The Dark Side taking over...Cal Spas

[stuart]

I swore for years that I would never sell CalSpa products...I never liked Chuck Hewitt’s way of marketing or lack of customer service and then when Casey Lloyd Took over I felt as if he was a loaded cannon and pretty volatile.
 
We where looking for another line of spas to fill the gaps in our product offering price wise after ending our 4 year relationship with D1 (which I promise I will get more into later).
 
I said that I wouldn't even look at the product until Casey jumped in his little Lear Jet, flew out here and sold me on why himself.
 
Well about two weeks ago Casey jumped in his jet, flew out here and spent the day with us!!!
 
I was pleasantly surprised and even told Casey that I was fully prepared to not like him but was in no way prepared to like him as much as I did! He was pretty transparent and owned up to the mistakes he made in the first several years including his inability to control the customer service at the dealer level from some of the dealers that came from the Chuck Hewitt regime and attitude.
 
He shared his own complaints with some of the issues that match ours, explained his own growing pains as a factory owner, let us know what he's done to correct things and what his future goals for the company (and us) are.
 
In 20 years of doing this I've never had such a real discussion with an owner of a factory nor have I ever seen someone with such a complete product offering across the board.
 
The jury is still out as to whether I think their product stacks up to my first choice of Marquis but what they are offering right now is just what our customer base is requesting. We got a small load of them in on Friday of last week and already sold 5 of them.
 
As far as customer service and reliability, they don't have to go far to beat the issues we've battled over the last several years with MAAX, Master Spas and D1.
 
One of the most impressive things he did was to walk through a marketing plan and sales ideas to get the remaining d1 spas off our floor before he even talked with me about buying a load of his spas. This was very refreshing considering that in all the years of dealing with companies like D1 and Master they couldn't seem to see past the next truckload and build a relationship. It seems we had to use every truckload with D1 as a negotiating tool to get service a warranty issues taken care of.

I can't belive the differance in price and I'm thrilled to finally have a spa to fit every size price and budget!

I knew I should not have hired SpaMan!!! 8-)

[hottubdan]

Welcome to the Dark Side.

[spaman--]

I have secretly been giving him>>>>Cal Spas


MUAHAHAH!

[Spatech_tuo]

I swore for years that I would never sell CalSpa products...I never liked Chuck Hewitt’s way of marketing or lack of customer service and then when Casey Lloyd Took over I felt as if he was a loaded cannon and pretty volatile.
 

I knew I should not have hired SpaMan!!! 8-)

I'll bet SpaMan was really a double agent all along. He was paid by Cal to take a job in your store and slowly convert you over. Now that you have their product on the floor he'll wait a month or so to quit so he can then take a job with another store in a city where Cal needs representation!!

[stuart]

I'll bet SpaMan was really a double agent all along. He was paid by Cal to take a job in your store and slowly convert you over. Now that you have their product on the floor he'll wait a month or so to quit so he can then take a job with another store in a city where Cal needs representation!!

You know....Now that you mention it

[Merlin]

They still have horrible Customer service.

[stuart]

They still have horrible Customer service.

Well I guess I will find that out...I interviewed existing dealers that I know well that picked them up and they are happy so far.

Again, it can't be worse than the battles we fought with D1...I could tell you some real horror stories

[spaman--]

They still have horrible Customer service.

Now there is a well backed statement!

Hot Spring has poor customer service as well. I can show you my back warehouse full of the local Hot Spring dealers lousy attemps at repair. I also have a list of people who have had horrible experiences with them here in the Springs. So to throw out a blanket statement like that just shows the ignorance of a closed mind.

[stuart]

Now there is a well backed statement!

Hot Spring has poor customer service as well. I can show you my back warehouse full of the local Hot Spring dealers lousy attemps at repair. I also have a list of people who have had horrible experiences with them here in the Springs. So to throw out a blanket statement like that just shows the ignorance of a closed mind.

I think what SpaMan is trying to convey is that more than likely your refering to one dealer or one incident and if your not then we are open to hearing something that validates this statement.

[Merlin]

Now there is a well backed statement!

Hot Spring has poor customer service as well. I can show you my back warehouse full of the local Hot Spring dealers lousy attemps at repair. I also have a list of people who have had horrible experiences with them here in the Springs. So to throw out a blanket statement like that just shows the ignorance of a closed mind.

The DEALERS lousy attempts at repairs yes but Watkins has great C/S.

And yes Cal Spas has had a horrible Customer and Dealer support for the past 10years.

btw thanks for assumption of a closed mind. i have a mind that absorbs and respectfully considers all options/opinions and theories. I have had extensive experience with Cal Spa from our store over the past 25 years.and seeing 3 Cal Spa store go in and out of business in my area the past 4 years doesn't help their company much either. the current Cal dealer cant service any of his spas because he can't pay for the parts and then wait to be reimbursed  for them. So i have customers calling us asking if we can repair their spa that they bought from the other dealer, under warranty through Cal.

[Bonibelle]

Zep is dancing in the streets...he's been telling us all along how wonderful his Cal is  

[Chas]

the current Cal dealer cant service any of his spas because he can't pay for the parts and then wait to be reimbursed  for them.

I have done it that way for over twenty years. Is there another way? I have done it that way with about a dozen different companies - I'm sorry, but I don't see the problem here, nor do I see that as Cal's problem.

I'm one of those who have had terrible experiences with Cal in our area, but I am always glad to hear that there are solid dealers who 'do it right' with ANY brand of tub.

 8-)

[Spatech_tuo]

There are a lot of people who have a less than great opinion of Cal but there are also people who say they think Cal has turned it around, or there is an owner like Zep who likes his spa or someone like Stuart who thinks they can work out for him.

In the end we have differing opinions of Cal but that’s fine. Merlin certainly doesn't have to change his opinion (especially since it was gained with direct experience) just because of what Stuart thinks. At the same time Stuart doesn't have to justify why he has changed his mind and is giving them a try.

Good luck to Stuart. I'm sure you and your sidekick will do your best to make it work. Hopefully it'll be a winner for you.

[stuart]

The DEALERS lousy attempts at repairs yes but Watkins has great C/S.

And yes Cal Spas has had a horrible Customer and Dealer support for the past 10years.

btw thanks for assumption of a closed mind. i have a mind that absorbs and respectfully considers all options/opinions and theories. I have had extensive experience with Cal Spa from our store over the past 25 years.and seeing 3 Cal Spa store go in and out of business in my area the past 4 years doesn't help their company much either. the current Cal dealer cant service any of his spas because he can't pay for the parts and then wait to be reimbursed  for them. So i have customers calling us asking if we can repair their spa that they bought from the other dealer, under warranty through Cal.

Once again your talking generic...If there is an incident or incidents that you can pinpoint that the factory has not taken care of let me know. I'm not one to pull punches or "test the depth of a stream with both feet" so I've done a lot of research.

I've seen Hotspring dealers go in and out of business in specific areas not because the factory was bad but because the dealers where not a good mix for the product.

Hotspring does have good customer service as does many other brands...I doubt you've seen me take a potshot at a brand without a reason or valid point behind it so deal in facts not opinions.

Your opinion of any brand is jaded by the brand you sell....I started selling LA spas when I wasn't much older than you and now that I've been in the industry almost as long as you are old I've formed a different opinion of them.

I never for a moment thought that I would sell Cal Spas but things change...I never for a moment thought that I would see waterfalls, disco lights and stereos on Hotspring, in fact we sold against that for many years when I was a HS guy, they now joined the ranks of many other brands with features.

Funny, your profile states that your 23 years old however you claim “I have had extensive experience with Cal Spa from our store over the past 25 years.”

That’s what I’m talking about with claims….my children grew up in the spa industry but they know little about any brand that we haven’t sold or owned at home and the only one that has had a lot to do with the industry growing up can only claim a few years of service even though she’s 25.

Spa industry knowledge isn't genitic as you would have others assume. I'm betting many of the old timers here would argue that we've earned our strips after 20 years even if we weren't born into this business.

BTW, my family doesn't "own the business",  I do...It's me on the line for chosing whatever product I sell. It's my name that is spoken by customers when they have a problem not anyone else. I paid the dues, I pay the bills and I take the hits....

[Merlin]

Once again your talking generic...If there is an incident or incidents that you can pinpoint that the factory has not taken care of let me know. I'm not one to pull punches or "test the depth of a stream with both feet" so I've done a lot of research.

I've seen Hotspring dealers go in and out of business in specific areas not because the factory was bad but because the dealers where not a good mix for the product.

Hotspring does have good customer service as does many other brands...I doubt you've seen me take a potshot at a brand without a reason or valid point behind it so deal in facts not opinions.

Your opinion of any brand is jaded by the brand you sell....I started selling LA spas when I wasn't much older than you and now that I've been in the industry almost as long as you are old I've formed a different opinion of them.

I never for a moment thought that I would sell Cal Spas but things change...I never for a moment thought that I would see waterfalls, disco lights and stereos on Hotspring, in fact we sold against that for many years when I was a HS guy, they now joined the ranks of many other brands with features.

Funny, your profile states that your 23 years old however you claim “I have had extensive experience with Cal Spa from our store over the past 25 years.”

That’s what I’m talking about with claims….my children grew up in the spa industry but they know little about any brand that we haven’t sold or owned at home and the only one that has had a lot to do with the industry growing up can only claim a few years of service even though she’s 25.

Spa industry knowledge isn't genitic as you would have others assume. I betting many of the old timers here would argue that we've earned our strips after 20 years even if we weren't born into this business.

BTW, my family doesn't "own the business",  I do...It's me on the line for chosing whatever product I sell. It's my name that is spoken by customers when they have a problem not anyone else. I paid the dues, I pay the bills and I take the hits....

Well I'm not going to dig through 25 years of warranty claims and work orders to give you a specific account. My family owns this store but its everones neck on the line everyday because we all make the choices to better our store, our product and to give our customers the best spa experience they can ever have.

Yes i have heard of late that Cal is taking the necessary strides to become a respectful manufacture of spas in this industry again. However their reputation of horrible service is something they will have to negate in a huge way before they will become the company they once were.

and my sentence about 25 years i was referring to my family and the length of business of the store. not about myself. I grew up learning everything i know from one of you "old timers" my uncle was a very respected spa man in california for many years before he passed and one thing he taught me was that if a company cannot recognize a problem, initiate on that problem and fix it in a timely manner then it's not worth wasting your money with that company because it will continue to happen. so until i hear and or see other wise, Cal Spa is known for having a very poor customer service department.