The hot springs dealer I went to also sells Sundance. They are known to be on the expensive side (close to retail on most tubs) but people are willing to pay it because "their service is so good". However, everyone I talked to, including my neighbor, all said that scheduling a service call was usually a two week wait.
The place I ended up buying the Marquis (and it really did fit my needs better) has a turnaround time on service of days rather than weeks. So not so sure the "service" is worth paying retail at the other place!
And not only did this sales guy come down on the Hot springs, but his Sundance Optima pricing started at $13.5K which I told him I could not do (without worrying about my wife divorcing me) to $12.4K and then all the way down to $11.4K.
I think most of us buyers are willing to pay a little bit more to support local business and get better support. But we live in a day and age where pricing transparency is all over the place so I prefer the sales person to offer their best pricing to me on the first try. That is what Hottubguy did with me on the Marquis. He also alerted me on a manufacturers rebate that was coming up and honored that rebate on my pricing. To me, that kind of sales/service is worth paying for.
I think most of the sellers on this forum fall into the Hottubguy category which is very refreshing.
