dolphinspas

[remco]

Hi,

looking for some advice/help:
I live in the Netherlands (Europe) and I'm looking for a spa
The hotspring spa's are beautiful but in the Netherlands they are only available between 10000 and 20000 euro's
Further there are many cheap chinese spa's available, but considering all the negative reviews I found, I would like to go for a real US brand
Now I found a real US brand named dolphinspas. They offer spa's for a very good price (less then 8000 euro)

Is there anyone who can share their experience with this brand in relation to quality, isolation, service, maintenance etc etc)

the available websites are: www.dolphinspas.com and http://www.dolphinspaseurope.eu/index.html

Many thanks in advange.

Remco

[Gary]

No better than than a Chinese spa.

[Micah]

No better than than a Chinese spa.

Really?  I know they are a small company.  We work on their products a few times a year and they don't seem that bad.  They are by no means a Jacuzzi or a Hot Spring, but I would take a Dolphin over any Chinese spa I have seen to date. When it comes to getting repair parts they are a little better than Jacuzzi and H.S. I order parts at 4PM and they are at my door at 11am the next day.  

[Spatech_tuo]

Not matter how long I work in this industry every once in awhile someone asks about a US brand I've never heard of. Usually the smaller spa makers like this only sell domestically so I'm surprised they're selling overseas but I guess in this economy you have to sell wherever you can.

[Gary]

Really?  I know they are a small company.  We work on their products a few times a year and they don't seem that bad.  They are by no means a Jacuzzi or a Hot Spring, but I would take a Dolphin over any Chinese spa I have seen to date. When it comes to getting repair parts they are a little better than Jacuzzi and H.S. I order parts at 4PM and they are at my door at 11am the next day.  

You are right that was a general statement I made about the product, the one I worked on a couple years ago was junk.

my apologies.

[Spatech_tuo]

When it comes to getting repair parts they are a little better than Jacuzzi and H.S. I order parts at 4PM and they are at my door at 11am the next day.  

Thats a good sign but I gotta wonder if part of that is because they're headquartered in your area?

[stuart]

Wow there's a name I haven't heard in awhile...Yes I know of Dolphin spas, I ordered a truckload of them in the late 90's. Funny they don't look like they've changed much.

I loved the little El Nino, It was a great little spa at a good price point back then. We did have a problem with cracked shells right off the truck and some plumbing issues. We also had a tough time getting customer service from them but again that was a long time ago.

Now I'm interested in their pricing...the cabinets held up pretty good, didn't really need to stain them but again, there was some large wood cracks that you couldn't do anything about.

[Gary]

They had a large lawsuit (1.5mil range) were it was claimed the spa burned down a house. Wonder how that turned out? It was several years ago.

[Water Boy]

Thanks  

You're welcome! :-?

[Micah]

Thats a good sign but I gotta wonder if part of that is because they're headquartered in your area?

Yes that does have a lot to do with it.  But keep in mind Jacuzzi is less than 1 mile from me and H.S. is about 80 miles away

[remco]

Thanks for the information so far
I'm not looking for the highest quality and all the additional functions a HS will have
But I'm looking for a USA brand because they are known for a low energy consumption and quality isolation

Is there anyone who can advice/has some information regarding the current isolation and build quality of the dolphin spas ?
will this spa be comparable with a HS in energy consumption and isolation quality ?

I'm going to the showroom this saturday, any tips/advice to keep an eye on ?

many thanks
Remco

[Spatech_tuo]

Thanks for the information so far
I'm not looking for the highest quality and all the additional functions a HS will have
But I'm looking for a USA brand because they are known for a low energy consumption and quality isolation

Is there anyone who can advice/has some information regarding the current isolation and build quality of the dolphin spas ?
will this spa be comparable with a HS in energy consumption and isolation quality ?

I'm going to the showroom this saturday, any tips/advice to keep an eye on ?

many thanks
Remco

I'm sure the dealer/salesperson will fill you in on the theory behind thermo pane insulation and while I’m not a big believer in this method they and a lot of smaller companies use for insulation (and even some good sized spa makers like Master and Thermospas) at least it looks from their website like they are spraying foam on the outside of the panels rather than use foam board which leaves air gaps. I wouldn't necessarily expect it to be great insulation wise but maybe someone is familiar with them personally.