Can anyone comment on Eco Spas?

[Ezrhydr]

Looked at an Eco Spa at a Home show. Tried to find reviews but no luck, dose anyone have any experience with these?

[Sam]

Yeah, they are shady.  They say that they have a lifetime warranty on the cover but then they don't honor it.  Those plastic covers will warp over time and the warranty says that warping is only covered at the time of delivery.  It's a joke.  Also, those plastic arms on the covers break all of the time and they don't cover those under warranty either.  Used to sell them but dropped the line because they wouldn't cover that stuff under warranty, though they love to advertise that lifetime warranty.  Total joke.

If you like that style of hot tub you should check out Tuff Spas.  They have a similar design but the cover is set up different so it doesn't warp and is easier to open.  They also use metal arms instead of plastic.

[Hottubguy]

They look like coffins to me. South Pacific used to make them now they are a private label strong spa. I will second the part about their warranties they don't really stand behind them. They are very prone to warping. In that price range you could get a Nordic, or a Viking spa which are made much better. I don't know much about tuff. As a Nordic dealer I will say they are a great factory to deal with and make a great product for the price

[Chris_H]

Any chance someone could send me the details to the Strong Spa Titan Hardcover warranty?  Can't seem to find it on their website.  Gives me pause on the quality of the thing.

[Hottubguy]

Any chance someone could send me the details to the Strong Spa Titan Hardcover warranty?  Can't seem to find it on their website.  Gives me pause on the quality of the thing.

I searched and couldn't find anything. Usually if it's nowhere on the web it worth less then the paper it's printed on

[pnopper]

I can recommend Eco Spa with flying colors. I bought one eleven years ago when they were called South Pacific and it is still serving me well. It looks just as good as the day I bought it and I live in east county San Diego. My covers did not warp nor did the levers break like I am reading with other comments. I saw the upgraded version of my spa at a show this weekend and see they changed their name to Eco Spa and really made an effort to improve the product.

I fill mine five months out of the year and have had three issues over 11 years. Once a fuse blew (probably my fault), once I had a leak at the light and finally the covers take on a bit water when it rains but I just drilled holes on the ends and when I open the covers the holes are on the bottom and the water drains out. All easy fixes done by myself.

That being said, my kids are getting too big to get in the spa with my wife and I so I am looking to upgrade size. I do believe the Tuff spa is a great product and am going to another show to compare both Eco and Tuff. We do have a view and the Eco spa lid does block our view so Eco Spa may lose out to the Tuff spa because of the lid. However I want to be clear after reading some negative comments on this blog. In my experience Eco Spa is a great product and if Tuff spa did not offer a more suitable lid for my view I would not even be looking around and just buy another Eco Spa.

Peter

[Tman122]

I fill mine five months out of the year and have had three issues over 11 years. Once a fuse blew (probably my fault), once I had a leak at the light and finally the covers take on a bit water when it rains but I just drilled holes on the ends and when I open the covers the holes are on the bottom and the water drains out. All easy fixes done by myself.
Peter

So less than 5 years of use? The cover can't be very energy efficient, which may not matter depending where you live, if water leaks in and holes are drilled into the air space to drain it.

[Sam]

From what I understand, it's cold climates where the cover warps and the arms break.  The difference in temperatures between under the lid and above in the winter are what cause the warping and they absolutely refuse to cover it in their "lifetime warranty".  The cold temperatures are also the major contributing factor to their plastic arms breaking, which is also not included in the warranty.  They sell those arms for about $75.  It's a sham.

Tuff Spas however fixed all of these problems and has a true lifetime warranty.  They are a fantastic company that takes care of their customers and does the right thing.  I strongly endorse Tuff Spas.

[pnopper]

OK, warping at cold temperatures makes sense and I live in a warm climate. The Eco (South Pacific) uses 2 large pieces to cover the spa and the Tuff uses 4 smaller pieces to cover the spa therefore any warping will be minimized on 4 pieces assuming it is a materials issue of roti-molded plastic and not a design or manufacturing issue. Thank you for the clarification.
As a side note, I noticed they moved the handle on the eco to the outside on the current models therefore stopping the issue of taking on water inside the lids. Maybe I just got lucky but my spa has served me well for 11 years and the roto-molded plastic looks as good as the day I bought it with really no maintenance. And yes it does look a bit like a coffin but even the strongest storm never blew the lids off my coffin while I slept hard and I never had to replace a ratty looking sun damaged lid, and yes it is quite efficient.
Also when I bought mine it was really cheap and maybe that is why it exceeded my expectations. The Eco has come up on price quite a bit since then and when you pay bigger dollars you have higher warrantee expectations.

[pnopper]

Just a final note. I went to the Del Mar fair to check and see what kind of a deal (show price) I could get on a Tuff Spa. Their show price was considerably less than the Eco spa show price so I purchased the Tuff Spa. It looks like the old South Pacific (eco Spa) is trying to improve their product and come in at a new price point. At that higher price point Eco should replace the plastic arms on the lids with something better and work on providing better customer warrantee service.
Thank you Sam for your input and hopefully this subject will help someone make an informed decision.
Peter

[Sam]

Just a final note. I went to the Del Mar fair to check and see what kind of a deal (show price) I could get on a Tuff Spa. Their show price was considerably less than the Eco spa show price so I purchased the Tuff Spa. It looks like the old South Pacific (eco Spa) is trying to improve their product and come in at a new price point. At that higher price point Eco should replace the plastic arms on the lids with something better and work on providing better customer warrantee service.
Thank you Sam for your input and hopefully this subject will help someone make an informed decision.
Peter

Nice!  Congrats on the purchase.  Report back after you've had it for awhile.  There aren't a lot of Tuff owners on here and I'm sure people would appreciate your experience.

[Amy35]

I purchased my Eco Spa almost 3 years ago, and I disagree with some of the previous posts. I have had no issues what so ever with the cover warping or with the cover arms breaking. In fact, my lifetime warranty clause actually lists the cover arms are covered for life so I am not worried at all! This has easily been the best spa I have owned, and I have owned several other brands in the past. Not to mention the company that I bought it from has been extremely helpful through out the whole process. I know I can always call them and get my questions answered.

[Sam]

I purchased my Eco Spa almost 3 years ago, and I disagree with some of the previous posts. I have had no issues what so ever with the cover warping or with the cover arms breaking. In fact, my lifetime warranty clause actually lists the cover arms are covered for life so I am not worried at all! This has easily been the best spa I have owned, and I have owned several other brands in the past. Not to mention the company that I bought it from has been extremely helpful through out the whole process. I know I can always call them and get my questions answered.

Well it seems odd that they would sell them online if they are covered by a lifetime warranty.  Could you post a picture of your warranty to show us?  I know for a fact that the arms weren't covered a couple of years ago.  It also seems weird that this is your first and only post.  You wouldn't happen to work for Eco Spas would you?  I hate to sound like a jerk but most people don't come to this forum for their first post 3 years after they purchase their spa and come straight to a week and a half old thread for their only post.

[Tman122]

I purchased my Eco Spa almost 3 years ago, and I disagree with some of the previous posts. I have had no issues what so ever with the cover warping or with the cover arms breaking. In fact, my lifetime warranty clause actually lists the cover arms are covered for life so I am not worried at all! This has easily been the best spa I have owned, and I have owned several other brands in the past. Not to mention the company that I bought it from has been extremely helpful through out the whole process. I know I can always call them and get my questions answered.

Bill........spam warning.

[Sam]

For clarification in my post:  They sell the plastic replacement arms online which would seem strange if they were covered under the lifetime warranty.  Eco Spas doesn't put their warranty on their website either so we can no longer verify.  They used to have it up and pulled it down due to their competitors talking about the warping covers.

I only know all of this because I used to sort of sell them.  It's a long story but we stopped due to the issues mentioned above.  They definitely did not cover the arms or warping under warranty.  It's exactly why we stopped working with them.  We had a lot of angry customers and their response was to basically tell us to pound sand.