Advice Needed

[leerub]

I'm considering buying a Leisure Bay Hot Tub. Either the Sierra or the Hatteras. I live in Central FL.  I would appreciate any advice from leisure bay hot tub owners.  The warranty  seems to be a very good one.

[stuart]

Cut and paste this link on your browser;

http://www.ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&daterange=6&q5=Recreational+Factory+Warehouse+&submit2=Search%21&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0

Not a good reputation! There are several more of these out there.

[knowsabit]

what he said

[FLspa]

Hi. I also live in Central FL and just ordered our first spa about 2 weeks ago. I shopped around for about a month and tried to do educate myself as best as I could, via websites like this one.  Here's what I found from my experience:

Hotsprings  - great dealer, great product. I really would've loved to have bought a spa here, but after wet testing the 2 models I could afford, they really just didn't fit my body the way I wanted.

Sundance - great product, so-so dealer. They were way over-priced (based on what folks on this board paid for their spa) and the salesman also didn't seem very knowledgeable. In fact, I seemed to know more about his product from my research than he did! They only had 2 spas that you could wet test and they really didn't make it easy to do so. They made me feel pretty uncomfortable about even asking! Also, I really wanted to try the Bahia and they didn't have one on the floor at all.

Master spa - completely crazy experience! Apparently, the dealer is a husband/wife team. The husband seemed to know alot, but the wife kept interjecting and the husband would correct her. I asked her for several prices and everything she wrote down was wrong. The husband took a look and said, "No honey, that one's $12,500 not $7500! Needless to say, I wouldn't feel comfortable buying anything from them!

Caldera - worst dealer I could imagine. They're like the sleaziest car dealer I've ever encountered times ten! They were the "what can I do to get you in spa today" type. I would never buy from that place!

Vita - this is where I ended up buying. I know a lot of people on this board don't have them or aren't familiar, but they got good ratings on poolandspa.com and had a great warranty. Also, they had the no-bypass filtration and other features I was looking for. Most importantly - this one felt the best to me!

Sorry for the long post, but I just thought I'd let you know what I found. Good luck and let me know if I can help!

[FLspa]

Oh - one more thing. i just noticed that the link to the Rip Off Reports website is about Recreational Factory Warehouse. They're the dealer I was referring to above that carries Caldera spas. Good to know I was right about thinking they were sleazy!

[Drewski]

Hi Leerub:

DON'T BUY A LEISURE BAY TUB!

I considered RFW back in 1999 when I bought my current tub and also again just recently when I helped a buddy of mine choose a new tub.  I visited my local RFW (in Virginia Beach) and spoke with a "salesman" on both occasions.  Each time I was never given product literature "because that's how we keep costs low."  Used car salesmen do better.   A few things about RFW tubs:

RFW "warranties" are PRORATED.  This means you end up paying money for repairs generally after the first year and on an increasing sliding scale in later years.  So, that "10 year warrantee" only pays 10% of the part and NO labor in the final year.

RFW uses "contracted service technicians" meaning they often get the lowest cost technicians to work on your tub with little or no experience.  The service people change all the time, so consistency is LACKING.  They often want you to call them (if you can get through on their 800 number) so they can "tell" you what to do by phone.

"Leisure Bay," like other RFW products is an "off brand" product using generic parts that are often IMPORTED.  This means that as your spa gets older, "standard" replacement parts might not be available for your particular set-up.

You might end up paying less money to buy the tub, but I can bet that you will have problems and be UNHAPPY as time goes by.  I’d suggest looking at the higher end brands or find a dealer with a “trade in” model if price is an issue.  A used tub is also an option if less than 3 years old, a national brand and a local dealer for service is available.

Hope this helps and good luck!