A twist on The Master Spas Circus.

[James]

The circus came to town this weekend.

For about a week now the radio airwaves and television screens have been bombarded with commercials for a massive outdoor living show at our local fairgrounds. It was a Master Spa Show.

"Over a hundred spas on display" More like 60 +/-

"Meet the Factory Reps" One simple phone call to Master Spas cleared this one up. The person @ Master explained to me that they don't have employees that do shows and that anyone out there was an independent contractor most likely working for a dealer.

"Up to 60% off!" Of course they were!

"All the major manufactures in the industry will be here" I went to the show expecting to see Master/Down East. They were there.

The twist is that they had a 2nd brand there. Phoenix Spas were being sold as well.

I shopped the event Sunday afternoon. As I walked past a spa a carnie sitting on a spa said "It's really just one brand here". I thought it was an odd blurt since I had not said a word to him or made eye contact with him.

A moment later another person came to me and introduced himself to me as a Master Spa factory representative. (A Lie) He told to me that this show represented many of the biggest brands in the spa in the spa industry. (A Lie) I replied that I was just told by one of his associates that it was just one brand. He explained that the other sales person had made a mistake.

He gave us the tour. At one point I asked "who will service the spa?" he answered "anyone".

I kept on walking and looking and he kept on talking and talking. (In my opinion, the best way to shop the comp is to ask very little and just let the sales rep talk and talk. You can learn so much)

Again I pressed him about service and warranty. The salesperson said Phoenix was their partner and would be doing the warranty work for anything sold at the show. ( A Lie)

During a phone call to Phoenix Spas this morn i learned that they had nothing to do with the show, that they only do warranty work for their own brand and while they would repair a Master Spa (or any brand) there would be a charge to the customer regardless of warranty.

Lie after lie after lie.

The sad part was that there were people buying spas from these out of towners. Lots of people.

Now a whole new generation of spa owners that can't get service or real help when needed is born.

[Vanguard]

And thus, the industry will get a bad rap from these criminals.  Those folks who bought there will now paint with a broad brush and figure the entire industry is like that.

[stuart]

Here's what I propose....Let's start boycotting any vendor that deals this them. Lets ban together and take action. If enough phone calls come from enough of us at once to every vendor they use they will get dropped like a hot potato.

The other thing is to all ban together and make up signs the we can send to whatever city they are in, stake them or even hire picketers. If we all work together it can't be that hard to stop this!
 
If they can come up with this program in the first place as one or two dealers and a few factory reps than don’t you think we’re a smart enough group to come up with an attack package that we can send share with anyone in the area they doing the shows?

[James]

You know, it really doesn’t bother me that these guys came to town and did what they do. To me it’s like blaming the shark for being hungry and needing to swim. It’s not really the sharks fault is it?

It’s doesn’t bother me that consumers bought there. After all, I am a capitalist at heart. A consumer has the right to buy from whomever, and wherever they desire. Some consumers learn about a product before they purchase. Others will learn about the product after it’s been delivered and paid for. I have no desire protect a consumer from themselves.

What I find troublesome is that a state run fair board would offer up their fairground facilities to an out of town caravan of gypsies four short weeks before the big fair here in our area.

Shasta County is facing some of the highest unemployment in the country (per capita) and I find it irresponsible for a fair board to let this group take so many buyers off the market and send so much money out of the area and then turn to the local hot tub dealers and ask them to participate and even sometimes sponsor the fair and then complain when they don’t hit their financial and attendance goal.

My protest will be simple. I will no longer support a fair board that not only doesn’t support local business but may actually be hurting local business.

No more fairs, home shows, sport shows, RV and Boat shows. No more concerts. No more car races.

I’m done.

[stuart]

What I find troublesome is that a state run fair board would offer up their fairground facilities to an out of town caravan of gypsies four short weeks before the big fair here in our area.

This I agree with...I've asked every other spa company in town to boycott the Expo center for the same reason. They should have some concern for local companies considering they are owned by the largest auto dealer in town.

I can't really be that nonchalant about the rest....Those consumers are being lied to and have no clue that this in not a good or fair deal. If the Master Spa team were telling the truth saying that the warranty is from the manufacture and they will reimburse the consumer up to $50 on a call plus send them parts out or if they were telling them that they might have to contact the factory for supplies then I would feel less frustrated for them.
 
Most people don't know one spa guy from another and are likely to be sucked into the lies simply because of the production. I've heard these guys say, "If we weren't tangible do you think they would even let us use this facility?"

For the next year I will deal with angry and frustrated customers that feel they got scewed by this show yet will not pursue it themselves anymore than yell at us because were spa guys also.

I really tire of things like this bringing down the reputation of the industry simply because they put on a big enough show to make it look like they are representing the industry.

[MarKee]

I know of a Marquis/Jacuzzi/Artesian dealer that hired people with signs and flyers to stand outside of the Master Spas circus, directing people to a parking lot sale by his showroom.  He also did radio, tv, and print advertisements directing people to his parking lot sale.  From what I heard, 50 spas were sold by the Marquis/Jacuzzi/Artesian dealer, and only 15-20 were sold at the Master Spas event.  

[Jrstang]

I conmpletely agree, i went to one of these events in Phoenix, AZ it was a lot full of used car salesmen and all of them were caught lieing through their teeth on several occasions. I dont know how they think they can get away with this! I would neer buy a product from someone who was not a local dealer or manufacturer unless they had support!

Unfortunately like many road shows, the salesman will never be back, never see you again, and does not care how or if the spa works, he gets his comission and blows town!!

 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

I would neer buy a product from someone who was not a local dealer or manufacturer unless they had support!

 

Well since the Spa Circus falls into, "from the manufacturer", you'd buy One?

[Spatech_tuo]

I conmpletely agree, i went to one of these events in Phoenix, AZ it was a lot full of used car salesmen and all of them were caught lieing through their teeth on several occasions. I dont know how they think they can get away with this! I would neer buy a product from someone who was not a local dealer or manufacturer unless they had support!

 

LOCAL support is very important which is why buying from these shows or buying one of the many lesser spas sold over the internet or however else and not having a local dealer is not a wise move IMO.

[James]

An interesting turn.

I called the fairgrounds manager in Shasta Co yesterday. She explained to me that it was Phoenix Spa who had booked the show and then perhaps asked a Master dealer out of Oregon to dominate the show. With Phoenix's reputation in this area, there was no way they could have generated as much buzz about the spa show without the help of a dealer/brand from out of town.

There were less than 8 Phoenix tubs at the show.

Phoenix's tag line is "Clearly the only choice". It seems that even Phoenix doesn’t believe that line anymore.

[Spatech_tuo]

They've got a 1-800 SPA SALE phone number that they advertise with. If you call them to ask what manufactures are there they play dumb like it varies and there are numerous ones and they're not sure who is at your show. Give them a call and ask like you are a customer really looking for basic information so you can look at the spas on-line ahead of time; it’s a hoot to hear someone lie through their teeth, they're pretty convincing.

[ejf The Spa Guy]

HERE WE GO THE CIRCUS SHOWED UP IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS UP IN SPOKANE........ I CALLED THEM ACTING AS A CUSTOMER TO SEE WHAT I COULD FIND OUT.... ; THEY ASKED ME IN WHAT CITY........IF YOU GO THE WEBSITE WWW.THEOUTDOORLIVINGSHOW.COM IT SHOWS THEY ARE IN THIS ARE, LOCAL SERVICE REPAIR PEOPLE ON SITE....I CALLED THE NUMBER 1-888-SPA-SALE   THEY ANSWERED....HELLO!!!!! NO COMPANY NAME AND I COULD NOT GET ANY MORE  EXCEPT THAT THEY WILL HAVE OVER 100 SPAS FROM SEVERAL MAJOR MANUFACTURERS. ALSO ASKED HIM IF I BUY ONE AND NEXT YEAR HAVE A PROBLEM , WHO FIXES HE SAID THEY DO , OH ITS THERE LOCAL SERVICE CENTER BUT WOULD NOT TELL ME. AND THE KICKER HE SAID THAT THIS SHOW WILL BE THE BIGGEST SPA SALE IN WASHINGTON HISTORY...BOY I GUESS LIL OL SPOKANE GOT BIGGER THAN SEATTLE AREA!!!!!!!! I THINK I WILL GO CHECK OUT THE CLOWNS THIS WEEKEND....... HOPE THIS HELPS OTHERS OUT THERE........BUY LOCAL...............

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

[size=72]WHY ARE YOU YELLING?[/size]

[ejf The Spa Guy]

who said i was yelling, i was just passing on , i think this is funny.....

[Spatech_tuo]

WWW.THEOUTDOORLIVINGSHOW.COM IT SHOWS THEY ARE IN THIS ARE, LOCAL SERVICE REPAIR PEOPLE ON SITE....I CALLED THE NUMBER 1-888-SPA-SALE  

BTW, some people hate reading CAPS and consider it to be the equivalent of "on-line yelling" so that explains Doc's reference.

So they're trying to cover themselves by saying they have local service people? That probably just means one of the traveling sales guys once went out on a repair and he qualifies as their in house tech.

I told them I wanted to know what brands where there because the on line chat rooms are saying the multi-manufacturer claim is a scam and I wanted to know ahead of time who would be there. Of course he said he was not sure who it was but assured me it was many but boy did that piss the guy off!!

Keep the calls going their way LOL.