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Yes, they are both manufactured by Watkins.
We are busy as we have over 7,000 customers covering all of NE Texas and NW Louisiana. Several thousand square miles, long distances, etc. Our company policy has always been to take care of OUR customers first...and second....and third. We have 3 full-time, factory certified, salaried technicians. One does service full time, one does deliveries full time, the other manages our beautiful, fully stocked warehouse and parts department. He also refurbishes trade-in spas for resale (Watkins Spas only, everything else goes in the trash dumpster...even a 6-month old Beachcomber if anyone around here sold them).On top of that, we don't want the liability associated with some of these off-brands. Once you perform service on one of these spas, you are married to it. No thank you. Instead of wasting time and effort trying to deal with some of the ill-managed spa manufacturers out there, we would rather concentrate on keeping our customers happy as that is where our loyalties reside. Loyalty is very important in this part of the world and it goes both ways.When someone comes in with an off-brand spa that they can't get parts or service for, I give them Doc's web address. If they're still not able to find what they're looking for, I offer to take their spa in on trade....$400 off the price of a new HotSpring Spa. We will also dispose of their defective spa free of charge! We pick up about 40 new customers a year this way.Money isn't everything. We've been doing business this way for 22 years...it works just fine for us and our customers. Terminator
Thank you Chad!!I love the Neck jets in the caldera but i love the hot springs Reputaion.Is the caldera close in customer satifaction as HS?? is the full foam like HS??Thank you again 104 degrees. John
I think Term, Chas, or Dan would be much more qualified to answer this question than I, Sorry.
It must make it as godder as what you sell.Term, I have a Quetion. Does hot springs make Caldera spas?? I'm looking at one from hot springs and caldera, the seem to be the same shell?john 104 degrees
To clarify.[glow]NO[/glow] Hot Spring does not make Caldera. They are both owned by Watkins. They are made in different factories with different processes. The shell colors may be the same, and the surface is the same, but the Caldera is fiberglass backed (like most spas) and Hot Spring is backed with ABS.They are simply not the same. Are Cadillac and Chevy the same? They are both owned by GM.
Are you saying that caldera is the lower end of the watkins line??John 104 degrees
I am saying they are different. But when claims are made that they are the same or Caldera is made by Hot Spring, that is false.Hot Spring is Watkins' flagship line. Caldera is another line more similar to Sundance.
Just so I'm clear and understand you right Chris, are you referring more towards service contracts with alternate spas that are still in warranty in all of this? I'm certainly not. I'm speaking more from servicing spas of customers that require service work not in warranty.
I would hate to send these people away and although money isn't everything, it's why you work for a living and the reason the word "profit" exsists for business owners. Ask the owner of the store why he went into business and if the first answer isn't to make money, he just lied to you!
I'm not trying to change the way you do business
but rather understand why a company would choose to miss out on the profits accosicated with service?
Obviously, it sounds like you're plenty busy with HotSpring repairs and can't take on anymore without loosing the quality of your service to your exsiting customers. Makes sense if that's the case.Steve
I'm sorry, got busy there for awhile!Yes, Watkins bought out Caldera around 2000, I believe. We carried Caldera 1 year, sold 2 or 3, and decided to just stick with who brung us. It's my understanding that Caldera is doing great and the spas are really gaining in popularity. We may even end up selling them again at some point. Not sure about the shell, Chas would know as he sells both. Never mind, saw where hottubdan answered the question.Dan, how's the World's Greatest Spa Salesman doing with you guys? Term
When will hot springs have the neck jets like Caldera??? this is the one thing i need.104 degrees
I have no idea, but I will send a transmission to the Mothership requesting that the Supreme Leader consider doing so for your sake. Term
I'm saying we do not service ANY brand of spa except the following: HotSpring, Tiger River, Solana, HotSpot...and the 2 Caldera Spas we sold back in 2001.
If someone sells a person a spa, they should service it. If they won't, I'm sorry, the person should've considered that when they were shopping. Not my responsibility...my customers are.
The owner of our company is independently wealthy...if we make money selling spas, hey, that's great. If we don't make money one year...oh well, we'll do better next year.
I have great job security, I get paid very well for what I do, all of our employees do, and our paychecks never bounce. I'm sure there's no other spa company like ours, at least that I've ever heard of. We do sell a lot of spas, though, and we make a nice living. You'll never hear me complain about my job!
Good, you'd be wasting your breath. It's not my business anyway, and my boss is obviously pretty successful, I would imagine moreso than any of the other spa dealers I know of.
Not having the aggravation, not wanting our good name associated with garbage spas, not wanting to shortchange our very valuable customers, not wanting to deal with trying to get parts from crappy spa manufacturers, etc, etc.
We certainly have fewer major repairs than most, if not all spas (leaks, cracks, pumps). I read all these horror stories on line about pumps going out all the time and spas cracking and it makes me really glad we sell what we sell!