#leakinghotspring2105envoynxt
Update 1/11/2021: When starting this journey back in November 2020, I had no idea how frustrating this experience would be. Today we were told by the factory service technician the following:
1. The earliest they will be able to fix my leak will be in JUNE, that means a seven month wait from when I reported the leak to Watkins.
2. They will not service my hot tub at my home. This was understandable given the size of the leak and them wanting the environment of a controlled temperature in a workshop.
3. The move fee would be $900.
4. The repair would be an 8 hour minimum, if I remove the bottom. The bottom is glued on and the tub needs to be flipped upside-down and weighted to glue back on.
5. The total cost of this repair will be $2500-$3500 and so far I have performed the foam dig out, identified the leak, removed the tub from power, cleaned up, and discarded several hundred pounds of soaked foam. I still need to remove the bottom and will have an upside-down hot tub carcass behind my otherwise pristine home for the next six months. Removing the bottom will likely take a full day.
So in a nutshell: This is a foam-filled tub. Repairing leaks in it is a nightmare. It is going to be a seven month wait and $2500-$3500 in expenses, after my spending days to help mitigate the expense. I have spent hours attempting to mitigate this by performing a lot of the work to help the situation.
Watkins has offered to supply plumbing diagrams and parts. Nothing more, they will not goodwill this as I am the second owner and even though the leak has clearly been there several years (per the factory-trained technician) they refuse to take any accountability as the leak was not reported in the warranty period.
I am planning to reach out to others in this forum and others to find out how people in my position have fixed this, and their overall experience with Watkins (Caldera / Hot Spring). Did you just pay the expense? Did you sell the tub? Trade it for another brand? How did you come to resolve the issue? How were you treated along the way?
IMPORTANT: If you are considering purchasing or have a Watkins tub on hold please consider the cost of repairs due to the IN FOAM PLUMBING and the lack of dealer support options. Watkins checked and they have one dealer in our area, and they are expensive and overbooked. If your spa fails, will you be able to stomach the investment as a sunk cost? Please let my experience help factor into your purchase. If you are expecting a first-rate experience or a company that would goodwill a manufacturing failure I would look elsewhere.
Last, if we chose to keep it all of the handling will likely cause another leak. Back to square one...
What an absolute nightmare
