Hammonton WaterWorld Fined For Consumer Fraud

A state Superior Court judge has ordered a Hammonton pool company to pay almost $2.6 million in restitution and fines on consumer-fraud charges against the company and one of its top officials, the Attorney General’s office announced Tuesday.

Judge Mark Sandson ordered WaterWorld Fiberglass Pools and its vice president, Donald Tallman, to repay about customers a total of $277,500 for allegedly not building or not finishing pools that those customers had already paid for.

But the judge added another $2.3 million in civil penalties for WaterWorld to pay to the state, plus ordered the company to pay the state’s costs and fees in its investigation of the charges.

“Some consumers were left with enormous holes that had been dug in their backyards after the defendants failed to complete contracted-for work,” acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman said in a statement announcing the fines. “In light of this judgment, we will do everything in our power to obtain the court-ordered restitution to make these consumers whole again.”

Steve Lee, the acting director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, added that customers who hired WaterWorld “were subjected to substandard and unacceptable work, when work was completed at all. Pool liners that should have lasted years, instead developed cracks within weeks and electrical systems failed code inspections because of improper installation.”

Judge Sandson ruled that the defendants violated the state’s Consumer Fraud Act, the Contractors’ Registration Act and other, related regulations. The judge also permanently banned Tallman, WaterWorld’s vice president, from working in the home-improvement industry in New Jersey and permanently canceled the company’s official registration with the state.

In March, the state’s Consumer Affairs office sued WaterWorld, alleging among other things that some homeowners paid to have huge holes dug in their backyards, and as much as 80 tons of gravel delivered to prepare for their new pools. But those pools were never delivered.

The civil suit claimed that WaterWorld defrauded about 17 customers in other ways, including performing substandard work and refusing to refund sizable down payments. The state charged that the company and Tallman repeatedly started work at homes, but never returned.

The company didn’t immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment submitted through WaterWorld’s still-active web site.

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