Do dealers typically setup or deliver?

[Wisoki]

You sound as if I'm suggesting you stick your tongu on the wires to test if they are hot. I don't know any spa dealer that doesn't have a multi meter on their truck. If you can't figure out which wires are hot you have no business even touching them, but let me ask you this, do you think your dealer calls an electrician each time he sells a wet demo and has to disconnect and hook up a new spa, doubtfull.

It is not always as simple as black to black, red to red etc... I have been out to houses where all three wires were black.  You are assuming that the electrician did the job correctly.  

It is a lot easier to go over all the chemicals and operation of the tub once the tub is running and warm.  It also doesn't hurt if the customer has tried it out first to get a fell for the spa.  

The dealer should definitely give you a chemical start up as well as show you how the controls on the spa work.

[CalicoskiesNC]

You sound as if I'm suggesting you stick your tongu on the wires to test if they are hot.

That really made me laugh.  Very funny!  Thanks

[dpgtech]

That's a big if! have you never had an electrician or contractor mess up? Wisoki, all it takes is having to defend yourself in one liability lawsuit, even winning it, to hurt your business.  Now, I'll admit this sounds like slippery slope thinking but the fact is liability can be your responsibility if your tech is not a licensed electrician and is the last person to touch the wiring  before the occurence of a problem. I have hooked up the wires for a customer before but if at all possible we try not to touch the electrical.  People hear what they want to hear, we try to stress up front during the sale the electrical is the customer's responsibility. it is imprinted on our invoice"does not include eletrical hook-up" , But everyonce in a while  we'll show up to a customer who is expecting us to hook up the spa, and I simply state that we do not have a license to do electrical.  most people understand.   we don't call an electrician when we have to hook up a spa for a demo but , It's our spa and in our building.

[Wisoki]

I've sold, delivered and installed spas in Washington (state, not D.C.), California, Colorado, Nevada, New York, Georgia, Florida, and now have my own place here in Indiana. Here in the great state of Indiana, you HAVE to have a license to be a plumber, but ANY ONE can hang their shingle out and claim to be an lectrishun. There is no licensing or certification board in the state. So when I get out to a job and tell the customer their electrical is wrong, I inevitably hear "well we used a licensed electrician". This comment ALWAYS make me laugh, at least inside. Then I have to go to the time expense of showing them what their "licensed" electician did wrong.

[Chas]

I am licensed, but we don't generally do wiring. If it gets real slow, I will go bid on the whole wiring job, but I'm not cheap. Once in a while, I will do a job because three electricians came out and gave real high bids usually because the customer is a crab, or they are real busy or something like that. In that case, I will drop my price, still cover my costs, and do as much of the work myself as possible to save the sale. I just don't have the time, nor the back to do this all the time, though I used to.

Since I am licensed, I also work with homeowners who want to do it themselves. I usually try to get out to the job twice - once to lay it out in advance, and once after the job is done but before the delivery to check it for mistakes so the inspector will pass it on one visit.

Our delivery crews only do the connect if everything is there, and correct or at least safe. All our trucks are equipped with meters and color-coding tape because many homeowners do the job themselves and run all of one color wire - they buy a spool of the correctly-sized wire in black or whatever.

NOTE TO HOMEOWNERS: you don't have to do this. Run all of your conduit, and then measure carefully. Add ten feet. Go to Lowes/Home Depot and ask them to cut the correct color wire to the length you need. You can pull it all together in one pull, and there you go!

As a rule, if the customer has used one of the three electricians we recommended we find that it is all there and correct. If they use another electrician or do it themselves, you can count on it being wrong: anything from missing box connectors on the end of the flex conduit and no straps to fasten it in place on the bottome of the spa (we can still make the spa run but the guy has to come out later and tidy up) to wrong sized wire, missing wires, extra wires (also not a problem) to the occasional genius who thought I didn't know what I was talking about when I told him our spas use a sub panel ....

All in all - it's the most fun part of the delivery: "What's the wiring going to look like this time?"

[bulmer4nc]

So if I'm going to have an electrician come out do you recommend that I setup a date that the come out the day the tub is delivered and they do the whole job then?  Or can the do most of the work before the tub shows up and then come back to hook it up?  Is the difference in the wiring just the connection to the tub? Or, is there a chance that the line is run and the GFCI box is installed and then later find out that something was done wrong and have to change it after the tub arrives?

Ken

[wmccall]

So if I'm going to have an electrician come out do you recommend that I setup a date that the come out the day the tub is delivered and they do the whole job then?  


Ken

I suppose it depends on the job, but in my case, my electrician did the work from the circuit panel in my basement to the disconnect box ahead of time and had the stuff from the disconnect to the tub ready to go.  I'm the kind of guy who always has to go to Home Depot to get the one last thing that was overlooked at the last minute so I like to try to get as much done ahead of time.  Many really good electricians can do it all in one day.

[Tubber]

it aint brain surgery, and most customers want to see the tub running before the delivery crew leaves. That is my stand as well. All hot tubs/spas are going to run off of a gfci protected circuit. If the electrician has done his job as per the manufacturers specs, where is the liability in connecting 6/3 red to red, black to black white to white and green to ground, or in the case of Jacuzzi/Sundance 6/2, hot to hot ground to ground. Even more simple. It is as simple as pluging in an iron once the wires are there and ready. I personally am not going to the expense of sending out a sencond crew/individual to teach the customer how to operate the tub, when in fact my delivery crew can do it at the time of delivery. It's expensive enough to run a business with out having to pay someone 2 hours wages to go out and tell the customers to push this button to turn it on, turn that lever to make the water do that etc...

So what does your crew do while the tubs filling???

[empolgation]

So what does your crew do while the tubs filling???

You beat me to it.

As a customer I most definitely would prefer that the delivery and orientation take place at the same time. I've been curious to know how that would work since it would take quite some time to get several hundred gallons of water through my garden hose.

[Wisoki]

Tub gets set and hose put in, while tub filling, cover lift instaled, when cover lift done, electrical hooked up, when electrical hooked up, spa almost full, fill out warranty regristration card, give to customer, tada, spa full. Turn spa on, show how to push buttons and turn levers, collect water sample to be analized in store water lab. Collect check, shake hands smile say "thank you, goodbye. Get water to store, analyze, call customer with results, fax over if they have one, and call to go over and explain. Maybe you thought they just stood around drinking martinis and smoking cigars?

[empolgation]

Maybe you thought they just stood around drinking martinis and smoking cigars?

Oh no, that happens after everything is complete.

That's a solid plan, one that I would hope to experience  - but if the delivery crew isn't doing the electrical hookup they might as well be drinking and smoking as who knows when/if the "electrician" will be there to taste those wires.

[Mendocino101]

I think Wisoki is right....lol...The patient man that he is.... ...get the hose in the tub...install lifter...do the wiring if you are going to do so.....the tub will be close to full....give the customer a run down and how to operate...(that works if they are home when you deliver)....if they are not than a good dealer will return to walk the customer though spa....

But here is my question what about the trash...As a customer do you feel that it is reasonable to neatly fold or cut it up and leave near your trash area or do you except it to be removed.....I know it may seem trivial to some but it can leave bad taste for others....I think it is reasonable to leave it picked up and neatly put near the trash....any thgouhts....?

[empolgation]

Good point mendo - as a customer I expect delivery to include the removal of trash. Similar to major appliances - I've never had to deal with the box and trash for a new stove, oven, refrig, hot water heater etc...

[Brewman]

Our dealer took all trash with them.
This is what I'd expect, based on other things I've had delivered in the past.  When I've had appliances and furniture delevered, the trash was taken away by the delivery crew.  At the very least, I'd expect the crew to ask in advance if it was ok to use my garbage cans or recycler.  I figure the delivery charges include the cost of hauling away the packaging.
Brewman

 

[Lori]

Well, after the crane plunked my spa down, the delivery crew took it off the pallet.  They then unwrapped it and began the set up.  Stuck the hose in and began filling it up.  Basically what Wisoki said, put the cover lift on, when that was done, one of the crew hooked up the wires inside the cabinet while I ran around taking pictures.  By that time, the tub was full.  Tried to turn it on, and the electrician had not used the sub-panel supplied by my dealer.  Had to make a trip (30 minutes away) to the store for a new box and while I was there, I paid the balance on my credit card.  Had to wait a couple of days for the electrician to come back.  (He is a friend's dad, so he worked me in.)  Once he switched the sub-panels, I was in business.  Came home and turned it all on, it was good to go.  I soaked that night, and the dealer came out the next afternoon to give me an orientation of how to maintain my water and spa.

In hindsight, the guys realized they should have had the crane lift the pallet back over the house, since it was too big to leave intact, so they broke it up and hauled it and the packaging materials, placed it all on the trailer they used to deliver the spa and left my yard impeccably clean!

That is how mine went.