By Cracky...It Finally Happened!

[East_TX_Spa]

A fellow just came in during our daily rainstorm.  Here's the conversation:

Fellow: "Hi!  We just bought a spa and I need some kind of sealer to put on the shell."

Term: "What kind of spa did you buy?"

Fellow: "I'm not sure...we bought it online.  Keys something."

Term: "Ah, a Keys Backyard."

Fellow: "Yes.  Just had it delivered yesterday.  The owner's manual said I need to put some type of polymer sealant on the shell before I fill it up.  A woman I work with bought a spa from you and said if anyone around here had the stuff, you would."

Term: "Well, I'm sorry.  Our spas don't need a clear coat so we don't carry any.  You might want to try a boat dealership...or better yet, go to this website....rhtubs.com and contact Dr. Spa.  He is a straight shooter and will probably have what you need."

Fellow: "Thanks, I will."

Term: "You're the first person I've met that bought a spa online.  How'd it go?"

Fellow: "Real good.  We buy a lot of our stuff on line.  It's a 6 person spa that has 90 jets in it.  Looks like that one over there (pointing at Sovereign).  It's our first spa."

Term: "I hope you enjoy it.  What company did you order it through?"

Fellow: "Wal-Mart...well...Sam's Club.  They don't have them in the store."

Term: "Yeah.  We sell a spa online through Costco, but nobody's ever heard of them around here.  Call Dr. Spa and see if he can help you.  If you have trouble with your spa, give me a call and I'll try to point you in the right direction for help.  Have a good weekend!"

Fellow: "Thanks!"

Anyways, I feel bad for this guy.  Hopefully his spa will do OK as there are no good service companies around here and we only service our spas.

What's funny is that the manager of the local Sam's Club and the managers of 2 of the local Wal-Marts all own HotSpring Spas.............

Term

[Mez]

Before I ran across this fantastic website, I too, have (hate) to admit I was shopping online and on eBay for a spa. I couldnt come across a site (until this one) that gave me the answers I was looking for. I thought a spa is a spa and it holds water and blows it around. Only until I found this site that I educated myself on buying from an established dealer locally. For the main reason...SERVICE!
I had an unfortunate incident with my 5 week old Jacuzzi J-345 last weekend and called the dealer and they were out the nxt day to repair it, nothing majot, it turned out to be a loose tranformer but it was enough to render the tub useless.
Thanks to all for all the valuable info receive upon here.

[Richs100]

Good move that you were nice and friendly with him.  
I'll bet he comes back soon to buy his second tub from you.  

[East_TX_Spa]

Oh yes, I am nice to everyone.  I realize that not everyone buys their first spa from us, but a whole lotta folks do buy their last spa from us.  He had never been in our store before but I'm sure he'll be back in a few years and we'll be here.

I do take it personally when someone shops here and buys something else.  I realize that I let them down by not making the differences clear enough.  It kinda gnaws at you, especially when you see what's being peddled by some folks in this town.

Term

[Brewman]

Oh yes, I am nice to everyone.

Even Shiner Bock hatin', anti-gun, liberal goobs?

Just teasing.

[104 degrees]

Even Shiner Bock hatin', anti-gun, liberal goobs?

Just teasing.

Terms gooder to everybody

[Steve]

I know we use to gain a lot of residual spa sales due to our service and built a number of sales by forming that early relationship through service. It certainly made the transition into a new Beachcomber much easier once we had serviced them well a number of times. Why is it you only repair HS spas? Are you kept THAT busy with them or is it just tough finding quality repair techs?

We had a 2 tier service contract and although we weren't willing to give up the lucrative aspect of servicing other makes and models and the revenue that generated, we did however, charge a higher hourly rate for non-Beachomber spas. I couldn't imagine not wanting to generate that revenue unless the two previously mentioned scenarios were a reality.  :-/

Steve

[Richs100]

I know we use to gain a lot of residual spa sales due to our service and built a number of sales by forming that early relationship through service. It certainly made the transition into a new Beachcomber much easier once we had serviced them well a number of times. Why is it you only repair HS spas? Are you kept THAT busy with them or is it just tough finding quality repair techs?

We had a 2 tier service contract and although we weren't willing to give up the lucrative aspect of servicing other makes and models and the revenue that generated, we did however, charge a higher hourly rate for non-Beachomber spas. I couldn't imagine not wanting to generate that revenue unless the two previously mentioned scenarios were a reality.  :-/

Steve

That's a question I have wondered about too, Steve.  Both my local HS Dealers not only will not work on other brands of spas, but will not work on a HS spa unless they were the dealer that sold it.  I can understand a dealer not wanting to repair tubs that are under warranty since their compensation is capped by the warranty deal with the mfg.  But it seems to me that the general repair and maintenence of other brand tubs could benefit a dealer in two ways:  1.  the dealer can charge market prices for non-warranty repairs on other tubs, and 2.  good relationships with other tub owners leads to new sales when the owners go to buy a new tub.  Curious.

[East_TX_Spa]

Why is it you only repair HS spas? Are you kept THAT busy with them or is it just tough finding quality repair techs?

We are busy as we have over 7,000 customers covering all of NE Texas and NW Louisiana.  Several thousand square miles, long distances, etc.  Our company policy has always been to take care of OUR customers first...and second....and third.  We have 3 full-time, factory certified, salaried technicians.  One does service full time, one does deliveries full time, the other manages our beautiful, fully stocked warehouse and parts department.  He also refurbishes trade-in spas for resale (Watkins Spas only, everything else goes in the trash dumpster...even a 6-month old Beachcomber if anyone around here sold them).

On top of that, we don't want the liability associated with some of these off-brands.  Once you perform service on one of these spas, you are married to it.  No thank you.  Instead of wasting time and effort trying to deal with some of the ill-managed spa manufacturers out there, we would rather concentrate on keeping our customers happy as that is where our loyalties reside.  Loyalty is very important in this part of the world and it goes both ways.

When someone comes in with an off-brand spa that they can't get parts or service for, I give them Doc's web address.  If they're still not able to find what they're looking for, I offer to take their spa in on trade....$400 off the price of a new HotSpring Spa.  We will also dispose of their defective spa free of charge!  We pick up about 40 new customers a year this way.

We had a 2 tier service contract and although we weren't willing to give up the lucrative aspect of servicing other makes and models and the revenue that generated, we did however, charge a higher hourly rate for non-Beachomber spas. I couldn't imagine not wanting to generate that revenue unless the two previously mentioned scenarios were a reality.  :-/

Steve

Money isn't everything.  We've been doing business this way for 22 years...it works just fine for us and our customers.

Terminator

[Vinny]

Is it possible that Hot Springs is an off brand spa? After all a lot of people refer to every spa as a Jacuzzi!  

And we blow our noses in a Kleenex and use Windex to clean our windows and Cadillac is the term we use to say something is the best!

Just funnin with you Term! IMO, More people should think the way you do in taking care of the customers!

[East_TX_Spa]

It do drive me a little crazy sometimes when my customers tell me how much they love their HotSpring jacuzzi!

Term

[104 degrees]

It do drive me a little crazy sometimes when my customers tell me how much they love their HotSpring jacuzzi!

Term

i'm moving to texas to get a hot jacuzzi spring thing.

104

[East_TX_Spa]

The main point of this post that befuddled me was the part about having to put some kind of sealant on the spa's shell.  Is that true??  That really suckitates.

Term

[104 degrees]

The main point of this post that befuddled me was the part about having to put some kind of sealant on the spa's shell.  Is that true??  That really suckitates.

Term

It must make it as godder as what you sell.


Term, I have a Quetion. Does hot springs make Caldera spas?? I'm looking at one from hot springs and caldera, the seem to be the same shell?

john 104 degrees

[Chad]

It must make it as godder as what you sell.


Term, I have a Quetion. Does hot springs make Caldera spas?? I'm looking at one from hot springs and caldera, the seem to be the same shell?

john 104 degrees

Yes, they are both manufactured by Watkins.