Master Spas clarification

[wrainka]

Hi

I am from Canada and have been looking at buying a spa for about a year. We live in a rural area so have limited options for dealers. We have Master Spas, Sunrise, Beachcomber and Jacuzzi within 80 miles.

We have wet tested a few spas and really like the Twilight 7.2. The dealer is reputable as far as being in the spa business for over 15 yrs. We like the salesperson and are confident they are straight with us.

My confusion comes from the opinions of Master Spas expressed on this site. I know what people have posted about the sales tactics of Master Spas and their travelling circus - but what about the quality of the spas themselves? We are confident our dealer will service our spa so that is not an issue - just wondering about the spa itself. We have been at this dealership and others in the area many times over the past year and this is one that isn't a high pressure sale - unlike the Jacuzzi salesperson. We have been to a trade show where there were dealers of all these brands under one roof - not like the bait and switch stories I have read here.

Just wondering what others think about the spas themselves....

Thanks.

[wmccall]

Welcome to the forum.  Its a fair question. Master does offer some attractive looking spas.  At the time of my purchase, the local dealer was one of the oldest in my area.

[Spatech_tuo]

My confusion comes from the opinions of Master Spas expressed on this site. I know what people have posted about the sales tactics of Master Spas and their travelling circus - but what about the quality of the spas themselves? We are confident our dealer will service our spa so that is not an issue - just wondering about the spa itself.

We always say that who the dealer is definitely has importance but that comes second to the more important step, finding a well made spa (quality of build, quality parts, energy efficiency, etc.) and I persoanlly would not put a Master spa in that category. Add to that the reputation of the manufacturer and that easily trumps the fact that you like the dealer IMO becaise I see far better spa options out there than Master; I'd keep looking.

[Vanguard]

I used to call on a Master dealer a few years ago.  It seemed like every time I went in his store, he was working on one of his store demos.  It always seemed to have a problem.  He finally dropped them because of spas having issues and issues on getting any support from Master.

[Leisureworks]

I have been a Master Spas dealer since 2001.  We have found the quality of the product to be top-notch.  The folks that run Master Spas are some of the most genuine people I have met in the spa business.  Never has there been any major systemic service issue.  Never has there been any major recall on any of their products.  Some major companies have had these sorts of recalls.  I have found the factory support to be great.  If we need a part that is not in stock at the store, it ships the same day I order it.  That helps me take great care of our customers.  From a dealer's standpoint, there is nothing worse than a factory who keeps it's dealers waiting on service parts.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of them out there.  You will be very happy with a Master Spa!

[Spatech_tuo]

The folks that run Master Spas are some of the most genuine people I have met in the spa business. 

They're the same "folks" who were involved with the rebate scam from a few years ago that screwed over MANY Master customers. Oh they'll claim they had nothing to do with it which is ridiculous. They just made sure they wore rubber gloves so their fingerprints wouldn't show.

Those same "folks" are the ones who currently run the traveling spa circus that travels around using shady tactics to scam customers from town to town. Google either case and you'll know what corporate Master is about.

[Tman122]

And obviously they have some very potent koolaid!!

[ndabunka]

I have been a Master Spas dealer since 2001.  We have found the quality of the product to be top-notch.  The folks that run Master Spas are some of the most genuine people I have met in the spa business.  Never has there been any major systemic service issue.  Never has there been any major recall on any of their products.  Some major companies have had these sorts of recalls.  I have found the factory support to be great.  If we need a part that is not in stock at the store, it ships the same day I order it.  That helps me take great care of our customers.  From a dealer's standpoint, there is nothing worse than a factory who keeps it's dealers waiting on service parts.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of them out there.  You will be very happy with a Master Spa!

It sounds like you are saying that the Master Spa company hasn't come into your town.  Sold 4 to 15 spas at prices lower than you could easily compete with and then left town (quickly) leaving your store to "hold the bag" without any compensation?  If not, you are one of the first.  Your not located in Alaska, are you?

PS - Some of this is tongue in cheek as I am not a dealer & never have been a spa dealer (Owned a successful computer storefront a number of years back).  However, I DID talk to the owner of Master about considering bringing his product into a new spa business I was considering at the time.  I told him that I wanted to target buyers willing to spend between $5,500 and $8,000 (max) and wasn't REALLY interested in more expensive Spas.  His EXACT words were "Why would you not try to get as MUCH money out of them as you could?"  At which point I could see that his way of doing business would not "gel" well with MY way of doing business (offering competitive priced products with good services).  I was later able to secure agreements from both Bullfrog and Jacuzzi at price points that meet the business objectives but (fortunately) my "real" career took off about that time and I no longer had the time to open a storefront.

[ejf The Spa Guy]

lucky me, there heeeeerrrrrrrrrreeeeeeee!  second time this year, and agian there ads show all major manufacturers here, hmmm Master, Phoenix!!!!  here in our town the major brands sold here, D1, Sundance, Hot Springs, Marquis,Arctic, we also have Cal Spas, Caldera, Limelight, Maax, Elite by Maax, Coast, Clearwater, H20 , Sunbelt,
Catalina, just to name a few,,, notice no Master, the local dealer dropped it last year after they were here,,,

[wrainka]

Hi

Thanks for all your advice. In the end we decided not to go with Master Spa. We went to the dealer and looked at our tub and discovered it wasn't built the way we were told it was. This was a concern for us in our extreme climate. We cancelled our order...

so, now we are waiting on our Jacuzzi to arrive....

I have a question about our concrete pad. We had a contractor come and pour the cement after we prepared the area with forms. In the days after with watering it down we noticed some definite low spots which concerned us. A level layed flat across the pad would show about 1/4" space underneath it. In talking with Jacuzzi they were very specifice the pad should be level. We got our contractor back and he recommended applying a top coat/skim coat type product that would fill in the low spots. He told us it will not bond permanantly here in our climate (we range from +30 to -30 C) but that it would be fine under the tub and would still provide support. The Jacuzzi dealer supports this idea as well. It seems our only option. The contractor couldn't guarantee if he took the pad out and started over that the next one would be level.

Any experience with products like he recommeded? How level are most areas spas sit on? is 1/4" something to worry about? I believe the dealer and don't want to jeopradize the warranty.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

[wmccall]

Thank you for taking the time to come back and let us know.  I (we) will look forward to hearing how the Jacuzzi goes.  There is a Jacuzzi on the floor at my dealer I would love to own, but  A.  I can't seem to sell my Mom's house, and B. My current spa is still working just fine after 7 years.