MerLux Pools, a once-popular pool builder in North Texas, is facing accusations of taking money from dozens of customers for pool projects that it never completed. The company is now in bankruptcy, and its former customers have been left holding the bag. Some of them have even begun to speculate that one of the company’s owners, Jared Hall, may have faked his own death to avoid responsibility.
The story begins with Caprice Bohr, who dreamed of having a pool in her backyard. She paid MerLux Pools last summer to build one, but the company never completed the project. Today, Bohr is left with an unfinished pool that collects rainwater and debris. She is one of many homeowners in North Texas who have paid MerLux for projects that the company never finished.
Other customers, like Anusha Raavi and Kedar Kunal, paid MerLux over $142,000 to build them a backyard oasis with a pool, waterfalls, fire bowls, and an outdoor kitchen. They say that everything was perfect until just before Thanksgiving, when a fellow customer warned them that the company was going under. By that Sunday, MerLux was declaring bankruptcy.
Upset customers began to gather on Facebook, sharing videos and stories of their experiences with MerLux. Some customers even confronted one of the owners, Jared Hall, in person, weeks before the bankruptcy. In court records, MerLux reports that it owes money to at least 35 customers and has a total debt of more than $2 million.
During a recorded phone meeting with a bankruptcy trustee, the company’s co-owner, Ryan Setty-O’Connor, claimed that the main reason the company failed was because of Hall. He accused Hall of stealing money, spending it lavishly, and deceiving everyone, including him. Setty-O’Connor testified under oath that Hall died in January from an unspecified illness. During his testimony, Setty-O’Connor also revealed that he was aware that some of the positive reviews for MerLux Pools were not genuine.
However, some customers are not convinced that Hall is actually dead or that he’s the only one to blame. They have questioned the absence of an obituary or public death certificate, and some have even suggested that he may have faked his own death to avoid responsibility.
“Maybe two years later, they both might be sipping margaritas on some beach,” Anusha Raavi told reporters.
CBS News who broke the story was unable to confirm that Jared Hall, co-owner of MerLux Pools, has indeed passed away. However, bankruptcy trustee Shawn Brown has reported that he was provided with a “scan copy of the death certificate” that “appeared authentic.”
With few assets left, MerLux is unlikely to pay off much of its debt. This leaves the company’s former customers to clean up its mess, and many of them are left wondering whether they will ever see their dream pool become a reality.
Photo Credit: @SFamBam – YouTube
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