Swimming Pool Service Hurricane Question (credit, house, live in)

[Beak Boater]

I am new to pools and pool service. I have to ask a question with regards to Hurricane Irma.
We have had the same pool service for 4 years and they do a good job, water quality is good and pool is clean. We were very fortunate we sustained minor damage from Irma....a couple of lani screens tore that was it....feel guilty even saying it was damage compared to some, our power never even went off here in the NW at our house.
Our pool service missed 2 weeks, even though the power was on, was getting some brown alge on the bottom. Okay....its a Major Hurricane, I understand that some are in a lot worse situations no problem. When he does show up he has a helper with him and we talk briefly, he says that he is behind because of the storm and some folks pools are turning green and he is having to do a lot of work to get them back up to normal. Yep a lot of storm damage. Brushed mine, did the water test put some chemicals in it and left.
When get billed monthly, when the bill comes, he has added a bold sentence that "Hurricanes are a act of God and he is cant be held responsible if he doesn't show up". Okay that's reasonable wouldn't expect anyone too! But then he added a $25.00 charge for additional chemicals and pool work because of the storm. I thought it was a mistake, as he didn't do anything additional and used no additional chemicals. Several neighbors use the same service and we got to talking, everyone got the same charge on their bill. The response was from, I am not paying it to, its only $25.00 so I payed it. He had told me that the pools that he had to spend additional hours getting them up and running were getting billed for the additional work that he did. He didn't have to do anything extra to our pools...our power never even went off.
Its not really about the money....and since I have never owned a pool or been through a Hurricane with a pool wasn't sure if this is the norm for pool service? If you have a pool service is this how your company handles it?

[markjames68]

Simple answer....you can either shrug it off or change companies. It’s certainly borderline unethical to charge everyone extra when in many cases nothing else needed to be done.

Were you charged for the days they didn’t come? In that case I would ask for a credit.

[AXEL276]

Tuff call. I agree it is not fair. Maybe bill the pools extra which required more time and materials. But in your case it doesn't sound right. As mentioned, it's only $25. If you like the guy, his service, then either pay or......just ignore it. I have the same situation with my landscaper. Nice guy, does good work. Skipped my house for a couple of weeks due to heavy rain. He even told me so. BTY, I live in NY, my house in Fla is a rental. When I asked him to please clean up some storm debris in the yard he charged me extra. I could have argued why should I pay for the weeks he skipped. At this point, not worth the trouble. I appreciate all the help I can get since I'm 1200 miles away from the property.

[MyITGuy]

For me it would depend on how the billing is setup and what is contracted. I.E. If I'm paying him monthly to service my pool on a weekly basis, then I would seek a credit for the weeks he missed and let him charge the $25 for extra chemicals.

While $25 at face value seems insignificant, it adds up when you apply it to the overall customer base and is unethical in my opinion.

[chiluvr1228]

I agree it's unethical to charge extra in the OP's case especially, but unfortunately a lot of companies are swamped with work and trying to take advantage of people's misfortunes. I would call the owner of the company and explain how you feel and that you may just change pool companies. If several of your neighbors threaten to pull their business they may have a change of heart.