More than 100 creditors: Bannockburn pool company goes under, owing thousands

Pools and Spas Pty Ltd was still accepting money just days before it collapsed, leaving over 100 creditors out of pocket and at least one with an empty, collapsing hole in their yard.

Dana Lunn and her husband Rohan with the hole in their garden The couple have spent $40k on a pool that wasn’t delivered, and they’re not alone. Picture: Alan Barber

A Bannockburn-based pool company was still accepting money just days before it collapsed, leaving customers hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket and at least one of them with an empty, collapsing muddy hole in their yard.

But Doug Constable, the man behind the business, has denied any wrongdoing and alleged a campaign “of innuendo and half truths” against him.

Pools and Spas Pty Ltd, which traded as Dreamtime Pools and Spas, went into voluntary external administration on June 9 .

An initial report by the liquidator – Malcolm Howell of insolvency firm Jirsch-Sutherland – released on Wednesday, has identified be more than 130 creditors who may have been affected when the company went into administration, with the potential for more as investigations continue.

Dana Lunn and her family have spent more than $40,000 on a pool, but have been left with a hole in the ground. Picture: Alan Barber

The Geelong Advertiser has seen documents showing that five customers have paid at least $175,000 combined for pools that were not delivered. It is also understood more than 20 customers have joined a Facebook group alleging they have been left in the lurch.

Some of the transactions were dated to just over a week before the company went under.

Herne Hill resident Dana Lunn’s experience with the company began in November 2021, when she signed a contract, only to have nothing but a giant hole in her backyard to show for it eighteen months later.

“We were told that the pool shell would be delivered within two days of excavation,” Mrs Lunn said.

“Now for two months we’ve got a hole in the ground that’s collapsing … I have two children who cannot go outside and we cannot landscape our yard, because everything revolves around this pool hole.

“We’ve paid $40,255 for our backyard to be destroyed.”

The excavation took place in April, with Dreamtime Pools advising Mrs Lunn delivery of the pool shell would soon follow.

Mrs Lunn was previously informed the shell had been scheduled for delivery from the manufacturer in September.

The pool company had changed manufacturers for their shells – citing faulty products – midway through the project, Mrs Lunn said.
The Geelong Advertiser contacted that initial supplier, who said they had stopped trading with Dreamtime Pools after six pool shells ordered by the company went unpaid for.

The Geelong Advertiser also reached out to other suppliers Dreamtime Pools is reported to have used but did not receive a response before deadline.

Pools and Spas director, Doug Constable, denied any wrongdoing and rejected claims he had ripped off customers and contractors.

Mr Constable said Dreamtime Pools advised customers on when their shells were due to arrive based on information received from the manufacturer.

On his personal website, Mr Constable presents himself as a “pre-insolvency adviser” and has authored a book titled “What to do When You Can’t Pay Your Debts”.

Mr Constable said he hoped to purchase the majority of jobs from the liquidator and complete the installations.

He said the company had been a “burgeoning business” during the pandemic that received two or three orders a week.

“However, over the past six to 12 months there has been a concerted media and social media campaign, staff shortages, supply delays, material cost blowouts and logistics costs,” he said.

Yet, the insolvency still came as a shock, Mr Constable said, and came on the heels of discussions with the company’s contracted builder, who was set to have his licence suspended.

“This exacerbated the difficulties we and other companies were facing,” Mr Constable said.

“It was devastating, particularly in the current economic climate, to have to firstly tell the staff they no longer had jobs, and the realisation that we would not be able complete our commitments.”

Mr Constable told the Geelong Advertiser the company had installed 200 pools.

“Our main area is here in Geelong, we do go up to Point Cook, but Lara is pretty much our preferred distance,” Mr Constable said in February.

A City of Greater Geelong spokesman estimated that the number of permits the city granted Dreamtime Pools was in the realm of 16-20 in the 18 months since January 2022.

Another customer, Rob Chappell, paid Dreamtime Pools about $39,000 from November 2022 until June this year, intending to build a pool his grandkids could use.

On May 26, Mr Chappell received an invoice telling him to “get ready for the dig” and the imminent delivery of his pool.

Two weeks later, and after paying the invoice, the company was insolvent. Mr Chappell was not the only customer to report this.

Some customers the Geelong Advertiser spoke to reported little or no contact from the company for months, with calls reportedly met with disconnected phone numbers and reports some employees had left the company.

The Geelong Advertiser understands a number of customers received threats of legal action after questioning where their money had gone.

Mr Constable denied using legal threats, and accused “some customers and suppliers” of becoming “increasingly abusive and demanding”.

“Customers have threatened to go to the media and been encouraged to tell me they have spoken to the media in an attempt to get their money back,” Mr Constable said.

Some customers the Geelong Advertiser spoke to did not wish to go on record, due to ongoing legal matters.

“We have refunded many deposits where clients have genuine changes in economic or personal circumstances. What has eventuated now is clients cancelling through innuendo and half truths on social media,” Mr Constable said.

“These clients have signed a contract and we in good faith have expended time, staff and work to proceed with honouring our part of the contract – surely they are not entitled to a full refund just because they change their mind because of a largely false media campaign.”

Geelong law firm Harwood-Andrews confirmed to the Geelong Advertiser it was liaising with more than 10 customers on their options, but the process was still in the information-gathering stage.

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Originally published as More than 100 creditors: Bannockburn pool company goes under, owing thousands