Century Pools
Reviews and Complaints

I know this is very late to the conversation, but I worked for Century for several years [protected]). I was brought into the office for upper level management work. One assignment was to review the outsourced lifeguard training: Ursus. A lifeguard for almost a decade, what I saw was shocking and woefully negligent. When I reported my concerns to my superior and the then owner of the company, I was told to keep my mouth shut or I would be fired. I assumed they were using the second company as a parachute for liability on any lawsuits, it became apparent that they were driven by greed and had little concern for repairing the problem. I finished my contract and moved on with my life.

This year is their name High Sierra Pools. ;-)
God Bles America

Can the worthless Century pool company tell their worthless lifeguards to check pool pass's. The Hunting Towers pool in Alexandria, VA has become the local swimming hole for every low life in the area.

Century didnt only screw over the international employees remember this. I am American and was a area supervisor who was working 7 days per week for at least 10 hours per day making $640 per week with a guaranteed bonus every month that never came. Not to mention the entire last month of pay that was not given out nor the gas reimbursment for $900 that wasn't paid and the 20 times my bank account was overdrawn because i was waiting for paychecks from century. Unfortunately many of my lifeguards were shorted money and for a few were kicked out of their apartments. I have been looking consistantly to see if there is any new news about Don Vetal or Century declaring bankruptcy all the way. I still haven't found anything. I still can't believe that this whole situation even took place. Something needs to be done and Don Vetal should be sitting in a prison cell for the rest of his useless life. I would be ashamed to be a friend or a family member of this worthless piece of ### of a man! As for taxes I'm not sure what to do but I have the ID numbers I believe. One for US employees and one for Internationals.
CENTURY POOL MANAGEMENT EIN NUMBERS I FOUND TWO [protected] and [protected] I am sure that the 000 number is for abroad and the 52 number is for states.

Does anyone know there Maryland, Va and federal id numbers so I can do my taxes? This would help many people out if you have them thanks
snowplowman2000@yahoo.com

I have sent over 40 students from Bulgaria to work for them. All of them miss between 1000 and 3000 USD. Many have been kicked out from the apartments(they payed the rent to Century and Century Rented to Them) and left on the streets.
Don Vetal robbed the company. There are rumors this is his 4th company he bankrupted. It seems like this is his business - to make money like this, I am sure he found a door in the law and uses it with each company draining the money away...
If anyone can find a way for the students to get what the worked for, please e-mail:
j1h2b@yahoo.com

I am missing over $1200 and I keep getting sent in circles. They are screwing over so many college students that its discusting.

They owe me thousands of dollars. I've talked to Don Vetal, the CEO, and I've emailed him & a bunch of the rest of them several times.

I reported them to the Wage & Hour board at the federal level, who told me I'd have to do it on the state level. The Virginia Wage & Hour board told me I had to do it at the federal level. My mother, who has managed several businesses, says that time was the threat of an audit from the Wage & Hour Board was wore than the IRS -- apparently that valuable government oversight has gone the way of whoever used to watchdog Wall Street.

I will never let this go. These are the kind of people that make the work a crappy place for the rest of us. We can't let them get away with it. What I want to know, is what do I do next? I am in college on an academic scholarship. The money I earned with Century was earmarked to make up the difference between what that scholarship pays and what's left. I sure don't have any money for a lawyer.

I'd be extremely grateful for any suggestions.

WOW. Something had to have happened. This is absolutely horrible. I was employed as a Regional Recruiter from 2004 to 2005 and can honestly say I saw the Century Pool Leadership and Management Team truly go through painstaking efforts to recruit the right individuals and provide the proper training be it local or international recruits. On an international level a great deal of effort was put towards ensuring the proper accommodations were made (Including but not limited to apartments, furniture, kitchen items, transportation whether bike or car) and all of the guards were paid appropriately. And, in terms of pay there are times when mistakes can and do happen but management actually came up with a policy called "Check on the Deck" in which if a mistake was found they would cut the check that same day and immediately make it available and in some cases Supervisors delivered the check directly to the guard at the pool thus the title Check on the Deck. I will also note that there are many things young people who are new to the US often get tangled in (legal issues, accidents, etc.) and I witnessed first hand members of the team go above and beyond to ensure that the guards were picked up and OK. I only became aware of this today while reading The Washington Post and I noticed the article mentioned a transfer of ownership sometime in 2006 to 2007. I can only assume that the new ownership did not carry the same philosophy as the original owner who was genuinely committed to "doing the right thing." It's all actually quite sad both for a Company that was built on strong values and more importantly for the employees who were not paid and were notified only by a scribbled sign on the Company door.

There is some good news - Winkler Pools is offering to help those International Lifeguards that have found themselves stranded far from home. Check out the alert on their website at winklerpool.com.