Which one do you like?

[Chris_H]

Hotspring did a complete reorganization of their dealers in New Jersey last year because that state had more complaints per unit sold than any other state.  They removed at least 3 dealers.  One of the dealers had 6 stores.  If you have 6 stores you have a ton of sales.  They were not servicing the product adequately. So Hotspring said “goodbye.” Hotspring doesn’t care about sales, as much as, you think.

[Spatech_tuo]

In my area HS has bounced around and factory rep I talked to said there is always someone wanting to sell his product. Well, the last dealer says he dumped them.

You can't tell from this what happended as the dealer is typically not going to admit he got dumped. I know a dealer (not HS) that got dumped a short time back and he came here saying he "dropped" a certain line and was looking at choices A & B to replace it and wanted feedback. I found it comical but understood no one wants to say they got "fired" but instead will say they "quit". I imagine the 6-store dealer Chris is referring to tells everyone he "Dropped" Hot Springs and not the other way around.

[TubbinSoon, now we be tubbin]

Yep, right on the nose....the dealer that used to have HS says he dropped them over service issues. Depending on which side of the story you hear, the product was requiring too much maintenance or they could not provide the service.

Could be some truth to both sides? If they did not need so much service, there would not be so many complaints?

Speaking of complaint resolution, does one brand claim fewer problems statistically? Or just huff and puff from sales types? Is there a brand with fewer issues? Lack of local service may not be such an issue if there was a strong product that did not need hand holding after installation?

Having been in service at industrial level for over 30 years for same company (am I a dinosaur), it is interesting to see how the various product departments try to control their number of complaints. Most of them use a computer based system of tracking, we call them cases, and yet they can get closed out without issues being really resolved. Looks like if too many cases are opened in a time period, they need to make some go away even if they get reopened later. The daily accounting is duly reported. I have seen some true warranty issues denied because there were too many cases opened on the product department. Manipulating the system? Sure. I don't suggest the tub industry local businesses do this as I suspect they are not that big. But a the plants, who knows who has better products? They won't tell you how many "cases" they have. Only years later do you get the story, Oh, there were glue problems etc.

[Vinny]

Interesting post.

My local NJ  HS dealer told me about 2 stores getting dumped by HS and how they are adding 4 more people for service. That's great that people are being added but as you said TubbinSoon if they don't require service why add so many people. Talking to the sales person you would think these guys are "The Maytag Repairman" when comparing them to all the rest. I viewed it as that they do break and that they do need service - if not you don't need to add service people. I've been working on medical equipment for 20 years now and you don't need a lot of service people when things don't break!

I agree with the others - if you can wet test, do so and pick out the best that you like. BTW, I believe on Docs site - rhtubs - there are some people that have the J-345.

[Spatech_tuo]

That's great that people are being added but as you said TubbinSoon if they don't require service why add so many people. Talking to the sales person you would think these guys are "The Maytag Repairman" when comparing them to all the rest. I viewed it as that they do break and that they do need service - if not you don't need to add service people.

It would be great to think that spas are made indestructable but ALL spas require some service and Hot Springs certainly are one of the more reliable spas. One thing to consider is dealers do not make big bucks off warranty service and MAY be where some of the issue comes in here. These dealers who do not provide adequate warranty service are problably much quicker at getting out to spas where the spa is out of warranty.

[Spatech_tuo]

That's great that people are being added but as you said TubbinSoon if they don't require service why add so many people. Talking to the sales person you would think these guys are "The Maytag Repairman" when comparing them to all the rest. I viewed it as that they do break and that they do need service - if not you don't need to add service people.

As your business grows so does your service requirements. It would be great to think that spas are made indestructable but ALL spas require some service and Hot Springs certainly are one of the more reliable spas. One thing to consider is dealers do not make big bucks off warranty service and this MAY be where some of the issue comes in this case. These dealers who do not provide adequate warranty service are problably much quicker at getting out to spas where the spa is out of warranty. Customer Service is about providing what the customer needs to be satisfied (within reason of course) but SOME dealers turn into bean counters in this area and don't want to go the extra mile to provide what is necessary to accomplish this. Unfortunately for them they don't see the long term value is satisfying their customers to the point that it builds loyalty but look at the short term cost.

[Vinny]

I don't know about the hot tub repair business but in the medical industry the manufacturer is responsible for the warranty 95% of the time, there are some companies who don't have a service force. It seems in the hot tub business that the manufacturer is only there to help the selling dealer or repair center and has little burden for the actual repair besides providing parts and a contracted amount for the repair.

I will agree that as business grows so does your service needs but if you need to add people to service tubs that you didn't sell and your not going to make a lot on warranty service - there's got to be a reason. When a sales person tries to impress a client on "look at our service force" either the dealer has excellent customer service (a possibility) or the item being sold needs a lot of repairs (another possibility).

As a service person I get paid to work or not; as little as the dealer makes on warranty service he's still making more money having the service person out than paying them to sit and wait for a call! I would imagine that unless service is an issue most people will go back to their original dealer for repairs.

I'm sure that there are requirements for the dealers to continue selling and supporting the tubs (any brand) but the truth is ALL tubs need repairs eventually, some more than others. We, the consumers, don't have an inside track to this information, you hot tub professionals do (if you want info on medical equipment - just ask! ) and when we ask it gets frustrating not to get a direct "this is good because ..." or "stay away from this because ...", we get people's opinions based on ?!

[HotTubMan]

Most warranties do not allow the dealer to make any money on service calls. If anything break even or loss are better possibilities.

There are exceptions.