing, Staten has a lot of work to do in terms of repairing Olympus Pools reputation. We asked them what they plan to do in order to restore confidence with the community and with their trade partners.

Staten insists that he has the funds to complete the projects he is under contract for. Recently he released a press release saying that he was partnering up with respected builder Jordan Hidalgo and Pools by Jordan to help finish jobs in a more timely fashion. This is news which may bode well for homeowners. Staten seems to have made considerable headway since partnering with Hidalgo who will now be managing administration, accounting, permitting, purchasing, and customer relations starting Tuesday.

Since May 10, Olympus Pools has completed the following:

• 26 Pools passed final inspections
• 18 pools have had concrete work completed
• 13 job sites have been cleaned up by cleaning crews
• 12 pre-grades were completed
• 11 pools had electrical work completed
• 11 pools had brick and tile completed
• 10 pools had plumbing work completed
• 4 screen enclosures have been completed
• 3 pools had plaster work completed
• 2 retaining walls completed

“I’m looking forward to putting this chapter behind Olympus and showing what our talented teams are capable of accomplishing together,” said Hidalgo.

Only just last year, Olympus Pools had an “A” rating with the BBB. The story this year is much different. Outsiders can only hope that bringing in a seasoned veteran like Hidalgo can turn the tide. Homeowners, law enforcement and the entire pool industry are watching closely.

The pressure is certainly on Staten to deliver. Although it may seem that forces are conspiring against him, there is probably not a single person involved in this entire mess that truly wants to see Olympus Pools fail.

Not the reporters and investigators who are just doing their job. Certainly not the employees whose futures and reputations are entwined with Olympus Pools. Neither do the trade partners and subcontractors that helped build Olympus into what it was. Nor the homeowners who entrusted Olympus Pools to be good shepherds of their backyard dream. Truth be told, the homeowners are probably the last ones in the world that want to see this company fold.

Right now, one can only speculate as to whether or not Olympus Pools can make a recovery and hopefully salvage a once highly respected reputation in the pool world, as well as their own local community.

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