The Dark Side taking over...Cal Spas

[Micah]

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.”

[glow]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...[/glow].

Well said Stuart.

[stuart]

Well Merlin, your still not getting the point so I will have to be more blunt...

Having been in the industry almost as long as you've been alive I know one thing for sure...EVERYTHING CHANGES!

I've already stated that I've had similar experiences with CalSpa and know very well about their reputation. That's why I took the time to research them and talk with the owner of the company before giving them another chance.

Remember I sold HS for as long as you've been in the industry and I remember the step cracks, the circ pump failures, the light lens leaks, the heater fires, the pink cabinets and much more but they changed all of that, haven't they!

I'm laying it on the line as to why I'm choosing Cal and your attempting to belittle that with less research and less experience. I may very well find I don't like their current philosophy but not without looking hard into it.

Who knows, in another 10 years I might be selling Arctic (Tom, does Darcy or the Keirsteds have a jet they would fly out to see me?)!

[Micah]

Well I'm not going to dig through [glow]25 years of warranty claims[/glow] 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.

Merlin,
Are you saying that your company has been a warranty station for Cal Spas for 25 Years?  I just checked the website and there is no mention of you.  I think back and I can't remember your company being a warranty station for Cal at all in the last 3-5 years.  How can you make claims like: "Cal Spas has had a horrible Customer and Dealer support for the past 10years." ?  Have you yourself actually ever dealt with Cal Spas for an extended period of time? (5 years...10 years)

[Pathfinder]

When I sold Cal I found that for a dealer if you spoke to the proper person and only dealt with that person everything ran as good as it could be.  I had huge issues with the guys in tech, some of my customers knew more than these guys. I only then dealt with the guys in engineering. A couple of those guys bent over backwards to find solutions for me. Jim G  made many of my warranty issues go through without conflict. If Cal based their service on a couple of the core people I always dealt with they would improve tenfold.    My opinion has been the higher end models are great but everything below was pretty much garbage.  

Stuart, good luck with the new line.

[Zep]

Merlin sounds bitter....maybe he eats too many sweet tarts.

Instead of selling his own brands like most of the dealers on
this site he needs to trash others.

Looks like he's already been "owned" on some double-speak.

Well unlike Merlin I own a Cal Spas tub and don't sell other brands
of spas. Merlin has a vested interest in Cal not making a comeback.
I love my Cal Spas tub and have had excellent service from
my Cal Spas dealer and from the Cal Spas factory. I
have a feeling Cal Spas may not be in the elite group (yet)
of HS/Jacuzzi/Sundance but Cal is improving and not nearly
as poor as "Mr. Sweet Tart" describes.

But as always 2EachHisOwn!  8-)

[hottubdan]

Remember I sold HS for as long as you've been in the industry and I remember the step cracks, the circ pump failures, the light lens leaks, the heater fires, the pink cabinets and much more but they changed all of that, haven't they!

Is this a back handed compliment?  Why do you no longer sell HS?  It is a rare dealer who drops them.  Stuart, the question you and Merlin are talking about is customer service, not change.  (Sounds like the presidential race.)  Hot Spring has had all of those problems, and [glow]they have great customer service and stand behind their dealers and end users.[/glow]

I will say that perhaps Merlin has some maturing to do. When I was his age a had my opinions and I was always right.     Maybe Cal Spa has changed.  Time will tell.

[stuart]

Is this a back handed compliment?  Why do you no longer sell HS?  It is a rare dealer who drops them.  Stuart, the question you and Merlin are talking about is customer service, not change.  (Sounds like the presidential race.)  Hot Spring has had all of those problems, and [glow]they have great customer service and stand behind their dealers and end users.[/glow]

I will say that perhaps Merlin has some maturing to do. When I was his age a had my opinions and I was always right.     Maybe Cal Spa has changed.  Time will tell.

Not at all...I think HS is still one of the finest brands made however, I get frustrated at times with the myopic veiw of many of thier dealers towards other brands. That aside HS does a great job of selling the dream to the dealer, keeping customers happy and taking care of dealers on the back end of things. I think they also have a pretty good offering price wise but knowing both lines pretty well I'm confident that Cal gives me tools that will make me more of a contender against them than before.

[Summitman]

Well Merlin, your still not getting the point so I will have to be more blunt...

Having been in the industry almost as long as you've been alive I know one thing for sure...EVERYTHING CHANGES!

I've already stated that I've had similar experiences with CalSpa and know very well about their reputation. That's why I took the time to research them and talk with the owner of the company before giving them another chance.

Remember I sold HS for as long as you've been in the industry and I remember the step cracks, the circ pump failures, the light lens leaks, the heater fires, the pink cabinets and much more but they changed all of that, haven't they!

I'm laying it on the line as to why I'm choosing Cal and your attempting to belittle that with less research and less experience. I may very well find I don't like their current philosophy but not without looking hard into it.

Who knows, in another 10 years I might be selling Arctic (Tom, does Darcy or the Keirsteds have a jet they would fly out to see me?)!

they may or may not have a jet, but in my opinion their product speaks for itself.  If you are ever in the need to look for a future product and they want to sell to you they are worth looking at.  I have sold their product since 1998, and have been nothing but impressed from day one.

[Vinny]

Good luck Stuart with your new spa line!

It has been said - the dealer makes all the difference in the world. Based on what Stuart has said throughout my stay here, no matter how good or bad the manufacturer is he will take care of his customers.

[stuart]

they may or may not have a jet, but in my opinion their product speaks for itself.  If you are ever in the need to look for a future product and they want to sell to you they are worth looking at.  I have sold their product since 1998, and have been nothing but impressed from day one.

They would have to go a looong way from where they are now in my personal veiw of the distance between thier marketing and engineering to ever convince me of that!

But...like I said, things always change! 8-)

[Summitman]

They would have to go a looong way from where they are now in my personal veiw of the distance between thier marketing and engineering to ever convince me of that!

But...like I said, things always change! 8-)

Your highly mistaken on all of that, but we can agree to disagree.

Just my opinion.

[wmccall]

pink cabinets

Most of what I have learned in 5 years in this forum, other than my own direct experience has been through osmosis.  I must have missed this shameful event from HS past.

[stuart]

Your highly mistaken on all of that, but we can agree to disagree.

Just my opinion.

I really don't think that you want to turn this in to a session of what I agree with or don't agree with on Arctic but considering your high jacking the thread that way, let me know if you do ....I'm primed and ready to open that up.

I'm always amazed at the defensiveness of many dealers...when you continually highjack other threads to tout your brand you do nothing more than show your inner fear that something might be wrong with what you’re doing.

Because I cracked a joke to Tom and touched on your insecurities do you think we need to open up a discussion on why I don't sell Artic or are you OK with letting this continue as a Cal spa discussion without that?

[stuart]

Most of what I have learned in 5 years in this forum, other than my own direct experience has been through osmosis.  I must have missed this shameful event from HS past.

I wouldn't call it shamefull...they took care of those customers for the most part so those things never became huge issues but rest assured that even HS has problems as big as other dealers.

I could detail many issues by brand that technicians know a spa brand by but it would suffice to say that if you haven't heard a lot about it the company is probably one of the better ones that takes care of those problems.

[wmccall]

Oh, so Pink cabinets were not a product issued in bad taste, but a discoloring issue?  I had never heard of this one.