Going shopping again

[wmccall]

I think this weekend we are going to do it for real and go hot tub shopping again, the first time in 10 years.  My wife absolutely loved our Dynasty tub, but its finally at the end of its useful life even though I just put a new pump in it.  I think she sees that now.   

It was 2 years after I bought my tub from a dealer with a long history in this town that  this deal went under. Perhaps it was the economy, but the owner gave the company to his son and I suspect that had as much to do with it.  Over the last 10 years in Columbus I've seen many dealers come and go along with many brands. Some brands have switched dealers, or rather dealers switch brands.

My Dynasty did bring us a lot of great times in the past 10 years, but I'm not sure they are a company I want to do business with.   Their customer service is terrible.  When I pay thousands of dollars for something and register the warranty, I expect them to know my serial number and whats in my hot tub. I can't count the number of times I had to open the tub up to get them my serial number. I finally took a picture of the plate and kept it in my phone.   The final straw was trying to call them for support.  Their phone menu lists their customer service hours as 8am-5pm, but they don't like to talk to anyone after 4:30pm.  Twice I've been in the phone queue and have them pick up the phone and hang it right back up again at 4:50. When I call right back the out of office is on even though its not yet 5pm.  That place must be a ghost town at 5pm everyday.

I'll have to look to see who the players are in town. The two biggest and been around the longest is the Jacuzzi/Sundance dealer.  They also have a Master Swim Spa which is interesting to look at, but I'll never buy.  I see two possible good deals on Jacuzzi models, but solely on appearance I see some Sundance Spas I like.   I've never been in either so we will definitely wet test.

Just up the road is the dealer which for years was Hot Springs/Cal, but now they are primarily Hot Springs and maybe a couple of other brands.  My sister has a Vanguard and I think I like it, there are a couple of other models there I like. They are also carrying the Dynasty's special line, but at this point I won't even consider that.

I might have to take a look to see who else, if anyone is in town. A couple of long time dealers are no more since I last did this.    Our current tub is 425 gallons  92" x92" with a lounger.   We will probably go smaller, definitely not bigger. As Inviting as a Grandee or Maaxus look, we just don't need it.  We currently have a lounger and while I like it, its the least used seat in the tub.  Whether I get another or not will probably depend on the deal. I use to use the lounger when I went out by myself to look at the stars, but in the past 10 years the number of stars you can see in my neighborhood has decreased by a factor of 10-100.

I just remembered what an ordeal it was getting our hot tub delivered. I hope it goes much better this time.  The only negative thing I had about my dealer back then was they contracted a delivery company and that crew was a bunch of jerks who destroyed my cover and tried to sell me hundreds of dollars of crap I didn't need.   I took the day off to get the tub running. It didn't come till 10:30pm.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

so open seat design? hmmm...here I'll assemble a "shopping list" for you 

Hot Spring Vanguard
Limelight Pulse
Jacuzzi J-365
Sundance Optima

most of those are only a few inches smaller than what you currently have but are all excellent spas imho

[wmccall]

so open seat design? hmmm...here I'll assemble a "shopping list" for you 

Hot Spring Vanguard
Limelight Pulse
Jacuzzi J-365
Sundance Optima

most of those are only a few inches smaller than what you currently have but are all excellent spas imho

Yes, the open seat design is what my wife likes best and you pretty much hit what I am looking at. I'm flexible enough to go for a deal. My dealer has had an anniversary edition 365 on his floor a long time.

[Spatech_tuo]

I looked in Craigslist-Columbus area to see if there were any free spas for the taking or anyone selling new ones out of a storage unit but I didn't see anything enticing.

Get yourself a nice 7' square non-lounge spa from whichever dealer in town carries a great product and who you think will be around for you. Good luck Bill, I think you know the routine on how to go about this.

[wmccall]

I looked in Craigslist-Columbus area to see if there were any free spas for the taking or anyone selling new ones out of a storage unit but I didn't see anything enticing.

Get yourself a nice 7' square non-lounge spa from whichever dealer in town carries a great product and who you think will be around for you. Good luck Bill, I think you know the routine on how to go about this.

Craigslist.  I'll wait till I get my concealed  carry permit first.   We have had several Craigslist murders in our area this year including a women 9 months pregnant this past week.

[wmccall]

I think its down to two Jacuzzi models, possibly a Sundance Optima, and a Vanguard.  I've been in a Vanguard before, not need to wet test. Maybe this week to wet test the rest.

[wmccall]

PS, my wife actually liked the layout of one of the limelight HS spas.   I found the controls a bit cumbersome, maybe after 10 years I'm just used to having it my way. These spas had 2 pumps and I'm used to a pump #1 button and a seperate pump#2 button.  This seemed to be a press once for pump 1 low, again for high, again for pump 2, and maybe again for both?  The Vanguard controls seemed a little easier to follow and a bit more high tech than my previous tub.

[wmccall]

Tonight I wanted to stop at one more dealer that I knew had been around for a long time.  When I bought my tub this dealer was the Dimension One dealer.   Now they are selling Catalina and to my surprise they also sell Lazyboy spas.  That was news to me.  The dealer says they are from Hydro pool?   



This one was interesting.

[wmccall]

The Catalina Quebec is similar to our current layout. My wife likes that one.

[wmccall]

Arctic has improved the LOCATE A DEALER FUNCTION on their website, but the one is 120 miles away, so thats out.  Off to check D1.  Whom am I forgetting?

Ok, D1 72 miles. I'm spoiled I live in Ohio's largest city yet these guys are putting their dealership in Nowhere, Ohio! 

Lets check bullfrog for fun.

[wmccall]

Bullfrog's dealer locater is Geographically challenged.   I entered my zipcode and it told me the nearest dealer was in Utah.  But going the long way I found one 70 miles away.

[Hot Spring Ace]

I have a 13 year old Grandee in my back yard. I've had a couple neighbors ask if they can buy it when I get a new one (I'm guessing they'd want the neighborhood discount) because they assume I'm going to get a new one just because I get a discount. I've thought of getting a new one but there's nothing wrong with the one I have so I don't feel the need. I wonder what % of spas are working at 13 years let alone how many are going strong and showing no evidence of their demise on the horizon? I know one thing, it varies a lot by brand.

Don't be tempted by the dark side. Get a premium made spa, they stand the test of time.

[wmccall]

Don't be tempted by the dark side. Get a premium made spa, they stand the test of time.

I believe you, I've made mine last 9.5 years, but that was spending more than 1K after warranty and probably $300 before warranty ran out.

[wmccall]

Having been in this forum for 10 years now, I have probably recommended wet testing a few times.  .  I never did wet test, but we ended up with a tub that worked for us.  Tonight for the first time we will actually wet test in a dealer's show room.  Technically I have wet tested in my sister's tub as she has a model I am giving serious consideration to.

[wmccall]

I think we have just one more wet test to go.  The Sundance Majesta



After that we will get serious with the dollars and decide between a couple of tubs here and the Vanguard.