2nd dealer wont wet test the Hot tub I want

[Coleman]

In the quest of wanting to wet test a tempo, The dealer and I have been exchanging emails on a lot of questions I had on the tempo. I work night and the wife works days, so our time for both of us to look at hot tubs is very limited I let the dealer know this way ahead of time. This last Saturday I informed the dealer that we had a Saturday morning available that both of us could make it for a wet test on the tempo and we would bring our swimsuits, The day before I got his email.

12 oz of water would be sufficient.  I do not have a tempo on the floor with water.  Our store in Kansas City has some tubs filled which you could wet test.  Some of the tubs in our store have water in them to demonstrate how they work but we really don't have a room set up for wet testing.  You could set in the hot tubs on the floor to get an idea of the fit and size.  We request that you don't wear anything that will scratch the surfaces.  Let me know if you if you have additional questions.  Thank you.

It sounds like he really did not want our business at all! For me to drive to Kansas City is over a 3hr drive for us. We dry test tubs back in February and that is how we chose the tempo in the line up of tubs that might fit both of us. I Thanked him for his time and told him we had to wet test before buying a hot tub. No response yet.
I emailed the next dealer in our line up explained our situation again and turn out that he is 1hr farther away and his trip charge is $100 cheaper then the closer dealer and he has NO problem getting tubs moved and filled up for a wet test, Now we just have to find the time to go see this dealer.
Question
How do people buy a hot tub without wet testing and know that it is the tub for them?

Are the dealers that lazy or don't want to put the effort into making a sale?( he had a very nice selection of hot tubs)

I have learned on this forum that wet testing is a very important part of buying the 1st hot tub. Maybe He figured that I was a informed consumer  and not willing to hand over my hard earned cash for a easy sale.
Thanks Coleman

 

[Jacuzzi_Jim]

It's stupid if a dealer wont fill a spa and run it if they can.  I will fill a spa for them if we have it and they really want too.  That being said, maybe 1 out of 10 will want to wet test. 

 

[Quickbeam]

I would want to wet test before I bought. I might be willing to wet test a similar tub, but I would want to be sure I was comfortable with what I was getting before purchasing. As an example, when my wife and I were looking to purchase, we were pretty sure we wanted a tub with a lounger and the dealer brought one in for us to wet test. When we wet tested, my wife floated out of the lounge seat. They had another tub that was the same size without the lounger. The dealer didn’t have it set up to wet test, but did have a larger tub with the same seats and jet configurations set up, so we wet tested that one. We liked it and bought the smaller version. Have been happy ever since.

 

[lets]

Couple things to keep in mind.

1. The VAST majority of people do not wet test.  *

"WHAT", you say. "But everyone on the message boards talks about wet testing.

2. An even GREATER, vast majority of people don't use message boards (consider this, roughly 250,000 spas are sold in the US each year [estimations are there's a total of 5 million spas in use in the US], how many views do message here have?).

So for a dealer, it comes down to 'risk vs. reward', and the amount of work required to take the risk. If a dealer is not set up properly, and doesn't have the personnel, it can be an incredible amount of work to set up one spa to be wet tested one time (it's not like simply grabbing a key, and test driving a car). Maybe you'll buy it, maybe you wont. Does the dealer feel it's worth his efforts? In your case, apparently not.

 

[Coleman]

I would want to wet test before I bought. I might be willing to wet test a similar tub, but I would want to be sure I was comfortable with what I was getting before purchasing. As an example, when my wife and I were looking to purchase, we were pretty sure we wanted a tub with a lounger and the dealer brought one in for us to wet test. When we wet tested, my wife floated out of the lounge seat. They had another tub that was the same size without the lounger. The dealer didn’t have it set up to wet test, but did have a larger tub with the same seats and jet configurations set up, so we wet tested that one. We liked it and bought the smaller version. Have been happy ever since.

Quickbeam, That is the whole reason why we want to wet test before purchasing. We both want a lounger but if we float out of it why buy it! then we will look at other options

 

[Coleman]

Couple things to keep in mind.

1. The VAST majority of people do not wet test.  *

"WHAT", you say. "But everyone on the message boards talks about wet testing.

2. An even GREATER, vast majority of people don't use message boards (consider this, roughly 250,000 spas are sold in the US each year [estimations are there's a total of 5 million spas in use in the US], how many views do message here have?).

So for a dealer, it comes down to 'risk vs. reward', and the amount of work required to take the risk. If a dealer is not set up properly, and doesn't have the personnel, it can be an incredible amount of work to set up one spa to be wet tested one time (it's not like simply grabbing a key, and test driving a car). Maybe you'll buy it, maybe you wont. Does the dealer feel it's worth his efforts? In your case, apparently not.

Dr Spa, Thanks for some of the reasons why a dealer wont wet test a tub. I am sure that these 2 dealerships will do just fine without my purchase, It shows me what type of service I might get after the sale and not working very hard to make a profit. The 3rd dealer is ready for me to come in to wet test and I didn't get the whole story why they don't wet test.

 

[Jacuzzi_Jim]

  Filling a spa or not for you has nothing to do with whether they will take care of you after the sale.. I get you want to try one,  but I wouldn't judge their service by not filling a spa for you! 

 

[Alan]

Hard to fault any message in this thread.  My advice, just let it be one factor.  That said, bought our first hot tub without wet testing and had it 10 years.  Bought #2 after a wonderful wet test, which absolutely did effect our deal choice.  Without it, I might have bought the Vanguard, or the Jacuzzi that my wife floated out of and I would have been outside alone most nights and probably quit using it, though after my back surgery, that would be hard to imagine.

 

[Quickbeam]

I would want to wet test before I bought. I might be willing to wet test a similar tub, but I would want to be sure I was comfortable with what I was getting before purchasing. As an example, when my wife and I were looking to purchase, we were pretty sure we wanted a tub with a lounger and the dealer brought one in for us to wet test. When we wet tested, my wife floated out of the lounge seat. They had another tub that was the same size without the lounger. The dealer didn’t have it set up to wet test, but did have a larger tub with the same seats and jet configurations set up, so we wet tested that one. We liked it and bought the smaller version. Have been happy ever since.

Quickbeam, That is the whole reason why we want to wet test before purchasing. We both want a lounger but if we float out of it why buy it! then we will look at other options

If you are looking for a lounger, then I would not buy the spa under any circumstances without a wet test. I think loungers are great and at times wished we had one, but without a wet test we would have not known that my wife, and to a lesser extent myself, floated out of the lounger in the tub we wanted.

 

[Coleman]

  Filling a spa or not for you has nothing to do with whether they will take care of you after the sale.. I get you want to try one,  but I wouldn't judge their service by not filling a spa for you!

From your dealer point of view I can see that. I am looking at it from the consumer point of view. That if the dealer does not want to fill up a hot tub for a wet test, It shows me what kind of dealership I am working with and how hard they want my business. I knew nothing about hot tubs before I came to this forum since then I have been a better educated consumer, That is why I joined this forum to learn.
I do value your input
Thanks Coleman

 

[Coleman]

Hard to fault any message in this thread.  My advice, just let it be one factor.  That said, bought our first hot tub without wet testing and had it 10 years.  Bought #2 after a wonderful wet test, which absolutely did effect our deal choice.  Without it, I might have bought the Vanguard, or the Jacuzzi that my wife floated out of and I would have been outside alone most nights and probably quit using it, though after my back surgery, that would be hard to imagine.

Wmccall, Thanks for the input. My wifes idea of a comfortable tub and mine might be very different. The wife and I don't see each other very much during the week do to different work hrs, I am buying a hot tub so we can at least get to spend some down time together, I want to make sure that we both want to enjoy the hot tub not just one of us, so she can get therapy for her knees( knee replacement) and sore muscles for me. We don't have a disposable income like others do. I work hard for my money and I want to get the best value out of my money. I have been reading the forum for 1 yr When we went shopping for a hot tub I knew very little about them other then it makes hot water with jets, In visiting with dealers we found some tubs that we liked and within our budget, In the past 4 months I have been reading everything on this wonderful forum to get educated about hot tubs even post from 10yrs ago  and what to expect from dealers and how they treat there customers and service after the sale. We want a quality hot tub with quality service to go with it. The 3rd dealer probably will be getting our business, all 3 dealers had wonderful salesmen that were not pushy and answered all our questions, After all the post I have been reading about wet test it shows me what dealer's want our business and what they will do to get it.
I value everybody's input good/bad
Wmccall Thanks for the wonderful forum I have learned a lot from it.
Thanks
Coleman

 

[Coleman]

I would want to wet test before I bought. I might be willing to wet test a similar tub, but I would want to be sure I was comfortable with what I was getting before purchasing. As an example, when my wife and I were looking to purchase, we were pretty sure we wanted a tub with a lounger and the dealer brought one in for us to wet test. When we wet tested, my wife floated out of the lounge seat. They had another tub that was the same size without the lounger. The dealer didn’t have it set up to wet test, but did have a larger tub with the same seats and jet configurations set up, so we wet tested that one. We liked it and bought the smaller version. Have been happy ever since.

Quickbeam, That is the whole reason why we want to wet test before purchasing. We both want a lounger but if we float out of it why buy it! then we will look at other options

If you are looking for a lounger, then I would not buy the spa under any circumstances without a wet test. I think loungers are great and at times wished we had one, but without a wet test we would have not known that my wife, and to a lesser extent myself, floated out of the lounger in the tub we wanted.

Quickbeam Thanks for the input