Cal Spa Pl 770 Expresso Vs Vita Spa Chateau 700

[TheBobC]

I have been out of the spa game for quite some time. When I last had one, it was a VITA. That was a different manufacturer, now only the name remains the same. Now I am shopping once again. There are things I like about the VITA, namely the foil denim insulation, zinc metal frame, etc. Then I checked out the Cal Spa. Similar, but maybe a little better quality? It had dual core filtering, 3 5 HP motors, etc etc...

I would love to hear opinions...

Both come with a two step unit, starting chems, a cover, delivery, etc. The VITA is 8k delivered, and the Cal is 8500

Thoughts?

[wmccall]

Welcome to the forum.  I too may be getting back into the market after a long time.  I no longer have a Vita dealer in town.  The last few years has really shaken out the dealers locally.   Cal did make some desirable looking spas, but the one dealer here quit carrying them.   

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

If you plan on buying Cal I would check into their "swiss cheese" warranty, and if certain parts break under warranty they are replaced with refurbished replacements....don't know much about Vita either, personally If you have upto 9k to spend I would look at much better alternatives: Hot Spring, Jacuzzi/Sundance, D1

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  Cal-spa actually builds a nice spa in my opinion and having sold against them for years I thought they were decent.    Our issue with Cal as a manufacturer is getting parts from them!  It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen from a company.  Their rep on the internet is not the best but a lot of that stems from dealers not taking care of their customers which will intern say bad things about the spa and manufacturer but to me the dealer is who the customer should be pissed at.   
 
    If the dealership you are buying from is going to take care of you I wouldn't worry, let the dealer handle Cal-spa.    See if you can talk to some that have bought spa's from them, how long have they carried Cal?

  Vita I know nothing about. 

[Spatech_tuo]

  Cal-spa actually builds a nice spa in my opinion and having sold against them for years I thought they were decent.    Our issue with Cal as a manufacturer is getting parts from them!  It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen from a company.  Their rep on the internet is not the best but a lot of that stems from dealers not taking care of their customers which will intern say bad things about the spa and manufacturer but to me the dealer is who the customer should be pissed at.   
 
    If the dealership you are buying from is going to take care of you I wouldn't worry, let the dealer handle Cal-spa.    See if you can talk to some that have bought spa's from them, how long have they carried Cal?

  Vita I know nothing about.

Unless the dealer can't properly support the customer because the manufacturer isn't supporting the dealer which is the never ending story with Cal.

In the end I think there are far better choices out there than Cal (IMO of course).

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  Cal-spa actually builds a nice spa in my opinion and having sold against them for years I thought they were decent.    Our issue with Cal as a manufacturer is getting parts from them!  It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen from a company.  Their rep on the internet is not the best but a lot of that stems from dealers not taking care of their customers which will intern say bad things about the spa and manufacturer but to me the dealer is who the customer should be pissed at.   
 
    If the dealership you are buying from is going to take care of you I wouldn't worry, let the dealer handle Cal-spa.    See if you can talk to some that have bought spa's from them, how long have they carried Cal?

  Vita I know nothing about.

Unless the dealer can't properly support the customer because the manufacturer isn't supporting the dealer which is the never ending story with Cal.

In the end I think there are far better choices out there than Cal (IMO of course).

  Even if Cal-spa or Jacuzzi went out of business on Tuesday, we as a company and me as a salesman and service mngr would take care of the customer even if it meant eating the cost.   It's something a honorable company that sold the product should do.  ( depending on the product of course) That being said it would be very rare that would occure.     I get really tired of hearing things from people that post here their dealer wont take care of them for whatever reason, the dealer needs to step up to the plate regaurdless of the manufacturer and their problems.  You can't use the oh golly they went under there is nothing we can do.  Specially with a Cal or any other component spa that parts are always available for via the net.

 Case in point;
When we took on Cal-spa it was offered to us I put in my 2 cents about not bringing them on for various reasons and was shot down by powers to be,  fine.   The dealer we took the line from was still in business selling D1 and later brought on Coast.  I soon started getting calls from people that bought Cals from him that had various issues.   He flat out told people I can't help you!!  We don't sell that brand anymore call (us) who now carries the brand.  These are people that bought a spa from him within the last year they were livid he would not take care of them.  They bought their spa in good faith that he would take care of them.  Well he is a freaking POS and has sinced moved out of his 4 year old building and moved back where is was originally.  He has been selling spa's longer than us.

 Anyway I took care of his "EX" customers.  You think they or their friends will ever buy a spa from him?  Very doubtfull
 Sorry for the mild rant.

  I would agree though for this guy and what he want's to spend there are better choices unless those are his only options. 

[Spatech_tuo]

Your points are very valid and back how important it is to have a good dealer but a top notch manufacturer is also important and why not have both. Also, it’s not always readily evident in the purchasing process just how good the dealer will be. We tell people to factor that in but we all know determining that is not always so easy.  Should those Cal customers of your competing dealer have been able to see up front that that dealer would bail no them when Cal dumped him? I just think there are better options than Cal and think most should be able to find a quality made product from a quality dealer.