As of this morning, nearly 71% of the Austin area (where Skimmer HQ is located) is still without power. Photos of broken trees, and concerns about frozen/broken pool equipment have been commonplace in our social feeds. The lack of power, along with days of freezing temperatures wreaked havoc on plumbing systems and pool equipment in 2021, creating high demand for plumbing and pool repair services.
Photo posted by a friend in Austin, Texas on Feb. 1, 2023. "Hopefully the pool, pumps, and pipes survive!" At the time of this post, she is still without power.
I reached out this morning to Steve of South Austin Pool Service, who fixed my own pool after Austin experienced days of freezing temps and power loss in February of 2021. While he hasn't received many calls yet, he's expecting a very busy week as power is restored, leaks become evident, and he catches up on work he didn't get to over the last several days. "What are you telling customers?" I asked. Here's his response, verbatim:
"If y'all have a pool with a power outage and freeze, turn the breakers off so you can do a controlled start up. Open up anything you can: filters, drain plugs, etc, so frozen water has some place to expand to. I'm letting folks know in advance that we're expecting a busy week, so I'm also asking for patience."
Sound advice from a pro who's been at this for decades.
If you're a Skimmer subscriber, you can pro-actively message your customers using the Broadcast Email feature, and create and manage repairs with Work Orders. Not using Work Orders to manage repair work? Check out our previous webinar on the topic, Mastering Work Orders.
Photo posted by a friend in Austin, Texas on Feb. 1, 2023. "Hopefully the pool, pumps, and pipes survive!" At the time of this post, she is still without power.
Stay warm and safe out there, friends!
