New lawsuit for pool installers ordered to pay more than $18,500 to a couple who felt “held hostage”

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Piscines Élégance, this Quebec company which had been ordered to pay thousands of dollars to customers who said they were “taken hostage”, obtains a new trial.

Judge Claude Villeneuve of the Superior Court ordered the revocation of a judgment rendered on February 17 against Piscines Élégance, which was then ordered to pay more than $18,500 to a couple from the Eastern Townships who believed they had been cheated and intimidated.

Piscines Élégance did not appear at this trial. The Quebec company argued that it had never been informed of the date of the hearing, blaming the inaction of its former lawyer in the file. She had learned of his conviction in Le Journal.

Threats and extra 

Recall that our Bureau of Investigation revealed at the end of January that Dominic Flamand, owner of Piscines Élégance, and his subcontractor Patrick Laurendeau, a former drug trafficker at the head of Excava-Plus, allegedly threatened customers who refused to pay tens of thousands of dollars extra when installing their inground pool.  

Among them was a couple from the Eastern Townships, who had been billed more than $35,000 extra for the installation of their swimming pool paid almost the same price in April 2022. Among these additional costs were amounts planned for the accommodation of the workers as well as their meals, which was not included in the initial estimate.

The couple were traveling when work began. After claiming the extras, Dominic Flamand would have threatened the customers to “leave the premises leaving a hole in their yard”. They therefore agreed to pay $3,000, while announcing that they would have to discuss the situation when they returned to the country. 

Piscines Élégance still had a notice of legal mortgage lifted nearly $35,000 on the couple's residence, thus taken as security.  

The owners challenged this opinion in court, in addition to claiming several thousand dollars. Piscines Élégance maintains that its additional costs are justified and is still claiming them. 

Other lawsuits  

The process will have to be repeated before the Court of Quebec this time, since the amounts claimed in this case are well below the threshold of jurisdiction of the Superior Court.  

It should be noted that at least a dozen civil lawsuits involving Piscines Élégance are currently before the courts and are still awaiting a resolution.  

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