Sundance has won the John Holcomb Silver Award for technical innovations in the spa industry each of the last 3 years for it's jets....
CalSpas is the only spa that is UL listed, everyone else lost theirs....
Caldera Spas have the exact same pump, heater, controls, and jets as HotSpring....
If you ever see a spa that is over 20 years old and still running, it is a CalSpa....
Sundance actually wrote the UL standards for the spa industry....
HotSpring didn't like the UL standards so they created their own listing....
Jacuzzi is a Toyota while Sundance is a Lexus....
HotSpring has been bought out and will not be around much longer....
Aries Spas are the same as HotSpring, they just cost $2,000 less....
CalSpa is the only spa company that makes the shell the right way....
CalSpa is the only spa company that has a lounge that won't make you float....
CalSpa has a lifetime warranty on it's heater....
HotSpring Spa jets make you feel like you've been laying on hot asphalt....
Aries has sold thousands of spas in Longview, TX and are here every week making service calls....
Hydropool's bottom filtering system only works when there is water in the spa
(more on this later)!
I learned all of these things I never knew on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas.
As some of you may know, I took the day off and drove 2 hours to Dallas with my daughter and my Mom and Dad. A cold front came through and the temp was in the low 60's. It was overcast, so I didn't have to worry about getting my bald head sunburned. We got to the fair at about 10:30.
After getting the mandatory corn dog, we went and looked at the auto show. These guys were set-up outside.
Chrysler had the sharpest looking car in the whole show. We never could find a salesperson. If we had, Mom would have probably bought one on the spot.
The Jeep Rescue is my dream car. I'm working hard on convincing my boss that I need one of these for a company car if they ever go into production.
Pontiac had a sharp little coupe. When the salesperson asked my Dad if he could help him, Dad replied "Yeah, put dual exhausts on it!"
After the car exhibits, Mom and Dad took Savanna and went to Kiddy Land. I went to the place best described as "Spa Wonderland".
These were my parameters:
I would not speak first except to say "Hello" or "Nice hot tubbing weather".
I would not tell anyone I was spa shopping. "I'm just looking".
If a paying customer approached, I would excuse myself (These guys weren't going to make any money off of me and I know they are trying to make a living)
I would play ignorant except to say "I've done a lot of research on the internet. I understand that Jacuzzi, Sundance, HotSpring, Marquis, D-1, and Phoenix Premium are the best spas on the market. What do you think?"
If they got to the point where they were trying to close me, I would thank them for their time but that I'm not in the market yet, just gathering information.
I wouldn't take pictures.
Here We Go!Entered the exhibit hall. On the left was the Aries Spa (local factory direct manufacturer). Far and away the best looking booth at the fair. They had gazebos, shogi huts, enclosures, surrounds around every spa. They had framed, itemized pricing on each spa. They had customer testimonials framed and placed on many spas. They had carpet in their booth. Everything was impressive, except the spas. UGGHH
!
I walked through, stopped at every spa, played with the jets, lingered. Out of the 4 people in their booth, no one approached me, they were talking on cell phones or watching TV. I left.
Next up, Sundance. They had a tiny booth with 3 spas. I was looking at the Maxxus when the factory rep approached. He didn't stop talking for the next 15 minutes. It went something like this (abbreviated):
"You're an athlete aren't you? (Pump me up) HotSpring, Jacuzzi, and Sundance are the only ones worth owning. Jacuzzi is a Toyota, SD is a Lexus. Sundance has won John Holcomb Award blah blah blah each of the last 3 years for jets. Lactic acid buildup blah blah, nitrogen in surface of skin blah blah. Do you own guns? (Who, ME?
) Look at the rifling on this jet. HotSpring uses 50% air 50% water mixture, SD uses 70-30% blah blah. HotSpring makes your back feel like you've been laying on hot asphalt. Our filtration blah blah, buy a new filter once a year for $100 blah blah. Blah blah blah!
He was what I would call "polished". WAAAYYYY to technically driven in presentation. See, I like talking about this sort of thing, but he had me wanting to slit my wrists! I guess his approach was to overwhelm me with info and when I was too weak to go on, take my money from me. Thankfully, my cell phone rang and I had to go.
To be continued in Part 2 so ya'lls heads don't explode. It gets better as we go!
Terminator