Overcharged for pool opening: would small claims court be worth it?

Location: Connecticut, USA

I had my pool opened in May and used the same guy for the last 2 years. He did a great job the first year. Year 2 wasn't as great, but still pretty good. The only real issue is that he left some equipment out on my deck.

This year was terrible. Pool opening has always included filling the pool, hookig everything up, cleaning the pool, and balancing chemicals. This year, the pool had a bunch of debris and he claims that the amount I paid included opening the pool and cleaning the pool cover, but not the pool itself. The past 2 years the pool was pristine at opening.

I also have a hot tub, and I have used the same guy to open/close it for the season. No one except for him has touched the pool and hot tub equipment. The hot tub this year had the drain plug left off, and all of the chemicals drained out within a day.

On a somewhat unrelated note, something electrical seems to be wrong with the panel on the hot tub. He did offer to come back and take a look at the drain plug, but it isn't usable anyway, and he did an awful job with both the pool and hot tub, so I don't want him back here.

The pool and hot tub opening last year cost a total for both the pool and hot tub of $675. This year was nearly double and I was charged around $1,300 for both, and the work was terrible compared to last year.

I had been working while he was here, so I sent him a payment through Venmo and didn't realize how bad the work was until later when I got off work and looked around.

The price increase had not been disclosed beforehand. I did expect an increase since the economy is not good, but this was a drastic increase I was not expecting, and the work was terrible.

Unfortunately, the debris in the pool did not photograph well, but I have a photo of the hot tub with the water drained out from the day after he came and the text messages with him discussing the issues. I also realized just this week that he did not clean the sand filter and had to do that myself. I have been consistently cleaning the pool ever since the opening trying to get it clean and clear and it still does not look good.

I have never owned a pool and just moved here 3 years ago, so I don't know anything about this, which is why I chose to hire someone.

I am wondering if small claims court would be worth it? I tried to do a dispute with Venmo, but while they agreed that it sounds like he did not fulfill the expectations of the service, they were unwilling to take action, and told me to reach back out if I file a police report. What would be the best course of action here? Is small claims court the best option? Would I stand a good chance of winning? Any advice is appreciated.