Is anyone familiar with Four Winds Mfg? A pool and spa dealer right around the corner from my house sells them. The salesperson, who was extremely cordial, seemed marginally clueless but, then again, so am I when it comes to these things.
After completing this post, I found I wrote a lot. My bottom line is - does anyone have info/experience with this mfg? Feel free to stop right there if you don't want to spend time reading my hot tub memoirs, listed below.
Good points from my initial experience (30 minutes in the showroom):
As I was told, these tubs are built in Smyrna, TN, which is very close to Memphis (where I live). Proximity to the manufacturer (if they really do build these things in Smyrna) seems to be a positive. The dealer who was selling these has been in the business for 40 years, so they have some experience with these things. I like the size and layout of the tub better than every other spa I've looked at. Although I have not done the wet test, yet, the jets seem to be by far the strongest, in terms of volume and pressure, of any tub I've looked at. I understand that super strength jets are necessarily desirable, but I thought I'd mention it as it was noticeable almost to the point of being comical. The cabinet looked well constructed. Also, the tubs had a bunch of non-essential periphials, such as a stereo, waterfall, and multiple lights that seem to cost way more as extras on other tubs.
Negative points:
The salesperson had a fraction of the technical acumen that some of the other area dealers have displayed. She couldn't answer some questions about filtration, motors, or electrical requirements. Thankfully, she didn't try to con us; she just said she didn't know. (I am going to contact the mfg via their website to find my answers). She did mention that her selling point was horsepower, which I found odd (although it was a powerful tub). I basically left the showroom knowing about as much about the tub as I could have learned off of the brochure. Even with that said, I really liked this tub and I'm hoping that there's some feedback out there to justify or negate my initial impression.
Thank you and have a nice day.