Master Spa "Super Sale"

[stuart]

There has been a lot of questions over the last year about these Master Spa “super sales”. After reading the topic about Master Spa steel frames I was thinking about posting this there but then got a call from a friend in KS that told me Master was having one of these sales in his area this weekend and it sounded “hokey” so I thought I would share some of how this program worked…

Master spa has a guy named Baele working for them that sets up super sales all over the country. He advertises them as a home show when in reality it is a show that they own and set up to look like a homeshow but directs the attention of everyone towards their main booth Master Spas. Here is a bit about how it works....

They layout the show so that Master is in the "Prime" location (able to see them anywhere in the show and the booth is much flashier) then bring in lines that they have obvious advantages over like soft tub and/or free flow and now I hear they are bringing Saratoga in. They set the price on the competitive models to make the Master seem like a better deal.

As people come to the first booth they are given info and a colored bag according to what type of shopper they are i. e., Green = hot prospect sellable, red = looky-loo don't bother with them, Yellow = Cheap spa just looking for price and so on....

I talked in great length with Him about this at a dealer meeting over many drinks and was shocked at the way they set themselves up to control the customer and lead them in the direction they wanted. He even said they could hire high school kids or non industry pros to work the none Master booths and then put the Sharks in the Master booth.

They are doing one of these in Kansas city this weekend!

Here is an outtake from a national radio talk show consumer advocate talking about a Large Master Spa dealer doing one of these shows!

Troubleshooter.com
by - Tom Martino
July 7, 2004

“…I also became concerned when they started having “Spa Shows” and wanted me to advertise that there would be many manufacturers and dealers represented.  In reality, these shows were based on a phony premise.  There were not a variety of manufacturers available.  Instead, the owners bought some “off brand” spas to have them displayed in an effort to make it look like it was a diversified show.

While consumers could purchase some of these off brands and used spas (that had been taken in on trade) … the real purpose of the show was to sell Master Spas.  And ****Spas was the ONLY dealer there.

The claim that multiple manufacturers were represented was a lie.

Sales tactics I observed also troubled me.  I noticed that “pricing” was completely arbitrary based on what they thought they could extract from the consumer.  And in general, the prices were very high and not good deals.  There were also many other tactics I found distasteful – but there is no need to go into detail.  Suffice it to say that I realized **** Spas was no longer a company I wanted associated with my name.

To this day **** Spas still uses my name on their “on-hold” voice message, they display banners proclaiming an association with me and they claim I “endorse” them.”

I have  put ****’s in place of the dealers name as I don’t feel it is really pertinent here. He is associating this Home show with the dealer without knowing that this is a Master Spa organized and endorsed program. Master Spa factory reps and sales team are doing this all over the country and you could do a similar write up on just about any large master spa dealer in the nation…

Just on a side bar; Master seems to have no problem letting this team of “hit men” go into a smaller dealers area and selling without them…

Any of you come across one of these shows yet?

[Mendocino101]

Stuart...

There were two shows last year here and I went really as a consumer as we had not yet opened and I  was still just shopping for a spa....I think it is simply a scam "Again this is not about the Master spa and how they compare" to others but the practice they seem to often take in selling their spas....I was highly disappointed as I had hoped to be able to do some one stop shopping only to find out all it was Master and Soft tub...but promoted as a big show with many makers..

[Brewman]

Our local Master Spa dealership is right up the street from my place of work.  They always run the same add week after week, advertising huge closeout prices, with seemingly unbelievable 70% off sales, or trade in offers for $3500 sight unseen, etc...If you buy this weekend.
They may make a heckuva spa, but I was put off enough by their advertising to not even shop there.
Also, I think at one time they offered some program where after so many years, you got all of your money back.  Huge red flag, IMHO...
Brewman

[poolboy34]

Personally speaking i feel that these tactics are generally a cover up for a lesser product, they also make our industry look very shady as well.  Thankfully no one in my area does programs like these.  Also i should note that Saratoga Spas are a very good brand of spas made here in New York State.  IMHO they are a better value then anything that Master Spas offers.

[windsurfdog]

Personally speaking i feel that these tactics are generally a cover up for a lesser product......

I would agree with the general concensus here that there's no accounting for 'lack of taste' regarding advertising by MS.  It's a shame that it is carried over into perceptions of their products and quality.  MS is a fine spa--at least mine is....and I'd like to think I didn't get the '1-in-a-million' copy.  I'll bet poolboy's perception/opinion would be different without this influence.

[wmccall]

I'll just add that the local MS dealership is either #1 or #2 in sales depending on who you believe and they have never engaged in these practices.  This past year they also became a hydropool dealer as well.  And no I don't own a Masterspa.  They are well known for thier pink trucks, which really seems to work as when anyone around here who doesn't own a spa, talks about looking they mention the pink trucks.

[hottubber]

I was wondering what this Master Sale was all about. I have a rather small Master dealer in my region. Last year they approched me to join in on this HUGE home improvement show. There was one stipulation, I could only display my inground pool products. No spas. The cost was neglegible.
After about 2 minutes of thinking what was going on, I declined. I did visit the Super Sale on that weekend, needless to say, the first display inside the building was Master Spas. There were a couple of non related booths in the building. Soft Tub was there also. In total, I don't think there were 12 different booths, and of course the last booth was Master Spas.
What a scam. It made me feel real fuzzy when I saw that my wife and I were the ONLY consumers in the show.  
In closing, I believe that Master will continue to try to lure unsuspecting prospects to this type of venue across the country. My word of advise to all prospects;
BEWARE.... there are legitimate spa dealers in every region. Don't be tricked into these tactics.

[stuart]

Well out of those 12 booths you probably had 1 Master Spa booth, 1 Downeast spa booth and 1 Freedom spa booth. So 1/4 of the booths where Master spas!

[mowgli1]

After going to three different local masterspa dealers in the Detroit area I purchased a LSX1050 ,$ 2200.00  cheaper than any dealer offer at a masterspa supersale. No color coded bags, no high pressure sales pitch, which I recieved at every other brand of spa I looked at. Everyone I saw at this show worked for masterspas,no high school kids or homeless people or whatever. People are not as stupid as you seem to think. No one is going to spend that kind of money unless they want to. Your whole liife seems to revolve around  bashing masterspa, get over it. Also this show was a legitimate health and fitness show. The masterspa area was at the very back of the arena.

[hottubber]

mowgli1...
I don't believe there was any bashing of a Master Spas dealer here. I think we were all relating to experiences that we encountered while attending these spa shows.
The Master brand is probably a fine spa, don't take this forum the wrong way. No one here is trying to bash anyone. You get out of it what you perceive in the reading of the topics.

[steve771]

Well, I can report from the Las Vegas area that MasterSpa runs a "show" almost every week (ads in the paper).  Now common sense is gonna tell you that no area can support such a "show" every week, not even Las Vegas!  Sounds like those people can give used car salesmen a run for their money!

[stuart]

After going to three different local masterspa dealers in the Detroit area I purchased a LSX1050 ,$ 2200.00  cheaper than any dealer offer at a masterspa supersale. No color coded bags, no high pressure sales pitch, which I recieved at every other brand of spa I looked at. Everyone I saw at this show worked for masterspas,no high school kids or homeless people or whatever. People are not as stupid as you seem to think. No one is going to spend that kind of money unless they want to. Your whole liife seems to revolve around  bashing masterspa, get over it. Also this show was a legitimate health and fitness show. The masterspa area was at the very back of the arena.

Mowgli,
Sorry you feel that I have "defecated in your wheaties"!

If you feel that "my whole life seems to revolve around bashing Master spas" then you obviously haven't read most of my posts! I think it's time to go hang out with Baloo the Bear for awhile and get back to the "Bear Necessities"!

It's funny that you are in Detroit because that's where the guy that sets up these shows is? Most of his top "hit men" are also, perhaps you know a few of them?

If you want Master Spa bashing; I have pictures, customer feedback letters, energy studies, warranty logs, ex-dealer testimonials and a lot of other info that I could use to simply "bash" the product however, I don't feel that would be in anyone's best interest.

These shows exist, I didn't make them up nor did I make up any of the way that they are done. I'm sure it changes from area to area and dealer to dealer but it is typical of Master spas!

Also, your right the WCSX Health & Fitness Show was a legitimate show which many Master spa dealers participate in shows other than the ones they set up but if the factory goes into a show where they are not the coordinators then they at least are the sponsors and have a say so as to who from the competition is allowed and who is not. Check for yourself and you will see they were a major sponsor of that show.

I do have a question for you though....What do you think the dealer in Tucson feels about  the Master rep selling a spa to you and shipping it into his area? When I was a dealer for them I found that they had no respect for territory of dealers especially when it came to certain people like the guy in Detroit!

BTW, I've said this before and I will continue to say it....If your happy with your purchase and your dealer GREAT! That means this one purchase has worked for you but understand...

I'm not one guy with one spa, I sold and serviced thousands of them! This is what I do for a living and guess what? That alone gives me more credibility in the experience dept than it does you, because you now own one of their spas and love it  doesn't give you the experience required to judge what I'm say about the way the factory does business.....

If you get some free time why don't you go back through some of my past posts and see how just how much time I really spend on Master and how much I spend on trying to be a help to new owners like yourself with water quality and other issues, it might skew your outlook as to what my life "revolves" around.

[ndabunka]

I went to a "spa show" about 8 months ago just on the norht side of Charlotte, NC. The papers made it out like it was for a number of brands. When we got there I noticed an odd sign on the ticket (entry). ABSOLUTELY NO REFUNDS AFTER ENTRY. After we got in it became apparent why the sign was there. ONLY master was displayed. I talked to one of the "owners" who had flown out to run the show for the new local dealer. HOne of his comments that displayed his sales model was "why would you not want to get EVERY dollar from a potential client".... This was AFTER I told him I was thinking of setting up a shop and ONLY offering models (non-master) between $4,500 and $7,500.

[wmccall]

These shows exist, I didn't make them up nor did I make up any of the way that they are done. I'm sure it changes from area to area and dealer to dealer but it is typical of Master spas!

Since several people have seen these shows and several people myself included have stated that they don't occur in our local area. So is this an optional thing encouraged by Master Spa, or is this a technique dreamed up by a few dealers?

[Mendocino101]

Since several people have seen these shows and several people myself included have stated that they don't occur in our local area. So is this an optional thing encouraged by Master Spa, or is this a technique dreamed up by a few dealers?

Bill..
From what I understand it is the Master company and since the shows take place across the entire country that makes sense as well....