AFAIK, pool places can test for total and free chlorine/bromine, pH and total alkalinity. All the pool places in my area simply use one of their over-the-counter kits for you. I don't think this is of much (or any) use for brewing.
"Hard" Water generally means that it has some amount of Mg and/or Ca and maybe other "stuff". Pool supply places won't test for any of these as part of a normal test. Besides, I doubt they even have the ability. They aren't chemists or lab technicians, just sales people. As such, I wouldn't trust the results for my brewing, anyway.
Ward labs is THE way to go. Bite the bullet, and get it over with. the sooner you do it, the sooner you know what you are working with.