Buying a spa at Costco

[Vanguard]

A colleague of mine just bought a spa at Costco this weekend.  He had to go pick it up and take it home himself.  When he went to pick up the spa, it was palleted on its side.  He had to rent some kind of a crane to set it down to put it on his trailer.  The staff at Costco would not help him do this and he was by himself.    Nice customer support there.

Then, he got it home and now it is sitting in his garage.  He now has to wait for a bunch of friends to come over and figure out how to get it to his backyard since the trailer will not fit through his gate.

I asked him what brand he bought.  He didn't even know.  Just saw that it had a lot of jets, a lot of HP at a good price, so he bought it.

Crazy, but there are shoppers out there who buy these things without doing any research.

I wonder how much money he'll really save in the end. :-/

[Pathfinder]

Im gonna guess later he will  tell you that his tub is better because it has more jets and he got a better deal than you did on your tub because Costco doesnt mark up their tubs.

[Water Boy]

Costco is a place to get your TP and toothpaste, not a hot tub. That story to me would be the exact reason why you don't get one there. No help at all with delivery. Who is going to help get in place and get is started and wired up? What about chemical questions? What about when there is a problem when you finally do get it wired up? What about warranty and service calls? For the money that is saved, I don't know if it is worth it.

His tub has a ton more jets in it than yours does though!

[Spatech_tuo]

Just saw that it had a lot of jets, a lot of BHP at a good price, so he bought it.

I've heard that many times before. Often from someone who then goes on to talk about the unresolved issues or utility bill shock followed by "I just wish I'd found this spa forum earlier".

[Vanguard]

It kills me to see people do things like that without doing any research.  I'm sure he thinks he got a "great deal."  

Those "great deals" are forgotten once the lack of customer service, warranty, higher operating costs, etc are truly realized.

I'm still trying to talk him in to taking it back and getting a spa from a local dealer.

[Chas]

I don't think any Highlife spas were sold by Costco.com in our area, however we are on our third sale to customers who bought other brands and have returned them.

I would have gladly taken the tub back to the big box store for them - but they all three had made arrangements by time they found us.

What are we doing wrong to make so many folks buy simply by price and not look at quality/warranty/service/support etc.??

 8-)

[In Canada eh]

What are we doing wrong to make so many folks buy simply by price and not look at quality/warranty/service/support etc.??

 8-)

Chas,

  Your comment is one that has baffled me for a few years now.  Have we become a truly throw away society?  I know I haven't.  My wife and I always try to educate ourselves on almost all major purchases, we take our time and look into things like warranty and service and build quality.  We look into a dealers reputation and how long they have been in business.  I myself will normally always buy the best made tools available for work, I have to rely on them to earn my living and I only want to buy them once.  I have tried to convince a number of apprentices the value of good tools and then watch them buy cheap offshore junk and complain about it 6 months later.   I don't get it!

[Robby]

Its probably pilates spa made by tatum manufacturing.  They make gulfcoastspas and alot of other spas.  Hydro spa used to make Brad Tatums spa but I think there was a dispute.  If you remember before the bankrupcy, Hydro supplied Costco and now Tatum has a new facility making spas for Costco.MMMMM?

[Vinny]

OK, I'm probably going to get the wrath of this board but so be it.

I have said on a number of occasions that tub ownership is a luxury. People want this luxury and don't ask questions and don't have the money. Someone who buys a HD or Costco spa is looking at - I want a spa, I can afford a spa and look at this spa. It probably is an impulse buy. Society is dictating that humans need this and they buy it. We all need cable TV, XM radio, drive expensive cars, have Mc mansions and own a spa. The list keeps growing of what a need is.

People go to big box and see products that others sell - Delta Faucets, GE Filters, Crest toothpaste and so on. People feel that spas are the same. We are all on here and learned from others experiences or knowlege.I know someone who owns a Walmart spa and likes it as much as I like mine. His only gripe is how expensive it is to run - this could be his complaint with a dealer's spa as well.

I personally shop Walmart for my laudry soap, toilet paper, windshield washer fluid and other lower tech stuff. We walk into HD and see the new spas on their sides, which BTW are now sold with the bottoms enclosed, see the jets read the specs and say WOW - $3,000 cheaper than a dealer.

Chas, you are doing nothing wrong; people become programmed into thinking that everything is the same. The product may or may not be. I personally own 2 Hyundais and yet people call them POS and make fun of them. IMO they are just as good as a Honda or Toyota and better than a lot of other cars out there. I am not a car affectionato so that may be the case of why I like them. Of course if this was a car forum all the Honda and Toyota crazies would blast that statement (all forums seem to be alike!). Not everyone has the money nor the knowlege to see that maybe there is a difference.

[Spatech_tuo]

I personally own 2 Hyundais and yet people call them POS and make fun of them. IMO they are just as good as a Honda or Toyota and better than a lot of other cars out there.  

Hyundai is a different animal IMO. They were once a total POS (my B-I-L owned one, it was a hunk of junk).

They really worked at turning that image around and seem to have chanegd a lot of people's opinions (after a decade+ of making a bbetter product) but some just still remember the crap they used to put out.

[Vinny]

Hyundai is a different animal IMO. They were once a total POS (my B-I-L owned one, it was a hunk of junk).

They really worked at turning that image around and seem to have chanegd a lot of people's opinions (after a decade+ of making a bbetter product) but some just still remember the crap they used to put out.

Good point and I think the reverse holds true as well - a well known name: "Jacuzzi" "[size=8]the makers of[/size]Hot Spring" make people believe that they are the same quality thats in a dealer, at least in the past. The stuff that Costco or HD sells now is no name brand spas.

I also believe people don't know the difference - look at how many people own a spa and how many frequent these forums - a small precentage.

[Chris_H]

I don't know which Costco thread to put this in but I will put it here.  

My real life experience in this Costco versus the Small Fry is in regards to a mattress that I just bought.  As many of you know, buying a mattress is worse than buying a hottub.  Each dealer has different names even though they have the same brands and the sales people are horrible.  

I ended up practicing what I preach on here and buying from a local dealer that I think will give me exceptional service down the road if I need any.  I found a comparable mattress at Costco, but I did not think it was that much of a deal.  Here is what it did not include:  delivery, setup, removal, and a frame.  For me a difference in dollars to have to buy a frame and deliver, setup, and remove it wasn’t much of a deal for me.  

One of the major points for me in differentiating between the local dealer and Costco was my knowledge from the Highlife that was sold at Costco.com.  I knew there were very distinct differences between the Sovereign sold in the store and the Highlife sold at Costco.com.  I made an educated decision because I believe Costco probably provides a mattress that may appear to be similar, but in reality it has at the least minor differences.  They do have that return policy though. 

Trust me I tried doing research at whatsthebest-mattress.com and they are worse than us on here.  

[Vanguard]

I agree.  Most people do not know the difference.  Just look at my colleague that just bought his spa.  He has no idea there is a difference.  If he did, he would have bought from a dealer.

[Richs100]

Trust me I tried doing research at www.whatsthebest-mattress.com and they are worse than us on here.  

OMG, I thought you were kidding around, but curiosity got the best of me.  
I cannot believe there really is a "whatsthebest-mattress.com site!  

And you should see what their Terminator has done with a mattress, a zamboni and photoshop!

BTW, JA is banned over there too!!

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

OMG,
I cannot believe there really is a "whatsthebest-mattress.com site!  

There's a lawnmower and jetski too..... and some other I can't remember.