Welcome to our forum.
Solo,We all know that you see the value in the spas you are considering. The problem here is that you have decided that your amount of spending is capped off, so it is a complete waste of time for the dealer/salesperson. When you spend a fair amount of time with a potential customer you tend to build a relationship with them in hopes of earning their business. Most companies want to earn your business, keep you happy, and hopefully (and with you) a big hopefully you find enjoyment in your spa and refer more people to enter the dealer's showroom. When a potential customer is UNWILLING to compromise on a sale price because of unreal expectations it does tend to rub a salesperson the wrong way. Whether it should is a complete different thing. No it's not personal when a customer doesn't purchase a spa, but, it does leave a bad taste in our mouths. Companies have to have integrity in what they sell. If one of the companies meet you price requirements what will happen when you recieve your spa, enjoy it, and start to refer people to that company. The second thing you will tell your friends (stated loosely) what the price of the spa was that you paid. Now, if you were to purchase either watkins product for that price, you would have received that steal of the year. That being said, if one of your referrals happen to come through the doors, they would expect the same price. Do you see yet how just one customer effects the entire flow for a company? Each potential customer is worth 10-15 times more than their original purchase. You're asking a company to potentially loose a considerable amount of revenue. Just imagine your clients over time reducing your wages, not real fair is it? I don't expect you to agree with me because of your narrowed way of thinking. Close to everyone on this site is very tired of seeing your posts. Now we are just people posting on a forum and you can piss us off. We aren't even trying to sell you a spa. Now imagine the salesperson trying to deal with you. Can you see why the would be angry at a customer such as yourself? Good Luck!!!
You on the other hand will be sitting by the phone just like your waiting for that girl to call.
We could debate this issue all day if we wanted to. But nobody is learning anything from these posts, and that's the reason most of us visit this board. And to get some comic relief from persons such as Term! I'm finding myself going back and reading posts in previous years....I'm getting a lot more useful information from those than wasting my time reading these meaningless posts....
This whole thing reminds me of that scene from "2001". We're like those monkeys looking at that big black obelisk thingy. We can't understand it, so we keep staring at it. Then, we start throwing sticks and rocks at it, but it just sits there, silently, doing nothing. Eventually, we're all going to go nuts and kill the neighboring monkeys with sticks. And Solo will turn buy a spa, and throw it up into the air, and it will turn into a space station. The end.
I certainly don't expect dealers to bend over for me, nor would I want them to. I simply know what I'm willing to pay for something and don't bend from that. I then let the dealer decide if it is in his best interest to sell me a tub. I'm not mad at them if they don't. I trust that they know what will be good business decision for them. If I were going to take the "meet half way approach", I would have started my offers with a much lower number. Rather, I chose not to play that game and made firm cash offers. I did that with 2 dealers and will probably do so again real soon with a 3rd. With the next one I might make the offer face to face rather than over the phone. If they see that I am actually ready to write the check and not going to pick up the phone and shop the price, maybe that will make a difference.