Rantings of an old tired spa warrior....

[stuart]

We service our customers, that's it.  If someone chooses to buy a SpankySpa down the road, they can get them to service it (until they change brands, which happens every 6 mos).  Then, when their only option left is to trade it in on a new spa, we are happy to haul their old one off for them.

If we don't get them the first time, we usually do the second time around.

Terminator

Here is another example from the show that fits these last two posts.

A guy came in and started asking price...after a few questions I found that he had a two year old spa from a competitor in town that has a bad reputation. He liked the spa and his salesman a lot but didn't care for the owner of the company much.

I offered him a discount on Chemicals to come in and try our store out and gave him some maintenance ideas including a frequent problem in our area - how to ground his spa properly...We get a ton of lightning and surge issues on this competitors tub because many electricians don't ground it properly.

He was estatic with the info and said that no had ever given him maintenance ideas like that. He promised to come in the store and wanted more business cards to refer friends.

I believe that if you don't take the opportunity to help someone that made a poor decision your missing out on potential referrals.

Two years ago I helped a local pharmacist with a circ pump issue on his Cal…He wasn’t pleased with their service and we just sold him a pump and showed him how to put it in. Since then he has referred at least two spas then purchased a new one himself this year, this week he bought a pool table, foosball and Ping-Pong for his church.

You just never know….

I do see rockets point however; you can’t take away from the customers you sold to help someone that bought elsewhere. It’s a tough juggling act at times.

[East_TX_Spa]

As a company, we do not wish to try and service every monkey-pickin' spa that comes along.  We have sold the same brand (HotSpring) for 21 years.  We do not have parts for other spas, we cannot get parts for other spas, we have no desire to service other spas.  We take care of our own and do not wish to be all things to all people.  We've got enough spas in the field (dozens of them over 15 years old) to keep us hopping.

That's just our policy as a company.  I'll try to help anyone that walks through the door as much as I can.  But I don't have filters for Gulf Coast Spas and I can't get a pump seal for a Sunbelt or a new pillow for a D-1.  I usually end up directing them to Dr. Spa's website.

Terminator

[J._McD]

As a company, we do not wish to try and service every monkey-pickin' spa that comes along.  We have sold the same brand (HotSpring) for 21 years.  We do not have parts for other spas, we cannot get parts for other spas, we have no desire to service other spas.  We take care of our own and do not wish to be all things to all people.  We've got enough spas in the field (dozens of them over 15 years old) to keep us hopping.
That's just our policy as a company.  I'll try to help anyone that walks through the door as much as I can.  But I don't have filters for Gulf Coast Spas and I can't get a pump seal for a Sunbelt or a new pillow for a D-1.  I usually end up directing them to Dr. Spa's website.

Terminator

I think Stuart is saying is, that he tries to help "people" and it is not based on what spa they have.  We can appreciate your only wanting to help those who bought your spa, as you are a salesperson and that is your only purpose.  It is apparent you only help those who buy from you, and orphans or people with problems are not your forte.  That would be "church work" helping others and it is not profitable.

[spahappy]

By directing them to Dr. Spas website Term is trying to be helpful.

I'll help anybody out on water chemistry problems because I know if I didn't get the spa, I'll have the chemical business from them. This can, and does lead to a dealer customer relationship that can turn into a spa sale down the road.

We have recently decided that we will not work on other brands of spas. This has less to do with hurt feelings and attutude over losing a sale, than the problems in getting parts and being familar with service issues and constuction of other brands.

Once you service that off-brand you own it and all it's future service issues. If we service an off-brand because the original spa company is no longer in business, the customer will be grateful for the first few times and we'll end up looking like the hero. But if this spa continues to break down, it will now be us that he or she directs their anger at. Even though we did not sell the POS in the first place.

It's a no win situation....

[Chas]

I do help the disenfranchised. As the only remaining dealer in town, I have to.  

I used to thing it was a giant waste of my time - I would chase a part through the various catalogs, order it and have it shipped in - and then sell it to them with a smile, for a $6 markup. But that works out to about negative $100 profit if you were counting my time.

However, I have years (decades) of experience working on other brands, so I can actually help these people, and to strip myself of absolutely any remaining altruism, the simple fact of the matter is that someday these folks will need a new cover, a new filter, and who knows? They may one day decide to trade up to a new spa.

[Chas]

I was writing my post as SpaHappy's went up. I do agree, that there are times when caution is the better part of valor: Yes, there are times when I feel that the spa will never work right, and I have to tell them so.

There are things to do in those situations: I will send a different tech out to offer an opinion, I will show them the fried parts I have replaced, sometimes I have to meet with them there at the spa to show them why such-and-such is never going to work, etc. Often, I have to simply try to gently tell them that they did, in fact, buy a bad design and that I have replace dozens of the same part in other similar spas over the past ten years...

And sometimes, writing off a $75 house-call is the cheapest way out: as SH said, sometimes they think you own the spa once you have tried to help them.

[Spatech_tuo]

I do help the disenfranchised. As the only remaining dealer in town, I have to.  
 
I used to thing it was a giant waste of my time - I would chase a part through the various catalogs, order it and have it shipped in - and then sell it to them with a smile, for a $6 markup. But that works out to about negative $100 profit if you were counting my time.
 
However, I have years (decades) of experience working on other brands, so I can actually help these people, and to strip myself of absolutely any remaining altruism, the simple fact of the matter is that someday these folks will need a new cover, a new filter, and who knows? They may one day decide to trade up to a new spa.

I think I've figured out how you've managed to stay in business so long. I'm sure you sleep well at night and I imagine your customers do as well.

[Chris_H]

I agree with the dealers that don’t service the tubs they haven’t sold.  If I owned my own business I would not do outside service on spas, that my business did not sell, due to the many reasons listed above.  I think the main reason, for me, would be the inability to get paid on a $1,000 worth of labor from a leaking spa.  

However, I would test their water and buy new parts for the customer if they brought in the defective part.  Nothing like the mark-ups on chemicals and parts.  Oh, and don’t forget that $6.95 shipping and handling charge on special orders.

[East_TX_Spa]

Sure, I test their water and try to help them.  Sure I sympathize with them and offer to take their spa in on trade.  Sure I write down web addresses which might help them get the parts their dealer won't help them with.

Will we send our guys out to work on a D-1, Marquis, Sundance, Jacuzzi, Aries, Gulf Coast spa?  No.  Do we have parts that will fit on these spas? No.  Do we want to be responsible for ordering parts and servicing these spas? No.  Is there money to be made off the misfortune of others?  Yes, but not by us.

Our customers bought a spa from us because they have faith in us servicing them.  It's a crying shame the other dealers don't take care of their customers the way we take care of ours.  And we won't put our customers on the back burner to take care of theirs.

Terminator

[stuart]

And sometimes, writing off a $75 house-call is the cheapest way out: as SH said, sometimes they think you own the spa once you have tried to help them.

Happened this week...Helped a guy out with a spa that we didn't sell becuase he had a ton of problems. Factory offered him a new spa for a very cheap price even though he was just out of warrenty, he declined.

We picked up his spa, shipped it back to the factory for a refurbish,  then re-delivered it and got the factory to pick up the bill.

Upon delivery he asked that we set the spa further from the electrical. This exposed some of his line out of the flex conduit and put pressure on the elbow on the other end causing it to crack. He now wants us to replace his electrical...

In addition to this he had some old yard lights and he claims one of my guys broke one. It is a discontinued model from Home Depot so now he wants us to replace all of his lights in his yard so they match at our expense.

We didn't sell him the spa, we didn't charge any extra charge, we simply tried to do a nice thing and it's comming back to haunt us.

I will probably fix his light, replace his lights and depending on his attitude ask him to find another dealer. Sometimes you have to let a customer go elsewhere for both of your sanity....

[SurgTec]

Incredible!  Like so many spoiled children - folks seem to feel they can always get something for nothing and blame someone else for all their problems!!

I sympathize with dealers at this level.  On the consumers side - I know what it is like to be lied to and taken advantage of because you don't know any better.  Today's consumer is becoming better informed thank goodness.

Selling and supporting a quality product is a simple concept.  When you branch out into supporting a 'possible' customer with an off brand product - you buy a whole new set of problems.  

Barring a few execptions - most folks just want to be treated fairly - have their concerns listened to and a reasonable solution offered.  If you can't help them  - offer where they can get help.  This is what I've found this forum to be most helpful for - where to go to find out what I need to know.  

my two cents worth