FLORENCE, Ky. — Steve Pangallo thought he found a thrifty solution in October 2022, when Florence-based Beso LLC offered to replace his backyard pool for $72,500.
But he began to regret that decision when the concrete shell began to harden.
“The walls of the pool were very thin,” Pangallo said. “I did my own research and I knew this wasn’t right. I was concerned about that. And then when he went on to do the pool steps, it was a complete disaster. That’s when it was time to move on to somebody else.”
Pangallo replaced Beso with another contractor, which removed three oddly shaped steps of differing heights and installed four new steps with straight lines and uniform heights. The new contractor also repaired leaky plumbing, sealed concrete gaps around a pool light and rebuilt landscaping stairs leading to the pool deck. The price tag soared to $120,000. Pangallo sued for damages in Campbell County.
Beso owner Steve Young declined to comment for this story. But his attorney provided an email statement to questions raised by the WCPO 9 I-Team that indicates Young is getting out of the pool business.
“We are mediating the Pangallo case,” said Stacey Graus, a partner in the Adams Law firm in Covington. “Furthermore, Beso LLC denies the allegations referenced in your email but has decided not to contract to install pools in the future. Beso LLC will continue to operate as a construction company focused primarily on concrete work.”
The U.S. pool-building industry has been volatile since the pandemic, when low-interest rates and COVID-19 lockdowns caused a surge in demand for backyard pools while construction materials and pool supplies grew scarce. The market declined in the last two years, which sparked heightened competition among the roughly 16,000 businesses fighting for a piece of the $12.2 billion market in 2023, according to the research firm IBIS World.
The boom-and-bust cycle also led to the prosecution of pool company owners in Louisville and Florida. And it led to a Facebook group that Beso customers formed in 2021 to share photos and complaints about their pool projects gone awry. Contributors to that “installation nightmares” Facebook group have also been talking to lawyers, police and prosecutors, according to the WCPO 9 I-Team’s review of court records, a Boone County Sheriff’s report and interviews with Beso customers.
Legal troubles persist
Boone County Detective Brittany Day spent more than a year investigating Beso pool projects, according to her 16-page report obtained in a public records request. Day interviewed eight Beso customers in Georgetown, Sadieville, Crittenden, Southgate and Union, along with three Ohio customers in Cincinnati, Milford and Loveland.
Her work led to an indictment against Young last November, alleging theft by deception of property worth more than $10,000, a Class C felony. Court records show the case was dismissed by Circuit Judge James Schrand on April 8 at the request of Boone County’s Commonwealth Attorney. The records don’t explain why the charge was dropped. Commonwealth Attorney Louis Kelly declined to comment.
“It was dismissed because the facts did not support the allegations,” Graus said. “I had discussions with the prosecutor. Eventually, the prosecution agreed that this is a civil case, not a criminal case.”
Young also avoided criminal charges in Campbell County, where Pangallo asked Fort Thomas Police to investigate a $14,000 payment he made for pool plaster that he says Young never delivered. Campbell County’s Commonwealth Attorney declined to prosecute, calling Pangallo’s complaint a civil matter, according to the Boone County report.
“I can understand when a contractor attempts to build something and they fail on building it and poor workmanship,” Pangallo said. “Everybody’s human. I understand that. I own a business myself. What I don’t understand is … you give a gentleman money for a product and you don’t receive that product. That’s criminal.”
In Warren County, a Hamilton Township homeowner filed a theft complaint against Young last October, alleging she paid $2,100 for a pool cover he never delivered. A Hamilton Township police report indicates Young agreed to refund the money by October 27 but the case was referred to the Warren County Prosecutor’s office because no payment was made. The case was eventually dismissed when Young paid the homeowner on Dec. 12.
Kentucky State Police investigated a Beso pool project in Scott County that led to a charge of “Theft by Unlawful Taking for $10,542,” according to Boone County’s report, which adds: Young “made arrangements with the Scott County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to provide full restitution with interest in order to avoid possible indictment. Steve took a plea deal to an amended charge of a misdemeanor theft and restitution.”
The Scott County case led to a 2016 judgment against Young for $72,316.61, according to records in a 2019 bankruptcy case in which Young listed $499,251 in liabilities and assets of $166,520. The case was converted in 2021 from a Chapter 13 restructuring to a Chapter 7 liquidation. Because it’s still pending, Young has been able to use it to avoid civil litigation.
Hamilton County Judge Alan Triggs cited the bankruptcy case when he ordered a stay of litigation in January 2022 for a case in which a Springfield Township homeowner claimed Beso caused “significant damage” to her pool by draining it for resurfacing in December 2019 then not returning until March 2021. Lovita Williams is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 in her 2020 lawsuit.
Customers in the dark
Several homeowners told the I-Team they weren’t aware of Young’s bankruptcy, lawsuits or criminal matters before they signed contracts. But the behavior outlined in these public records matches what they witnessed after hiring Young. He gets money upfront, they say, then delivers late or shoddy work and resists making repairs unless threatened.
“He’ll get a letter from my attorney and then all of the sudden, he’s like Johnny on the spot,” said Sycamore Township homeowner Allyson Schumacher. “I think he’s taking money from one homeowner and putting it into another job and then he can’t go back because the money’s spent.”
Schumacher said she spent three years and $100,000 waiting for a backyard pool that Young promised to build with a hand-written contract in 2021. Now that it’s built, Schumacher has struggled to convince Young to come back to fix his mistakes, including a large retaining wall that’s bowing out from the weight of a hillside on which the pool was installed.
She also has problems with the electrical work that supplies the pool filter, a pool deck that isn’t level and slopes toward the pool in one corner. The rectangular pool is 17 inches wider on one side and its shallow end and deep end are about six inches shorter than originally promised.
“This part of the pool deck started to crumble,” Schumacher said on a tour of the project Monday. “I asked him to repair it and that’s what he left me with. I mean, I could have gone to Home Depot and gotten some Quickrete and done that myself.”
In a brief conversation Monday, Young told the I-Team he’s done with Schumacher’s pool and declined to answer questions. But that was followed by a text exchange in which he tried to convince Schumacher not to talk about her pool project.
“He said, ‘Allyson, if I file a lien on your pool, I’ll tie it up in court.’ So, I said to him, ‘I’ll make sure everybody knows that too.’ It’s not my fault he didn’t do his job,” Schumacher said. “Since you’ve been here, he’s offered to redo the big wall … He said, ‘OK. We’ll go over to see what we need to do. Yes, the big wall.’”
Two days later, Young “has gone completely silent” about Monday’s offer to repair the wall, Schumacher said.
Pangallo said Young can be very persuasive when he’s courting a customer and trying to deflect blame. A few months into his pool project in Fort Thomas, Pangallo said Young told him his truck broke down, so he’d have to delay construction until it was repaired. Hoping to keep his project on schedule, Pangallo loaned him a truck. The loan ended four months later, when Pangallo fired Young, frustrated over the pace and quality of his work.
“He started doing other jobs around the Tri-State and he wasn’t showing up on my project - in my truck that I let him borrow,” Pangallo said.
Given their experiences, Pangallo and Schumacher are skeptical that Young is really exiting the pool business.
“I think he’s going to sneak around it,” Pangallo said. "This guy is a modern-day con artist. He needs to be stopped from dealing with anybody.”
How to avoid pool problems
The Better Business Bureau offers tips on how to shop for pool contractors. They include:
- Talk to friends and family who recently had pools installed.
- Ask for recent references and call those people to see how their contractor performed.
- Compare prices from at least three different competitors.
- Request verification of insurance before signing a contract.
- Check the background and criminal history of the contractor you want to hire.
- Beware of prices that are too good to be true.
- Ask for all details in writing.
