Waterbrothers

In response to Robyn O’Regan, (client) Jacques Hanning (O’Regan’s husband), Lise Lotz, Terry-Lee Adendorf, Helena Mentz, and Dale Higgins, who are all presumed to be O’Regan’s friends, as we have had no business dealings with them. Here is our perspective on the matter: Please refer to the pictures taken of the of the completed Natural Pond, not a formal Natural Swimming Pool, taken in January 2023 The pictures the client has posted are post flooding in Cape Town in June 2023. At Waterbrothers, we are committed to delivering top-notch service and highest quality products to our customers. Throughout the project, the client had ample opportunities to communicate their concerns and requests for design changes. However, no objections were raised during the marking out of the pond or during the excavation, earth shaping or construction process. It was only when the pond was approximately 80% completed that the client began dealing with us in an abusive manner, threatening to sue Waterbrothers, claiming that the structure wasn’t what they had ordered. This is a structure that does not take shape overnight! Under duress and the threat of legal action, but in order to keep the peace we constructed additional retaining walls at the behest of the client as they had been advised to do so by their expert engineer this was at additional cost. We were also instructed to install a pebble floor, which was not part of the original quote, and we did so at our expense. Upon completing the waterfall, our staff once again faced unwarranted criticism. Despite our client’s claims of expertise from watching YouTube videos, leaving our team to proceed. After the waterfall was completed, the client expressed dissatisfaction and that they did not want stacked rocks, So we were not allowed to stack one rock on top of another rock to create a rock waterfall? And so we were instructed to rebuild the waterfall numerous times again at our expense and under the constant threat of being sued. Until the client finally put their input in and the waterfall was completed and the client expressed their satisfaction. Subsequently, a few weeks later complaints about the pond leaking surfaced. Upon inspection, the clients couldn’t recall the last time they topped up the pond, so we refilled it to the correct running level, see attached pictures, and monitored it, incurring further costs for Waterbrothers. The water level remained consistent during this period. There was no leak. Then unfortunately, Cape Town experienced severe flooding in May/June 2023, and we were called to the site, with the client once again asserting pond leakage. We discovered that water was flowing into the pond from outside due to the flood and rise in ground water levels which was expressed to the client in writing before attempting any repairs. It’s important to note that if a pond were leaking, the water would simply vanish into the ground not flow back into the pond. We proposed digging a hole in the garden to assess the groundwater table since the water table in the Western Cape had risen considerably. Regrettably, our staff was met with hostility and denied access to continue the investigation. Midway through our efforts, we were escorted off-site, and the lawyers were summoned. We replaced gravel on their driveway twice as they were not happy with the colour of the stone at our expense. The gravel was affected by contractor delivery vehicles which needed to access the site. We later learned that the clients premises had a history of groundwater issues. Waterbrothers did not abandon the project; we were denied access to the site. The clients’ legal representatives demanded the removal of the pond and a full refund, despite funds being due to Waterbrothers. It has since been brought to our attention that these individuals have a substantial track record of suing contractors, which raises concerns with the contractor network. We regret the unfortunate turn of events as we did our best to accommodate the clients constant changes which proved to be impossible. WB..