TEMPLE, Texas — Several Central Texans claim they're out of thousands of dollars from pool projects that were never completed.
Two customers who received services from Moonlight Spa & Pools confirmed to 6 News that owner and director Mikael Rem filed for bankruptcy on Monday, Feb. 26.
This comes after a number of projects were left unfinished despite being fully or partially paid for, with, based on the lack of communication reported by customers, seemingly no intention of completing them.
Tiffany Icmat said she paid Moonlight Pools in full for a pool in 2022 and was charged for work that was never completed. Tasks including a proper sealant finish, installing a pool pump and parts of their contracted work through the company, including the spa and fire pit, were never connected to the gas line or completed.
"For the items that were never completed and apparently have no intention to complete, it would cost about $30 thousand to have that done on our own," Icmat said.
Icmat said the lack of work and commitment to getting the job done by the company has cost her her dream backyard.
"Our pool is full and it is functioning, but because of the gas line miss we did not have the opportunity to have the gas line connected to the spa or our firepit," Icmat said. "We have a hole in the ground that has water in it."
Susan Hendrickson also contracted a new pool through Moonlight in 2022, and as the micro-fusion process began, the problems began to add up.
"I talked to the project manager at the time and I said 'They're not doing this right, they're not completely coating it'," Hendrickson said. "They weren't acid washing it right and the response was 'Oh it'll be fine once you fill it with water, you'll never know the difference'".
After draining the pool and reapplying the acid wash, project manager Kevin Lock told Hendrickson that what their workers did made the finish worse. It caused streaking at the bottom of Hendrickson's pool, though she was still charged $7,000 for just that part of the job that was "botched."
"So at this point, I have a plaster job that wasn't done correctly," Hendrickson said. "They didn't apply it correctly, I have like slurry lines through my pool, and the pavers that they put in are separating and shifting and they're shifting and they're sinking. There's a picture I have with mushrooms growing in between the coping of the pool and where they started the pavers."
6 News reached out to Moonlight Spa and Pools owner Mike Rem and his partner Kevin Lock, but have not received a response.
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