The FEAR of making the WRONG decision

[J._McD]

How many consumers, shoppers and lurkers in the background feel the FEAR of making a WRONG decision when shopping for a Hot Tub?

With all of the confusion created when shopping different brands, dealers and prices, what is your biggest fear in making the decision to putting money down on a Hot Tub?

Is it the product, the people, the price?  Or, is it you?

[Gair]

Number one would be the dealer.  Their reputation and how long they have been in business.  I will not buy from a big box stores like The Great Escape or a home improvement center.  I choose to support my locally owned dealers.  If the big box store does not return a big enough profit they will close up and leave you hanging.  
The next would be the product or brand. Do they have a go reputation of standing behind their product if something goes wrong.  
And last would be price I don’t want to buy the whistles and bells like a sound system or a TV in  my Spa you can only spend so much time in one and those things are not worth my hard earned money.  I do want a quality Spa that is made well and will last for ten to twenty years before maybe a rebuild.  I could have bought a Spa the same size as the one I got for half the price.  I could have bought one the same price and size but around here they are only sold at a big box store that has a very, vary bad reputation for installation and repair.  And the dealers that frequent this board had better watch out because one of the big brand name Spa Companies  you handle could very well jump ship on you to.  It happened here in central IL and left several dealers looking for a whole new line in March 2003.  I would not buy one of their Spa just because they gave no notice just didn’t renew their contract at the last minute after talking like they were going to renew it.  I guess after over 15 years of carrying their line of spas and the place was going to expand to two stores 35 miles apart it just wasn’t enough for them. Sorry but I have no respect or trust in Companies like that.  

[mattNY]

I definitely felt that fear.  

I would have to say that people make the most difference - when visiting my local dealers the first time, I felt totally swamped in information (since everyone of course says their brand is the best due to reason x and y, then the other dealer refutes, etc.).  The salespeople that seemed genuine and pleasant, and didn't high-pressure me but let me look around and ask questions at my leisure, made the biggest impression.  

 -Product is important, but I can tell you I like Hotspring and I don't like our local dealer at all, and would have chosen the D1/Caldera dealer over them in a heartbeat just because the showroom experience was so much better.  (HS people constantly shadowed me, did not know the product and could not answer several of my legitimate questions taken as advice from the forums, and wouldn't give me a copy of the warranty on a tub I was interested in, just a few examples.  D1/Caldera rep was extremely knowledgable, friendly, low pressure, and offered to let me wet-test after store hours without me even asking.)  
 -Price is important too, but as long as it's fairly comparable with other spas in the same size range, it's the sort of thing people are willing to splurge on anyway.  Zero or Low interest financing can overcome sticker shock somewhat too.

[r100rs]

This is kind of an open ended question.  We all have fears of,  "Did I choose the right car/house/insurance/wife/etc.etc.etc...."

Can't choose your kids - Dang!!!!!

Hate to say it but "you'll never know until you do."

We all make mistakes and more than likely continue to do so.

We make choice based on the information at the time something is needed.  If one can postpone the need, the more time is allowed to gather information.  

If I worried about everything I did or didn't do - I'd probably have an "I love me" jacket and have mattresses on the wall!

r100rs

[anne]

I think that if you do all your homework, spend enough time shopping and considering your options, and feel comfortable spending x number dollars, then there SHOULD be no fear. But there is, anyway......I think inherent in spending a large amount of money there is always the fear of regret.

Also, you have to make compromises, which is scary. (What if you realize later you had your priorities wrong?) We are advised over and over to get the spa that feels right, from the dealer who gives us the most comfort and support, at a price that we are comfortable with...... but all those things dont always come in the same package.  

[tanstaafl2]

Not sure fear is the right word but when spending a significant sum of money (what ever that may be for each individual. It certainly was the case for me especially since the additional things I did cost nearly as much as the spa itself although some of those like the under deck roof serve more than one function.) I at least have a level of concern about whether it was the "right" thing to do.

Certainly could use the money I spent in the "retirement fund" and it was enough to have funded several very nice vacations. That was balanced against what I hope to be a long term level of personal enjoyment that I will get from the spa.

The relationship with the dealer was of major concern for me but the actual spa itself was also important. In this case what I hope proves to be a good dealer helped me look hard to find a spa that fit my needs from him. Fortunately I was able to do so. I would not have bought my spa there unless I did find one I liked within a reasonable budget range.

Despite that I have found a few things about my spa I wish that I could change now despite doing a fair amount of wet testing. But I suspect that is true of most any spa I had purchased. Overall I have found mine to be positive experience so far and my only siginificant equipment problem was rapidly resolved by the dealer giving me some confidence that I made the right choice in that area.

Working on my one month spa report to post in the review section as soon as I can finish it.

[RayF-1]

All previous replies contain valuable advice.

I shopped extensively (and bought), summer '04.  One of the best investment I've ever made.

I learned.

1.  Know your budget.

2.  Within that budget, compare tubs.

3.  As repeated here often: wet test - wet test - wet test.

4.  During shopping and testing, you will learn something new each visit.  It's OK to go back and ask "dealer 1" a question you learned when visiting "dealer 5."

5.  Compare factory warrantees - learn if dealer offers additional coverage.

6.  Do product and question searches back 180 of so on this forum.

7.  When your choice is down to two or three units, compare dealers (reputation, recommendations, etc.)

8.  BUY your choice .. get wet .. don't look back.