Problems with Emerald Spa

[tomnel]

We brought an Emerald Spa 599E last November. We started having problems with the jets popping out right away. Our Emerald dealer was TERRIBLE when it came to service. He would laugh at us over the phone, and accuse us of taking the jets out ourselves!!! Calling us liars. I also noticed after my November , December and January electric bill, that the spa was costing us $100 a month to run. We live in Wisconsin, and the weather is cold, but there is no way it should cost us THAT much to run. I even had the power company compare my bills with the last 3 winters. Their was so much of a difference, they came to our house and checked our meter!!
  When I told my Emerald dealer about this, he did not seem concerned. He said there was nothing he could do. I was so fed up with his attitude, I called Emerald Spa Corporation. They agreed $100 a month to run the spa was very high, but, that the dealer was responsible. Still, the dealer did nothing. I disputed the charge fo the hot tub and called dealer and told him to take the hot tub back, I wanted a full refund. I did not trust my dealer. I was having so many problems, and I was only 3 months into a 5 year warranty.
  After I sent documentation to Emerald, the better business bureau, and my charge card company proving my high cost of operation and my problems with the jets, and with out ANY service!! I also talked to other Emerald owners who were not getting service from this dealer. They all put pressure on the dealer.   The dealer agreed to pick up the spa and issue a full refund.
 I am now in the market for a new spa. It will not be an Emerald, although the factory tried to help me. If anyone wants the name of this Wiconsin Emerald dealer, I can tell you. Stay away!!!!  

[Chris_H]

Tomnel:

I was under the impression (according to the Emerald website) the Emerald brand had two-year parts and labor warranty (this would include the 599 Elite) and the Cygnus brand had a 5 year component and a 2 year labor warranty.  According to your post it is a 5-year warranty.  Please confirm.

Don’t take this offensively, but that energy cost is pretty damn high even for Wisconsin.  I doubt you would see that type of cost for the major manufacturers.  If you read enough of these posts on this forum you will definitely know who those manufacturers are.

Chris H

[Chas]

  After I sent documentation to Emerald, the better business bureau, and my charge card company proving my high cost of operation and my problems with the jets, and with out ANY service!! I also talked to other Emerald owners who were not getting service from this dealer. They all put pressure on the dealer.   The dealer agreed to pick up the spa and issue a full refund.
  I am now in the market for a new spa. It will not be an Emerald, although the factory tried to help me. If anyone wants the name of this Wiconsin Emerald dealer, I can tell you. Stay away!!!!  

Wow.

I am amazed that they picked up the spa: but I say 'good for you!!' After-sale service is the only true service. Well, the only service that matters anyway.

Of course I'm going to suggest you look at HotSpring and Tiger River spas - usually very low cost of operation. Usually very good dealer support.

But I'm going to give you a bit of advice: I am just now starting to see that our HP tubs do consume more power than our EE tubs. It is a small difference for people who don't run the jets much, and a big difference for those who run the jets daily.

[tomnel]

Thank you for the advice Chris H. and Chas. Yes, my tub was $100 a month to run. I am an electrician, and I double checked my electrical usage with my November- Feb. bills from years past. The insulation on the Emerald was poor. Just an half inch of sprayed on foam on the tub shell. Very thin!!   I expect my cost to run a spa to average about a dollar a day.
 Chris... you are right. The dealer "threw in" an extended 5 year warranty.
 Chas....can you explain the difference between HP and EE spa's? Thanks for the advice. I guess I learned that a spa is only as good as the dealer selling it.

[rocket]

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with the spa.

There are better manufacturers-Marquis, Hot Spring, Sundance, Dimension One. Much better wararnty and energy efficient.

[tomnel]

Thanks for all of the great advice. I am looking at and wet testing the top brands, and I will let you know what I find. Thanks again.

[stuart]

Good for you! We as a society don't stand for customer service enough!

Read the recent post "Marquis Reward Price" (you can do a search for it), I belive that rjknbak (the person posting) did some research on several brands in WI area and might be able to give you some insight on what he found.

[Warkovision]

 Chas....can you explain the difference between HP and EE spa's?  

I'm not Chas and I don't even play him on T.V.!

HP=High Performance
EE=Energy Efficient

Hotspring Envoy and Vista=HP
"        "     Vanguard and Grandee=EE
I believe this to be correct. Somebody correct me if I'm dispensing bogus info.

[Chas]

HP = bigger pumps. That means you can run more jets at the same time. The jet action is exactly the same per jet: I'm trying to say that you get the same performance out of each individual jet - you can just run more of them at the same time in an HP. Also, as has been pointed out above, the Envoy and Vista are the HP models - they have small, medium, large, extra large jets (in addition to the Soothing Seven and Moto Massage jets) whereas the EE models have: small, large and extra large.



The HP models also have a two-speed motor on one of the two pumps.

The cost of operation between the two types (EE vs. HP) is strictly a function of how often you run the jets.

[briguy]

I'm glad that I read your post...I was going to wet test an Emerald AND I live in Wisconsin. (Too wierd ) which dealer and in what city were you dealing with? btw...I settled on a sundance.