Norman Family Out $30K After Pool Contractor Skips Out On Work

A Norman family is out nearly $30,000 after a contractor left them with a broken, unfinished, underground pool, and apparently it's not the first time the contractor has skipped out without finishing the job.

News 9 is told the contractor, Aaron Garcia, has been a problem for at least the past four years. Garcia's company, Oasis Pools, Plaster and Tile in Oklahoma City also has a lot of people confused. The business name is almost identical to an Edmond pool company. That has had, now unsatisfied customers flocking to him for business.

"I made a huge mistake by not knowing who he really was, and I wanted to get it done quick. I'll be honest, I wanted to get it done quick[ly] for my children," said Leslie Shoemake.

Now $26,000 later, Shoemake and her family are left with nothing but a pool and backyard left in ruins.

"And it's going to be almost $60,000 to start over," said Shoemake.

Shoemake was under the impression Garcia worked for Oasis Pools and Spa out of Edmond, a completely different company from Garcia's Oasis Pools, Plaster and Tile in OKC.

"I checked the Better Business Bureau. I checked online. I checked all the reviews. I looked on their website. I thought that's who he was," said Shoemake.

But it wasn't. According to the BBB, on a scale of A+ to F, Garcia's business was given an ‘F' rating. 

Shoemake gave him several $5,300 checks between March 30 and early April. Garcia and his workers demolished the old pool and began redesigning a new one. That took about three weeks. Since then, Shoemake says Garcia and his crew have disappeared.

News 9 tried tracking down the contractor, stopping by at least three of his listed business locations with no luck, and we're still unable to reach him by phone.

"I really think he wasn't qualified to do it. And then when it got to the point he couldn't do it, he just jumped and ran, especially when the pool got broken," said Shoemake.  

The owner of Oasis Pool and Spa in Edmond says in the last year, four of Garcia's customers have called them saying they were ripped off by Aaron Garcia, that includes a hotel chain.