Arctic warranty issues but with a happy ending

[anne]

So a while back I posted that I had a bad pump, with a leak, and I was very sadly TUBLESS for the last month sorting all this out. The complicating factor in my case is that the jacka$$ who sold me the tub then left Arctic (after assuring me that I could expect him to stay around), so I have no local support. The next closest dealer is GREAT, but limited to coming to my area only once monthly.

When this first happened, I could not bear the idea of a month without a tub, so with HottubDan and Greybeard's help, I tried to get Arctic to let a non-Arctic local service person  take care of it, to avoid a month's delay. Contacting the warranty dept, my first 2 phone calls were not returned, the third call seemed to go well, but the rep never sent the needed part out here (She claimed that she "wasn't sure" she should send it. Wouldn't you clarify something you "weren't sure" about, rather than leave a customer stranded??)  Both Dan and I thought that things were moving along  for a WEEK before I called to ask where the part was.....So at the point I was over two weeks into tublessness, with no end in sight.  Yet another call, and another week or so of waiting for an answer. I never did hear back from them.....

Well, by this time the no-so-local Arctic dealer was able to get down here. He was  quick to let me know when they could be here, right on time, thorough, and most important, LEFT ME WITH A WORKING TUB! So cudos to Heavenly Times, Reno!. The problem is, that I dont think Arctic is giving them appropriate support for taking care of warranty issues so far from their home base. I'm sure they would have been willing to come sooner if Arctic would compensate them. As it is, they have to lump several jobs into one trip to take care of customers without a local dealer here. As a company, I think Arctic's responsibility to customers MUST extend to dealers who take over service in non-local areas. In limiting how well they compensate this dealer, they limit *my* service as well, and that really peeved me, especially with all the poor communication.

So overall, I think that Arctic as a company has sort of let me and Heavenly Times down, but I have been very impressed by individuals stepping up to *try* to make things right. Greybeard (Tom) tried to help, but I'm not sure that even his calls to the warranty dept were returned. I dont think I should have had to make 5 calls to warranty, had promises made that were never fulfilled, and had to wait a MONTH for my tub to be back in working order. I'm super happy with the service that I finally received, but that compliment goes to individuals in Reno (Mike and Eric), not to the warranty dept of the company who should really be looking out for me.

I'm not sure what my next step is.....I feel like writing to Arctic to complain is sort of useless, as every call that I made to warranty resulted in empty promises, and friendly gestures that resulted in nothing.

I know Tom reads here- and he has always been an excellent listener....I'm sure he'll try to pass this on, but I'm pretty cynical at this point about anyone else listening or changing things.

My thanks again to Dan, and his tech Steve, who spent a bit of time on the phone with Arctic's warranty dept, prepping for a trip to my house, only to never actually do a service call. And of course also to Tom for listening, and Mike for FIXING MY TUB!!!!!!!!!!

[Brewman]

I'd for sure send some type of letter to Artic Spa's Corporate H.Q.  
Response to issues like this is what seperates they players from the wannabees.

[The_Pa._Lady]

Anne:

Good to hear that your problem has been solved.  It must have been awful, having a tub and not being able to use it.  

Perhaps you can inform the BBB about the company.

Happy soaking.

[Vinny]

I say screw the letter and call Arctic and ask for the president and complain about the service you received and compliment the efforts of Tom.

I have found that if you take the time to call the president usually the caller is sincere. I have found things tend to get done if you speak to the correct person in the correct manner (no raging lunatic!).

Now whether or not you get to talk to the president depends on how persistent you are.

[Tom]

Anne, I am happy that your spa is fixed, and your dealer and his staff deserve every compliment you have given.

For all of the members who have commented, know that I value your contributions.

Greybeard (Tom) tried to help, but I'm not sure that even his calls to the warranty dept were returned.

I am embarrassed to report that a  piece of software I use  was not cc'ing the warranty department as I thought it was.  The IT department calls that "user error".    

It is certainly not our policy to have customer calls ignored or put off!  Feedback like this helps us to recognize problems that we weren't aware of (my difficulty with the software is a personal example!).  But once a problem is identified and the causes understood,  we can work towards effective solutions.

This situation has been reviewed by one of our owners and steps are being taken to

• Improve and correct communications between departments
• Improve  documentation and tracking of customer issues
• Ensure that the Warranty Department is more responsive

[104 degrees]

So a while back I posted that I had a bad pump, with a leak, and I was very sadly TUBLESS for the last month sorting all this out. The complicating factor in my case is that the jacka$$ who sold me the tub then left Arctic (after assuring me that I could expect him to stay around), so I have no local support. The next closest dealer is GREAT, but limited to coming to my area only once monthly.

When this first happened, I could not bear the idea of a month without a tub, so with HottubDan and Greybeard's help, I tried to get Arctic to let a non-Arctic local service person  take care of it, to avoid a month's delay. Contacting the warranty dept, my first 2 phone calls were not returned, the third call seemed to go well, but the rep never sent the needed part out here (She claimed that she "wasn't sure" she should send it. Wouldn't you clarify something you "weren't sure" about, rather than leave a customer stranded??)  Both Dan and I thought that things were moving along  for a WEEK before I called to ask where the part was.....So at the point I was over two weeks into tublessness, with no end in sight.  Yet another call, and another week or so of waiting for an answer. I never did hear back from them.....

Well, by this time the no-so-local Arctic dealer was able to get down here. He was  quick to let me know when they could be here, right on time, thorough, and most important, LEFT ME WITH A WORKING TUB! So cudos to Heavenly Times, Reno!. The problem is, that I dont think Arctic is giving them appropriate support for taking care of warranty issues so far from their home base. I'm sure they would have been willing to come sooner if Arctic would compensate them. As it is, they have to lump several jobs into one trip to take care of customers without a local dealer here. As a company, I think Arctic's responsibility to customers MUST extend to dealers who take over service in non-local areas. In limiting how well they compensate this dealer, they limit *my* service as well, and that really peeved me, especially with all the poor communication.

So overall, I think that Arctic as a company has sort of let me and Heavenly Times down, but I have been very impressed by individuals stepping up to *try* to make things right. Greybeard (Tom) tried to help, but I'm not sure that even his calls to the warranty dept were returned. I dont think I should have had to make 5 calls to warranty, had promises made that were never fulfilled, and had to wait a MONTH for my tub to be back in working order. I'm super happy with the service that I finally received, but that compliment goes to individuals in Reno (Mike and Eric), not to the warranty dept of the company who should really be looking out for me.

I'm not sure what my next step is.....I feel like writing to Arctic to complain is sort of useless, as every call that I made to warranty resulted in empty promises, and friendly gestures that resulted in nothing.

I know Tom reads here- and he has always been an excellent listener....I'm sure he'll try to pass this on, but I'm pretty cynical at this point about anyone else listening or changing things.

My thanks again to Dan, and his tech Steve, who spent a bit of time on the phone with Arctic's warranty dept, prepping for a trip to my house, only to never actually do a service call. And of course also to Tom for listening, and Mike for FIXING MY TUB!!!!!!!!!!

Do a search. you will find more of this

[Steve]

Do a search. you will find more of this

Anyway Anne...glad things are looked after.

[Vinny]

Anne, I am happy that your spa is fixed, and your dealer and his staff deserve every compliment you have given.

For all of the members who have commented, know that I value your contributions.

I am embarrassed to report that a  piece of software I use  was not cc'ing the warranty department as I thought it was.  The IT department calls that "user error".    

It is certainly not our policy to have customer calls ignored or put off!  Feedback like this helps us to recognize problems that we weren't aware of (my difficulty with the software is a personal example!).  But once a problem is identified and the causes understood,  we can work towards effective solutions.

This situation has been reviewed by one of our owners and steps are being taken to

• Improve and correct communications between departments
• Improve  documentation and tracking of customer issues
• Ensure that the Warranty Department is more responsive

I'm glad to see that things in a company can get resolved that quickly. Working for a large company all I see is a long waiting periods of inefficiency, even major problems can't get solved

Hopefully all the problems reported in these 2 threads will get solved with everyone feeling good about the outcome.

Good job Tom!

[hottubdan]

Anne, I am happy that your spa is fixed, and your dealer and his staff deserve every compliment you have given.


[/list]

Tom,

That is a little disingenuous.  Ultimately, Anne's issue is she has no dealer.  The dealer from 2 hours away deserve her compliments.  Over the years, Arctic has had several dealers in the Sacramento market.  Currently there is none.  There must be up to several hundred abandoned customers out there.  Anne's situation is just the tip of the iceberg.  And, of all manufacturers, one would think Arctic should be able to handle an iceberg.

[Tom]

That is a little disingenuous..... Anne's situation is just the tip of the iceberg.  And, of all manufacturers, one would think Arctic should be able to handle an iceberg.

Point taken.  And well put.

[Hot Tub Guru]

Anne-  

Thanks for the complements. Although since I run my Colorado store and my brother Eric runs the Reno/Carson stores.  This thanks comes from Eric.  

Michael

[Tom]

 But once a problem is identified and the causes understood,  we can work towards effective solutions.
This situation has been reviewed by one of our owners and steps are being taken to

• Improve and correct communications between departments
• Improve  documentation and tracking of customer issues
• Ensure that the Warranty Department is more responsive

A quick followup onwhat has been done.  Here are the specific steps taken so far

• I have spoken with both the dealer and the technician and asked about how we could improve our support to them. Thanks to Eric and Mike for their time and assistance.  Turned out that unreturned phone calls and inconsistent technical advice were issues and we will address those.  
• I rewrote the user manual for our tracking software so that it is more accurate and more company specific. I then gave copies to the warrantee manager and his staff, and offered additional training, if desired, in the use of the software.
• Our office space has been reallocated so that Warranty staff are physically together and no longer need to rely on electronic communication.
• We realized that our call volume exceeded our reception capacity and incoming calls were being lost; to correct this, incoming calls are now queued to be answered by any available staff

I realize that these are basically "bandaids" but they are a speedy response and the first steps to a long-term solution.