Info On Leisure Bay Spas

[cebever]

Hello:

Need some help, please. Can anybody give me some information about Leisure Bay Spas? My wife and I spent two to three hours yesterday afternoon at the Rec Warehouse here in Richmond, VA. After a very extensive demo, we put down a deposit on a Grande Niagra. My intent was to come home and search the Internet for info about Leisure Bay. Unfortunately, I've found, very, very little.

The "deal" is they will sell us the Grande Niagra for $6,500 including steps, delivery, etc.

I'm really less concerned about price (meaning we'd be willing to spend a bit more ($1,000 or so), if it makes sense to get something better. My real question is..... how does Leisure Bay stackup with others out there.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

[csutton]

cebever,
I am also located in Richmond and looked at the Leisure Bay spas.  I would highly recomend looking at some other manufacturers such as Hot Springs, Dimension 1, Caldera, etc.  Rec Warehouse was the first place that I visited in my search and left feeling good about the spa, not knowing anything about them in the first place.  Once I looked at other dealers and manufactures, the Leisure Bay did not stand up to the competition.  If you are willing to pay a little more, you can get a nicer tub with better dealer support.  
I have a feeling that when you see how other "name brand" tubs are made you will not look back.  
One thing that stood out to me when looking was that the LB was not a full foam insulated tub.  The Rec War. rep will tell you that is a good thing and that it makes for easier maintenance in case of a leak.  I think the design is much less energy efficient.  
I wound up buying a Hot Springs Grandee and took delivery of it early Feb.  My wife and I love it and have used it pretty much every night since it has been hooked up.
Feel free to send me a PM and I will tell you about my buying experience and give you some feelings on the local dealers here in Rich.  Believe me I did way too much research before making a decision.
csutton

[Bill_Stevenson]

Leisure Bay is a captive brand of Rec Warehouse.  In some locations Rec Warehouse sells other brands as well and in fact they are the company from whom I bought my Caldera last year.  Rec Warehouse is a reputable company and I always felt like they went out of their way for me.  They have a very good reputation here in South Florida.  As a matter of fact, when I bought a new spa last month the local HotSpring dealer, a competitor, said Rec Warehouse is a very good outfit.  I would have preferred to buy a Caldera, but my new house was ready to put it into place and HS could deliver and Caldera could not.    

For the kind of money you are willing to spend, there are better products than Leisure Bay.  Look for Caldera, HotSpring, Sundance, Jacuzzi to name a few.

Regards,

Bill

[Drewski]

My intent was to come home and search the Internet for info about Leisure Bay. Unfortunately, I've found, very, very little.

Doesn’t that tell you something? Does Rec Warehouse still claim NOT to produce literature on their products to "keep costs down?" Yeah, right.

You have plenty of other choices in Richmond. Look around and wet test!!!

Good Luck...

Drewski

[stuart]

Try these links and then decide for yourself. Very Bad history!

http://ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=recreational+factory+warehouse

http://ripoffreport.com/results.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search%21&q5=leisure+bay&Search=Search

[Bill_Stevenson]

I don't know anything about this "Ripoffreport" deal, but I did check with the Better Business Bureau and with the local Chamber of Commerce before I did business with Rec Warehouse.  Nothing negative about Rec Warehouse at that time.  They have a good reputation AFAIK.  Again, FWIW, they always treated me very fairly.  

Too, I went in the WPB store quite a few times and chatted with other customers on many occasions.  Never heard a negative comment.  Lots of positive ones about the company.  The employees I dealt with in WPB all seem very nice.  One regular customer that I met on several occasions at the store is a PB County Sheriff.  From personal observation I can say that they bent over backwards for customers on a very consistent basis.  

It is easy to send a nasty e-mail and it is either difficult or impossible to determine the merit of these things.  For all we know all these nasty-grams were written by one nut.

So, while I do agree that Leisure Bay Spas are not great, I have no reason to believe that Rec Warehouse is a bad company.  I know that Caldera has appointed them as retailers in several markets.   It seems highly doubtful that Watkins would use this company if there were problems of ripping people off right, left, and center.

Regards,

Bill

[stuart]

I personally don't go by BBB reports for any large item that I'm buying. It is so easy to challenge a complaint and so hard for a customer to submit one that I don't believe in the credibility of their service. You don't even have to be a member to receive a satisfactory rating...!

Now having said that I do put credibility in Bill's personal experience with them. It has been awhile since I've dealt with Leisure bay and they may have changed since then. My experience was very poor with them then and last year we were selling the Dreamaker spas through them with more problems like I had in the past.

As far as having credibility because they deal with Watkins, many of the vendors that deal with Rec Warehouse love them because of the size of their buying group and the numbers they move. Because of that they may have a tendency to overlook customer issues.

Again, Bill's personal experience is by far more credible than their industry and professional affiliations.

[TubbinSoon, now we be tubbin]

I dropped by there on my first trip around town to do wet testing and they told me I had to narrow down my choice to just a few tubs models and that two people had to be on hand to assist me in and out of the tub. They said this came to them in a coporate email. I tried not to laugh. I asked them where their insualtion was and was told that was it; some magic proprietary insulation and it only took a little. I was really smiling at them now. I took my bag of dry towels and clothes and beat feet to the stores that let me jump in a wet tub. I did see a family of about four standing in a dry tub. I feel safer now don't you. Run..... to another brand. These tubs may be fine in Florida near the factory and where there is not much cold weather to deal with. Send me a message and I can tell you more.

[Chas]

I took my bag of dry towels and clothes and beat feet

"and checkbook."