Shell Crack

[Mainer]

Talk about a nightmare.  Emptied my tub yesterday, only to find a 2 inch crack in the shell while washing it down.  This is a 8 month old Caldera Tahitian.  Took pics and brought them to the dealer.  Said they would replace the spa a.s.a.p.  Haven't heard from them yet today.  I've got a funny feeling its going to be a while getting a tub to Maine from California.  This also means That I have to tear down one of my deck railings.  8 months,  one 2 speed pump, and 1 shell.  I don't have a warm feeling about the quality of these tubs.  Wonder what will be next?

[Webini]

That sucks.  Dealer in Lisbon?  If so you will need to stay on them to get this resolved...

[hottubdan]

Bummer.  

[Mainer]

That sucks.  Dealer in Lisbon?  If so you will need to stay on them to get this resolved...

You got that right!!!!

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

*waiting for a nightmare story*

[Mainer]

*waiting for a nightmare story*

Whats that supposed to mean?

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Just what it says.......... bring on the nightmare story.  

From what I've read so far, you had a pump replaced, for free under warranty, and a looooong time ago, yesterday, you found a crack in the spa, that I don't think is currently effecting the operation of the spa, that you seem to be upset hasn't been repaired yet, that will apparently get you a new spa, for free under warranty.

You had the misfortune of having a serious problem, that appears will be taken care of under warranty, where's the nightmare? Welcome to life...... and ah, life could be a WHOLE lot worse with some other brands of spas.

It'll get fixed, relax.

[Mainer]

Just what it says.......... bring on the nightmare story.  

From what I've read so far, you had a pump replaced, for free under warranty, and a looooong time ago, yesterday, you found a crack in the spa, that I don't think is currently effecting the operation of the spa, that you seem to be upset hasn't been repaired yet, that will apparently get you a new spa, for free under warranty.

You had the misfortune of having a serious problem, that appears will be taken care of under warranty, where's the nightmare? Welcome to life...... and ah, life could be a WHOLE lot worse with some other brands of spas.

It'll get fixed, relax.

When I spend 8,000.00 on a brand new item, I would expect quality.  Seems nowadays that quality control is hard to find.  Not just with my tub, but with everything.  Just irritating, thats all.  BIll

[Micah]

Mainer,
I have never been one to say nice things about the watkins companies. That being said, you are about to see what a "great" company does when products go bad.  They will get you a brand new spa.  In fact you will get an 07 model and will not have to pay extra for it.  You should see this as an inconvience, not a tradgety.  Consider yourself lucky to have purchased a spa from a quality company

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

"Irritating" I almost understand, it was "nightmare" I didn't.

The spa you have continues to work just fine. At some point, hopefully soon, you'll get a new, newer spa, at virtually no cost. Sounds like a winning situation to me. Though, you may be without a usable spa for a day or two.

[Zep]

re: what nightmare?


Ummm I believe this ludicrous statement has to take the cake!

Mainer....sorry about your nightmare....gosh what a pain in the ass.

But like some of the others have said.....you'll probably be taken
care of because Watkins didn't get their huge fan club by screwing
their customers.....it will be fixed with a sincere apology.

Just have to chalk it up as "water under the bridge" and move forward.

Keep us informed about your progress.

[Steve]

Obviously, as the replies are suggesting, this is unfortunate, but far from a "nightmare". Maybe that one was a lemon and the replacement will be fine for many years. I do understand your frustration and questioning the quality, but I don't know of ANY manmade product that may not require repairs or total replacement (if the company stands behind their product) if it fails. It's human nature to throw up your hands and question the "quality" when you have experienced a couple of repairs. If shell failure happened frequently, the manufacturer couldn't stay in business.

Caldera isn't my favorite spa but I'm sure you'll get looked after. Don't sweat the small stuff as the spa is still functional...

Steve

[Richs100]

Zep:
I'm with you 100% on this.  And, with all due respect, Dr. Spa, since Mainer is living it, he is in the best position to describe it as a nightmare if he feels that way.  You have to admit that he has had a run of pretty bad luck with this tub.  A pump I can see, but a cracked shell?  That is a pretty catastrophic failure. (Dr. Spa will love that word!  )I wonder what caused it?

Mainer:
I think you will be ok since you chose to go with one of the major manufacturers.  I am a two-time Watkins owner (no shell cracks yet!) and I am sure they will take care of you.  Still though, sorry it had to happen to you.

[Steve]

I don't think anyone feels it is exceptable and it's not something that happens often but a REAL nightmare is a week past warranty and the shell cracks, the spa is inside the house and a wall needs to be taken down to get it out and their local dealer closed down yesterday.

Not, there is a shell failure and they are replacing it for me... :-/

[Spatech_tuo]

I don't think anyone feels it is exceptable and it's not something that happens often but a REAL nightmare is a week past warranty and the shell cracks, the spa is inside the house and a wall needs to be taken down to get it out and their local dealer closed down yesterday.

Not, there is a shell failure and they are replacing it for me... :-/

What this all gets down to is everyone who has a spa in their yard has a sample of one statistically.

If it is a problem spa (this issue wouldn't have been seen during manufacturing) does that mean the manufacturer has poor quality control and should be avoided? Obviously any brand will have a few problem spas and the particular owners of any problem spa won't be happy to be the ones to have those spas.

If it has been flawless does that mean it is a high quality brand and others should look to purchase that brand? I've heard that many times with brands that have less than stellar reputations where you see a response from someone like "No that is a great brand, I know because I have one with no problems".

I wouldn't be happy if this was my spa but it can happen. The key is to get the issue resolved (in a timely manner though it can take some time) to get the customer whole again.

As far as a nightmare goes, the nightmare begins when the dealer says they won't replace the spa or they want to charge for something or ....